What MUSIC are you listening to?

The Go! Team, one of my all-time favourite bands, just dropped a new tune on their YouTube channel. It has exactly the kind of relentlessly upbeat optimism that I need to hear going into 2021

I was turned on to Raja Kumari in a FB group I belong to. Amazing.

https://youtu.be/XAdFt9GI-lY

https://youtu.be/LzRpisE3wuI

I went down an Indian hip hop Spotify rabbit hole and it has been fantastic.

Spent a good portion of yesterday listening to Nat King Cole Christmas songs while doing laundry/playing Destiny.

Ah_Pook wrote:

man i listen to both albums by The Beths like every day any more. theyre so good!

also, sometimes i remember how much i absolutely love this album

This new We Are The Union album is out today and it is great

This one goes out to our Ancient_of_MuMu:

Great timing! Just last week I watched this:

This song came out early in 2020, but I feel like it has the perfect vibe for right now:

My music habits are frozen circa 2007, which means that instead of streaming music like a normal person I actually buy albums on iTunes or what have you. So with a big move in the offing I thought I'd observe my birthday by buying a few albums from a band I've never really been into before. This time I chose The War on Drugs, one of those bands that ends up on lots of year-end lists that I'd never given the time to before. I ended up picking up their last three albums: Lost in the Dream, A Deeper Understanding, and I Don't Live Here Anymore.

They evidently what people who aren't approaching middle age call "dad rock," since their biggest influences seem to be Bob Dylan, Springsteen, and Tom Petty. There's an airier "indie" sound about them that gives the whole thing a more polished quality, but it's working for me. Going to have to give it some more listens to pick out the details that distinguish all those different songs, but I'll have lots of time to do so while I'm traveling over the next few weeks.

Anyway, here's a song that feels very appropriate for this particular time in my life.

san il defanso wrote: My music habits are frozen circa 2007, which means that instead of streaming music like a normal person I actually buy albums on iTunes or what have you.

man I bought cds for way longer than like anyone else in the world i think. once you try streaming youll find it hard to go back though. i buy stuff off bandcamp to support bands that i really like.

I'm old so I have tons of ripped CDs and mp3 albums I've bought. Last year I was looking for a good way to listen to them at home and discovered that most solutions aren't great because there's no market for it. No one buys or owns music anymore, they just stream it.

This really hit home when I bought an mp3 album off bandcamp. I could easily listen to the album for free on bandcamp, YouTube, or Spotify, but my purchased copy was going to be a pain in the ass.

I can't imagine how or why anyone continues to produce music in this environment.

I actually put in a good couple years as a Spotify premium user, and I simply never used it. Not only do I primarily listen to albums, I tend to do so with the stuff I've already listened to for years. I'm just a luddite with music, but not such a luddite that I own physical media.

There are a couple reasons why it didn't take. First of all, I resent all forms of DRM. In some cases it's much more convenient to use it than to avoid it. (Steam comes to mind.) But I hate the idea that I paid money for something and don't own it myself. I know that's just the world we live in, but if I can still have some kind of music files that are mine to listen to on whatever platform I want, then I will always prefer that. If the world of streaming media has taught me anything, it's that actually owning files is one of those last bastions of power I have over IP holders. I worry that at some point the music streaming landscape will be as fractured as that of TV and movies, and I just hate that so much. It's also complicated by what platforms are available living abroad, though that doesn't apply much to Spotify.

Secondly, there is a romantic element for me, where I like the idea of having a curated collection of music. It feels like some sort of form of self-expression to me. I recognize that sounds silly, but I have much more attachment to music in a collection, rather than stuff on a platform.

Finally, because I'm such a homebody, I simply struggle to know what to listen to on a platform where pretty much anything is available. It's a kind of paralysis that drives me back to the stuff I already listen to a lot. It just isn't worth the money for me.

I am a pretty big consumer of Spotify content. I have found so many more artists than I would have without it. Artists that will never tour the US or stuff like old Afro-soul, Cambodian surf music, etc. Will I buy actual albums again? Nope. The convenience of streaming is too great for my lifestyle.

** I have actually bought a couple albums from Doro Pesche that aren't on Spotify. A rarity to be sure.

Encanto has taken over our casita.