Justin W wrote:

I guess this train of thought could really be applied to any band, but I was lying on my floor last night with a candle nearby listening to BWTAS and started to question the amount of time I spend listening to it and other great albums. I take a small amount of pride in not resorting to distractions for the most part, but is music really a distraction if it is so beautiful? When I listen to a great piece of music, I find myself almost paralyzed in the sense that I can't bring myself to do anything other than succumb to it. If I busy myself with something else, a certain percentage of my consciousness is unable to pay full attention to the music. So, consequently, when I listen to music, I get nothing done, and I listen to music A LOT. When I watch TV, read, or amuse myself with frivolties, I usually am consciously aware that I am distracting myself from reality, but with music am I somehow subconsciously validating it because it has the ability to make one transcend reality without realizing it? Yeah, it is art, but where does one draw the line between indulgence in art and mindfulness to the here and now. After having said that, I realize by listening to music I would have to be in the here and now but it seems like an elitist here and now that is untouched by reality. I'm not sure. Well this may be a case of over-contemplation, but I just wondered if any of you out there have ever thought the same thing, well at least similar things.

exactly. i couldn't have put it better myself. music is something to lose yourself in, and i that's why it's so universally popular. but that's also why i sometimes cannot understand why bands like 5ive and backstreet boys become so popular, because there is essentially nothing there to lose yourself in. but then i remind myself of the time when i myself was a hormone-fuelled, take that obsessed ten year old [yes, ten year old]..and it wasn't so much about the music. yeh, sure, that was an element, but the reason i was so obsessive about them was because of their whole image. i listen back on their music now and think 'what could i have ever found there that was of any substance?'..but you have to remember i was tne..and hormones are cruel and evil things. i do often wonder why i spend so much of my time listening to music. some people around me can't understand it, but i can't understand how they could *not* completely surround themselves with it. i never get any revision/essays done because there's always some cd in the background which manages to eventually distract me totally from what i was doing. i have to have music on when i'm falling asleep [but maybe that's just me being a wimp]..i have to listen to it in the car, any long journeys, in the common room, before exams..or just lying on my bed, forgetting about everything and immersing myself in the track. music's a sociable interest in some ways [in that you're brought together with other people at gigs/festivals etc and it's a way to meet new people with similar interests], but at the same time it's so completely antisocial. i think that belle & sebastian are one of the best bands to completely immerse yourself in......however, i would say that the absolute best band i have found for doing this is radiohead. ok, ok, so that's typical coming from me..but think about it for a bit. you know i'm right. you just know it. i have a billion things more to say on this topic, but i don't want to bore any of you anymore than i already have.. i think i've been out in the sun too long....... *bug* ___________________________________________ ***the tiny zine on the net*** http://ds.dial.pipex.com/sage/tartrazine ***and the best band in oxford*** http://ds.dial.pipex.com/sage/moonkat +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "jelly-filled danishes" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+