First and foremost, there's the fundamental concept that songs can remind you of certain people or times in your life. You can hear the first few notes and be brought way back to exactly how you were feeling years ago. I think music is part of the process of getting over a break up; you have certain songs that are securely tied to that person, and the first time you are able to listen to them is always painful. Some more than others, but as you get past that first listen each time it always gets better and is ultimately therapeutic. You can remember who you once were in the patterns of the melodies and sometimes it can really help you recognise who you are now. Whooaaaaa, so deep man, but it's true. The way memory responds emotionally to sounds means you can store information in music that you won't be able to hold on to any other way. I hear a song, and thoughts flood back to me that I couldn't have conceived before. The same applies to smell and old photos, revisiting old places etc., but music is the hardest hitting for me.
Then there's intentional use of nostalgia in music which I LOVE. This is obviously all over the place, from classical musicians making references to one another to the culture of sampling that defines the electronic sound. Artists can use the unique bittersweetness to give their music character and have it make a special connection with its audience. 'Love Got Me' by Ted Jasper is a stunning reconceptualisation of 'Crazy In Love' by Beyonce; the two songs have completely different tones, intentions, and so on, but by sampling it it automatically makes me nostalgic for the way the original song made me feel. One of the things that excites me the most about Burial's music is that the obscure samples he uses and distorts I have my own personal connections with, and so I somehow am made to feel intimacy with tracks that call back on my memories. In particular, he samples this laugh from a video game called Majora's Mask in both 'Indoors' and 'Young Death'. It wasn't just a game I played as a child, but I was actually really fascinated/obsessed with the sound effect myself, so hearing it incorporated into someone else's creative output is exciting.
I've started to be aware of everything I'm hearing now, every song I get obsessed with for two weeks, every album that me and my friends play on repeat, being memories in the future. It's something that used to scare me, trying to hold on to the 'now' so much but as I've realised how powerful nostalgia is, I realise that once I've felt the emotions the music gives me, I can replay them every time I hear those tunes again. If anything, music will act as a time capsule so that I'll never forget these memories. I guess I'm just gassed on life at the moment, and even though this peng February is probably just global warming, it just feels like a time to remember. This weekend, I went to Boiler Room on Friday and Manara - who was absolutely sick - dropped this song 'Soltiero' by DJ Lycox, which I love, but wouldn't expect to hear out generally anyway and definitely not from her set. That's almost like memory inception; I got gassed at a song I knew and then now I'll remember that night because of it. Boiler Room was sick generally, and then Feel My Bicep had a charity fundraiser too on Sunday, a lil' Italo Disco party at EArtH, and Jamie XX was dancing next to me in the club. Not relevant, fine, but I just had to mention it because I. Was. QUAKING. Don't really get being starstruck but just felt so sick to be enjoying the same event as someone I admire like that. All will be music memories in the future I'm sure. x x
The last thing I wanted to mention on this topic was something I was made aware of in the last couple of days. My friend showed me this song, 'Pearl Song' by Onra, and it's from one of three albums he created while travelling China, incorporating the sounds and music he heard into his tracks. This track is fantastic, but it stands as a work as a whole as quite brilliant to me. I keep thinking how much the music must bring back nostalgia of his travels to him, and the album almost functions as a diary of his journeys. In a way, as listeners, we are getting insight into his own nostalgia and experience of China. It's really cool, so at least check the track out if you don't have time for the whole album(s).
So this was more of a stream of consciousness than I normally write in but was just really feeling it today. Here's another great song to listen to I found this week - 'Keep It Real' - Loure. Hope you enjoyed, and don't wear backpacks in the club x
