Opening Notes
There’s a niggle at the back of my head. It’s been there for a little while now.
Every so often, I’ve toyed with the idea of writing.
Not out of necessity, but pleasure. Up until now it’s amounted to nothing more than a fleeting-thought, which soon dies a death after countering it with a half-arsed excuse. There’s been plenty of them, crippling me with an overwhelming sense of self-importance and narcissism.
Who else would want to read what I write?
A reasonable question to ask, and one only time will be able to tell. I could let cynicism prevail and leave the writing to those better suited and qualified to, or I give it a bash and see what happens. After all, it’s only me reading at this point.
To give myself a fighting chance, I’m told I should at least write words I’d want to read myself. It didn’t take long to settle on a topic, mainly since my areas of interest are woefully small and predictable. However those I do hold onto, I hold dear.
I quite like music, and I listen to a fair bit of it too – just like the vast majority of people you know. More than that though, I’m a sucker for an album. Front to back. In all their glory.
I think Guy Garvey once described a good album as “…one that picks you up in a certain place, and puts you down again somewhere completely different.”Something along those lines. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a better ode to the medium than that if you tried. It requires patience, but quietly rewards those that persevere – often unearthing something new with each listen.
On top of this, I get a huge amount out of talking about music too. Sharing certain moments, anecdotes, lines and hooks with others can be both reaffirming and enlightening. But to spare those round me from the idle ramble, I thought I’d find a home for it all here.
It’s worth mentioning though, these won’t be reviews. At least not in the conventional sense. There are people much more apt and able to translate opinions into stars, numbers and percentages. Besides there’s enough of them about, some of which I’d encourage you to read and support. In my experience, ratings can often supersede words. And it’s an admiration for words, as well as music, which led me to start this in the first place. Blind naivety would have it that once you chip away the bad grammar, poor sentence structure and convoluted word choices, there might be something worth reading here. Until then, I’ll carry on pecking at these keys with an air of trepidation.
Each entry will centre around an album. Think of each more as a starter for ten – peppered with any lasting thoughts, feelings or impressions made. As for the albums themselves, they’ll likely be a mix of new and old. Whatever I find myself returning to at the time. Hopefully with a bit of practice, these words might prompt you to give one or two of them a spin.
Forgive the hiccups along the way, it’s new territory for me.
