Best way to listen to new music

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I'm sure we've all been there and done it - rushed off to the nearest music shop and bought a new CD or single and whatever, or maybe even two or three (or ten). The question then is how to listen to the new record(s), which is where I want to know everyone's views. Is it better to play the new record(s) endlessly on a loop to get it into your system immediately, and then endanger burnout (ie sick of a record too soon), or should you 'infilitrate' the new record into your collection, playing it with other more familiar material until it's got under your skin over time?

Are there advantages in records being played so much that they are 'of their time', in that you associate them with times and places and people from when you played them the first time? Are there any examples you can think of to prove your case?

Come on ILM folks, I need to know your opinions on this one. I realise I'm a bit vague, but I think you get the idea.

― Rob M, Monday, 15 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Normally, I buy 5 or more at a time, and out of those there's usually just one that I REALLY want to hear, and I just play that one (or more likely, the same two tracks) over and over, and the others just get forgotten, to be rediscovered at the bottom of the pile when I need to listen to new music and don't have the requisite funds.

― dave q, Monday, 15 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i buy at least 5 LPs a week if averaged out i think, and i play immediately the ones i'm in the mood for, and the rest get filed away for when i'm in the mood (sometimes 6 months later).

i try never to over-play records - i think favourite records are your favourites because they fit a particular mood, so it's only worth hearing them at the right time. some of my favourite records i've probably only played about 3 times

― m jemmeson, Monday, 15 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Depends on the record(s), obviousy. Do you buy records that you are dying to hear RIGHT NOW or just building up your Merzbow collection?

I bought the Peaches ep this weekend, which I'm gonna overplay as it's the purpose of such a record. "You danced to it, now sing to it", to twist LaFontaine's moral...
On the other hand, I also found a nice re-edition of OJ' "Rip it Up" for $6.99, but that's going straight to the shelves until next summer...

― Simon, Monday, 15 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I like the infiltration method. I try not to overplay any one particular CD either....I don't like feeling as if I've discovered everything there is to discover about a CD, I always like to be vaguely familiar, not overly familiar. There are plenty of great CDs in my collection that I once loved that I unfortunately cannot listen to much anymore, because I just played them out so much.

― patrick, Monday, 15 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

It might be a good thought to approach each new purchase in a consistent manner. It would also probably help if I actually analyzed the things I listen to critically, assuming I'm trying to learn something from it. I think it depends on why you are listening to what you're listening to. But I have a hard time approaching music from an analytical standpoint unless I'm trying to pick something specific out of it, and instead usually just suck it in and think about it after the fact.

Generally, I try to listen to all the tracks together, not just certain tracks, for at least the first 5 listens. Assuming I can make it last that long. More often than not, things always get better the more chances I give it, so sometimes it's a real battle getting through things until I finally get to the point where I don't have to think about it anymore. Autechre's Confeld was like that for me, my brain couldn't take it the whole way throught the first couple times, but eventually happiness arrived when I finally sank into it with familiarity... I also noticed with myself that things come together with more ease if I listen while walking long distances. Kinda random.

My question is, once you realize you severely like something, is it wrong to be a musical glutton? I'm embarrassed to say I've spent weeks at a time pounding cds I love into my brain in an addictive manner, as if I need to get it out of my system, almost... I realize in the end that is frequently destructive, and really exhausts your tolerance for things, but I also think it's a way of assimilating your tastes into your own musical output (assuming you do have an output) in an organic way... hm?

― Maria, Tuesday, 16 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

oh, i always play albums from start to finish, and never more than once per day. shuffle = tool of satan.

with jazz cds though, it's necessary to leap up and stop them at the end of the original running order, to avoid the hell that is Alternate Take land

― m jemmeson, Tuesday, 16 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i like to listen to new records in a completely passive way. While doing something else.. like reading or studying or working or while talking to someone.That way i'm not actively listening but the new sounds get into my system.(I play one record from start to finish.no shuffle or repeat).You can really get into something that way without even noticing and you are less likely to be influenced by your own prejudices.

― Marie, Wednesday, 17 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Thanks to everyone's answers so far. I have to say that my way of listening to new music changed the moment my wife bought me a Discman, so I stopped making compilation tapes and started listening to albums as a whole. I do most of my listening travelling back and forth to work (a fifteen minute walk followed by a twenty minute bus ride, plus however long I happen to wander around town on my way home) so it's sort of passive, the first few listens of a CD will draw me in over the course of a day or so and I'll be compelled to play a CD until I feel like changing it, unless I have a violent dislike to something (yesterday I bought a Life without Buildings CD, great music, spoilt by what sounded like a junior school girl doing a Mark E Smith impression, lasted three songs before returning to something more palatable).

Bue before that came along I'd tape a new album, play it for a while then chuck my favourite tracks onto compilations merging newer stuff with familiar songs, to put both into a new context, and in a way I miss that. Not that I'm about to get a CD-R to change my habits...

― Rob M, Wednesday, 17 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Rob, I have to conscientiously give everything I buy a fair chance which is probably some sort of sado masochist thing at times. No matter how shit or boring I think some of the tracks or songs are after a couple of listens I still persevere until I'm convinced I don't like it. My method is normally this: I'll play a new LP twice in the background just to let it seep in and get it familiarised with my ears. A couple of days later I'll come back to it and give it an intense listen. I'll then leave it for a week or so before giving it another close going over. By that stage I'll know if I really love it or merely like some of the trax. Either way I'll leave it for a few weeks and then come back for the final verdict. I think this is a good method for uncommercial sounding stuff.

― David Gunnip, Wednesday, 17 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i prefer the infiltrate method. unless i'm at work. i listen to about 75% of the new music i purchase at work, and it's nearly always from start to finish. occasionally repeating a stand-out track. lately i've discovered the danger of a near by pawnshop, and have been buying a cd everyday on my lunchbreak. yesterday was Pram, the day before that Talvin Singh, and today has been Braniac and some seattle band named Flop. at less than 2 bucks each, i really can't seem to go wrong.

― ktrey, Wednesday, 17 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The radio, or the club, or BET. Honestly. On the extremely rare occasions that I spend the shekels to get it in my hot little hands I don't even really need to listen to it any more. BUT I tape stuff off my friends constantly :) and that means it's Walkman time, so it follows me wherever I go....

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 17 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hearing a song on the radio is a strange experience. I heard one of the songs on the Jonathan David ep for the first time on KCRW and I had dry mouth - his voice, instantly recognizable, traveling through time and space. Listening to it later off of the ep, I was disappointed. I remember the first time I heard '1963' on the radio, too. Butterflies, almost felt sick inside. And 'Brand New Friend' on the Rodney on the Rock show...

― youn, Wednesday, 17 October 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

six years pass...

Bumpity.

― Scik Mouthy, Friday, 15 February 2008 09:49 (eighteen years ago)

How much have things changed in five-six years?

― Scik Mouthy, Friday, 15 February 2008 10:43 (eighteen years ago)

If it initially sounds good it goes into the loop. If it doesn't quite catch me first time I put it aside for six months and then revisit. It usually works.

― Dingbod Kesterson, Friday, 15 February 2008 10:45 (eighteen years ago)

i buy what i know i'll like, mostly dj stuff that i'll preview in shops or online. this will get played in listening sessions which consist of me trying to mix and prancing around.

all other music that enters my life that doesn't turn me on straight away goes straight on to the ipod. the ipod is always on shuffle mode. i haven't got a clue what 90% of the music on it is.

― Crackle Box, Friday, 15 February 2008 11:05 (eighteen years ago)

Good question Rob M. And to think there were people on ILE who thought I was a troll.

Circumstances change, and so does technology. In fact, I've gone backwards in that way. I did have an MP3 playing portable CD player but that died a while ago so I'm back to my Discman. And seeing as I sold my hifi a few months ago I've got no tape deck to record for the car, so I'm just digging through old tapes in the attic every so often. It's quite a laugh. As for circumstances, different job, toddling son in the house, not so many chances to listen to music as there was in 2001. And with less money, each purchase is more important and has to be good, or I'll be really annoyed I wasted precious money on it. No Ipod, no real bb connection at home (any entries are through work), so no downloads.

How do I listen? Intently for the first few days, then merge into a general scheme of things. Last new major purchases were the YMG set and the Foals single before Xmas, and they lasted me a good while. My Dad's just given me a load of Everly Brothers CDs so I'll be trawling through them for a while (like I didn't know them already) until I manage to get the Hot Chip or Foals albums.

― Rob M v2, Friday, 15 February 2008 11:52 (eighteen years ago)

in order of preference:

1) out of a gigantic sound system
2) from passing cars
3) on the radio
4) on headphones after having downloaded it
5) on a home stereo

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 15 February 2008 11:53 (eighteen years ago)

2) from passing cars

in certain areas this will get you arrested though.

― Crackle Box, Friday, 15 February 2008 12:00 (eighteen years ago)

Depending on how fast I'm acquiring things, my biggest problem is keeping track of the new music I have around. I've set up smart playlists in iTunes so I can see what I've added in the last 30 days, three months, year, etc. When I'm casting about for something to listen to, I browse those lists and try to choose something I haven't heard yet or haven't given as much attention as I'd like.

Usually I end up listening to the iPod or the computer. Since I replaced my cheap computer speakers with active monitors, this actually sounds better than my "real" stereo.

Oh, and almost always I listen to albums, straight through.

― Brad C., Friday, 15 February 2008 14:40 (eighteen years ago)

The only way to listen to music is through all encompassing headphones.
You know...big ones.

― our work is never over, Friday, 15 February 2008 14:46 (eighteen years ago)

Like these?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Headphones%20and%20hi-fi/IMG_6352.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Headphones%20and%20hi-fi/Photo546.jpg

― Scik Mouthy, Friday, 15 February 2008 14:52 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, that's what it's all about.
Those headphones rule my headphones.

― our work is never over, Friday, 15 February 2008 16:48 (eighteen years ago)

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