Burning Out?

I should've seen that one comin'.

I'm also feeling frustrated at the snail's pace my career change endeavors are proceeding, which probably has a lot to do with it. It's hard to get all excited about a new Dave Gedge tune when you're feeling guilty about having the same job for a damn decade and are worrying how any prospective employer would ever perceive you as a valuable asset.

its alright. you'll bounce back...too much of a good thing can kill you

as a father of 2 monsters (20mnth, 8 yrs) i too have had my periods of noise fatigue due to pressures of Real Life.

if i tell you its a momentary lapse of reason and all will be well soon, i doubt you'l believe me, but i have found it to always be the case.

just when i get bored and seriously dreading the postman's delivery - something arrives that gets me back on track ..

(for example 'pedro/kathryn williams - demons in cases' was one such track .. which kickstarted a whole new adventure )

and fuck the career aspirations .. parenting kills all flexibility .. but the benefits of bonding with child far FAR outweigh any new job title. (ok .. i'll accept this is not true for all .. but i made my choice and am far happier cos of it ..)

onwards !

ok. back to the usual

The child is now worryingly mobile, and has discovered the shelves whereupon the old man's embarassingly vast cd collection is kept. Directly in harm's way (harm being the merciless grasp of a curious eleven month old keen on banging things against the floor) is a wide swath of the "various artists" section. Two voices in my head. The Old Me says: "okay, remove those discs, catalog them, rip the important tracks to iTunes, and put them in storage in the basement. Have list of stored discs readily available on computer desktop." Yeah. Right. The Current...or is it New?...Me says: "fuck it, put'em in a box, throw'em in storage, forget about it. C'mon. Were you really planning on listening to the Trainspotting soundtrack or No New York again any time soon?"

b-b-b-but? Is such a thing possible? Hahahahhahahha

Just kidding. This has happened to me many times. Just put everything away and forget about music for a while. If you need background music, listen to WFMU.

it doesn't last long.

put a whole bunch of freebie cd's that come with various mags in reach instead of the good stuff ie stuff that you dont care about

.. then - dont react to child giving the silver side grief .. and boredom will kick in quickly .. (ie weeks .. not hours) .. then slowly start to bring back the stuf you want into reach ..

if you react to kid .. they win and it becomes a fun game with which to wind up daddy.

AOL discs suddenly decome useful !

RE: too many music choices...do you ever browse through your iTunes collection and think "there's a good chance I won't listen to half these songs even ONCE before I die"?

'Cause I do.

not even had chance to read the Reggae book from 2 xmas's ago that came out in conjunction with that BBC docmentary .. and the thing is mainly Pictures !

you folks make me glad i have no iTune funk going on in my world.. that would definitely send me over the edge ..

Ask Alex in NYC

before you get up to whatever you get up to tonight.

You're prolly just tired. Plus, it's a period of massive music suckage.

I'm guessing you're not burned out, but rather, doomed to love the stuff til you croak.

Hahahahha! WHY don't I throw those stupid things away for crying out loud? WHY?

I've had times when I feel "musically bored" yes. It never lasts. Chest cold can't be helping either. But the way I look at it is, after the huge trip you took to see the Joke and the Futureheads before them, well, that must have been a pretty intense experience. You're due for a little musical downtime after something like that! Take it easy, don't worry about it and get well soon.

Also: I would think working at a place for 10 years would be an asset rather than a detriment in looking for a new job!

Also, seconded on the reggae. The local college radio has amazing late-night reggae shows on Sundays and I so look forward to it. Maybe I should buy some Linton Kweisi Johnson or one of those Trojan box sets..

p.s. Have you heard "Player In The League" - the b-side to "Here To Stay"? I really like that one.

I'm off to see Futureheads in a bit here...

Sometimes I look at my CD collection and think: If I had the chance to trade this CD for another album I don't own, would I? I'm looking at my CDs right now, and I like owning, say, Luna's Bewitched, but I'd rather own, say, Bjork's Homogenic, which I don't own. Same with Electric Ladyland. I'd much rather have, um, Spirit of Eden or something.. I'm going to stop. This always depresses me and makes me want to sell all of my CDs except for, like thirty of them.

strangely i suspect that this thread has reinvoked my love for On-U today - a bonus result for me ..

I actually chased down Christgau when I saw him one day and asked him about it. He told me it happens all the time, and when I'm afflicted I should, "Find out what I like and find out why I like it." It was really liberating at the time. Anyway, hope that helps.

that's a fascinating story, and really good advice! i've always done the same thing for myself during periods of "burnout" but never figured a good way to sum it up, and christgau's way of putting it is immaculate. find out what i like. and why i like it.

Sometimes I look at my CD collection and think: If I had the chance to trade this CD for another album I don't own, would I?

i seriously do this ALL THE TIME. except i'll do it with full discographies. last week i realized i'd owned, like, five sleater-kinney albums for years upon years, and not really listened to them, and could recall maybe 3-4 songs (aka, less than a song per album). took all five to the used CD shop, traded for new CDs that i'd rather have -- and i feel great about it, don't miss em at all.

"imagine there's no music"

'tis bloody hard to do

Sometimes I look at my CD collection and think: If I had the chance to trade this CD for another album I don't own, would I?

i seriously do this ALL THE TIME. except i'll do it with full discographies. last week i realized i'd owned, like, five sleater-kinney albums for years upon years, and not really listened to them, and could recall maybe 3-4 songs (aka, less than a song per album). took all five to the used CD shop, traded for new CDs that i'd rather have -- and i feel great about it, don't miss em at all.

― stephen, Wednesday, October 17, 2007 7:04 PM (3 years ago)

read this post from ~3 years ago and didn't realize it was mine til i saw the signature. still don't miss those sleater-kinney albums, except i liked The Woods a good bit. that one was really nice. i'm in the process of cleaning house once again -- quite liberating!

This is an annual thing - I love doing it, pruning 50-100 CDs, filing in the new stuff, trading the old ones in typically for box sets. Yeah it's not the most economical choice but when I look at my CD racks I think, "Damn I want to listen to ALL OF THIS NOW".

my hard-drive has crashed a few times. at first, i'm devestated, since it houses thousands of songs/discs. but then it feels liberating, not having to feel the weight of all that accumulated music, much of which i haven't thought about, much less heard, in years. every once in a while, it feels good to start all over again.

started this thread in 2007 during my first posting stint, when i was "three handclaps":

Taking A Break: Music Burnout / Overload