The Circle of Sound (np: K.O.D. by Tech N9ne)

Another experience of sorts to report. Because today I had Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti play, and as I listened to «Kashmir», it suddenly felt right to listen to Quadrophenia in a different manner. So I changed my play queue to it, and indeed, the fifteen minutes of Zeppelin had changed my mood or something… The album just felt different.

I listened the first side, but as 5:15 started playing I needed to go back from rock to jazz, so I once again tweaked my queue, adding lots of Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts to it: two hard bops, followed by a blues, a bebop, a bunch of blues and jazz, some rock, some pop, more blues, more jazz, some more rock and then two pieces of soul music.

It was quite a sequence! And Quadrophenia really fit in. I think I’m assimilating its mood or something, I can live by it at times and not live by it at others. I’ve been whistling it’s leitmotif every now and then these days, and sometimes I pace myself on the rhythm of one of its songs, this musical immersion has been a really nice idea. I’ll definitely join the circle of sound next month! :cool_laugh:

You are most certainly correct, dear Bruno. I’ve been “into” music for about 5 years, that’s when I stumbled in on my brothers CD collection and began to listen to his stuff. Before that, I wasn’t really into it. But I really liked this - I was listening to albums in their full forms and it was great. Mainly, I listen to an album, without skipping a song or a single song on it. The first 3-5 listens are really important I find, that if you’re in a bad mood during those first few listens, you aren’t going to listen to the thing again. Happened to me for Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsies, his best selling album. Screwed me over, it’s supposed to be really good. Also, first few listens I decide if I want to keep listening to it. If it gets a good rating on wikipedia, like by music guide or something, and I still don’t like it, I’ll listen to it about 5 more times, and if I don’t like it, I can (justifiably) put it away and come back to it later when I wanna listen to it some other time. Most of the time, I don’t like all of the songs on the album initially, but over time I get to like it a lot.

Usually I listen to the music to enjoy myself, so I don’t pay too much attention to lyrics, and just allow myself to think when listening to it. Makes for a good backdrop as well, if I’m doing something else. If I’m really into the album, and I really like it, I’ll start listening to the lyrics a lot closer to see if I can find something in it more that I can get out of it that I haven’t gotten already. That’s usually around 30-40 listens. By then, if an album is unoriginal or typical of the artist, or if it has little depth to its lyrics that I do pay attention, I probably won’t give it too much attention and stop listening to it. Most albums I won’t listen to more than 25 times.

Now, this will come off as really anal, but I’ve established a bunch of rules for myself that I for the most part abide by, that I’ve found to be what works best so I get the best possible experience when I listen to music.

  1. Never do more than one album by an artist at a time. (This is VERY important, it’s easy to get tired of a band if too much is taken on at once. This is how I killed Bob Marley and Led Zeppelin for myself, I just never listen to them anymore because I was doing 4 of them at a time. Plus, artists where I didn’t do too many at once, I can go again if they’re really good, listen and enjoy it, where I can’t really do that with Led Zeppelin or Bob Marley any more).
  2. Double Albums: Only do one disc at a time.
  3. Never skip a song on an album (unless it’s irritating, like Mother on Synchronicity, even though I actually like the song now).
  4. After 30-40 listens, you may listen to single songs off of an album, though it’s still frowned upon.
  5. Don’t do Captain Beefheart albums.
  6. Patience with new albums.
  7. Don’t listen to the same album more than once per day. Makes you get tired of it really quick.
  8. Don’t do too many albums at one period. (A good number I’ve found to be was about 4-5 max)
  9. Some albums/artists are better in certain seasons, for instance, Bruce Springsteen in the summer, and Bob Dylan in late fall/winter. Enjoy them in their right seasons, for the most part.
  10. Only branch out to new genres a little at a time. Easy to get exhausted from too much new stuff at once.
  11. Later on, after 20 listens, don’t force an album too often. A little is fine, but not too much. Makes you get tired of it fast.

There, that’s the foundation I’ve layed for myself. It really works well I find. At times it can be damned irritating, but it’s very rewarding overall. I was going to leave it at 10, as in, the 10 Commandments, but meh, 11 isn’t bad either.

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I do the complete opposite! :lol: My usual routine is like, download the whole discography (disclaimer: it’s legal in Brazil, please abide by your own country’s law), add a beep noise between albums, listen to it end-to-end.

This really depends on the nature of the album, I guess I wouldn’t do that to a concept album. But most of the time, you’re right, it can get tiring if you’re really trying to appreciate, taste an album.

Agreed.

Hahaha, I have no problems with single songs or with playlists, but I guess that’s because of my culture. I grew up in the countryside, most music I listened to came from custom-missed cassete tapes, in the «I mixed a tape for you» fashion, with a carefully thought set list and some funky transition effects. So I always valued songs for their value within a sequence, but not necessarily the album. A playlist can do to a song as much justice as its original album.

Who?

True, and hard learnt.

I don’t have a problem with that, I can get burnt out and just prefer listening to something else, I’ve never gottent to the point where music actually gets annoying to me.

Also true for playlists.

Funny. I’d definitely put Springsteen on winter and Dylan on summer. Well, whatever, we get to listen to them at the same time. :tongue:

Also, if it’s not something you’re used to, go check a music encyclopedia (yeah, sure, wikipedia will do if you have nothing better) to learn the language. You can actually appreciate jazz a lot better if you understand how a song is split in parts and how they work; and you cannot ever appreciate hip hop without understanding what’s at play there — the closest you’ll get to hip hop without knowing their culture is being a crazy «yo ma, look at me, I’m from da hood» poseur.

This tends to happen naturally for me so meh. :tongue:

Nice to see your routine, I’ve got to put it to practise one of these days and see what happens. :grin:

Yes, I agree. Bands, or artists go through changes, and albums are always different as they progress. They always have a different feel.

Take Pink Floyd, the changes are obvious. Listen to Piper at The Gates of Dawn, then skip over to The Wall and tell me there are no differences.

I don’t know man, the song was placed there for a reason. If you listen to it you might get a message that you didn’t get if you skip it. This has happened to me before.

What, are you crazy? Maybe after two listens for me. That’s enough time for the album’s message, if any, to sink in. After that, I listen to favorite tunes. But I still go back and listen to the whole album though.

I did some looking and Bruno, apparently he’s some sort of artist.

Of course, although I tend to not have as much patience with The Stones as I would … The Beatles. They were never creative with there stuff and most of their songs were filler (Stones). The only exception being Their Satanic Majesties, one of my favorite albums of all time.

But yes, patience is a good quality to have when it comes to albums.

Not for me, I can listen to some stuff all day if I feel like it. But I have to be in a certain mood to begin with to listen to a whole album.

Perhaps for one band, but why not listen to different bands at one time, it may even be beneficial.

Although I do find Springsteen to be a summer guy, I wouldn’t restrict him to a season :tongue:.

I don’t usually branch out to new genres, I’m a music isolationist.

I would never consider “forcing an album”. Like I said, if I’m in a certain mood, I’ll play an album that is relative to it. The Who’s by Numbers is a good one if you’re angry.

I have to say I do not like your set of rules man. I mean, yes there are faux pas, like patience with an album, but you seem to have made music into a science, which is wrong!

I have a friend that does that actually. I suppose it comes naturally to some, like he typically likes music the first time he hears it somehow, so whatever works I suppose.

Ooh, I should try that sometime. I tried that once, it sounded pretty good. It takes a while to find music that flows into each other naturally, and most of the time the artist (if the album is good enough) has already done that for you.

Captain Beefheart

He’s an artist that is impossible to like. He plays bad on purpose, like, a lot of flats and sharps, and is just painful and exhausting to hear. I’ve had a lot of patience with the guy, but it’s just not working. I should give him another shot one of these days though…maybe someday I’ll like his stuff.

Well, I don’t get tired of music, I just get tired of the artist, or the album really quick, and generally I find I get a lot more out of it by listening to it a maximum of once per day than if I were to listen to it twice per day instead. Like, Joni Mitchell’s Blue, a really really good album, I listened to it twice per day for a long time, and I got burnt out from it. That was too bad, because it’s really, really good.

hahaha, I play this one a bit looser than most of the other ones. If I feel like listening to something, usually I do, just I find when an artist is “out of season” per se, I don’t enjoy it as much as I would if it were the “right” season.

Interesting. I found that with sports, like European Football or American Football, that if I knew what one team was trying to accomplish by using a particular tactic, I enjoyed it a lot more than if I was just watching it clueless. I never would have thought that this idea might carry over to music…

Hehehe, it’s less of a routine and more of a code of law :tongue:

Mother, by the Police Some songs are just unlistenable. Never is a strong word, which is why I used it, but there are songs which deserve to be skipped.

Meh, do what you like, I’ll do it mine. I get a lot more out of listening to full albums than I ever will with single songs. I find the “hits” that people tend to like upon the first listen are usually my least favourite track by the time I get around to the later stations in my listening, and that the album tracks that radio stations overlook are much better songs.

Well, unless you were listening to their 80’s stuff, what I am about to say is completely void, I completely understand. The Rolling Stones were very crappy in the 80’s, quite frankly, they stopped trying, and they sucked. However, to brush aside Aftermath, Between the Buttons, Sticky Fingers, Beggars Banquet, Exile On Main Street and Let It Bleed as “filler” shows that you really need to listen to them more than twice to “get” them. Because Exile On Main Street is certainly not filler, neither are any of the albums that I’ve mentioned. All of them, at worst, are very solid works, and at best are straight up masterpieces. They may not be the Beatles, but they are certainly pretty close.

Music snobs :razz:

Fair enough, they tend to get old pretty quick that way though, for me at least.

What are you, one of ‘em creationists! Not likin’ Science? aheeh heeh heeh!

Fair enough, my style isn’t to your liking. I do have it down as a science, it is true. Still, under this science of mine, I’ve enjoyed music more in the past 1-2 years under it than I have away from it.

But, anyway, why is this science wrong? Other than calling it that, you didn’t really give any reason as to why you dislike it.

It’s good that you like the way your doing things and that it’s working for you, I wasn’t challenging you. That what makes music great, it works different for everybody.

Oh, and mother, I couldn’t stop laughing.

can i revive this with some obscure tunes?

Choose an album. Torrents are legal in Brazil for another couple of months for sure (then the guys upstate vote on this bill to make it illegal, which will probably not pass on the grounds of being unconstitutional, but that’s another story), we have time. :cool:

well listen to this first. this is for bruno and jon

youtube.com/watch?v=dbpOoTEFD_g

and the album i would choose would be Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. it is one of my favorite albums ever.

from wiki

Pitchfork review of the 2005 reissue

Ahh some good ol’ fashioned ld4all elitism, alive and well!

Daniel. When I think I’ve seen weird music, you bring me, you always bring it to a whole new level. I’m in.

wow i’m glad to see other people like Neutral Milk Hotel.
i love them so, :content:
check out some of these bands:
The Decemberists
Brand New
Minus the Bear
Emery
Copeland (not the pianist, the band)
if you guys ever want something fresh to listen to just PM me w/ your interests, im sure i can find something

garret

i wouldnt call neutral milk hotel elitist…

youtube.com/watch?v=DDP0rlg5 … F4211EA0F8 4EF&index=16

youtube.com/watch?v=VLmYAJns … F4211EA0F8 4EF&index=21

Well, it’s not like it’s folk, pop or something otherwise widespread, right? But yeah, you’re right, “elitist” is quite too strong and to specific, I don’t think it applies to NMH. What were you thinking, James? (Grab by the shoulders, shake, yell and slap in the face: what were you thinking! :lol:). What did you mean?

jeez, I wish I’d known about this topic sooner!

it would be neat to check out loads of albums, to expand my musical spectrum, although I may not get around to it :tongue:

Just got the album. Really cool to listen to, which is surprising because it was first listen…some of these folk albums take a while to get into. Groovy choice man.

(click to enlarge)

i’ll write some things about specific songs later…but as a whole this album is one of my favorite albums. the sounds are so hauntingly beautiful…

magnum’s lyrics combined with his amazing emotional yowling some call singing, creates wrenching, lovely things inside of me.

whenever i hear this line and TRULY LISTEN, i feel like i am atop the greatest lover ive ever known, about to crash into her body and bury my face in her hair…its not sexual either, its a very loving thing. like ive met the person i want to spend my whole life with.

this line, when combined with the awesome bending of the musical saw, makes the line real. there is nothing better to describe that feeling other than i feel like a majestic conifer, stretching and bending into the sky, like something you would see on a psychedelic trip.

i cant help but cry at this verse. this guy, creating a “radio played just for two” reminds me of my affinity for introducing girls im interested in to new music…creating these emotional atmospheres out of music, telling her things through it.

ive never wanted a child so badly in all my life

an amazing example of jeff magnum’s cryptic and surreal writing

oh…my…god…so amazing

well there’s a first time for everything …

/me tiptoes into the topic

But I will probably just listen to the music and also read all your thoughts on it.
I LIKE what I have heard so far from neutral milk hotel :music:

man, great choice for an album, it’s so great to listen to. last night when i was listening to it, i felt it kind of reminded me of the Flaming Lips’ Soft Bulletin in the way the singer pronounces the words and the musical sound as well. Kind of trippy.

Soft Bulletin — I knew I had something in my library that matched this album perfectly. Great thinking, Jon!