31.5.07

We ...

... went into town today and came away with a whole load of clothing and I got two new CDs from my girlfriend. The new Linkin Park and the new Dimmu Borgir. Friendly Nu-Metal (though it's a 'soft' album, I think ... but so far I sort of like it ...) and something which can only be described as nifty Black Metal, because those Dimmu people really know how to seriously put on the hurt.

Buying CDs is always an interesting process. How one chooses his music is interesting enough. Aside from the obvious CDs by bands that you buy blindly there are CDs by bands 'you heard of', so you test 'em in the store ... and then there's this weird category of CDs that you just know you'll buy without knowing anything of what's on the disk. You have no clue, you just buy it ... for whatever reason. Exactly what lies beneath that is difficult to guess. There must be an image created by the cover art that manages to convey with an uncanny certainty what the music will be like. And this must be instantly recognisable to the buyer. But it is also very hardly explicable. How can a picture show you what music is like? Apparantly esthetics manages to translate across art forms ... somehow ...

And even then, once you have the CD you have to find a way in. Which is sometimes made very hard by the artists. If you have an idea what a band is about then things get easier. Usually a new CD continues in the same vein as previous efforts but is just different enough to make sure an artist does not repeat itself. Repetition is bad. Unless you're the Rolling Stones, of course. However a CD mustn't be so different all of a sudden that it's hard to connect with the music.

You have to find a way into a new CD, to be able to come to grips with new tunes and ideas and the more removed new material is from old the harder that is. A way in can be anything, a tune, a few bars you can hum, a bit of lyric you know after the first listen and like ... and then you can slowly learn to appreciate the whole album. If that does not happen you might end up with an album that is not going to be played at all or only later when it resurfaces and the time for it has come ...

In short: buying and listening to music can be tricky business.

Now, some people like to listen to snippets of songs on the internet first before buying things (if they buy them, of course). I find that I don't do that much. I guess I enjoy my process a whole lot better. Going to a shop and just picking something up and deciding on the fly. It helps. You get surprised sometimes, which is always a good thing. Cast the nets wide and who knows what one finds ...

Anyway.

Both CDs I mentioned previously are worth a listen. Both for different reasons obviously ... oh, and the Linkin Park CD booklet is full of 'we were trying to find our limits in creativity'-stuff. Call me a bit old-fashioned but I think that it's a bit early for these gentlemen to be so ... pretentious. Come on ... their oeuvre consists of three albums, one collaboration with Jay-Z, one album of remixes and two DVDs ... get a couple more albums under your belts first chaps before starting to talk such old talk ... it is a nice album, though.

Just a bit hard to get in ...

1 comment:

Spike said...

I shall buy the Dimmu one as soon as I'm over the loss of my CDs.

As for the ritual of the acquirment of new music - I often find myself listening to snippets online. Lately even the radio has made me like a few songs (yes, it's that bad), but I won't really buy those. Quite a few times friends have made me listen to their new purchases, making me decide to buy some as well.