So bear with me.
Spencer Gulliver was a friend of mine in Acadia.
Good guy. Liked to pedal bikes.
I can also safely say he was the first American friend I ever had.
Maine. They have a lot of lobster.
Anyway.
When I was in my first year, Spencer Gulliver introduced me to something that I had never seen before.
He called it 'sharing,' and it really changed my life.
Just kidding.
He'd put on his headphones, lay on his bed with his hands behind his head, he'd close his eyes, and just...listen to music.
No nap. No homework. No acid.
I always thought it was the oddest thing.
Years passed...
Then several important things happened:
I developed a taste in music.
I moved into a closet. A dark one.
Nowadays I listen to music the way that ol' Spencer used to.
Sometimes.
It's hard to get around to because there are so many flashy screens in this apartment.
But I always do it if i'm reviewing music.
I can't play instruments. I find the process helps me seperate and determine which instruments are doing what.
So, let me ask ya this: Have you ever tried it?
No? Good.
Do it now.
Come on blog fans. I never ask anything of you people.
I'm calling in a favour.
Wait until you're in private, so that you don't feel stupid about it. If you must.
Use headphones. Headphones are important.
Don't open your eyes for the whole song.
I even picked one out for you.
This is Idioteque performed by Radiohead. It's live, and it's wicked.
Two things to notice: one, how quiet the audience is during the song, and two, how long their applause goes on for afterwards.
Even if you're a fan, and you know Idioteque inside-out.
Do it anyway.
For your ol' pal Warford.
And Spence.
Do it for Spence.
eDit: i'll be satisfied if i can get one quarter of you to actually do this.
spence had this picture trio on his facefuck, so i gaffed it.
it took me a minute to realize that the top two pictures were taken in my room.
1 comment:
Good choice for a song to listen to...
Back in the day as I was becoming more interested in popular music Radiohead was one of the first bands that truly made me believe that mainstream music (as opposed to classical) could really offer something aurally pleasing.
It was actually an ex-piano teacher that opened my eyes to Radiohead, and the first album I purchased was their third: “OK Computer". Coincidentally, at least in my opinion, this album marked an experimental departure from the “harder rock” sound of the first two – Radiohead experimented with more layers of sound in the background, and songs became more complex with contrasting sections (for example, Paranoid Android (which has a choir accompany Thom during a contrasting somber section) as opposed to Creep, Just, or High & Dry).
They continued the trend and began to produce some increasingly complex works with new odd sounds, instruments, uncommon rhythms, video gameish sound effects (Try: Backdrifts), etc.
But yeah…listening to music can be almost meditative. And Radiohead is a great (if not the best) place to start, although it can be an acquired taste.
Experimental Radiohead albums: Hail To The Thief, Kid A, Ok Computer, Amnesiac (but it’s messed up), and I’ve yet to give In Rainbows a listen but I hear it is worth it.
Sorry Paul, you struck a chord!
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