Shutdown the world and press play

photo by Rebecca Ulm

In succession to my previous post and for those of you who didn’t watch Greg Wilson’s point of view on listening to music, I’ d like to share some of my thoughts with you and consequently some music that supports these thoughts.

Most people use music as their background in their activities, which means that they push the play button and instantly Barry White or Janis Joplin or whoever they wish appears and keeps them company while they’re cooking, writing, talking on the phone, working, driving, playing with the dog, with the kids, making pancakes (ok I’ll stop right about here, you got the point). That is a quite good way to ensure that you’ll have someone like Barry White "hang out" with you as you wait for the chicken to be done, but chances are you won't really listen to him because you won't pay attention to him (how the heck can you do that?). Along with him, you also won’t get the different instruments, the notes, the feeling, the backing vocals, you won’t be able to imagine what was on the mind of the person who wrote a song at that specific point and you won’t distinguish the potential of a voice or the musicality of a piano or a guitar and you won’t discover that little sound that makes a certain part of a certain track unique. That' s all because you don't pay attention. And although you might have heard a song 100 times the past weeks and even though you might think it’s your favorite, if you choose to play it like this, you haven’t really listened to it, you just like it as you like the guy or the chick staring at you from across the room in a party. Once you get to know him/her you either realize that they’re 1000 times better than what you expected and fall helplessly in love with them or they ‘re just one more personification of something you ‘ll get bored the next week and you won't even remember in 5 months. You don’t know the guy, you don’t know the song. They both need your attention.

My friends usually "mock" me cause in the songs, tunes, tracks that I love I have my favorite parts which I repeat over and over again, resulting to be kind of annoying for the others – and at some point of infinity annoying for myself also. This happens to me because in these parts I find a tune, a melody, an instrument, a vocal, a bass sound or whatever that speaks to me – and if it told me that I were Spiderman, I would honestly start climbing the walls of the house -with my fluffy slippers. That (not the spiderman thing) wouldn’t happen if I listened to the songs while I was changing the toilet paper or surfing the web for a cupcake recipe. So I suggest to those who haven’t given a real chance to music yet –any kind of music, the music that appeals to them- to put on some headphones, press play and really listen. After all, you owe it to Barry -or whoever you choose to "hang out" with you.

I selected some tracks below, off the top of my head, which have about a billion parts each that could easily give me a heart attack. Maybe they ‘ll make no difference to you, maybe they will. You won’t know until you l-i-s-t-e-n. Well?

The Crusaders - Spiral

Gil Scott Heron - The bottle

Logg - I know you will (JM After Session M&M mix)

Black Ivory - Mainline

Kwick - Nightlife

Joe Bataan - What good is a castle

Alice Russell - All over now

The Doors - When the music's over

Bobby Womack & Wilton Felder - Inherit the wind

tracks' info:
-The Crusaderes - Spiral 
Those Southern knights
MCA Records 1979

-Gil Scott-Heron - The bottle
Winter in America (with Brian Jackson)
Strata-East 1974

-Logg - I know you will (original version)
Logg 
Salsoul Records 1981

John Morales After Session M&M mix
from the compilation "John Morales – The M&M Mixes: NYC Underground Disco Anthems + Previously Un-Released Exclusive Salsoul Mixes"
BBE 2009 

-Black Ivory - Mainline
Hangin' Heavy
Buddah Records 1979

-Kwick - Nightlife
To the point
EMI 1981

-Joe Bataan - What good is a castle
Afrofilipino 
Salsoul Records 1975

-Alice Russell - All over now
My favourite letters
Tru Thoughts 2005

-The Doors - When the music's over
Strange Days
Elektra Records 1967

-Bobby Womack & Wilton Felder - Inherit the wind
 Inherit the wind
MCA Records 1980