How Record Collectors Find Lost Music And Preserve Our Cultural Heritage – A TED Talk By Alexis Charpentier (2018)

This is a wonderful 14-minute talk about my most impassioned life’s work.

Charpentier shares a fascinating tale about a record digger discovering an unknown independent artist’s music in a dusty flea market – an artist who had never experienced fame in his time. This discovery and the determination and passion of the digger directly led to the artist’s music being reissued by a major label and inspiring the artist to begin performing again for the first time in decades. This is the magic that can come of crate digging and cultural curatorship.

And he describes how our collections become an autobiographical legacy meant to be passed on to future listeners.

He says, “Beautiful art deserves to be cherished, shared, and rediscovered.”

“We are alternative voices to the mainstream music channels, digital or otherwise. Go beyond the algorithm.”

“This music will change your life.”

Watch this short segment and understand my motives and my passions just a little better. ❤

Just Keep Spinning – Reflections on Music Collecting

A friend kindly recommended my latest film screening – So Wrong They’re Right, a low-budget indie VHS documentary on offbeat 8-track collector culture and the 8-Track Mind zine. I’ve been exploring UK hauntological music and art lately so the retro subject matter fit right in. It was great to hear Wally Pleasant’s “Rock n’ Roll Yard Sales” on the soundtrack.

And serendipitously, while watching the film a related short appeared in my social media feed – an informational demo film to educate consumers about the upcoming compact disc format produced in 1982.

And WFMU just shared that Atlas Obscura published a feature yesterday called, “Inside the World’s Best Collection of Unintentionally Funny VHS Tapes” with this hilarious short!

Much like the VHS culture documentaries, Rewind This and Adjust Your Tracking, the 8-track film made me reflect on my own music collector hobby and how in the past year I’ve really put the breaks on my vinyl habit. Unlike vinyl, most 8-tracks are practically given away and as interviewees of the film profess, they’ve had to plead with Goodwill store managers just to get them to put their 8-track stock on the sales floor. (There are exceptions, of course. Discogs currently offers over 8,000 8-tracks in its marketplace, the second-most-expensive of which is a mint tape of Trout Mask Replica presently priced at $1,500.00.)

But conversely, with vinyl, I’ve reached a point in my collecting where all the remaining titles on my wish list command $80-$550 apiece. And the days of scoring elusive original pressings of releases you’re after at your local VoA are long gone after the store’s inventories have been thoroughly picked over by eBayer resellers or by hipster employees who pull all the good stuff before it has a chance to hit the floor. And for my personal tastes, thrift shops have never been a good resource for the kind of content I seek.

Thankfully a lot of the rare early electronic, drone, and import tape music of the last century, and even of the 90s during vinyl’s darkest days, are being remastered and reissued by Dutch, German, and UK specialty labels, but with shipping you’re still looking at $60 minimum per release so I’ve resolved to reel in my habit and to spend more conservatively this past year.

It’s left me to wonder what the future holds for my hobby. I really enjoy the research and the unconventional subcultures surrounding the format, I just don’t know to what degree I can continue to participate in the acquisition and trade of the albums, themselves. And vinyl has been a significant part of my identity for many years, so I question how I’ll continue to occupy myself beyond this bizarre little pastime.

Thankfully, I have more music at present than I could experience in a lifetime, so at the very least I can kick back and enjoy exploring my archives. And I can continue to supplement my web-based research with more contextual studies from books specializing in my favorite genres. My next read will be Mars by 1980: The Story of Electronic Music by David Stubbs and should provide hours of reading enjoyment and hopefully an intimate understanding of a century of electronic sound.

Whether as a collector or just a researcher, this is indeed the finest time to be alive. Sites like Discogs and RYM provide instantaneous access to release data and listener reviews which previously took days or weeks of calls and form submissions to the LoC to obtain, and every day more and more fans upload thousands of hours or rare and exotic content from their collections to YouTube and file-sharing networks. It’s a curious phenomenon because when everything is accessible, nothing is rare. So, arguments for the paradox of choice aside, this is the greatest time in history for the inquiring listener. I plan to keep reading and listening, and maybe one day score a few of my remaining white whales.

Whatever your preferred format, be it 8-track, LP, cylinder, cassette, CD… just keep spinning.

Personal Collection or Archive?: A Closer Look at What Defines a Library

I was recently contacted by Dan Gravell, founder and programmer of the server-based music management software, bliss. Bliss received praise from Andrew Everard of What Hi-Fi and their official website calls it a tool “for people who care about their music collection.” Dan posed several questions about my library, and about what differentiates an average personal music collection from a true archive. He suggested that my response might prove useful as a journal entry at Innerspace Labs, so I’m sharing my response for others who might ask the same questions about their own meticulous collections.

So let’s dive right in –

Regarding the difference between run-of-the-mill “playable” music libraries and what one might call an “archive,” there are a few primary factors which could differentiate the two. The first is one of practical function and intent. If a library is for personal use for playback alone it is most likely the former, whereas a consciously organized collection of significant size and scope which is representative of a particular period or culture and which sheds contextual light on that era might serve a greater, almost scholarly purpose as an archive. Uniformity of structure, organization, navigability, and accompanying supplemental metadata enhance a library such as this to greater usefulness than mere playback. And it appears that it is precisely this focus on consistency by which Dan has endeavored to empower users like me with his bliss project. Another important factor is the long-term sustainability of an archive, which I’ll touch upon momentarily.

Next Dan asked whether my source media is exclusively physical. My collection comprises only a few thousand LPs, with a significant focus on the history of electronic sound. This spans the gamut from early notable works of musique concrète to the Moog synthesizer novelty craze, all the way through the international movement of ambient electronic music. I’ve also a predilection for archival box sets, like the Voyager Golden Record 40th Anniversary set with companion hardcover book and the special release from The John Cage Trust, as well as the previously unreleased collection of Brian Eno’s installation music issued earlier this year on vinyl with a new essay by Eno. But the bulk of my library is digital. This is both for practical and financial reasons, as digital libraries are far easier to maintain. (I don’t blog about digital nearly as often, as 450,000 media files are nowhere near as fascinating as a handsome limited edition LP!)

Dan also inquired about my workflow, which is critical to any archive. Early on in the development of my library, (around 2002-3), I began ripping LPs with the following process:

Exclusive analog recordings are captured using a Denon DP-60L rosewood TT with an Ortofon 2M Red cart, powered by a McIntosh amplifier (later replaced with a vintage Yamaha unit), and are saved as lossless FLAC via an entry level Behringer U-Control UCA202 DAC. I previously utilized a Cambridge Audio DacMagic DAC but after it failed I opted for the Behringer and it has been more than sufficient for my needs. Audio is captured using Audacity on my Linux-based DAW and basic leveling and noise reduction are performed but I minimize post-processing to maintain as much of the original audio’s integrity as possible.

Dan specifically inquired as to where the library information was stored (barcodes, etc) and asked about my policies on which metadata are included. This is fairly straightforward, as nearly all of the vinyl recordings I ripped pre-date the use of barcodes or were limited private releases with only a catalog number, which I bracket as a suffix in the release folder path.

Polybagged LPs are stored vertically and organized by primary genre, then by artist, then chronologically by date of issue. Due to the entropic property of vinyl playback, discs are played once as needed to capture the recording and subsequent playback is performed using the digital files. I employed a dozen static local DB applications over the years for my records, but eventually migrated to a Discogs DB which increases accessibility while crate digging in the wild and provides real-time market value assessment for insurance purposes.

But honestly, I almost never need to perform the rip myself, as the filesharing ecosystem has refined itself to the point where even the most exclusive titles are available through these networks in lossless archival FLAC with complete release details. There has never been a better time to be alive as an audio archivist.

Once digitized to FLAC, my assets are organized with uniform file naming conventions with record label and artist parent folders and parenthetical date of issue prefixes for easy navigation. gMusicBrowser is my ideal playback software for accessing large libraries in a Linux environment. Release date and catalog numbers have been sufficient metadata identifiers, as subsequent release details are only a click or a tap away on Discogs. Occasionally I will include a contextual write-up in the release folder where warranted, like in the case of William Basinski’s The Disintegration Loops 9LP + 5CD + DVD set as it related to the events of 9/11.

Next Dan inquired about how my archive is accessed. I employ Sindre Mehus’ Subsonic personal server application on my Linux DAW to make all of my audio and music video film content accessible from my phone, tablet, or any web-enabled device. I use both the official Subsonic app and the independently-developed Ultrasonic fork by Óscar García Amor for remote access of my library, (about eight hours daily). You can see a short video walkthrough of the features of the app that I put together here:

To return to his initial question about what differentiates a playback collection from an archive, my own library incorporates a few key factors which might lend itself to the latter:

– lossless bit-perfect FLAC wherever possible
– index documentation
– a systematic process guide for new acquisitions
– a 76pp manual highlighting special collections and large libraries of the Collection
– disk mirroring in multiple physical locations for preservation and sustainability
– fire protection for further indestructibility
– routine disk operation tests to mitigate risk of data loss
– complete discographic record label chronologies suffixed with catalog numbers
– elementary data visualizations created using Gephi and Prezi web-based tools
– the use of TrueCrypt whole disk encryption to prevent unauthorized access
– and the active use of Subsonic and Ultrasonic for enhanced accessibility

And scale is another noteworthy factor in my circumstances. Just to cite one example, I’ve collected every LP and single issued by the electronic duo Underworld that I’ve been able to get my hands on, and the digital audio branch of my Underworld collection comprises 482 albums, EPs and singles, including 2850 tracks and DJ sessions totaling well over 385 hours of non-stop music, spanning 36 years of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith’s work in all of their many incarnations. This collection is uniformly tagged, organized into a network of categorical root folders, and substructured into chronological subfolders by date of release. And the complete record label collections are a definite differentiator from the majority of casual-listening libraries.

I understand that my archive is small compared to the 12-20 TB libraries of some more seasoned users, but I feel that discretion and selectivity are virtues of my personal collection so that I can focus on only the most exquisite and remarkable recordings of my principle genre foci.

So what about your own collections? Do you employ standardized uniform file naming conventions and organizational standards? Do you supplement your library with relevant documentation to add context to your media? Does your collection offer insight into a particular era or musical culture? And do you take measures to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the work? If so… you might just have an archive.

Supplemental Note:

A good friend was kind enough to offer his thoughts about what sets an archive apart from other collections, and his remark was too good not to share. He said –

I think another major difference between the average personal collection and an archive is retention and adaptation.

A casual listener or collector wouldn’t have the retention of a true archive. The individual may build some playlists or even some advanced structure for locating and listening to music, but there is a very good chance that after some time, that particular music will get buried by the newer, or the most current thing the user is listening to. The casual listener may not want the huge or growing library, so when they feel they have moved on, the music will be removed from their collection. I cannot see someone who is keeping an archive remove anything from their collection. So retaining the entire collection and not removing anything because they are bored with it would be a difference.

I also mentioned adaptation. This is a rather basic idea but would be rather important in the grand scheme of things. Lets say you have a collection of 100 songs, all with 4 points of meta data. You realize as you begin to add more songs to your collection, a 5th point of data is needed. A casual listener may leave those 100 songs in the current state they’re in, with the 4 points of data. The archivist would need to go back, and add that 5th point to all 100 songs, and the new ones. Add another zero to those numbers and that can be a daunting, but necessary task for the archivist.

I really appreciated his input!

Some Love For My Neglected Albums

It happens to just about every collector – you reach a point where you realize you’ve acquired more albums than you’ll be able to listen to in your lifetime. Or, in the earlier stages, you may find yourself with hundreds of albums you’ve purchased… you know you’ve listened to for maybe for one initial spin… but then they were shelved as you refocused your energies on your next acquisitional conquest.

I’ve arrived at that realization several times over the past year, and in an effort to right that wrong I began a running list in Google Keep of albums I need to revisit or those deserving of a focused and dedicated first-listen. Unfortunately, the list quickly outgrew the app and became cumbersome to navigate, so this morning just after midnight I took a few hours to reconstruct the list as a uniformly-formatted spreadsheet for easier reference. All catalog numbers are noted beside each artist and title, and all entries are vinyl unless otherwise stated.

Below is a roster of the top 125 neglected albums and box sets that I’ve purchased but not taken the time to enjoy in 2016. My goal is to curb my investments in additional material for a while and to really dig into these classic titles that I already have.

So for the remainder of the summer, this is what I’ll be spinning…

A Winged Victory For The Sullen – A Winged Victory For The Sullen (Kranky,Kranky – KRANK 157, KRANK157)

Amon Düül II – Phallus Dei (Revisited Rec. – SPV 304181 LP)

Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works Volume II (1972 – if11)

Archie Shepp – The Magic Of Ju-Ju (Impulse!, Universal Music – A-9154, B0016005-01)

Brian Eno – Lux (Warp Records – WARPLP231)

Cage, Varèse, Cowell, Ussachevsky, & others – Sounds of New Music (Folkways FX 6160)

Can – Ege Bamyasi (United Artists Records – UAS-29414)

Can – Future Days (United Artists Records – UA-LA213-F)

Can – Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit – SFRLP-135)

Can – Tago Mago (United Artists Records (2), United Artists Records (2) – UAS 29 211, UAS 29 211 X)

Charles Dodge – Earth’s Magnetic Field (Nonesuch – H-71250)

Charles Wuorinen – Time’s Encomium (Nonesuch – H-71225)

Cluster – Cluster II (Lilith ‎– LR335)

Cluster & Eno – Cluster & Eno (4 Men With Beards – 4M 141)

Duke Ellington And Count Basie – First Time! The Count Meets The Duke (Columbia – CL 1715)

Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong – The Duke Ellington – Louis Armstrong Years (Roulette – 9045-108)

Edgar Froese – Epsilon In Malaysian Pale (Virgin, Virgin – V 2040, v2040)

Eno – Another Green World (Island Records – ILPS 9351)

Eno – Moebius – Roedelius – After The Heat (4 Men With Beards – 4M163)

Eno – Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (Island Records – ILPS 9309)

Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, Plank -Begegnungen II (Sky Records – SKY 095)

Frank Zappa – Hot Rats (Bizarre Records,Reprise Records – RS 6356)

Fripp & Eno – Evening Star (Editions EG – EGS 103)

FSOL – Lifeforms 2CD (Astralwerks ‎– ASW 6113-2, Virgin ‎– 7243 8 39433 2 6)

George Harrison – Electronic Sound (Apple Records, Zapple – EAS-80696, ZAPPLE 02)

Harmonia – Complete Works Box Set – Deluxe (LPGRON150)

Harmonia – Complete Works Box Set – Documents 1975 (LPGRON150)

Harmonia – Complete Works Box Set – Live 1974 (LPGRON150)

Harmonia – Complete Works Box Set – Musik Von Harmonia (LPGRON150)

Harmonia & Eno – Complete Works Box Set – Tracks and Traces (LPGRON150)

Herbie Hancock – Empyrean Isles (Blue Note, Blue Note, Blue Note, Blue Note – ST-84175, 84175, B0022238-01, BST 84175)

Jean Michel Jarre – Oxygene (Polydor,Polydor – PD-1-6112, 2310 555)

John Carpenter – Lost Themes (Sacred Bones Records – SBR123LP)

John Carpenter – Lost Themes II (Sacred Bones Records ‎– SBR-150)

Karl Hyde – Edgeland (Universal – 3729832)

Klaus Schulze – “X” (Sechs Musikalische Biographien) (Brain, Brain – 0080.023-2, 0080.023)

Klaus Schulze – Body Love – Additions To The Original Soundtrack (Island Records – ILPS 19510)

Klaus Schulze – Body Love (Metronome, Metronome – 0060.047, 60.047)

Klaus Schulze – Irrlicht ‎(Brain 0001 077 , 1077)

Klaus Schulze – Mirage (Brain – 60.040)

Klaus Schulze – Timewind (Brain, Brain – brain 1075, 0001.075)

Klaus Schulze – Trancefer (Innovative Communication, Innovative Communication – KS 80 014, KS 80014)

Klaus Schulze, Pete Namlook – The Dark Side Of The Moog Vol. 1-4 (MIG – MIG 01382)

Kraftwerk – Kraftwerk (Crown Records- CR 0423-1)

Kraftwerk – Kraftwerk 2 (Crown Records – CR 0424-1)

Kraftwerk – Ralf & Florian (Vertigo – VEL-2006)

Louis and Bebe Barron – Forbidden Planet (Poppydisc, Rev-Ola – POPPYLP012)

Miles Davis – ‘Round About Midnight (Columbia – CS 8649)

Miles Davis – A Tribute To Jack Johnson (Columbia – KC 30455)

Miles Davis – Agharta (Columbia – PG 33967)

Miles Davis – Big Fun (Columbia – PG 32866)

Miles Davis – Birth Of The Cool (T-762)

Miles Davis – Bitches Brew (Columbia – GP 26)

Miles Davis – Black Beauty / Miles Davis At Fillmore West (CBS/Sony – SOPJ 39-40)

Miles Davis – In A Silent Way (Columbia – CS 9875)

Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue (CS 8163)

Miles Davis – Miles At The Fillmore (Music On Vinyl – MOVLP1051)

Miles Davis – Miles Davis (Prestige, Prestige, Prestige – PR 24001, P 24001, 24001)

Miles Davis – Miles Davis At Carnegie Hall (CL 1812)

Miles Davis – Milestones (PC 9428)

Miles Davis – Porgy And Bess (CS 8085)

Miles Davis – Sketches Of Spain (Columbia – CS 8271)

Miles Davis – Somethin’ Else (BLP 1595, 1595, B0020156-01)

Miles Davis – Workin’ And Steamin’ (Prestige – P 24034)

Miles Davis ‎– Miles At The Fillmore 6LP Box Set (Music On Vinyl ‎– MOVLP1051)

Miles Davis Quintet – Jazz Tracks – The Original Soundtrack Recording From “Frantic” (Columbia Special Products – JCL 1268)

Miles Davis Sextet – Jazz At The Plaza Vol. 1 (CBS – C 32470)

Morton Subotnick – Silver Apples Of The Moon(Nonesuch – H-71174)

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (Creation Records – crelp 060)

Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I-IV (FLAC)

Pink Floyd – Meddle (Harvest – SMAS-832)

Pink Floyd – Obscured By Clouds (Harvest – ST-11078)

Raymond Scott – Manhattan Research Inc. (Basta – 30-9045-1)

Robert Fripp – Exposure (EG ‎– EGLP 101)

Robert Fripp – God Save the Queen & Under Heavy Manners (FLAC)

Robert Fripp & Andy Summers – I Advance Masked (SP-4913)

Sigur Rós – () (XL Recordings ‎– xlcd611)

Sigur Rós ‎– Ágætis Byrjun (FatCat Records ‎– FATLP11)

Silver Apples – Silver Apples (Kapp Records – KS-3562)

St Germain – St Germain (Warner Music France, Parlophone – 0825646121984)

Stan Getz / Eddie Sauter – Focus (Verve Records – V6-8412)

Stereolab – Aluminum Tunes: Switched On Vol 3 3LP (Drag City ‎– DC159)

Stereolab – Dots & Loops (FLAC)

Stereolab – Emperor Tomato Ketchup (FLAC)

Steve Reich – The Desert Music (Nonesuch,Nonesuch – 79101, 9 79101-1 F)

Sun Ra – Space Is The Place (Blue Thumb Records, The Verve Music Group – BTS 41, 06007 53627631)

Sun Ra – Space Is The Place (Sutro Park – SP1004)

Sun Ra And His Intergalactic Research Arkestra – It’s After The End Of The World (Live At The Donaueschingen And Berlin Festivals) (MPS Records, BASF – 20748, BASF 20748)

Tangerine Dream – Alpha Centauri (Relativity – EMC 8066) 6LP In the Beginning… box set

Tangerine Dream – Atem (Relativity – EMC 8066) 6LP In the Beginning… box set

Tangerine Dream – Electronic Meditation (Relativity – EMC 8066) 6LP In the Beginning… box set

Tangerine Dream – Zeit (Relativity – EMC 8066) 6LP In the Beginning… box set

Terry Riley – Songs For The Ten Voices Of The Two Prophets (Kuckuck – KUCK 067)

The Black Dog – Music For Real Airports (Soma Quality Recordings – Soma TBD003)

The J.B.’s – Doing It To Death (People Records, People Records – PE 5603, 2391 087)

The Orb – Moonbuilding 2703 AD (Kompakt – KOMPAKT 330 SE)

The Orb Featuring David Gilmour – Metallic Spheres (Columbia – 886977604416)

Thom Yorke – Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes (Landgrab – GRAB001)

Throbbing Gristle – 20 Jazz Funk Greats (FLAC)

Tom Waits – Alice (Anti- – 86632-1)

Tom Waits – Big Time (Island Records – 90987-1)

Tom Waits – Blood Money (Anti- – 86629-1)

Tom Waits – Blue Valentine (Asylum Records – 6E-162)

Tom Waits – Bone Machine (Island Records- ILPS 9993)

Tom Waits – Closing Time (Asylum Records – SD5061)

Tom Waits – Foreign Affairs (Asylum Records – 7E-1117)

Tom Waits – Franks Wild Years (Island Records – ITW 3)

Tom Waits – Glitter And Doom Live (Anti- – 87053-1)

Tom Waits – Heartattack And Vine(Asylum Records – 6E-295)

Tom Waits – Mule Variations (Anti-, Epitaph – 86547-1, 86574-1)

Tom Waits – Nighthawks At The Diner (Asylum Records – 7E-2008)

Tom Waits – Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards 7LP Box Set (Anti- – 86677-1)

Tom Waits – Rain Dogs (Island Records, Island Records – 7 90299-1, 90299-1)

Tom Waits – Real Gone (Anti- – 86678-1)

Tom Waits – Small Change (Asylum Records – 7E-1078)

Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombones (Island Records – 90095-1)

Tom Waits – The Heart Of Saturday Night (Asylum Records – 7E-1015)

Tom Waits – Tom Waits Live Glitter And Doom Tour (Anti- – 87018-7)

Vangelis – Blade Runner (Audio Fidelity (3) – AFZLP 154)

Various – Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center (Columbia Masterworks – MS 6566)

Various ‎– Die Welt Ist Klang: A Tribute To Pete Namlook 8CD Deluxe Box Set (Carpe Sonum Records ‎– SEIZE-I)

Walter Carlos – Sonic Seasonings (Columbia – KG 31234)

White Noise – An Electric Storm (FLAC)

William Basinski ‎– The Disintegration Loops 9LP+5CD+DVD Box Set (Temporary Residence Limited ‎– TRR194)

Zappa / Beefheart / Mothers – Bongo Fury (DiscReet – DS 2234)

It should be a good time.

 

 

2016: A Music Odyssey – DISCOVERY ONE: Explorations of the Innerspace Archives

I had a nice afternoon to myself today so I got comfortable in bed with great tunes on the Hi-Fi and started revisiting my copy of Simon Reynolds’ RETROMANIA: Pop Culture’s Addiction to Its Own Past.

 

I was grabbed, yet again by a chapter on collector culture, addressing vinyl fetishism, and the impact of the internet on collectability. Reynolds explored the psyche of the collector. First, how collectors identify themselves as somehow more noble than common mall zombies in that they are discerning and well-informed consumers. Their collections serve not their own interest, but act as professional research material to enrich their understanding of music history.

 

Then comes the pivotal moment when the collector realizes his/her collection may have exceeded the actual capacity they have to consume it in their limited life time. “Those potential pleasures stacked on the shelf stop representing delight and start to feel like harbingers of death,” Reynolds writes.

 

He goes on to identify the collectors’ need for constant craving, and that the one elusive missing album is always the most important, (until it is inevitably replaced with the next of holy grails).  This sort of niche activity was a fringe interest for decades, but at the turn of the millennium advancements in distribution technology made budding collectors of us all.

 

Still, a burn-out was inevitable at this rapid pace, and it came with the iPod. The chapter addressed the digital hording that takes place for so many users who discover that they can have all the world’s music for free, and the failure of such a model to satisfy the psychological anxieties previously fulfilled by the physical incarnation of collector culture.

 

The little white box, Reynolds notes, is a remarkably anti-social device. No matter how much music you pack into it, there is no personal memory attached to newly-acquired recordings. And earbuds isolate your musical experience, shutting out a world of potential participants.

 

And with no investment attached, the music is stripped of any potential significance. Hundreds of thousands of tracks might sit dormant on a player, unlistened or deleted entirely, with little to no consequence to the consumer.

 

Perhaps that very burn-out – the inconsequence of the music I compile has led me to start investing in exceptional works, like the several limited edition deluxe box sets I’ve ordered in the past month. After throwing a hundred dollars at a special collection, you’re damn right I’m going to set aside some time and actually LISTEN to the thing.

 

By the chapter’s end, I found myself back in my office taking notes on large collections I’d compiled but never explored after the initial acquisition. Given my own hording tendencies and the looming mortality such a collection bears, I made a personal resolution  this afternoon to set aside dedicated listening sessions with a checklist of works to survey in the weeks ahead.

 

It would be like “the old days” when I’d saved up $16 for a CD and played that one disc a hundred times until I knew every note by heart.

 

I’m reclaiming my music.