Monday, May 01, 2017

How much new music did I listen to in April 2017? Let's find out!

Looks like April was a little slower as far as plowing through the new music queue. I was on vacation for part of the month, and spent most of that time reading instead of listening. I’ve also made that new pact with myself to slow down the firehose, so maybe this is an effect stemming from that as well?

I mean, this is still more music than the average fan, or even critic, listens to in a month, so I’m not exactly beating myself up. I do admit I’m beginning to question my practice of listening to every album all the way through instead of skipping the ones that are obviously not going to hit home with me. It’s the same problem I have with books; I can’t just bail a few pages in, and end up feeling like I’m required to fight through t the bitter end.

Part of the reason I listen to things all the way through is in hopes of discovering a single gem of a song on an otherwise lackluster album. I may have to refine this practice, but for now it stays in place!

Anyway, here are the April stats!

The guide to understanding my rating system is here, if you're interested.

Total number of new/upcoming releases listened to in March 2017: 57

Number of those releases that rated 7-10: 5

Number of those releases that rated 4-6: 38

Number of those releases that rated 1-3: 14

Highest rated album: Gorillaz - Humanz (Shocker! Not.)

New band I’d never heard of that caught me off guard: What Gives - Feel Good. I'll write more about this Chicago band later, but RIYL: all things Weezer, pop-punk, emo-pop, power pop, big crunchy guitars—but all those things inclusively and not all of those things exclusively.

Most surprising discovery: I knew Sweet Spirit's St. Mojo held promise, but I admit that it kinda gave me a left hook. I listened to it when I first got it and was, like, meh this is good and fine. Then gave it another while writing a preview of their Chicago show and something just clicked. Goes to show why if something shows promise you should always give another listen.

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