Aphex Twin Not feeling the music as i used to

  On 12/23/2011 at 12:33 PM, xxx said:

what.cd and torrenting in general is what killed it. I don't say that from a judgmental perch above everyone because my external HD is just as chock full of purloined goods as everybody else. This has been gone over ad infinitum on WATMM but it's true. Music used to have much more ceremony, symbolism and ritual before it became free FLACs by the dozens of GB. No prescriptions or suggestions here so good luck or whatever

I think this is somewhat true but the prescription is hiding between the lines: Don't download music by the dozens of GB. I'm not saying quit downloading entirely but go easy on it. I only download stuff when it's something I'm not sure about or that is impossible/unreasonable to buy (e.g. Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1). I like Grooveshark for this too, although their selection is pretty inconsistent, because it doesn't feel like I really have the track, so I can preview things without danger of falling into that malaise.

If I know it will be good, I pay for it if I can. This makes it a lot more special, it helps the good stuff remain kind of sacred. It also means occasionally I am really let down by stuff, but I think taking the good with the bad is better than it all being a grey blob. And anyway that doesn't happen very often; the only time I remember that happening in the last few years was Move of Ten.

Music can still be really fun and exciting for me, and I still get goosebumps when I hear a great track, regardless of genre. I think you have to keep it special, keep it magical.

I feel like kind of a condescending asshole giving all this advice, heh. But I have been struggling a lot with this same kind of shit the last few years.

Oh yeah, another BIG thing for me was to alternate between phases of absorbing new music, and of checking out old stuff I missed out on. Like lately I've discovered Terry Riley's Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band stuff, that's as emotionally resonant as it is novel. A really nice surprise for me - it's amazing how well some of this stuff has aged.

OK at this point I've thrown my share of noodles at the wall, I hope at least one of them sticks for ya.

I've never felt this way, maybe because I spend significantly more time writing music than listening to it. I have entertained the idea, though, of dedicating an entire month to listening to only one album (obviously it would have to be a pretty substantial one), then the next month move on to one from an entirely different genre/era/etc

I blame rushup edge

(null)

  On 12/23/2011 at 3:58 AM, ruiagnelo said:

About 6 years ago (i was 15) i had this tiny, neat looking white device from creative which could store up to 1gb of music. I can remember it pretty vividly. Inside it you would find an horrible rip (128kpbs) of Black Dog Productions' Bytes, an 808 State compilation called 808:88:98, Amon Tobin's Supermodified, µ-Ziq's Lunatic Harness and B12's Electro-Soma. I had no clue that there was something called IDM or a man called Richard D. James, well known as Aphex Twin. In fact, before these discoveries music was all about rap for me, and would oscillate between truly glorious sounds coming from few collectives in my country and groups as The Pharcyde or De La Soul, to consumable pop rap of groups as G-unit, for instance, which i would know primarly by means of TV or friends. I was never a rock fan, and curiously, i am still not as of today. I find it too annoying. But as i was saying, i had just discovered electronic music. As far as i can remember, my uncle had suggested Amon Tobin (or was it 808 State? i can't really remember), which got me exploring allmusic.com and somehow getting to the so called IDM and ambient techno. Something must have happened then, because i started experiencing what i now feel as musical emotion. This music was really expanding my mind and senses, i could feel that, but wasn't thinking whether it was good/bad, should stop/continue that way. It just sounded perfectly good. At that time, there weren't enough records in my tiny mp3 player that could match all the fingers in my hands, but they felt imense to me. It was pretty much everything i needed.

The reason why i am writing this: during these last years i have collected about a thousand records, mainly electronic music, a lot of jazz and classical, virtually no rock. I love all of them, even tho i would need thousands of hours to give them a decent listen. I guess they all have a distinct and genuine sound and aesthetic to it, which i always look for. Altough i just don't download and store everything i see, i keep discovering new artists pretty frequently and getting new records every week. And i am sure i want to keep these as bad as the older ones.

But i just can't feel all this music the way i did with those records stored in my small creative device. I love the music i listen to nowadays, but seems like i can't hold it in my memory like i used to. Might seem contradictory, but sometimes i just don't remember what i was just listening to, altough i can remember i was definitely loving the shit out of it.

Is it a matter of age - my age and how i grew up listening/viewing music? Or is it a matter of age - this period we are living in, where it gets easier everyday to have more, more and more of everything? Or is it plain psychological?

Sometimes I find myself being strictly selective with what i listen to, in order to have the maximum time possible, while others i just don't care and act all naturally, and avoid being too rational about it. The truth is i always end up thinking about this.

 

I write this hoping that some of you might share the same thoughts, and possibly have suggestions on how to deal with this simple (?) questions...

 

Shit, i am too young to be thinking about this...

Great post mate, and speaking from experience you might be going through a transitionary phase. I think you are looking for something new to sink your teeth into. As 36 years old, it's happened to me many times, and see it as a good thing. A new journey awaits.

Ps I do think young music fans are spoilt with music nowadays with everything at your fingertips. Back in the day, listening and finding music was very hard work, and therefore infinetly more rewarding.

  On 12/23/2011 at 12:33 PM, xxx said:

Music used to have much more ceremony, symbolism and ritual before it became free FLACs by the dozens of GB.

  On 12/23/2011 at 7:35 PM, beerwolf said:

I do think young music fans are spoilt with music nowadays with everything at your fingertips. Back in the day, listening and finding music was very hard work, and therefore infinetly more rewarding.

As a more 'mature' WATMMer, I have to agree with these two posts very much. There used to be nowt like reading about new releases in your music rag of choice or whatever, and then waiting for the release date to arrive so as to desperately pick up a copy of that severely limited 20, 000 before anyone else did. And beerwolf, I never imagined you were that age, newfound if I may, sir.

But seriously, besides rushup edge ruining all music for me, the simple fact that i can't fit properly listening to music in my rutine anymore accounts for my lesser enjoyment of it.

(null)

  On 12/24/2011 at 12:33 AM, GORDO said:

But seriously, besides rushup edge ruining all music for me, the simple fact that i can't fit properly listening to music in my rutine anymore accounts for my lesser enjoyment of it.

 

(null)

what do you mean?

I mean rushup edge is too fucking good. i'm only half serious about that but it really is the last album that i felt passionate about

(null)

(null) ??? Why.

"The best thing we can do is to enjoy the DOING of our work..." - D.L.

When I stopped constantly downloading music and started just listening to the 10,000+ songs I already have, I started liking music a lot more. I download new stuff every once in a while, maybe once a month, but I've grown to love what I've already collected a whole lot more.

ruiagnelo, I really appreciate you posting this because it is something I've been thinking about often lately, as well. It looks like I'm about 8 years older than you and I'm going through something almost identical.

What RadarJammer said sums up one of the biggest aspects, or causes, of it for me, and it sounds like it's become a big part of your music experience as well: "It also sounds like you're just collecting music as a habit, just going through the motions of your routine acquisition."

If you're interested, in the same vein, I posted this not too long ago...at the time it didn't seem like anyone took it too seriously, or cared, or maybe couldn't relate the same way, but it's a big deal in my life because of how important music is to me: http://forum.watmm.com/topic/69592-addicted-to-the-consumption-of-music/

That aside, there is at least one other cause of my enjoyment of music decreasing: in my case, it's connected to my beginning the regular use of anti-depressants.

When I was very depressed, which was basically all the time for most of my life, music was one of the greatest sources of joy and happiness that I had. I would often drive my car to escape and listen, and I experienced bliss-like states many times.

I've found that the antidepressants (artificially I guess you could say) fill up whatever receptors are deprived and what not, so listening to music doesn't feel fulfilling in the way it used to...and it is a crappy feeling, to be sure.

But I do think the fact that I am always scrambling to obtain whatever's new is a major reason why I don't enjoy what I already have either - I'm too anxious that I'm missing something to just be at peace with what I have.

It's been suggested to me, and I agree, that if you can limit your intake and your pursuit, you may have more time to build a "relationship" with albums like you did with those few you remember carrying around on the old audio player.

Hope you're well. I'm not thinking too clearly today so what I wrote probably came out all confusing and useless but if you ever want to talk about this more, I'm up for it.

Best,

J.

Getting back to this thread i started, i think that i might have precipitaded myself on my thoughts.

I guess that what i am feeling is simply a little bit of nostalgia for those days and a desire to have more time, not only to listen to music, but for pretty much everything.

Just like you (carthief), i see music as a sort of anti-drepressant (never had these, don't need to, fortunately) and escaping, not from reality, but from a certain routine that all humans are forced to live in, even though i am studying architecture, which pretty much lets one build its own routine, and have a very flexible management of time. I have thought about this countless times, try to understand the reason for this effect, but i just can't find any. It simply works. It has a similar effect on me as cigars do. This, however, might bring another very important question that you have brought with your thread: can music be an addiction? to the point of being so materialized that one simply collects it? Well, i can't believe that. At least i am sure that's not the case for you and me. How is it possible that something which has almost a medical effect on a person, becomes a sort of desease, an unhealthy condition, an addiction?

I often discover new music that gives me a similar effect to the one i described back when i had that tiny mp3 player. Recent discoveries like Lone, Space Dimension Controller, Burial, Sepalcure, Flying Lotus, Bibio, really bring me unforgettable moments and emotions nowadays. James Blake as well. The other day i was at my friends house, we were working on our last drawings for the project presentation, through the night and eventually i played some new James Blake (Love what happened here EP), and we were just so delighted with the music, so relaxed; it's like, for a moment, we weren't there working. We were somewhere else; it really helped with the turmoil of being hours away from a project presentation, which can often be a painful moment.

I do spend an awful lot of time browsing discogs, looking for records in a similar vein to other artists i love, and i am very serious about the way i organize my music, because i can't deny that it is sort of a collection as well. I guess that sometimes i am a little bit obsessive as well. But i don't consider myself to treat music as something material.

You have mentioned a certain desire of getting everything you are sure you will like to listen to. I can understand that. I myself felt this some years ago. But i don't feel like this anymore. I developed a certain ability to select what is important for me, what i will actually enjoy, and not just possess.

Every bad thing has its good side, when one is able to find it.

This whole freedom brought by the digital revolution is creating more and more consumerism, more readiness, it seems to be stealing the meaning of things. But the meaning is there, only we are getting distracted. If we develop defense mechanisms, if we stop for a while to think what really is important for us, than the readiness, the easiness will only be favorable for us.

And i am glad you consider these same questions i think about as well, and i want to give you some advice. Be relaxed. Take it easy. Considering the scale of our existence, there are infinite amounts of music, just like infinite women. But if you keep thinking that you should know them all, you will end up not enjoying the moment. It works like this with pretty much everything, but i think music should be a good starting point to apply these principles.

I hope i have made my point clear, and that my advice can be useful in some way.

;)

ps: wrote all this while listening to the new Plug, Back On Time, my most recent acquisition. Wonderful music that i will be playing a lot in the new year!

  On 12/23/2011 at 7:35 PM, beerwolf said:

Great post mate, and speaking from experience you might be going through a transitionary phase. I think you are looking for something new to sink your teeth into. As 36 years old, it's happened to me many times, and see it as a good thing. A new journey awaits.

 

Ps I do think young music fans are spoilt with music nowadays with everything at your fingertips. Back in the day, listening and finding music was very hard work, and therefore infinetly more rewarding.

I guess i am just looking back at my musical past, not with sorrow, and a sad nostalgia feeling that keeps me stuck on already known music, but with a sort of acceptance feeling that should come naturally, and thinking that i am still able to feel the same way with contemporary music, which makes me very happy.

  On 12/23/2011 at 9:37 PM, Caretstik said:

  On 12/23/2011 at 12:33 PM, xxx said:

Music used to have much more ceremony, symbolism and ritual before it became free FLACs by the dozens of GB.

 

 

 

  On 12/23/2011 at 7:35 PM, beerwolf said:

I do think young music fans are spoilt with music nowadays with everything at your fingertips. Back in the day, listening and finding music was very hard work, and therefore infinetly more rewarding.

 

As a more 'mature' WATMMer, I have to agree with these two posts very much. There used to be nowt like reading about new releases in your music rag of choice or whatever, and then waiting for the release date to arrive so as to desperately pick up a copy of that severely limited 20, 000 before anyone else did. And beerwolf, I never imagined you were that age, newfound if I may, sir.

heheh. I like to act a bit immature at times round here. I can be wise and mature if needed though.

if i want to really learn an album i will burn it to CD and listen to it in my car, assuming i dont have a physical copy already. I still do buy a lot of music, and i find digital files really impersonal so try not to go for that option.

Although saying that, ive had a pretty shit day and i stuck on the laxir autechre remixes on my mp3 player earlier and it really helped. Autechre have that effect on me. More so than any other artist. I can get completely lost in their sounds and forget real life