I’ve been thinking a lot about consumption. Especially in what has been deemed “the attention economy”, I’ve been thinking about how I consume the things I consume. Everything seems to be a 10 second reel these days (I’m not on Tiktok), “30 things to do in NYC” crammed into a sped up version of a viral song (more on that another time), “year in review” clips where each slice is barely a second long, and you’re not really sure what you watched or what was trying to be shown. It’s not just that these videos (generous word) are literally made faster, it’s that everything seems to be distilled into a snapshot, both removing context in its entirety and relegating the value of experience to its consumption by others.
I’ve heard a lot of criticisms about what that does to the sharer, the person who chooses to focus on recording what’s in front of them rather than “live in the moment” or whatever it’s called. I’d like to think I’m doing ok on that front, all things considered, (allegedly I only take photos of trash and shadows, much to the disappointment of my friends and family when they’re feeling nostalgic), but I am “guilty” of posting personal things to my story that I wanted other people to see. Maybe I’m not reading the right things (suggestions?), but I’ve heard less criticism about what it does to us as consumers. I know the stuff about our attention spans shortening because of short-form media (which is so terrible), but I think I’m more interested in (casually) examining the level and type of engagement we have with what we are consuming. At least for me, any interaction I have with posts on Instagram feels so superficial. This is not to deny the power social media has in spreading information and in some cases affecting change, nor is it to ignore some of the very important images and stories that are shared on social media.
What I’m trying to say is, it’s like everything has to be reduced into something that can be taken in quickly.1 And I think as consumers, we (who we is referring to I’m not sure) rarely dig deeper or try to grasp a larger context. Because I think context can’t really be reduced into something consumed at that speed. Context is complex, it has multitudes, can be contradictory, can change, is changing, is influenced, has influenced and more. Putting time into understanding as part of our consumption seems so rare these days.
So for the playlist (see the note below) this week, I wanted to choose songs that really require some patience. (My family and friends know I’m pretty bad at the whole “delayed gratification” thing, but that’s only with food! It’s fine with (most) other things!) Did I just go through my music and choose the longest songs? Partially…but… they were chosen for a reason. Because of the length of each song, which I think also speaks to the sheer amounts of transformation contained within each one, the playlist isn’t meant to be played in one go— it’s more of a list of separate recommendations. Four are part of albums, one is part of a compilation, and one is a 35 min long song (the only song on its “album”). I think any of them could be played in the background, and if your relationship to music is one that is more casual, they can be amazing soundtracks to you folding your laundry (it takes me as long as 35 min..) or waiting for your rice to cook! But if you give any of them a chance (even as stand alone tracks), and really really pay attention, I think you’ll see (or hear rather) how expansive, transformative and wonderful music can be, if you give it some of your time.
*To play the full songs listed below, I recommend viewing this post on substack on a computer.*
I recommend listening to the songs separately (not in one go), or listening to the albums they are on from start to finish. This week, spanning every genre to the point where it all seems beyond classification; the word genre is moot and those Spotify “daylists” would crash—Music from Memory’s anniversary compilation 10 features American composer Vito Ricci with some beautiful field recordings to start us off; YLT ends my favorite album of theirs with wonderfully unending instrumentation; the one and only Isaac Hayes with some spoken word on his fantastic early career album Hot Buttered Soul (amazing amazing rendition of Walk on By is also on there); the inimitable Stereolab on a track that is so easy to get lost in, until… it completely changes… and changes… and changes… and changes; one of my all time favorite artists Tortoise with their fantastic opening track on Millions Now Living Will Never Die (there’s a moment in it that completely took me by surprise, no your headphones are not glitching out); and the undeniably greatest of all time, LONG SEASON (live version recommended but you’ll need to listen to the whole concert recording), and yes I KNOW I feature Fishmans every month, but the song is completely indescribable. The word “song” seems inadequate for every track on this playlist— enjoy!
Da Hamptons - Vito Ricci
Night Falls on Hoboken - Yo La Tengo
By the Time I Get to Phoenix - Isaac Hayes
Refractions in the Plastic Pulse - Stereolab
Djed - Tortoise
LONG SEASON - Fishmans
*streaming can be a great, accessible way to discover new music and an easy way for me to embed playlists into my posts, but I would encourage, if possible, supporting the artists through other platforms and exploring the rest of their work*
Part of sharing information on social media can be accessible I think. Dense academic texts are both hard to understand and sometimes require a full college tuition to access.