First and foremost it must be stated that I am a musician. Music is what I DO. But it has been apparent to me for rather a long time that I am inexplicably lazy when it comes to exploring the musical world. I would rather have the same favourite band for 5 years than venture out into the overwhelming sea of artists, albums and musicals that fill up JB Hi-Fi and swamp YouTube. I will browse, noncommittally, for ages but I won't actually buy anything because I'm afraid it might be rubbish. Therefore, my music collection consists of stuff that I really, really, REALLY like...but is pitifully small for someone who calls herself a musician.
Many people have recommended artists and songs to me, but this still rather leaves me in the dark as to which CD I should buy, so...I have started this album project. My full intentions can be found here, but basically I plan to listen to and review 3 albums a month. I could listen to a lot more than that in a month I know, but the point of this is to actually listen to and familiarise myself with new stuff, because so many musicians are an 'acquired taste' and can't be justly evaluated after one listening.
Finally, I also love writing. Concise reviews have never been a favourite form of writing for me, as I like detail, so I hope to hone the skill of saying a lot with a little in the process of keeping this blog. But in the meantime, expect great big chunks of evaluating, describing, praising and ranting of all different types of music! :)
Psssst! Before you go, check out the TO-DO LIST tab for a list of albums that people have already recommended to me, click the 'follow' button on the right if you want to stay updated on my progress...and DO please comment at any time with album suggestions of your own!
Woo! This looks exciting :D and I love your background! Yayness! OK so, since I'm so excited, here's some suggestions for albums you could review:
ReplyDeleteTruth of the World - Evermore
Santi - The Academy Is
In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson
To the Sea - Jack Johnson (if you do these Jack Johnson ones, they have to be in that order)
We sing. We dance. We steal things. - Jason Mraz
Jonathan Boulet - Jonothan Boulet
Wonder - Lisa Mitchell
Riot! - Paramore
I'm Not Dead - P!nk
Everything is True - Paul Dempsey
Some Kind of Trouble - James Blunt
:D
:D :D Glad you like the idea!! and my background...it took me forever to get it right, so good to know someone else likes it :P
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you so much for the recommendations...your musical taste is one of my favourites out of everybody I know, so I shall be sure to add them all to my list! :) xo
Hey, good job with this :) Think I can probably say I have a similar problem with the lack of variety in my musical collection...
ReplyDeleteQuick point: perhaps, on your albums page, (since it seems to be getting quite lengthy quite quickly) sort it into the 'classics' and 'new' and 'choice'? Or if you don't know the choice ones, just classics and new. Just a bit tedious to scroll through them all, so might be an idea to get some sort of system working there.
Quick question: why no compilation/'best of' albums? I can understand it if they came from different artists (say, something like the So Fresh albums or the like), but otherwise, fail to see the point.
Hey Brendan, thanks! :) Yes indeed...well I hope I help you find some variety to add to your music collection (as well as my own! haha).
ReplyDeleteHmm yes, I was thinking about that...the problem is, I've defined 'new' as about 5 years or younger and the classics being older would mean that a whole lot of albums would be stranded in the middle. I definitely want to get some sort of system going, but I guess I'm still sorting it out myself - do you have any ideas?
Good question - yes, you're right about the So Fresh albums and the like, obviously there's not much point. But the reason I eliminated 'best of' albums was because I consider albums to be a creative process of the artist, insofar as their choice of track listing, content etc. 'Best of' albums might also cover decades of very different work from an artist and are also almost guarunteed to consist entirely of hits...while I have nothing against 'best of' compilations (they are definitely economical additions to any music collection!) I wanted to review the actual releases the artists themselves put out and critique a certain period of their work. I hope that makes sense. However, I'll almost certainly be listening to compilation albums in between my main choices and will definitely recommend any good ones :)