Last year, I sought out to listen to a new album every day.
this did not work too well for a few reasons. But first, let me share my intentions with it.
I tend to get into a musical pocket with a specific artist, and 'eat' that album for a few days, tuning out anything else. I sink into the world that the music creates - doing my best to see the world through that lens, fully allowing and inviting my own rhythms to be interrupted. Music takes you on a trip if you allow it to. But I tend towards returning to these worlds that i know so well - Hejira, by Joni Mitchell, When the Pawn..., Fiona Apple, Voodoo, D'Angelo. And so on.
I could just sink into these worlds, and also draw out so much dense musical material that could keep me practicing and learning for weeks, months, years. But I have to eat other foods, for the sake of my microbiome. Too much of the same isn't good for us, we crave diversity as humans and musicians.
So I made it a point to go out of my way to listen to new albums more consistently. I find with new music, the setting and mindset at which I listen is crucial. I can't just put it on while I'm cooking or driving. I have found the formula - walks. I have to listen while walking. I ride my bike every day, and I find even that pace is too fast to take in most new music.
I recently figured out that an album a day might be too fast - when I go for speed, I miss out on lots of important detail and landscape to the music. Last week, I sunk into the world of Regina by Becca Stevens. The first listen was hard, when the world is so new to me, and when my mind is shouting about things I like and don't. That was until she hooked me. To me, a hook is a line, a thing, a certain way a word is said, or a certain moment where the energy just penetrates through the recording and into the whole world that surrounds me, that gets me to pay attention with my whole heart. Then I go back and listen through the things I didn't fully take in earlier when I wasn't convinced yet on this specific artist.
This is a topic that has many tangents and possibilities for exploration. But I guess my question is, what state do you have to be in to take in a new musical world? How much new music should I take in, and what should I digest and chew slowly?
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