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Bridge And Tunnel
Feb. 5th, 2007 09:31 pmI've been sort of studying up on the Barenaked Ladies in anticipation of going to see them in concert on Wednesday. That is, I've been listening to my entire collection, in random order, of course. The newer albums(I downloaded the full edition of
"Barenaked Ladies Are Me" months ago when it came out online)because I don't know them as well, and the older ones because I like them.
I did this before the Garbage concert I saw a couple of years ago, though there were a lot fewer songs. I've got 125 BNL tracks, and I only had 38 Garbage ones, and I haven't been dedicating myself to it wholeheartedly. In fact, at the end of tonight I'll be less than halfway through, and I anticipate spending most of tomorrow night playing more Sims 2, so I won't be listening to it then.
Well, I suppose I could, but I probably won't. Since I started on last.fm, I've developed some complex rules related to what I "scrobble" to the server on their site. For instance, I don't scrobble CDs that I've borrowed from the library or someone else, because they're not part of my collection yet. If I download MP3s, I'll listen to them before I burn them to CD, and then I'll listen to the CD to make sure it burned properly, but I'll only scrobble them the first time so that they don't get overrepresented. If I buy a new CD, then I'll scrobble it when I listen to it, though, because I can skip the first step.
I still don't tend to take the initiative and actually decide what I want to listen to, except in the most general way. First, I'm listening to my entire collection in a systematic "once-each" way, trying to convert the vinyl/cassette portion of it into a digital format as I do so, or at least as much as possible. That's mostly what I listen to at work; I'll burn a bunch of files onto a DVD-RW once a month or so and bring them in. I also listen to new CDs and library CDs there, even though my computer's CD drive is starting to go a little wonky.
At home I'll generally listen to newly-downloaded stuff, or, sometimes, completely random shuffling of my overall playlist(with my favourite songs and artists I want to support and keep high on my last.fm charts weighted a little more heavily).
Rarely do I actually try to assemble a playlist based on what I actually "feel like" listening to. Perhaps it's because I have little experience actually telling what I feel like. I still like to give everything equal weight. Which usually means that the newer stuff takes a long time before I've actually listened to it enough times to get to know it, because the older stuff has been through more cycles, back when the list was shorter, and gotten more listens.
Still, a few times recently I've gone quickly through the audition-buy-burn cycle. I hear an album on library CD and like it, then discover it's on eMusic, where I currently have a 90 download/month subscription, so I download it right away, listen to it, burn it, listen to it again. And then it could be three years before the album comes around again in the cycle, though a random shuffle might pop up an occasional track here and there. Maybe I need to make up a "don't know as well" playlist and shuffle that one. Might be worth trying, though not all the time.
By the way, I have no idea who's opening for BNL on Wednesday. Last time it was Chantal Kreviazuk, but considering she's in town a week later, and in any case is a bit bigger than she was three albums ago, I doubt it. I hold out long-shot hopes for Ridley Bent--his album is called BLAM!, and the latest BNL album is "B.L.A.M."...but he's probably a little too obscure, not to mention a little too foulmouthed. Pity, I think he'd be fun. Maybe it'll just be The Brothers Creeggan or Kevin Hearn's band or something--the "in-house" opening act. Or maybe it's just them. Well, either way I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
"Barenaked Ladies Are Me" months ago when it came out online)because I don't know them as well, and the older ones because I like them.
I did this before the Garbage concert I saw a couple of years ago, though there were a lot fewer songs. I've got 125 BNL tracks, and I only had 38 Garbage ones, and I haven't been dedicating myself to it wholeheartedly. In fact, at the end of tonight I'll be less than halfway through, and I anticipate spending most of tomorrow night playing more Sims 2, so I won't be listening to it then.
Well, I suppose I could, but I probably won't. Since I started on last.fm, I've developed some complex rules related to what I "scrobble" to the server on their site. For instance, I don't scrobble CDs that I've borrowed from the library or someone else, because they're not part of my collection yet. If I download MP3s, I'll listen to them before I burn them to CD, and then I'll listen to the CD to make sure it burned properly, but I'll only scrobble them the first time so that they don't get overrepresented. If I buy a new CD, then I'll scrobble it when I listen to it, though, because I can skip the first step.
I still don't tend to take the initiative and actually decide what I want to listen to, except in the most general way. First, I'm listening to my entire collection in a systematic "once-each" way, trying to convert the vinyl/cassette portion of it into a digital format as I do so, or at least as much as possible. That's mostly what I listen to at work; I'll burn a bunch of files onto a DVD-RW once a month or so and bring them in. I also listen to new CDs and library CDs there, even though my computer's CD drive is starting to go a little wonky.
At home I'll generally listen to newly-downloaded stuff, or, sometimes, completely random shuffling of my overall playlist(with my favourite songs and artists I want to support and keep high on my last.fm charts weighted a little more heavily).
Rarely do I actually try to assemble a playlist based on what I actually "feel like" listening to. Perhaps it's because I have little experience actually telling what I feel like. I still like to give everything equal weight. Which usually means that the newer stuff takes a long time before I've actually listened to it enough times to get to know it, because the older stuff has been through more cycles, back when the list was shorter, and gotten more listens.
Still, a few times recently I've gone quickly through the audition-buy-burn cycle. I hear an album on library CD and like it, then discover it's on eMusic, where I currently have a 90 download/month subscription, so I download it right away, listen to it, burn it, listen to it again. And then it could be three years before the album comes around again in the cycle, though a random shuffle might pop up an occasional track here and there. Maybe I need to make up a "don't know as well" playlist and shuffle that one. Might be worth trying, though not all the time.
By the way, I have no idea who's opening for BNL on Wednesday. Last time it was Chantal Kreviazuk, but considering she's in town a week later, and in any case is a bit bigger than she was three albums ago, I doubt it. I hold out long-shot hopes for Ridley Bent--his album is called BLAM!, and the latest BNL album is "B.L.A.M."...but he's probably a little too obscure, not to mention a little too foulmouthed. Pity, I think he'd be fun. Maybe it'll just be The Brothers Creeggan or Kevin Hearn's band or something--the "in-house" opening act. Or maybe it's just them. Well, either way I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
