The Hiatus Continues

Day 18 of the Great October Music Ban. The iTunes playlist is slowly getting whittled down, but I definitely won't have it finished by the end of the month. I still have 2213 songs to go. There hasn't been too many of the moments where I kick myself for not having listened to something sooner. I was really hoping to have my socks blown off on an hourly basis here. There's only been some mild cheating. I picked up a couple free digital download cards from Starbucks and I downloaded the songs, but the only reason I did was to try my hand at iTunes on my iPhone. I didn't listen to either song all the way through. I also downloaded a four track Mountain Goats EP because I was nervous it would only be available for a limited time. Oh, and some guy posted the two new Decemberists singles on his blog, and it's only a matter of time until he's forced to take them down. However I have not listened to any of the stuff yet, and won't until November.

I'm finally hitting that point where I don't search out meaningless purchases. Typically I would troll Pitchfork or go straight to the music review sections of Entertainment Weekly or Paste. Or maybe it's just that I've been considering my purchases more carefully. Or maybe it's just that when I do find myself peeking there hasn't been anything that interesting. I do have a list of music to investigate come November 1st though. Mostly compiled from listening to the NPR podcast All Songs Considered.

It's been good though. It's a project. It's something to do. It's a bit daunting, and the fact that I won't complete it is a bummer. I haven't had any opportunities to go back and re-examine things like I hoped because I'm too busy listening to the new stuff still. And there are times that I feel like I'm just listening to some of the stuff so I can check one more song off of the playlist and I'm not really giving it a chance at all. Well, at least I'm trying. Sort of.

There are too many new albums coming out I want in the next couple of months, it's unlikely I will extend the project. Probably after Christmas.