Okay so it's not an addiction really, perhaps more of a compulsion. I buy large quantities of music. I suppose I should say I "procure" large quantities of music. That isn't to say that I pirate music, I haven't done that for years. I buy a bunch and then I also get a lot from my friends. The sad truth is, I get more music then I could possibly listen to. I have an insatiable hunger for new music. I'm like Galactus, except for music!
I don't know what it is. Sometimes I wonder if I feel like so much music came out before I was really getting into music that I don't want anything to slip past me now. However there's so much music coming out at any given time it's impossible to find all of the good stuff. It's like trying to catch a waterfall in a tea cup. I listen to whatever I can get my ears on, but sometimes I give something just a quick once over and if it doesn't grab me then I immediately move on to something else. Often times I will end up going back to something I whizzed past and falling in love with it, which I probably would have had I given it the attention it deserved in the first place.
Is it perhaps my need to identify with a culture of net nerds and hipsters so I feel like I am resisting the alluring pull of mainstream music? I pride myself with listening to a fair share of independent bands. Don't get me wrong, I'll be doing cartwheels around the backyard when the new Fall Out Boy album comes out in November, but I like mostly indie stuff. A couple obscure things here, but nothing that you probably wouldn't read about on Pitchfork or sometimes even in Entertainment Weekly. But any time something is recommended to me or gets a decent review from some pretentious reviewer I pretty much have to own it.
I seriously have enough music to occupy any normal person for a very long time. According to my iTunes library, I have over 32 days worth of music. Sure, that's not all on my iPod, but I still have it available to me.
So I'm going to try an experiment. I am not going to get any new music for the month of October. That means I'm not going to download, buy, or borrow any new music for one entire month. I sometimes feel like I have to get stuff right away or else I'll miss out but the truth is that in most cases it will be readily available whenever I want it. This isn't just a money thing though; this also applies to any free albums on-line I might stumble upon. I have so much stuff I either haven't listened to yet, or haven't properly chewed and digested it yet.
I know this task hardly presents a challenge for most people, but for me this is going to be tough. It's concert season, so there are bound to be a few new albums coming out. I also receive my bonus this week, and because of the way the weeks fall we're going to get paid thrice this month. The odds are against me here!
There are a couple conditions of course. If there is anything coming out in a limited quantity and I will miss out, then I will be forced to act. For instance, I know already that the new Los Campesinos! album is coming out next month and it has a limited print run, so I will have to purchase that when it becomes available. However, even if the need arises to make a purchase like this, I will not listen to it until the end of the month.
This experiment also doesn't apply to podcasts.
Today is September 29th. I have until midnight tomorrow night to get my fill of new music for an entire month. All music mailed, handed or e-mailed to me must be post marked September 30th or else they will go unheard until November 1st.
Wish me luck my friends!
