Discovering music is a tricky subject. In theory it should be easy — you see something you like on your music service of choice, or get a recommendation from a friend, or just stumble upon an album while browsing the net, and take it for a spin, right?
That’s what I’ve been telling myself while doing the complete opposite. Change is not something humans are generally comfortable with, even if we consciously accept it. We tend to stay close to what we already know and not stray further than the mainstream. As an artist, the problem aggravates, and you can be stuck in a loop of creating your art, while being ignorant to the community around you, and its evolution.
Being part of the community is not just about taking but also giving back, truly appreciating another’s value, sacrifice, and contribution.
To try and grasp the stars that I know of, but have never really given too much thought, I’m giving you Neon Index, a series of short album reviews of the synth music scene. I’m hoping that by writing these, I can diversify not only my, but other people’s musical horizons as well.
Here’s how it works.
I will listen to a synth-related album for about 2–3 hours. I strongly believe that first opinions are surface noise, and to understand one’s art the listener must give it more than one listen. If the artist has put hours upon hours of work, sweat, tears, and personal emotion into his craft, I should give it more than a fair chance to be the experience that it needs to be.
The album will be assessed in a holistic way. This is one of the reasons I would like to listen to albums, the other being that it coincides with my listening patterns. I feel that playlists, though popular, are not the fairest way to judge music since the experiences are disconnected, and music fades into being background noise rather than the main attraction. From track names, to album art, to consistency, and theme — I’ll be looking at the album as a whole.
One detail, I’ll be ignoring is production value. Not everyone has an extra 10k to spend on their craft, per album. I’m looking to have a level playing field with the only factor being artistic value.
For further listener exploration I’ll be compiling a Spotify Playlist with the most representative track of the album. Yes, it is a bit ironic, but considering that time is of the essence for most people, each track will be meant to be a taste test more than anything else — full album experiences will be strongly encouraged.
If you’re a potential reader, I look forward to sharing my journey with you on the exploration of the synth scene.
