Good listening intentions

[Eric]

I've been going through my music lately, trying to weed out music I don't need/want/listen to so that I can free up some space on my external hard drive.

Know what I've found? I have a lot of music I'm interested in and have good intentions for listening to it, but have yet to get around to actually listening to it. Stuff like Andy Timmons, Avett Brothers, Big Star, Broken Social Scene, Elliott Smith...can you tell I'm going in alphabetical order??

It's not that I've never listened to this stuff, but more that I haven't really sat down with it and given it enough time to sink in. I feel bad about it, because there's a lot of good music out there to explore, but an almost impossibly short amount of time.

Does anyone else experience this sort of thing -- too much music that has piled up, and not enough time to sort through it all? Any suggestions on how to address it? Just wondering if I'm alone in this struggle...

[FrankenFretter]

I sometimes get a bunch of music at once, then I forget what all I got. That happened with the new Muse and the new Alice in Chains. I did get around to the new AIC, which I really like. There's probably more than a few albums on my hard drive that I don't even know I have.

[kidsmoke]

you're definitely not alone. although i have no suggestion for you. I find that the time I may have spent listening, I'm trying to practice. I use to listen when i would do projects at home, and that's disappeared with the job i currently have.
On the phone in the car all the time, or listening to NPR.

It's tough. You have to be super intentional. I confess I haven't figured it out.

you mention some music i really love by the way. Big fan of Big Star.

[Ch0jin]

Yeah I'm the same, but I had a mate with a mate in A&R for Interscope in the UK. THAT guy had a serious time/number of CD's imbalance. He'd receive 'care packages' that were box's full of new and unreleased CD's from interscope artists as well as smaller labels they owned.

I remember the first time I found out about this was going through his CD collection and finding every 2nd CD still in plastic wrap.

Sigh, what a problem to have huh.

[Retro Hound]

For a while when I had an office, I set Windows Media Player to random, and just let it go through whatever was on the hard drive. Sometimes something would strike me and I'd have to look at who it was. Other times, something would strike me so wrong, I'd delete it; especially with filler songs from albums. Now I'm out on the floor of my library, so no more music at work for me.

At home, I have something like 500 CDs, 1000 albums (vinyl) and 400 45s (mostly my Dad's late 1950-early 1960s) that I NEVER seem to get around to listening to enough of it. I've started selling off a lot. Some I wince and grit my teeth to let it go (like the vinyl of Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum), but I know that I need to let it go.

What was the original post again? Oh yeah, keep it all until you retire, then just spend all your time listening to music.

[R_of_G]

I take a two hour bike ride every night which always involves listening to music. This usually provides enough time to listen to two albums per ride. I tend to split the time between one new (new to me anyway) and one familiar album each ride.

I also spend a lot of time reading which I always do with music playing. The vast majority of time this is instrumental music as I can't really pay attention to lyrics and read at the same time.

Between those two activities, I can get through a lot of new music.

[Jimi75]

The same old issue with too much stuff and cds you have not been listening to for years, but you feel bad about dumping them. I had the same problem. Did some severe Feng Shui and diminished from 350 to 100 cds. I only buy one cd in one or two month and only if the music really kicks me! The rest I don't have to have nor to buy. I keep only the absolute best, so to say the ones that turn in the cd player very often. I keep the best of every niche of music and that's about it. Nowadays even we in Europe have a bunch of cool radio stations, and if I feel like having to listen to some old school Metal, I just turn on the radio.

[deeaa]

+1

[Eric]

The same old issue with too much stuff and cds you have not been listening to for years, but you feel bad about dumping them. I had the same problem. Did some severe Feng Shui and diminished from 350 to 100 cds. I only buy one cd in one or two month and only if the music really kicks me! The rest I don't have to have nor to buy. I keep only the absolute best, so to say the ones that turn in the cd player very often. I keep the best of every niche of music and that's about it. Nowadays even we in Europe have a bunch of cool radio stations, and if I feel like having to listen to some old school Metal, I just turn on the radio.
I like that approach. What do you do with the stuff that you don't keep? Sell it, or just delete it (provided it's digital)?

[deeaa]

I did that back in the day...I used to have something like 80 LP's in the late 80's. Then I got a CD player and some discs...and then I sold off all my LP's.

I bought me this modular 50-CD 'tower' which I ended up upgrading three times till it fit 200 CD's and once I went past that mark, I decided I'd _always_ get rid of one CD if I got me a new one. Some 20-30 least listened discs weeded out it became real hard to separate from the rest yet there were CD's I wanted out there.

So finally I just threw away the CD tower system and held the CD's where ever. At the end I had more CD's I would ever have imagined. BUT it worked fine for something like 2 years for me to keep it at 200.

Now, on the other hand...I don't see the point in deleting stuff...why not just keep it there. Got over 10.000 songs on the iPod but that's only a few hundred gigabytes, next to nothing in today's terms...I've got ten times the room on my desktop harddrives alone, so I figure I can just keep 'em.

There's a LOT of stuff I haven't really ever listened to there. But when I drive somewhere, I just put the iPod on random and now and then I run into some really great stuff, and then I may switch to that band or album for a while.

I don't know, these days, there's a gazillion great bands out there I'll never even hear of...I don't hit myself over the head for missing them.

In the end, I guess much prefer making my own songs and music over listening to what other people have done.

[Eric]

I don't know, these days, there's a gazillion great bands out there I'll never even hear of...I don't hit myself over the head for missing them.
I think that nails it in my mind. There's SO much great music out there, I'm never going to listen to it all. Why bother feeling guilty about not listening to some of it?

Today, I was comparing this exact thing to being too busy. There are so many great things you can do in life, it's easy to overburden yourself and try to experience so much of it in such a short timeframe. But honestly, isn't it better to enjoy life along the way and take the different waves of interest as they come along? I think I need to slow down and listen to myself a bit more instead of trying to do everything all at once.

This is something I could have told you intellectually a long time ago, but as with most things, knowing it and living it are two different things.

[Jimi75]

I like that approach. What do you do with the stuff that you don't keep? Sell it, or just delete it (provided it's digital)?

Thanks Eric. I have sold the cds in ebay. I had no plans to store them.
I have also cleaned my computer from MP3s and such. In the end it felt great and took a lot of weight from my shoulders.

[sunvalleylaw]

Yes, I have a bunch of stuff I have that I mean to spend more time listening too. I have a bunch of prog stuff that I want to listen to more, but have just never gotten around to it. I started out on it, but got distracted. It is not the kind of stuff that I can listen to very well with the kids in the car, just not the right listening environment. Stuff like that.


Eric, those are some good thoughts a post or so above. No need to feel guilty about it. Guilt is something I picked up in parochial school. I'll get around to listening to it when the time is right.

[Eric]

Yes, I have a bunch of stuff I have that I mean to spend more time listening too. I have a bunch of prog stuff that I want to listen to more, but have just never gotten around to it. I started out on it, but got distracted. It is not the kind of stuff that I can listen to very well with the kids in the car, just not the right listening environment. Stuff like that.
I hear you on this. Most of what I ignore is prog-oriented stuff like that, without super-strong melodies. Since my primary listening time is in the car, it doesn't mesh so well.

I decided to index a bunch of the music I haven't touched for reference purposes and then delete it. I feel better already!

[sunvalleylaw]

But honestly, isn't it better to enjoy life along the way and take the different waves of interest as they come along? I think I need to slow down and listen to myself a bit more instead of trying to do everything all at once.

This is something I could have told you intellectually a long time ago, but as with most things, knowing it and living it are two different things.

I love that. In fact, this line could be a sig line or part of a lyric for a song:

I think I need to slow down and listen to myself a bit more instead of trying to do everything all at once.

[Tig]

I've got music that is in a limbo/purgatory state on my external hard drive as well. I haven't listened to these more than 2 or 3 times, some because they are so new, and others haven't really grabbed me yet.

Albert Lee - Live from Mars (2004)
Alter Bridge - Alter Bridge III (2010)
Black Country Communion - Black Country
Black Label Society -Order Of The Black (2010)
Devo - Something For Everybody [2010]
Goo Goo Dolls - Something For The Rest Of Us (2010)
Heart - Red Velvet Car (2010)
Joe Bonamassa - Black Rock (2010)
Joe Satriani - Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards
Neil Young - Le Noise [2010]
Ozzy Osbourne - Scream (2010)
Radiohead - The Bends (Deluxe Edition 2009)
Santana - Guitar Heaven The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time (2010)
Soundgarden - Telephantasm (Deluxe Edition 2010)
The Orb Featuring David Gilmour - Metallic Spheres (2010)
Frank Zappa - Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar
Frank Zappa - The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life
Frank Zappa - You Can't Do That On The Stage Anymore, Volume 1

[Pickngrin]

Eric,
I can completely relate to what you're saying. It was a problem (well, that's a strong term to use here) before the advent of MP3s, and it's more so now. I think I am going to follow some of the other posters and delete some (just some...baby steps...) music from my music library hard drive. I have my entire CD collection ripped to my hard drive, and then have a lot of music in digital format only. Having a lot really makes it difficult for me to decide what to listen to. I also have collected a lot of live shows over the years, so that compounds the issue. But I think you hit the nail on the head about not letting this eclipse your enjoyment of life and music.

[deeaa]

All this thinking about it makes me think maybe I should just delete and give away _everything_ made by record companies, and start to listen to no-name bands and small bands only.

[Spudman]

I have a few different ways that I get to listen to a lot of the music I have.

Whatever is on my hard drive(s) gets put into random rotation daily when I'm around the house. When something comes on that stops me I check out who it is and then listen to more of their material.

SD cards - I have several and fill them and re-fill them often so that I get something fresh on there. Those get listened to in the car, back packing, raking leaves, doing yard work, loading trucks, etc.

8 GB player gets to go on bicycle rides with me. That player usually gets stuff that I'm committed to picking apart and appreciating.

Point is that I find a way to get immersed in music as it's needed. I like silence too because when I get back to listening to the music I hear new things, and then is when material that I'm not real familiar with can really inspire me. It's like, "wow, I didn't know this was possible." "That gives me an idea."

It can be hard to take it all in, but I'll NEVER get rid of music just because I have too much of it.

[jpfeifer]

Eric,

Yes, I have the same problem. Too many things in the music library that I start to forget what I have.

I tend to listen to music mostly when I'm traveling for work. I spend a fair amount of time on airplanes and my iPod is my best travel companion to help cope with overcrowded seats and the stress of getting through security these days, etc. I started putting my iPod into shuffle mode just to see what comes up and I'm often suprised to find stuff that I haven't listened to in a long time. I've also found stuff that I hate, and wonder why I still have it in my music library.

I also like to hit Pandora.com to help me find new stuff based on what I already like. I've setup stations that are "seeded" with my favorite players. I have a Robben Ford station, Pat Metheny station, rock-a-billy one, Beatles one, Bela Fleck, etc ... then I put these into random mode and allow Pandora to suprise me with new stuff every now and then. This helps me to find stuff that I wouldn't normally find on my own.

I agree there is too much stuff out there and only so much free time to explore it all. I think that part of the "hangover" of this connected world we all live in is that we're all bombarded with too much information, all the time. Sometimes we all need to disconnect from everything, and just listen to silence to clear the mind and re-connect with what we really need.

--Jim