New music can be magical. There isn’t anything in the world that can solidify your memories of a time and place in your life like a new album.
What I mean is, whatever music you are listening to right now will quite possibly bring back memories of your current situation, emotions, and experiences for the rest of your life when you hear those songs later on.
For example, I can’t hear a Nirvana song without thinking of ninth grade, the awkwardness, flannel shirts, smelling microwave burritos, and air-drumming to songs from In Utero while walking down the halls of Prairie Grove Junior High.
The Decemberists’ Her Majesty reminds me of my first (and only) trip to Europe that I bought for myself as a college graduation present with hoarded, leftover student loan money. I remember walking around the old streets past the sidewalk cafes in Limon with a giant set of headphones on so that I wouldn’t be asked for directions in a language I didn’t understand.
I can’t hear Billy Liar from that record without smelling baguettes, recalling the art and ancient architecture, and re-feeling the apprehension and excitement I felt in that foreign place.
For those reasons, being constantly exposed to new music is crucial. It enriches your life. It enhances the chronicles cataloged in your memory of all the important and seemingly unimportant moments, in the richest detail your mind has the capacity for.
We found out a year ago that the Flyer community has some pretty great taste in music.
It’s been almost a year, though, since the last time we asked, and no doubt you guys have discovered another years worth of great music.
So for our sake, and the sake of the rest of our little community we have going here on the Flyer, don’t keep it to yourself.
It’s time to ask again; What have you been listening to lately?
