I read an interesting article by Miles Rayner in this week’s Chicago Reader Sharp Darts column. It’s about the glutony that is digital music consumption in the ’00s, and, more importantly, what some people are doing about it. Like the self-imposed music-listening regimine journalist Michaelangelo Matos calls the “Slow Listening Movement”. The idea is to create a strict diet of music that can be healthily consumed and digested by a single human on a day to day basis (sticking with the food metaphor… the name is a nod to the “Slow Food Movement”).
I’m 1,000% for it. Who needs to download more music than it’s humanly possibly to hear, much less listen to? It hurts me, it hurts you, it would hurt music if such a thing had feelings. Check out Matos’ blog for more details: slowlisteningmovement.blogspot.com
Personally, I don’t listen to enough new music any more, so I’m going the other way: trying to listen to at least a few new albums per week, with an emphasis on nothing. If an album piques my interest but I’m on the fence, I’ll give it a couple more listens before moving on. Recently enjoyed albums have been Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future by The Bird and the Bee, and The Destroyer by Alec Empire. I listen legally at Rhapsody, which costs under $15 per month and provides me with tons of listening options. I highly recommend it.
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