Marking 20 years
of bold journalism,
reader supported.
Arts and Culture
Music

The 'Let's Get Lost' Approach

Great music is everywhere. Here's how you find it.

Thom Wong 15 Sep 2011TheTyee.ca

Thom Wong writes regularly about music for The Tyee. He can also be found ruminating about the state of menswear at The Sunday Best.

image atom
The Range of Light Wilderness literally rockin'.

One of the downsides of being able to listen to whatever music you want whenever you want to is being able to listen to whatever music you want whenever you want to. When old people like me wax rhapsodic about record stores, it's not some obsession with nostalgia or fear of change that drives us -- it's remembering the safety of a curated selection. Now when I listen to music, my overwhelming sense is one of worry that I may be missing out.

Many businesses have sprung up around delivering the listener a selected music experience, from traditional magazines to more elaborate web aggregators. The Hype Machine takes roughly 1,500 music blogs and orders them according to post date and "loves"; there is more than an album's worth of songs on each page, and you can go back on the site over 100 pages, which takes you to music posted... last week. There is a profanity-exclaiming amount of music out there.

Given this state of music listening, I advocate, beyond reading The Tyee, of course, a "let's get lost" approach. Pick any site (I prefer Bandcamp and SoundCloud and just start clicking around. For example, I clicked Pop on SoundCloud, scrolled a few clicks, and came across The Range of Light Wilderness, whose self-titled album features such lovely harmonies as dreams are made of.

"under your spell" recalls the all-too short summer -- weeks? days? -- that we only just enjoyed, and as such its wistful tale of love so binding it hurts hits a little closer to home. Album opener "through the leaves" is evocative of the fall day it describes, a lazy beat keeping time to delicately plucked notes and extended harmonies, providing the perfect accompaniment to a walk in the forest, with changing leaves set to happen, I'd say, next Tuesday.  [Tyee]

Read more: Music

  • Share:

Facts matter. Get The Tyee's in-depth journalism delivered to your inbox for free

Tyee Commenting Guidelines

Comments that violate guidelines risk being deleted, and violations may result in a temporary or permanent user ban. Maintain the spirit of good conversation to stay in the discussion.
*Please note The Tyee is not a forum for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, denying its existence or minimizing its risk to public health.

Do:

  • Be thoughtful about how your words may affect the communities you are addressing. Language matters
  • Challenge arguments, not commenters
  • Flag trolls and guideline violations
  • Treat all with respect and curiosity, learn from differences of opinion
  • Verify facts, debunk rumours, point out logical fallacies
  • Add context and background
  • Note typos and reporting blind spots
  • Stay on topic

Do not:

  • Use sexist, classist, racist, homophobic or transphobic language
  • Ridicule, misgender, bully, threaten, name call, troll or wish harm on others
  • Personally attack authors or contributors
  • Spread misinformation or perpetuate conspiracies
  • Libel, defame or publish falsehoods
  • Attempt to guess other commenters’ real-life identities
  • Post links without providing context

LATEST STORIES

The Barometer

Do You Think Trudeau Will Survive the Next Election?

Take this week's poll