I know this blog is meant to be about music but I've come to realise something: I only like certain aspects of that very thing.
When some people say that they like music, they mean they're interested in band members, back catalogues and rock'n'roll history. I don't find that stuff very interesting. What I like about it is how it sounds; how it can accompany you in your day, how it's available at the flick of a switch, and I love the vibe that a certain song can resonate, in contrast to another. It doesn't matter to me who wrote a song or why they wrote it. Not that I don't take any notice of that stuff; if you're going to find new music (new as in "I've never heard this before", not necessarily the latest release.), then it's very helpful to know what you like and who makes what you like. I find this a much more liberating approach because I don't have any 'allegiance' to an artist or band. I don't have to care whether Enya's latest album is good or if it's rubbish, and I'm not obliged to own all of Bob Dylan's albums; some of them are crap!
I acknowledge, this is a very consumerist approach to music listening but I don't see a problem with that.
Something else I don't like as much: live music. I don't dislike it; I've been to concerts and thoroughly enjoyed them, and there are some groups I think it would be AWESOME to see live. But I don't usually get that excited when I consider the prospect of going to a concert. Some would say that music is at its best when it's performed on stage, to an audience; that it's meant to be heard live. I don't agree. I'm more than happy to listen to music on a CD and I love the thought that someone can record something in 1967, I can listen to it in 2008 and enjoy it just as much as anyone. I've heard people lament the fact that they were born too late to be around in the 60s, so that they could experience the Beatles live, or so that they could hear the Rolling Stones when they were fresh, because, apparently it's just not the same as listening to it now. I'm sure it isn't but I'm quite content to listen to it on CD.
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4 comments:
Does it somehow depend on your immersion in something - music, or sport, or to be mildly controversial, religion.
Or a pair of boobies.
Think I'm missing something with those comments. Anyhoo. *Yes* brother, I too don't get excited by live music - in fact, I've discovered I don't even like it very much.
For some reason I find it so surreal to be in the same room as this band I'm familiar with that I actually can't even quite believe I am or appreciate that I am. Instead it's just like listening to a CD standing up, squashed, with smoke and an empty wallet.
gah..
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