drag city news – jan 20
something caught my eye in drag city’s newsletter this week… well a few things actually. though technically old news… the promise of a new bill callahan album this year (sometimes i wish we were an eagle) continues to produce triple ! excitement in me… and my bookshelf is just itching to have david berman’s book of cartoons the portable february displayed on it this may. but what interested me the most was this “how to listen to music” checklist. as simple as these steps may seem, when thinking of my high school-age siblings, and this digital music culture that i happen to be a part of… the listening process could probably use some reinforcing. so i hope that drag city doesn’t mind me reprinting the checklist here…
HOW TO LISTEN TO MUSIC, by Rian Murphy, Drag City
You know, earlier in this email, we were railing against modern consumers and their parasitical non-consumerism — tough stuff — when we stopped to think for a moment, are we selling the youth of today short? Maybe they don’t know how to listen to a record anymore. This could be a lost art outside the ghetto of aesthetes who traditionally buy our long-playing product. So here’s a little checklist:
- Decide what you like. This may come as the result of self-searching, following by reaching into the world in order to evaluate the music it has to offer.
- Having evaluated the variety of products available to you, take the plunge — buy one!
- You are now in possession of something special. It requires your attention in order for you to determine if it also requires your faith and devotion. Take it home, it’s time to find out.
- Conducting the ritual of listening is up to you — when you want to listen, and where. We suggest you choose a space that allows the music to come to you in a relaxed state over a system that lets the sound breathe.
- Listen to the record all the way through. It’s saying something to you, something you might not be able to hear if you subdivide it by songs, taking time and attention away from it in bits and pieces.
- Spend time with the record, absorb the artwork and whatever details are available to you. It’s like a lover, don’t ignore him/her.
Congratulations, you’re listening to music. It’s not wallpaper, it’s not your ringtone. It’s like a book or a movie, worth your undivided attention, giving back to you the value of the time you put into it.
wish i had taped this checklist to some of the albums i gave my family this christmas… anyway… on the topic of appreciating records, you may want to check out the recently compiled 5th volume of my friend alex’s top 100 albums list. i have him to thank for getting me into the very time-consuming, but entirely worth it practice of creating a personal top 100 list. check it out. see what you think. make your own. it’s a truly rewarding process… though if the above checklist didn’t seem like common sense to you, you might have some trouble…
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