When Was The Last Time You Really Listened to Music?

I was probably 16 or 17. I was sharing a small room with my brother that was probably no more than 10’ x 8’. We had bunk beds in one corner and across the room from that there was an unbelievably comfortable gold, velvet rocking chair. Above that was a corner shelf. On that corner shelf was my stereo. I remember this stereo well because it was one of the first “expensive” things I bought with my own money. It was an RCA, grey plastic with some kind of blue lettering. It was a CD/Tape/Radio combo with 2 removable speakers, terrible sounding but perfect. It barely fit on the shelf. If I pulled too hard with my headphones, the stereo was likely to fall off and hit me in the head. I had headphones that I had got on a flight from Ontario to Alberta on Canada 3000, an old airline that no longer operates that served terrible inflight meals. I still have the adapter that came with the headphones with the two 1/8” jacks that airlines used for the express purpose of making you spend money on their headphones and making your useless. Again, these were terrible headphones that sounded awful. Once again though, they were absolutely perfect.

The reason that I remember this so well is that this was my spot. This was my discovery zone. This is where I first heard Kid A, Pet Sounds, London Calling, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, etc.. I remember vividly coming home from school after I had heard a track from Radiohead’s OK Computer for the first time. I took my parents car and went and bought the CD from Sunrise Records in the Lynden Park Mall, came home, parked myself in my gold chair and pressed play. It was late afternoon, the light was waining in my room, and I remember my whole world changing. That record rewired my brain. The possibilities I felt after listening to that record were endless. I barely knew how to play an instrument and I had absolutely no idea what recording was but all I knew is that I needed to find out everything about what I had just heard. I could care less about the convertors in my terrible RCA stereo or that my airline headphones were garbage and probably were distorted and cut off anything below 80 Hz. All I knew is that when I closed my eyes and listened to alien world on that album that it transported me to somewhere that was foreign and wonderful.

20 years on from that moment, that rarely happens anymore. It’s partially as a result of life. My wife and two kids, work, being a home owner / car owner, community involvement, etc…. These all understandably and rightly take up almost all of my time. It is also partially of my own doing. I haven’t set aside time to listen to a full album, un-distracted, for years. All of my favourite records, remember vividly listening to them and the surrounding memories associated with that.

I remember the first time I heard The Flaming Lips “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”. That was with a good friend of mine in a McDonalds parking lot in Sydney, Australia.

I remember really listening to Bon Iver’s self-titled second record driving a rental Dodge Challenger in Florida with my wife, driving up Route 41 from Siesta Keys to Port Charlotte at sunset. It might seem mundane, but it is one of the most pleasant memories so far in my life.

I remember listening to “St. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” by The Beatles, specifically “A Day in The Life”, on CD in Grade 10 music class at Hamilton District Christian High School. My music teacher, who I am forever in his debt for helping me learn how to listen, turned the lights off, closed the blinds and had everybody spread out and find some space by ourselves. And then we just listened. The orchestra crescendo at the end of the song blew my mind!

I remember vividly listening to M83’s “Digital Shades Vol. 1” the evening my first son was born. I was holding him while my wife was taking a break, and we listened to that album on my phone. It is the soundtrack to that memory, imprinted in my brain as if it just happened. Again, I don’t think i’ve ever felt more alive and at peace as that moment.

I could go on and on. Pink Floyd, Arcade Fire, David Bowie, Miles Davis, My bloody Valentine, Sigur Ros, etc…

This whole post was triggered by this article in the Los Angeles Times.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-03-17/coronavirus-deep-listening-music-albums

The premise being pick 3 albums, carve out the time, and really listen to them. It’s such a rewarding experience. It could be albums you already know, or ones you don’t. Theres not a right or wrong answer. If you don’t have that much time, do it for 1 album and then in a day or two, do it again. Here are the 3 that I have in mind:

Johann Johansson - Last and First Men

Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band - Darkness on The Edge of Town

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen

I don’t know if i’ll get through all 3 in a row, but I don’t think that’s the point. The point is to listen. To slow down, breath deep, and feel. Turn off Netflix, put away your phone and your anxieties and just listen. Lord knows we could use some relief from that right now.