One’s Personal Music Habits
By: Charlie Potter
Every month our editor sends a letter encouraging us to do a 'pick of the stereo', in which we are supposed to write about what has been on our stereo recently, so you lot get to know us a little better. I must confess that there have been a lot of lies on my behalf in this area as of course there is the inevitable pressure to be listening to something cool, but I'm not so much concerned with this - the difficulty I have is that I am not one of those people that listens to a CD over and over again in the space of weeks (apart from CD's that are up for review of course). You may be thinking 'but this is unfair, there are a lot of albums that need to be given a chance', but one of my favourite ways of listening to music is to be sat near all my albums, and look through and pick out something that I feel I haven't listened to enough. I find the prospect of finding out how much I know an album that I have owned an album for years very exciting.
This process also varies from album to album. there is no way that you could possibly know every one of Wolf Eyes' 800 odd releases in the same way that you might know your parents' Beatles collection. The case of Wolf Eyes (pictured) is particularly interesting as the band also release albums on Sub Pop which they do expect people to listen to with more concentration. Mike Connelly who is in Wolf Eyes recently was saying about his other band Hair Police that he goes in and out of preferring the stuff they throw together and preferring the stuff that they've taken ages to write. What does it mean as an audience if a band hasn't put any effort into making an album? Does that mean that the album is automatically a bad one, or is there something inherent in the recording that lies outside of the artists intention that is worth listening to? If not, does that mean that music is entirely down to skill? If so, what is skill? And doesn't that mean that we should all be listening to prog rock?
I find the way in which people listen to music a very interesting and exciting subject. It is so important to the way in which we think about what music is as a whole. Some of the most revolutionary styles of music have been formed out of thinking about this in a very fundamental way. For example, when Brian Eno invented ambient music, he likened music to lighting and he observed that sitting in a room with most modern music was like sitting in a room where someone was constantly changing the lighting. He also observed what a demanding and unsettling experience this is.
But there are all sorts of much simpler issues at heart here. Such as? Well...
Listening rules - I personally have strict rules as to how I listen to music. The only circumstance in which I will listen to an album more then once in a day is if I need to get a review done.
Contemporary culture - Is there a particular value that arises out of listening to an album that you will be able to talk about with your friends?
Albums as a piece of culture - are you one of those people that can't bear to listen to album in any way other than from start to finish?
Objective quality - Can you recognise an album is good without liking it?
Going back to some of the questions earlier, does good music have to be intentional? Can you ever enjoy sounds in your natural environment in the same way you listen to music? Is there ever a point when you have listened to something too much or do albums get better with every listen.
I am really interested to hear what you think about this, or whether you think it is important, or whether you think that trying to establish any clear cut theories on the matter is just impossible and not worth attempting. Email me.