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User
Reviews 9
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Album Ratings 870
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Last Active 09-09-19 8:43 am
Joined 03-14-15
Review Comments 729
| Week 1 of a Month W/O Music
List is the last 7 albums I listened to in September. Descriptions are my notes taken on those days. | | 1 |  | Sufjan Stevens
The Age of Adz
TUESDAY, 1
Setting the scene: I’m going a month without *actively* listening to music as a self-experiment (whatever I hear in the grocer, a friends’ car, etc., whatever). This is a part of the whole “Sober October” deal, so I’m also going the month without drinking, as well as decreasing my coffee intake. I’m doing the “Sober October” thing with peers, and we’re all supplementing the behavior we’re giving up with a different, “healthy” one. My supplemental behavior is to read a 300-400pg fictional novel within this months’ span - I haven’t read a fictional novel in years.
This morning working out without music was fine. I even chose to run on the busy road my house rests on - something I normally wouldn’t do bc I knew having music in my ears would be dangerous.
My day is calm, which was to be expected. I’ve done this for a singular day many times before. I don’t climax out to GY!BE on my way to school. | | 2 |  | Stars of the Lid
And Their Refinement Of The Decline
My day feels less compartmentalized, and more fluid. There isn’t “waking up,” “exercise,” “commute,” “class,” etc. It’s one long tie between events.
I want to listen to Witness by Modern Life is War real bad.
Studying in common area, all is well. Rambunctious group seats next to me. Use “Nature Sounds” as white noise to help focus. Moved to library, super quiet. Calm.
3 cups of coffee today (1 Eight O’Clock, 1 Perc, 1 Charbucks), 1 cup green tea, 1 cup oolong.
My phone screen time was less than 1 hour today (2 hours below avg, apparently), don’t know if this is correlated yet. | | 3 |  | Deathprod
Morals and Dogma
WEDNESDAY, 2Waking up, “All is Full of Love” is stuck in my head. I wonder if there will be points in this month I’ll crave a particular album or song for emotional healing/refuge, and what it will mean to deny myself from listening to it.
Starting off this morning with two cups of coffee, Perc. Yowza. Perc’s Guatemala Ixlama blend. I bought it bc I like Perc and it’s on sale, has “notes” of sweet plum & brown sugar, but in this roast the brown sugar comes in heavy. Usually enjoy Guatemalan coffee, but this is probably my least favorite I’ve had so far.
Feel less hot today. I spend the first 3 hours of my workday unloading an 18-wheeler. Kinda dragged without music to listen to at some point.
Evening. Have had 3 cups coffee, 1 cup Earl Grey. 3 cups of coffee wasn’t even worth it. Really gonna aim for 2 tomorrow. | | 4 |  | Jakob
Solace
THURSDAY, 3
Feel more confident about this whole thing today. Maybe it fares me better days I don’t work and instead school.
Might be supplementing with podcasts too much. I’ve listened to MBMBAM regularly for a year now, nothing new. This month I’ve picked up listening to “Zen Studies Podcast,” “2 Bears 1 Cave,” and “Revolutions.” Revolutions is particularly interesting, highly recommend. About the great historical revolutions.
The difference between podcasts and music, though, is after 1.5 episodes of a podcast I get sick of listening to podcasts. Whereas, with music, left with my own devices I could listen to hours and hours of music before feeling oversaturated.
Coffee was 2, 1 Earl Grey 1 Green | | 5 |  | Tim Hecker
Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do It Again
FRIDAY, 4
I’m really surprised how smooth this is going.
Two cups coffee, 1 Earl Grey | | 6 |  | Bjork
Vespertine
SATURDAY, 5
I commented on the Homogenic thread the other day. I got Björk stuck in my head all morning - Pagan Poetry. Her and Bowie I consider the greatest solo pop artists of all time. They’re freaks. Björk is able to convey her true feelings so intimately with her music, it’s touching.
Have been supplementing music with podcasts, again. Particularly podcasts about leftist thought. Can feel agitation and anger course through me, my punk heart. Bakunin had some real pie-in-the-sky end-term visions, but really learning about him in-depth for the first time, it’s nice to hear his more compassionate view of humans in general. A much more understanding spirit than say Marx. | | 7 |  | Bjork
Homogenic
SUNDAY, 6
I honestly think, after this month is over, I’ll not divulge in as much music-listening as I used to.
Last night I drove a couple peers around (who are also doing a Sober October deal), & they were about trying out the silence in my car. It made conversation more resound. Words stuck harder. It outlines the large gaps between conversation.
MONDAY, 8: I didn't write any notes on this day. But overall reflection: I've picked up the habit of using podcasts to supplement music. However, I certainly spend less time listening to podcasts than I do music. With this second week coming, I'll be making an effort to decrease how much podcasting I do in order to be more in line with the objective of this month of living Quietly. Though through this experiment I've learned about a handful of new podcasts I enjoy. Revolutions, Left Eyes, Hey Riddle Riddle.
Cutting back on coffee is pretty shot: This is midterm season & I've really had to break myself backwards to perform OK in school. | |
nightbringer
10.08.19 | Glad it's going well! If you're worried about filling that head space with other stuff you could draw your attention to your environment a little more. Try noticing natural sounds, little visual details around you. And try paying attention to internal sensations too. How do my feet feel as they go down and up on the pavement? Etc Finding little things to be conscious of helps me when I'm trying to resist simply plugging more entertainment in. | DoofDoof
10.08.19 | "Hello and welcome to Sputnik...Without The Music" | Tb1114
10.08.19 | I appreciate the support nightbringer!
I have a regular meditation practice & implement some of the methods you describe. What's your experience with limiting music intake? | DoofDoof
10.08.19 | lol | Demon of the Fall
10.08.19 | I'm absolutely for some of the things you're trying to achieve here, apart from this little bit... 'W/O Music'.
Seriously though, I could do so many things to make my life a happier and healthier place to be, listening to less music definitely isn't one of them. Perhaps being present in the moment, yep. Limiting phone/computer use, yep. Less coffee/alcohol, yep. Read more, sure. Spend more time talking to people, definitely. Music, erm... what? Maybe it's because my music at work time is restricted and I spend time with my wife/doing other things where music isn't viable, that the time I do get (like on my commute) is very precious, however it would serve me well to dedicate my full attention/limit distractions when doing so. | Pheromone
10.08.19 | Read Sylvia | Tb1114
10.08.19 | @Demon
I don't think there's anything wrong with music. & I don't plan on doing this type of thing ever again in my entire life. I love music, it means a lot to me, and I can think of many relationships with albums or bands that have genuinely left a life-long impression on me and who I am.
I cannot say limiting my music intake for this month has been in aspiration to be healthier or happier. Coming in, I recognized a great chance my mood and being would even be worse than before. I will say it is more about awareness/being present, but I do not necessarily think that being more aware automatically means being happier. It may just mean having an easier time recognizing how sad I am.
My relationship with music in the day-to-day definitely seems different than yours. I'm single AF and my music at work is not restricted.
It's mostly, in the end, an experiment. Examine my relationship with music. You ever have that one, amazing, mind-blowing album that changed your life you listened to all the time and meant the world to you - and then later on in life you come back to that album expecting some of that magic to come back and there's absolutely none left? This happens all-too-often for me, and there's a large part of me curious to see if I can appreciate music in a different way after a month without actively engaging in it. If I can re-learn how to love A Love Supreme or Dark Side, etc. If a simple melody can bring me joy, and I don't have to dive into obscure drone to feel something "new" with music.
/Rant. I don't want to paint music as a villain, at all. Music is beautiful, spiritual, and brings me solace. I just want to see if I can look at it in a different way, temporarily. | WretchedCacophony
10.08.19 | This is an interesting read | nightbringer
10.08.19 | "It's mostly, in the end, an experiment. Examine my relationship with music."
Yeah, taking something away can be a good way to really see what role it is having in your life. What is it bringing? What is it taking away? What do I turn to this for? This sort of self-curiosity is a natural motive for such a "fast".
With respect to my own abstinence from music, as I said in the past thread, I take a day off every week or so. I definitely feel the itch to press play on a music app, but I try to focus on my surroundings and being present instead.
In the past I have taken a couple weeks totally off, here and there. It was hard in some ways but I also liked it. And it felt really satisfying to put something on again after the time was up. Although I didn't really feel able to "binge" music right away after that.
There was also a time, years and years ago, where I abstained from the majority of my music collection for a long, long time... a year at least. I have mixed feelings about my reasons for this more radical action back then. It was driven by a recognition that I often used music to inculcate negative emotions in myself in a way that I thought was unhealthy. And that period of detox certainly reset my emotional calibration and improved my mood. And it ultimately changed how I emote to music, in a way that I am thankful for. But I think mixed in with those reasons were some other reasons that were more dubious and which I now reject as being overly hostile to emotional life. | Tb1114
10.08.19 | @nightbringer
I remember your post in the previous thread. Your abstinence from music for a year and the experience with it is interesting! It seems like a complex overlaying of emotions; you coming to the recognition of your hostility towards emotional life is intriguing and something I can relate to.
1. There are strong, "negative" emotions. Ones we instinctually want to run away from.
2. We devise neuroses toward handling, "taming," these emotions in order to "overcome" them - when in fact we are just running away from them.
3. We realize creating this anti-emotion neuroses is only adding to the overwhelming pile of emotions, and we tear down the pile.
4. We let "negative" emotions be "negative," and "positive" be "positive," ideally not falling prey to dualistic discrimination. Emotions are natural and pass.
Just relaying my experience with "emotional calibration," your experience is mighty interesting. | sixdegrees
10.08.19 | sounds bad | Demon of the Fall
10.08.19 | @tb1114: that's cool, it totally wasn't meant as a criticism, as much as the concept itself appears undesirable, I understand that you're not temporarily eliminating music because it's harmful. Absence makes the heart grow fonder after all.
It sounds as though you have gotten something out of this experience. | Tb1114
10.08.19 | @Demon lol, appears undesirable is definitely a way to describe it.
But thank you, I understand doing this is setting myself as an oddity. I wanted to clear up (for anyone lurking) I'm not hating on music. Sputnik's my go-to place for discussing music & I think discussions like these keep things interesting | nightbringer
10.08.19 | @Tb1114, yes that's about right. I definitely spent most of my 20s being overly adverse to my own emotions. And I have definitely been on a journey of greater acceptance, toleration and curiosity about them. Which has been immensely freeing. And interestingly, I think my music listening habits have been impacted by this journey in different ways. I see my present openness to emotion as reflected in an openness to musical experience - an openness that was a bit more restricted through my 20s. | DoofDoof
10.08.19 | I think cutting out or cutting down is a good thing for anything that's a bit obsessive sometimes...
but...
if you replace it with obsessively over analyzing everything cast in the light of its absence then that's an equal obsession and becomes self therapy navel gazing.
so not good.
either chill and have a beer and forget music exists for a while or just listen to music | Tb1114
10.08.19 | @nightbringer that's cool to hear! I think there is a correlation to musical experience and emotional-openness/spirituality/whateveryouwannacallit. I'm there with you dude.
@Doof I actually agree hardcore with your point. Zen-like wisdom. I'm just being weird for a month. Once this is done (sober october), I'm all about chilling, having a beer, and forgetting music exists. | DoofDoof
10.08.19 | that's good, this is ok as a very short term experiment and I can see it being worth doing once | mynameischan
10.08.19 | you may like david harvey's anti-capitalist podcast if you haven't heard it | Tb1114
10.08.19 | ^ i'll check it out! Haven't heard of it | Aberf
10.09.19 | A month is easy, I've been regularly absent from music for months. Since last year, I'm getting easily exhausted from music. While you can do activities while listening to music, I'd rather fill myself with silence or information nowadays such as listening to podcast/lecture.
| Lord(e)Po)))ts
10.10.19 | Lmao ngl the way you are dramatizing/romanticizing this so much is pretty hilarious |
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