Yeah, this is it. I acquired all of one album in the last month: Sondre Lerche's newest, self-titled album, which I wrote about the other day. The long and short of it was, like a number of 2011 records I've heard lately, it's a fine album but it's not addicting. In fact I haven't really heard anything addicting in a long, long time. Is it me?
Music got away from me this month. I blinked and June was over. I was too busy working my tail off at the office, chasing after my kid, watching tennis, and in my spare alone time watching The Killing in a few marathon sessions. I think it's a combination of that dreary show and my lack of serious music listening that makes me feel like June was a kind of a lost month. A mildly depressing month.
I'm tempted to say I'm in a listening slump, but that implies that I've been trying to listen to music but failing. Until just a couple of days ago, that really hasn't been the case. Frankly I just haven't had time for music. That sounds like a really strange, wrong-headed thing to say! But the fact is that my listening time has been severely curtailed of late, and when I have put on music—during my walk to work, for instance—it's been an aimless shuffle of recent acquisitions and a bunch of ambient tracks, coincidentally all that happens to be loaded on my iPhone. (Is it possible that my current funk is related to the fact that my iPod has reached capacity and, since I can't put anything new on it, I don't use it?)
At any rate I find myself in a mood. I feel frustrated with music. Or, rather, with the music I'm managing to hear. I feel like most of the channels I've previously relied upon to point me to new music have been leading me astray lately; and though I wish it weren't the case, the truth is that I don't dig through the proverbial slush pile the way I used to. I'm looking for the next epiphany, not sure when or where I'll find it.
listen to Male Bonding
Posted by: mike | June 30, 2011 at 09:47 AM
Sounds like you might need a little dose of KARP to bring you back to your "1" mark.
Posted by: Cam | June 30, 2011 at 09:49 AM
Karp does have a way of recentering one's mind, through force of volume alone.
Posted by: scott pgwp | June 30, 2011 at 10:28 AM
Did you hear Bill Callahan's "Apocalypse"? Not all the songwriting is up to snuff, but the warm, earthy sound of the thing was refreshing, even on mp3.
Posted by: Cam | June 30, 2011 at 10:38 AM
I think I've brought this up on the blog before but I have a real difficulty listening to Callahan, despite the fact that by all accounts he should be right up my alley. I had a personal interaction with him years ago that put a bitter taste in my mouth.
Posted by: scott pgwp | June 30, 2011 at 11:03 AM
Well, allow me to remove my foot from my mouth and pledge to be a closer reader of pgwp in the future...
Posted by: Cam | June 30, 2011 at 02:41 PM
Is there a way to search on your blog? I feel like there used to be.
Posted by: Cam | June 30, 2011 at 02:45 PM
I don't remember what post it was... it was in the comments to a post that wasn't about Smog - I think someone was recommending Smog to me (it's an annual occurance!).
Anyway, the short version of the story is we had booked Smog to play the record store I worked at back in 1998 or 1999 and he was a smug dick to everyone who worked there and everyone who came to see him play (you know, the fans). In the grand scheme of things he didn't do anything unforgivable, but, you know, there are a zillion albums I could spend my money and time on, and I just don't feel I'm missing THAT MUCH by skipping over someone who was an asshole to me.
Posted by: scott pgwp | June 30, 2011 at 03:31 PM
Ha, that was me recommending Smog.
For what it's worth, the new Callahan album is pretty weak, so even if you suddenly changed your mind about him, that's not where I'd send you.
Posted by: Richard | July 07, 2011 at 12:24 PM