Here comes a confession.
I become obsessed with music that I find that I like. In that I listen to it over and over…and over, sometimes for days, maybe even weeks, maybe months…continuously.
I don’t understand how I do what I do. All that I know is that I listen obsessively. Let’s say I come across a song that I like. Like it well enough and I’m going to listen to that song maybe 20 times…straight. As in song ends, song begins, song ends, song begins, and on and on. Then the next day, I’m at it again.
If I like a certain craft well enough, then revisiting the song -or album- later can fall into the same routine whereby I listen to it over and over and over, and as many as two to five times in a single day, for several months.
Recently, I pulled out Close To The Edge, an album that I’ve been obsessive about for decades. I’ve listened to that album perhaps 60-70 times over the last three months.
Now that you know just how obsessive a listener that I am, tell me what kind of listener you are. Do you obsess? Or do you do the sane thing and listen to as much as you can as fast as you can?
Yet you still find time to listen to new albums too. It almost seems like you are in another world where there are 28 hour days.
When I get a new album/band that I really like it can stay in the cd player for days. However, for the most part, I try to rotate older/favorite cds frequently. Maybe listen to them twice at most and then pick something different. There just isn’t enough time in the day and too many albums that I love that don’t get listened to often enough.
Bill, I wonder how I do it too! Good thing there’s work hours and drive time and other conspiring events (like short sleep cycles) that provide the extras.
I almost can’t count work time as listening time even though I do listen to music at work. The problem is, it’s just background noise because my attention is elsewhere. Damn work.
When it comes to music, I’m bi-polar. I just came off a Beach Boys binge (triggered by the remastered albums :-) which was preceded by a minor case of Beatlemania (a frequent affliction) and Grateful Dead music. There are certain songs and albums I will repeat (repeatedly!), but I tend to focus on a group or artist. However, when I’m not zeroed in, I look for the most diverse playlist I can come up with. Which means I turn iTunes loose on about 32,000 songs and see what happens. I really like to hear classic music, classic rock, jazz, etc. all take turns, with abrupt swings in mood, tempo and familiarity. No broadcast media does that.
By the way, thanks to you Matt, I think the Smoke Fairies may have enchanted me. I can feel my self being drawn into one of those obsessive periods :-)
Thanks, Mark. As for Smoke Fairies, you’re in growing company. I’ve had quite a bit of email about them.
and Amazon is sold out of Blood Speaks!
Interesting your approach Matt. I find I may listen to a new purchase several times in a week, but I’m always mixing in other stuff too. I do go on binges, the most recent one being with the Grateful Dead. I bought Europe ’72 Volume Two, and that triggered a whole wave of buying their stuff and really being absorbed in it, but now I’m kind of on a Frank Zappa kick.
I do tend to get locked into a pattern every now and again. Recently, The Association’s “Renaissance” has been getting a lot of repeat plays. I think of it as comfort food for the ears.
All my music has already been recorded. For the last 5 years or so, I am on a 1960’s and early 1970’s British group kick. With the exception of Tom Petty amp; the Heartbreakers, the soundtrack to my life is made up of The Yardbirds, Zeppelin, Genesis, ELP, ELO, Humble Pie, etc. If it was born under the “Union Jack”, I’m in.
Even to the point where I play certain groups more at different times of the year. Jethro Tull around Halloween. Yes and ELP around Christmas. Summertime is Genesis, Clapton, Jeff Beck. Wintertime and rainy days = Traffic (must be the flute)..
Interesting. A seasonal player. Tell me (I’m genuinely curious), how do you attach seasonal significance to bands?
Well, as I said. All of my favorite music has already been recorded. It must be that it is a mind trick to avoid boredom with the same old 80,000 tracks over and over. It might be that certain albums seem to remind me of the time that I was listening them played on AOR radio. ELP and Yes seem to have released albums before Christmas. Pink Floyd, not really known for being cheerful lyrically, gets slotted to grey Winter months. Zeppelin gets the windows down amp; driving fast times of year. … but sometimes I just hit shuffle…
In the last year I have been obsessed with Moonbound. Italian prog-pop (English lyrics) Catchy and musically brilliant. You can listen to it on the Iapetus.com website to hear what I’m talking about
In a different direction, my fall back playlist is listening to my nearly 25000 song collection in alphabetical order. I remember it took 4 months to get to the letter ‘D’ (I remember listening to Bridge of Sighs for almost a day with all of the different versions, live, bbc, bootleg, etc.) I restarted back on 1/5/13 with Girl With No Ceiling by The Fixx and as I type this Hello Mary by David Baerwald is on (1076 songs in 24 days)
Now…it that obsessive or weird? ;-)