Broadening my horizons
So I’ve been taking a bit of a change of musical direction just recently – not in my playing but in listening terms. Obviously I’m never going to lose my love of classic death metal – after all, music can never ever get better than when you have loud guitars playing really, really fast. But I’m trying to expand my listening to increase my range of influences. I know that sometimes that can feel a little bit like spending your holidays camping then changing things round so that you’re only ever going to Hotels in Looe. But that feels like a small price to pay for the much bigger range of inspiration I now have access to.
Some of the things I’ve been hearing lately include quite a lot of Estonian composer Arvo Part (apparently one of the leading figures in a movement called “sacred minimalism”. So I guess classical musicians are as crazy with their genre names as us more rock and roll types). He does these really pared back pieces for a couple of instruments that go on quite repetitively for seven or eight minutes. It’s a bit weird but kind of hypnotic and oddly powerful after a while. And I’ve also been checking in with college rock giants Death Cab for Cutie, who always seemed pretty banal and whimsical to me, but who have a nifty line in songwriting. I guess what I’ve learned from all this is not to be too rigid about the kinds of music I listen to!
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