Not really sure how to start this one. Hopefully whoever is reading this has a lot of patience and absolutely nothing to do for the next 15 or so minutes, because this is about to be a mess of thoughts and explanations.
Ok, so the past weekend I went out to chicago for my birthday. i stopped in a local record store and dorked out with my nerd out. what i like to do is go to a used bin or the "experimental" section if the place has one, and read all the little liner notes. some albums say musicians, instruments used, or what label put it out. now thats all cool and what not if you know what youre looking for, or if you want to buy a record that sounds like the last one you went out to buy. i like the element of surprise. which granted, sometimes is a shit surprise with piss confetti.
so i bought the 7 albums pictured above. i tried to stay away from anything too current, although 2 of them were from the 2000s. now for me, some of the albums were laid out pretty simply. even someone with no understanding of liner notes can see who played what and get an idea of the sound. the one listed that it was all 1 artist, all done with synthesizers. the year being 1976, i got at least a general idea of the sound. the other records could be childrens soundtracks or 80s hair metal bands. i wont know until the needle drops.
the point is to stray away from where you find music. wherever that is. its different for us all. fuck the routine you find yourself finding it in. dont go to the new release section at best buy. dont go to simliar artists on your spotify. dont listen to your friends recommendations. well, do those things but try at least once to pick up an album youve never heard. spend a few bucks you wouldve spent on burger king and a 40 on what could be an amazing album that could change your life.
in my particular case, which im probably repeating myself by saying- i found an album that blatantly listed the instruments used on the album. 100% of the record was synthesizers. no drum machines, no singing, nothing. and being a heavy synth nerd, the list of synths gave me an instant picture of what the album was going to sound like. which was a completely blank slate. it could sound like duran duran, nine inch nails, or brian eno. a lot of people think that jus tbeacuse a synthesizer is in a band that it's an electronic band. there are 304 different styles that have "electric guitar" but are used differently, dramatically. same with synths.. if done properly.
this is getting weird. my main point of the cluttered attempt here was to stumble onto new music in a new way. go to a record store. pick something up for a shallow reason. maybe it has an interesting cover. artwork youve never seen. maybe it folds out in a unique way. try and set a goal. stick with the 70s for example. stay away from labels you may recognize, or members in bands you've heard of. dont ask the guy at the counter anything about it. you may be in for an amazing treat. think about it. it could be some smoothed out jazz LP, or a loud fuzzy rock n roll band. now granted, i have a pile of music i will never listen to ever again.. but i spent at most 20 bucks on the entire pile.
-Novak
