The loss of music listening "Mojo"

[PhilCohen]

On the Steve Hoffman forums(from which I was banished almost 3 years ago), one forum member(from Germany) started a thread called "My Music Mojo's left, Yikes!", in which this man explained that he's lost his ability to get pleasure from listening to music, and asking forum members to offer suggestions. Readers' suggestions ranged from "discover the great outdoors", to "Get checked out for clinical depression" to "smoke a joint and listen to some Bob Dylan". ( I doubt that any drug would make any recent Dylan album more listenable considering the condition of Bob's voice today!)

It must have been obvious to many who have watched my stressful debating with Mr.Doe, here and on other forums, that I am also one of those people who has been losing music mojo. Between increased difficulties in obtaining the music that I want, due to release postponements, record industry games and shipments from overseas getting lost in the mail, the act of listening to music is becoming almost devoid of pleasure. I exchange rare & unreleased material with other collectors, and there is nothing more soul-destroying than crafting a superb and substantial set of data DVD's CD-R's & DVD-videos and some printed artwork...only to have it not arrive at the destination after 3 months, and to have to create the same discs again.

My brain may have a limited ability to absorb music, because, if I listen to some old favorite album, it will still be somewhat pleasant, but, if I listen to music(even vintage music) that I've never heard before, my attention span isn't there, and I can't remember what the music sounded like after I play the discs. I've considered the possibility that maybe listening to the old favorites is more pleasurable, because it is a reminder of simpler times, when the process of obtaining music wasn't fraught with stress.

Despite a declining monthly disposable income in recent years, I still buy as many CD's as I can afford. I have also augmented my collection(for the past 5 years) with material obtained from other collectors, and (since 2011) with some unofficial downloads. Those downloads sometimes bring CD's or CD box sets whose existence I wasn't even aware of, though much of it is music of secondary importance; music that I may or may not have bought, even if money was more plentiful. And, of course some of the downloaded music sucked,and i'm happy that I spent my money wisely...on somebody else's music. But, I can't keep up with burning all the downloads to CD-R, or even playing all the CD-R's that I did burn. I refer to the pleasureless process of playing a CD(or in particular, a CD-R) for the first time as "quality control"(I.E.listening for defects), and tell myself that it will be pleasurable when I play these discs for the 2nd time...but there never is time to play the disc for a second time. When I record rare, unreleased, imported or out of print material for 3 other collectors, it is me being generous, but 2 of the 3 people don't fully recongnize my expenses in creating the discs, and I'm now phasing out these people to reduce my obligations to the music hobby, trying to make more time available to pursue the music collecting hobby for myself.

Towards the last month of my father's life(he lived from 1918-1996) I was waiting for a bootleg CD to arrive(it was a clone of The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" box promo sampler, at a time when the Mike Love had halted the release of the "Pet Sounds Sessions" box), and I told my father that when this disc(containing the entire "Pet Sounds" stereo remix) arrived, that "My collection will be complete". My father said "The collection will never be complete", and he was correct. But I may soon have to decide that the collection is complete enough, so that the pleasure of listening to music will return. Or maybe, going on extended hiatus from music collecting might be a better idea.

Have any of you ever experienced the loss of music-listening "Mojo", and, if so, how did you address the problem?

[cablegeddon]

I think that's a healthy sign. You can't obsess on music all year round

Metal music or any aggressive music goes well with lifting weights

All music sounds better when you're drunk.

If you watch a really captivating movie you can listen to the soundtrack on youtube.

[Reddiwhip]

Try writing a song.  I know not everybody has the same musical talents, but get to a keyboard, or a guitar and make some sounds.  Practice the same little group of notes until you can do it without looking at your fingers.  Then add words.  You don't have to know how to sing well, you can speak the words to the little group of notes.  The words don't have to be profound.  Just say them (or sing them to the little group of notes if you can). 

Have this little song, this little feel, in your head and put on Pet Sounds.  Skip to track 11, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times.  Listen to the words, to the melody Brian sings, and hear the aching chorus.  Appreciate the effort that went from little groups of notes to a giant symphony of emotional magnitude.

Music is creation.  If you want to get your music mojo back, try creating.     

[Aegir]

I definitely wouldn't be as into listening to music if I wasn't myself a musician. I feel like every new song I listen to I absorb and am that much more able to be creative because of it.

[EgoHanger1966]

If you aren't getting enjoyment out of something you don't have to do....don't do it.

[the captain]

I lose my interest in listening to music all the time. Or more specifically, I lose my interest in listening to any particular music all the time. As with most anything else, the answer for me is not to force it. When I'm not in the mood for the Beach Boys, I don't listen to them. I went through the Zeppelin albums this year for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long. And if I don't want to listen to anything at all, I don't.

Like Aegir, I also make music, and I approach that the same way. Nothing going on? I don't depend on it financially, so who cares? Let it lie dormant and return later.

In both cases--as well as with most of life, to be honest--I rely on timely good fortune. Almost never fails. Nothing going on, I'm bound to hear something I think is cool. But I think if I were to close my mind off to new things and exist in a certain mindset--for purposes of this board, let's say Beach Boys soundalikes or "oldies"--I am confident I would exist more or less outside of music altogether by now, because any finite set of ideas is bound to bore eventually.

[hypehat]

Some days you don't know what to listen to! It happens. Also never feel that you HAVE to listen to new or different things. If you wanna spin Pet Sounds for the millionth time, it's just that simple.

Seriously Phil, it's sad that the whole release schedule/record company side of music has got your attention so. Maybe you just need to wean yourself off that.

[the captain]

Some days you don't know what to listen to! It happens. Also never feel that you HAVE to listen to new or different things. If you wanna spin Pet Sounds for the millionth time, it's just that simple.

Seriously Phil, it's sad that the whole release schedule/record company side of music has got your attention so. Maybe you just need to wean yourself off that.

If only you'd used the word teat.

[Dunderhead]

Phil, I'm sorry that things have been so shitty here for you. I've tried in the past to suggest that people cut you some slack, but it's gotten so protracted at this point that I feel like nothing I can say will help everyone get along any better. I think we all understand your annoyance with Capitol on this release in particular, I feel most board members share your angst. My impression is that in your debates with Andrew and the rest of the board people are just taking their stress out on you. I've seen many harmless, even optimistic posts of yours incite some really exaggerated griping.
You always seem to be saying a variation of a single, reasonable message, "I'll probably buy this if/when it comes out, but I'm sick of being strung along", and people take it very personally for some reason.

I think it's very sad that your passion for music has left you, but I think that it's only temporary. In a year or two box set fever will have blown over, and things will settle down a bit. There's nothing wrong with taking a break from the music you love, you shouldn't walk away completely, but simply taking a month or six away from the fan communities and release schedules may help a lot.

[PhilCohen]

Phil, I'm sorry that things have been so sh*tty here for you. I've tried in the past to suggest that people cut you some slack, but it's gotten so protracted at this point that I feel like nothing I can say will help everyone get along any better. I think we all understand your annoyance with Capitol on this release in particular, I feel most board members share your angst. My impression is that in your debates with Andrew and the rest of the board people are just taking their stress out on you. I've seen many harmless, even optimistic posts of yours incite some really exaggerated griping.
You always seem to be saying a variation of a single, reasonable message, "I'll probably buy this if/when it comes out, but I'm sick of being strung along", and people take it very personally for some reason.

I think it's very sad that your passion for music has left you, but I think that it's only temporary. In a year or two box set fever will have blown over, and things will settle down a bit. There's nothing wrong with taking a break from the music you love, you shouldn't walk away completely, but simply taking a month or six away from the fan communities and release schedules may help a lot.

One trivia note: Universal Music is now legally clear to buy EMI Music next week, and though Universal will have to sell off some labels(Parlophone, Chrysalis, Virgin, EMI Classics & Sanctuary Music), Universal will get Capitol Records intact. Now that any question of Capitol's future is resolved, it may actually increase the chances that The Beach Boys box set will be released.

[buddhahat]

Sometimes we end up killing the things we love most, right?

I can't comment too much on your situation Phil but from personal experience I think intense message board activity associated with a band, or any intense activity - , research, work, general obsession - that surrounds a hobby can stifle it and burn you out. I'm an illustrator by trade, and find I have little to no passion for illustration and art at the moment outside of working hours. No desire to go to galleries, no desire to buy art books. I guess it has just become work for me.

Also when I get in squabbles here it tends to colour my appreciation of The Beach Boys. It should be obvious but I'm only now learning that the only person who loses out is me. My advice to you would be maybe to try to distance yourself from all the secondary activity around music. Less message board stuff for starters, or avoid confrontational situations on message boards if possible. It's just a bad vibe that bleeds out and contaminates the music imo.

Simplify your relationship with music if possible. Try to cut down the collecting if it's stressing you out or dissatisfying and just get back to listening for listening's sake. Find a time when you can listen uninterrupted to an album. The bath is a good place as you're less likely to reach out and skip tracks when there's a risk of electrocution!

All the above easier said than done though! Good luck.

[buddhahat]

If all esle fails listen to Robert Wyatt's Life Is Sheep ...

http://youtu.be/YKlhuvZoHco

... like mainlining banana milkshake directly into your cerebellum.

[PhilCohen]

If all esle fails listen to Robert Wyatt's Life Is Sheep ...

http://youtu.be/YKlhuvZoHco

... like mainlining banana milkshake directly into your cerebellum.

Actually, I have some Robert Wyatt music in my collection, though I didn't pick up much of his solo recordings after the first 2 "Virgin" label albums. As I understand, much of his later work is political in nature, reflecting his pro-communist, pro-Arab views. Political music is not my cup of tea.