When, as a boy, I felt especially fed up with the demands of childhood – schoolwork, violin lessons, crush-pursuits, and so on – I would fantasize about time off from it all. A year, in particular, in which everyone could leave their cares behind to enjoy the things they loved, lounge on beaches, and eat exotic, delicious foods. For all kinds of logistical reasons this isn’t feasible, of course, and neither is the premise of this thread, which is: what if, for a year, an entire year, no new records came out? And the publications you work for held off on features and reviews, and bands decided to take a break from touring, and you found yourself with a surplus of time and cash? Just think: you could listen to whatever you wanted to, regardless of trends and deadlines or whatever. In such improbable circumstances, what would you listen to? What sounds would fill the 365 days of freedom you had? What would you educate yourself on – movements, artists, heralded classics you’d never found the time to check out or play more than twice?
Some gaps I’d seek to fill:
1. Grime. Two-step.UK Garage, whatever – I know next to nothing about these genres, aside from the first Streets single and Arular (if that counts). I mean, I’ve skimmed threads and guess I could shell out for a comp, but I’d like to dive in all the way in, you know? I feel improverished!
2. Deep Catalogues Of Trend-Setters/Mavericks New And Old: Stones, Beatles, Missy Elliot, Grateful Dead, Black Flag, Neil Young, Prince, The Fall, Bonnie Prince Billy, The Ex, etc., beyond the singles everyone knows.
3. Contemporary indie, if only for a sense of context...I feel like I only have a feel for a tiny fraction of what’s current. I mean, I haven’t knowingly heard as much as a note of Clap Yr Hands Say Yeah, Postal Service, Death Cab, Grizzly Bear, et al, and I wonder – am I missing something great, or at least stuff that’s important in a referent sense? Much 00s emo and punk and Dipset also falls under this umbrella.
4. Crunk, syrup rap, the zillion sub-genres of dance and associated labels, etc.
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 29 September 2005 12:35 (twenty years ago)
if i had a whole year, i might find time to finally listen to
Sandinista! all the way from start to finish.
i've always figured i'd never bother starting to listen to jazz unless i had at least half a year to deidcate to it. otherwise, i'd just try and work through the Tom Waits albums i don't own, which is most of them.
― Lee F# (fsharp), Thursday, 29 September 2005 13:17 (twenty years ago)
Speaking of jazz, I'd like to delve deeper into Miles beyond Kind Of Blue, Bitches Brew, and another album of his I have title of which escapes me now.
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 29 September 2005 14:34 (twenty years ago)
And:
Wolf Eyes labrynth catalogue, collabs and solo stuff as well
Brick Layer Cake (and all those other late 80s/early 90s T&G/Stiltbreeze/1/4stick artists whose stuff was described on foldout catalogues that I never checkec out)
Can (beyond Tago Mago, which I'm intimately familiar with)
― Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 29 September 2005 14:41 (twenty years ago)
three weeks pass...
A year outside of time, mine to waste any whichway?
I'd be recording at least four albums of the songs I don't even have time to write down anymore.
― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 24 October 2005 07:45 (twenty years ago)