I’m listening to today’s show while writing up today’s show notes and I’m listening to today’s show loud.
It recently occurred to me that I no longer listen to music the way I did when I was a kid. When I was a kid I had two modes of listening to music. One mode was to listen to music on headphones cranked to 10. At that volume I could hear every nuance of David Gilmore‘s guitar on The Wall, it became obvious just how much Yoko Ono appears on the White Album and hidden samples emerged out of Meat Beat Manifesto‘s albums. At that volume I was enveloped in the music of Yes and The Orb and transported to other realms. My other mode of listening to music was blast it out over speakers. It’s a more visceral experience when you can feel the bass line throbbing in your loins and the snare drum kicking you between the eyes.
What those two modes have in common is making the experience of listening to music more vivid. Listening to music over headphones made me appreciate the richness of sound it lacked the physicality of music blaring through speakers. But both modes made the music more real.
I no longer listen to music at those levels for practical reasons. It’d be foolish to constantly bludgeon my eardrums with music piped through my little white ear buds. And it’d be rude to subject my neighbors to whatever I happen to be listening to. I certainly don’t appreciate it when they blast their music.
But sometimes as an adult when you can indulge yourself now and then and turn the music up so loud the windowpanes rattle. And this is just the shot to listen to loudly because it rocks and it’s groovy.
Lady Sovereign spits a medley of rhymes and Lady Saw makes an appearance on a track by Talen (and remixed by Stereotyp!). And you can’t go wrong with Roots Manuva and it’s great to play Santigold and Ms Dynamite on the show. If you’re able, give yourself permission to crank today’s show up on your headphones or speakers.
If you liked today’s show, why keep it to yourself? Share it with a friend. Play it at a party. I’ll make it worth your while because next week I’ve got special live set by Igorrr just for you.
Before I go, the winner of last month’s Bassweight dubstep documentary directed by Suridh Hassan is @northsideindian. Expect the DVD to arrive on your doorstep in a few weeks!
Photo Credit: © Karen Reyniers
- Lady Sovereign “Jig-Raw (Lady Sovereign vs Jack Beats)”
- Talen “Batgirl feat. Lady Saw (Stereotyp Version 2)”
- Roots Manuva “It’s On”
- Munk “Keep My Secret (Welcome Stranger Remix)”
- Leuce Rhythms “Bad Brain (Bubu (BREAKS) Remix)”
- Toddla T “Want U Now Featuring Ms Dynamite”
- Larry Tee & Princess Superstar “Licky – Blogula Re-Edit feat. Santigold”
- Les Sins “Lina”
- Joe Galen “Persuasion (Back & Forth) (Ernest Gonzales ‘Persuaded’ Remix)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Shine 2009 “New Rules”
- D-Sisive “If… (Instrumental)”