Lou Barlow: Goodnight Unknown, part 5

Listening Envy, part 2

From: Monty
To: Brian & Scott

Brian, I’m a grumpier, older man than you are...nyah.

There was a time in my life when I poured over the liner notes of every (vinyl) album I owned, knew every song title and its track position on the album, who played which instruments on which tracks, etc., etc. To a degree this naturally led to some knowledge of relationships between the personnel of one band and another, crossover between producers, and that sort of thing. I’m pretty sure I was never as interested in all that info as you guys are, but I was exposed to it. Then CDs came along, and soon I let go of even that modicum scrutiny.

It wasn’t just that the CD artwork is so much smaller (although that is certainly part of it), but also that the advent of the CD came about at a time when things my life were getting more complicated. I was just out of school, planning my wedding & getting married, finding a real job, buying our first house, blah, blah. I simply couldn’t find enough hours in the day to mull the musical landscape like I had done when I was essentially living on my Dad’s dime. And slowly the realization crept into my consciousness that I didn’t miss it very much. All I really cared about, ultimately, were the sounds coming out of the speakers. The rest of the information became increasingly less important, and has continued to follow that trajectory for me even as technology has moved further and further toward making that information (and much more) increasingly accessible. Maybe not the best thing for someone to say as they embark on a new record-reviewing venture, but give me credit for honesty.

I’ve always been fortunate to have a handful of friends, like yourselves, who have opinions I trust and through whom I find new music. When someone recommends something to me, or when I read about a new artist that might interest me, I do make some effort to investigate before buying a CD. I’ll Google the artist and/or check out their web site. And I virtually always listen to the little sample files on Amazon or eMusic or wherever before I order or download something new. So it’s pretty unusual for me to pop on a CD or dial up an mp3 without any idea at all of what I’m about to hear.

On the flip side of that same coin, though, it was never particularly common for me to buy an album completely cold, even before the internet came along. Generally I always bought things I knew something about, even if it was purely by word-of-mouth. And when I was curious about new record, most record store clerks were always more than happy to play it for me in the store.

So in answer to Brian’s question, today’s technology makes my “pre-purchase research” easier and faster, but I don’t really do more of it than I ever did. I know there’s a lot more information out there than ever before, and that it’s only a keystroke away. I just don’t really need it.