New Record Rituals

I am looking forward to buying the new Broken Social Scene album "Forgiveness Rock Record" tomorrow on my lunch break, stare at the CD on my desk all day without opening it, bring it home, crack open a nice ale, put the CD on the stereo, and lie still on the couch for an hour as the sun gradually goes down and just listen. Why shouldn't records be accorded the same level of respect as great movies?

Does anyone else have any rituals when they acquire a long-anticipated record? or do you just slap it onto your computer as soon as you get your hands on it?



Post Edited (05-03-10 20:50)

I usually don't listen to it until I have a suitably protracted amount of time ... such as a long time at my desk between meetings, or a long drive in my car.

If none of those is on the foreseeable horizon, then I rip it to iTunes and listen to it on my usual long Saturday morning walk.

I hardly ever listen to leaks or previews of an album that I'm probably going to buy. I think it's equal parts laziness, not wanting to listen to 128kbps-quality material, not wanting to "spoil" it. And i still buy CDs.

There are a few bands that I make a point of buying the disc somewhere far enough from home that I can listen to the entire thing driving home.

Entropy, dont get people started on the human ear's ability to distinguish 128kbps MP3s.

For me, it's not laziness. I really dont want to hear any preview tracks from an album that I have looked forward to and want to hear in its entirety. It's the same reason I plug my ears and repeat Fishka-fishka-foo in movie trailer.

Also, in my opinion the whole "leak" thing really debases something that used to be a lot of fun (the release date of an album). Who are these assholes leaking every single album to the blogosphere, like they are on some kind of divine mission from God?



Post Edited (05-04-10 12:05)

Can't say I have any rituals per se, but I do generally have a rule that I have to listen to something at least three times before I can put it away on the shelf, where it may go unlistened to for months or years. Three times seems to be enough in most cases to decide whether I like it.

3 is indeed the magic number for that, I think. I've had plenty of records wherein the lightbulb didn't come on until the third spin - "Oh, now I get it!"

Post Edited (05-20-10 20:23)

I guess 3 is the magic number for me, too. It takes me that many listens to an album, to write a review of it. (If anyone is of the opinion that I need more, please go ahead and say so.)

That's been my guiding principle of late: 3 spins before I put down a single word. There are exceptions, of course.

If it's something I have really been looking forward to, I have to listen to it in the car. The reasons are simple:

1. My car offers the best fidelity I can easily get since paring down my home set-up...Blaupunkt, 8 speakers, etc.

2. I have the ability/opportunity to be alone in the car.

> That's been my guiding principle of late: 3 spins before I put down a single word.

With me, it's more like:
Spin #1: Make notes, song by song;
Spin #2: Tie them all together into something resembling coherency;
Spin #3: Polish it up.

In short, three spins before I submit a single word.

Step 1. Procure the CD

Step 2. Insert into nearest player (usually my laptop at work, listening w/ earphones) ASAP.

Step 3. Repeat Step 2 if warranted

Mine was pretty much the same as Nosepail's until the spawn came along. This led to the car CD player coming into play until said spawn filled it with coins.

I will only listen to music in my car or at home. I've never gotten a boombox, walkman, walkdisc or IPod or IPap or ISmear. There's no such thing as background music to me. I need to concentrate on each song as I lie there on my couch, the music being my supreme therapist.

Often if I listen to aggressive, pounding tunes, I like to throw things up in the air, like maybe a ball against the ceiling or some pens against a pad. I need to bash things around.

For some reason, cycles are also important to me. If I start on a box set, I must finish the entire set listening to one or two disks per day until done. This also goes for styles of music or bands. I will listen to, say, every Mazzy Star disk until the end. My basic cycle is this: Psychedelia: Floyd, Nuggets, Velvets. Postpunk: Joy Division, New Order, Joy Division, The Fall, New Order, Joy Division. Reggae: My two giant reggae box sets. Any new stuff: My car radio permanently tuned to WXPN fills in all the gaps so Hoip is in the know when he posts.

I know this didn't mention new record, but that's how I am, and basically I forgot.

> For some reason, cycles are also important to me.

I think that reason is "being human."

With albums that come with liner notes, re-issues, compilations and the like, I like to put the disc on, lay on my sofa, and read about the making of the album, the various songs, the times.

Jay