return of the listener
i realized recently, that i wasn’t enjoying music as much as i did when i was younger. i’m not one of those boneheads that moans and complains that, “music is dead. it’s over. music used to be good, but now it’s just crap!” i believe, no, i know there’s plenty of great music out there that’s just waiting for me to discover it and i’ll keep looking. but, this isn’t about that silly argument. this is about my listening habits of late. i’ve been listening to a lot of music, HOWEVER, i fell into the trap of listening to my gear. i would carefully select only source material that i thought would sound good on my system. back in the day when i worked in record stores, i grabbed whatever music was laying around in the promotional boxes. i read all the magazines and reviews in the newspaper and listened to the radio hoping to hear something new. (this was before two or three companies owned all the stations and they have no desire to play anything other than the most popular drivel. that’s the stuff that the, “there’s no good music,” people are complaining about.) i went to other record stores and even stereo shops to see what they were spinning to get people interested, not to mentioned checking out the record, tape and cd collection of every person i knew. all this is to say, that i listened to whatever caught my attention, and if it sounded good (quality recordings), that was a bonus! i was always interested in getting better equipment that would make my music sound better; even though i couldn’t afford anything because i worked in a record store, but i never chose the music just because i hoped it had good sonic quality. i just aquired it and listened.over the past few months, i began picking music that i already knew sounded great. it was only the best recorded and engineered and produced music by only the most proficient artists. subsequently, there was very little new music and little of the music that i’d formerly enjoyed just because i liked the songs. this was beginning to depress me. now, enter the new maggies (previous post). i’ve been listening to everything i own and loving it. yes, admittedly, it’s mostly due to the novelty of owning what are ostensibly my dream speakers (unless i win the lottery. there’s a bigger pair of maggies i wouldn’t mind having). but, i have been completely enraptured by the music i’ve heard over the past few days. this evening i’ve listened to sharon jones (lp), fiona apple’s tidal and her second release extraordinary machine (both cd’s), a couple art blakey records (lp’s), rachmaninoff’s piano concerto no. 2 also on vinyl and i’m currently listening to sugarcubes cd, stick around for joy. i haven’t heard this in years and it’s just as fun and enjoyable as ever! (bonus: it sounds really good.) this is what i miss about listening to music, the joy of listening.so, i guess thanks to the new maggies, the listener has returned. time to buy more music. when nuprin boy gets out here to the coast, that’s exactly what we’re gonna do.
crap. i just bought new speakers and i’m pretty broke. oh well, happy listening.
