Starting July 2005, when I started Milliblog, I’ve read tons and tons of opinions about the stupidity of 100 word reviews and faced the constant allegation that I do not give any music enough time to sink in. This may be rather late, but let me explain how I approach music listening, as an activity.
Given the number of reviews I post week after week, yes…I do listen to a lot of music per week than any average Joe. For me, music has become a commodity, due to the sheer amount of music that there is to listen. So, what actually stays is what actually made the cut in my mind.
Like most other things in my life, I have a very short threshold for good music – gone are the days when I had the patience to let a piece of music sink in due to repetitive listening. With the amount of music available and the limited time we have on this planet, I personally do not have the patience anymore. I’m ready to move if it does not impress me.
This is indeed a cut-throat approach to music, a fine art, but that’s how it is. But, I do give it a serious concession given all this background – when I listen to music, I do it exclusively. No multi-tasking while listening to new music…no playing it in the background etc. I listen to fresh music as if that IS the only task at that point in time. I believe that helps me absorb music better – just a personal belief that you may refute in the comments.
That said, I listen to music at fixed periods of time – the major chunk of which is while driving to office and back home, in the evening. That’s almost 2 hours a day. I cannot work at office while listening to music either, so that is ruled out. The presence of so many other distractions and activities on the internet rules out more listening periods in the evening.
Which means, when I sit down to review something, I actually listen to that soundtrack or album only for the purpose of review.
With this as background, I find it amusing when people say that I spend too less a time on listening to music for reviews. Personally, the time spent on listening to music or the number of times one hears the same piece of music is immaterial – for a review. A review is nothing but a personal opinion and if someone requires multiple listens to grasp the nuances in a particular piece of music, someone else may require only one. It’s a personal trait and is also based on the importance one gives to music.
But, when I see more than one comment admonishing me for a particular review, I do give that piece of music a second chance and that’s saying something.
On an average, as an example, out of 100 tracks I listen to, as many as 25 make the cut to my permanent music collection. That is a huge number and I relish this collection occasionally, in pieces.
The other trait of mine that amuses even me is the excitement I get from listening to a good track (good is a personal term, I agree). When it happens – I actually feel so excited that I immediately stop listening to it midway, enjoy the break and prolong the excitement. This happens all the time and recent examples include (just a random list) Fiqrana from Blue; I see you and Blame it on the girls from Mika’s latest album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much; Iktara from Wake Up Sid; Kaminay’s title song; Tharai irangiya from Eeram (Tamil); Picha vecha naal mudhal from Puthiya Mugham (Malayalam) and Danchave Remix from Ride and Seheri from Oy (both Telugu), among others.
This is a rather personal post and in no way reflects anybody else’s (I know of) listening habits. And this is not even the best way to go about listening to music either – just my way.
So, how do you listen to music?
