Musical Listening Lethargy

[matt b]

Ok, as briefly touched upon on the early digi reggae thread, I've found that during this year, music seems to be less intrinsic to my every day life- i still like hearing good stuff, but increasingly rarely go out of my way to listen to it, let alone chase stuff down and own the physical object.

Indeed, I can hardly be arsed listen to music (mixes etc) I d/l, record shops strike a mini chord of terror in my heart and have sometimes feel obliged to buy the odd bit out of some sort of duty (like, I really want to get the Joy Orbison 12", or that really good reggae 7" repress), but I'm not sure I'll do the purchase justice.

Now, I'm not concerned by this in the slightest (it actually has a definate upside, as I'm saving myself £100 a month) and it's not a case of 'I no longer like music' or of ennui, it's simply weird.

I just can't summon up the enthusiasm at the moment. However, I do still enjoy reading and talking about music.

How about you? Do you sometimes get this sense of lethargy about music? Is it something to do with the rise of the Internet? Music's depreciating role in defining identity? Age ?

Discuss...

 

[don_quixote]

honestly, since spotify, i have not bought a thing. i don't see the point.

 

[john eden]

I still listen to music every day, but sometimes I think that's just a habit.

I think ipods are a mixed blessing, really.

Plus I am often so knackered by about 9pm that I really don't want to check out anything to banging or abstract.

and, like you, I have so much stuff sitting here that never gets heard that I do wonder why I keep buying new stuff.

but, I've enjoyed going through some different stuff recently - a binge on The Residents and stuff like the world domination enterprises reissue.

it is by no means as central to my life as it used to be, though...

there was an interesting thread on the chatty mouth reggae forum where a lot of people confessed to being bored with reggae also...

 

[empty mirror]

still binge-ing on music. i think i slowed down on that early in the year, briefly, but my appetite is more voracious than ever. BUT haven't listened to the hi-fi in my basement as much this year. and haven't bought as much as in the past. mostly DL-ing and listening to my i-Pod through my shelf system.

so yeah. surprised if anyone reads this far into this post. my listening habits are not that interesting even to me.

 

[Corpsey]

It's been good for me having my mp3 player and pc break in some ways. I've had to listen to CDs and vinyl only most of the time, makes me persist with things more and give them more attention. Listening to music on my PC a lot of the time I'm doing other things on it at the same time and things just pass me by.

As much as I enjoy discussing music I've been trying to stop mentally involving myself in some of the rhetoric surrounding it just so I can actually listen to tunes without thinking ''Oh, this is indicative of'' or ''This sounds like ___ + ___-''.

 

[matt b]

honestly, since spotify, i have not bought a thing. i don't see the point.

see, i love that spotify exists, but i can't be arsed to use it

 

[continuum]

see, i love that spotify exists, but i can't be arsed to use it

it's good if you're in a situation where you don't need a human dj

 

[mistersloane]

How about you? Do you sometimes get this sense of lethargy about music? .

I ebb and tide in biorhythmic waves with music, some days listening all the time, sometimes none at all for a while, until some tune will wake up something in my subconscious and I'll feel alive again. Getting really wrecked with headphones on helps revive the faculties, but sometimes music just sounds shit. I dunno what that's about.

 

[pattycakes_]

OP: i'm totally with you on this one. think i saturated my brain with all the dl'ing from having like 50 music blog rss feeds in google reader. definitely collected way too much music over the years. i dont feel too excited about whats new lately either. on the whole i think i'm suffering from some kind of musical malaise. recently, i disconnected my music drive from my pc and decided to focus on making music instead. thats actually worked out pretty well.

 

[martin]

Maybe it's because some people associate music with their surroundings, smells, events, people etc, which all contribute to the experience (for instance, some records I bought in Brixton Market conjure up a smell of fish). Whereas, sitting in front of a computer screen and listening to music through some rubbish soundcard, is hardly exciting or much of an experience.

 

[mms]

i listen all day but notice the refreshment of no music.

have some things that mentally floss when i want music but don't want to process music, usually experimental gubbins.
i am waiting for my bernard parmegiani box set to arrive, i am badly hankering for that. i also like touch kinda stuff at these moments.

 

[mms]

Maybe it's because some people associate music with their surroundings, smells, events, people etc, which all contribute to the experience (for instance, some records I bought in Brixton Market conjure up a smell of fish). Whereas, sitting in front of a computer screen and listening to music through some rubbish soundcard, is hardly exciting or much of an experience.

agreed i need it at least off a stereo in a room with atmosphere.

 

[luka]

listening to music every day is crazy, its like taking acid every day. limit yourself and the magic still works. have a bit of self-control

 

[matt b]

i am badly hankering for that. i also like touch kinda stuff at these moments.

the only stuff i've really actively listened too over the past few months has been ambienty stuff- cluster, harmonia etc. on vinyl only.

 

[Dusty]

Sounds like old age. The passion of youth is fading!

I go through phases of lethargy, where I can't be bothered to check out the latest releases and never get around to actually listening to anything. But then there is always something to suck me back in after a few weeks. The new Thomas Koner album was a must-buy (I'd buy it even if I was deaf), which rekindled my interest in field recordings and dark ambient, and now I've ordered two Lull albums, and some more Namlook... and.. and off we go again.

 

[matt b]

Sounds like old age. The passion of youth is fading!

I don't think it is- my dad still buys loads of stuff and is enthusiastic about it, listens to it all the time on his ipod touch. The guy I share my office with is in his mid-40s and is constantly playing new stuff he's bought (Tilt the other week, which I liked, but haven't had the urge to listen to it, despite being given a copy).

 

[Dusty]

Try not listening to anything at all for a few weeks - I find that after a period of total music starvation I get restless and really feel the need to hear quality stuff again. Especially if during that period I've been exposed to other peoples shit listening habits.

 

[Bang Diddley]

Ive certainly being buying less and less recently with the realisation that ive got so much that has not really been given enough attention so i been relistening to things. There's also some pretty good mixes floating my boat at the moment.

Not sure if the consumption is an age thing but at 40+ I can sense a change of musical direction away from as John put it 'banging' stuff. Also as autumm comes around I find its a good time for reading which Im getting back into.

On the other hand I have just discovered a box of reels and a reel to reel player in my Dads attic.

 

[gumdrops]

i pretty much feel the same as matt b's post. i think its just too much. i seem to listen to music more out of duty now, unless its old stuff im already familiar with, then i listen to it for fun, but i dont want to live in the past. i dl mixes, rarely listen to them, and even when i think theyre top quality, dont seem to want to hear them again, i just listen more out of duty/to know whats going on, than pure enjoyment. maybe the fact theres so much music out there, and the fact i have quite diverse tastes is a terrible, overpowering combination. maybe this is a premature menopausal thing. i still buy records, cos i still love buying music, but dont really listen to it properly either. all very weird. not sure whats going on. i would stop listening to music for a bit, but then id feel like im going to miss out on loads or not be up to speed!

 

[cesrjb]

I ebb and tide in biorhythmic waves with music, some days listening all the time, sometimes none at all for a while, until some tune will wake up something in my subconscious and I'll feel alive again.

^^ this