thoughts on music.

a friend wrote a blog recently. he asked the question: where does music exist? [i am listening to grizzly bear right now. but totally loving the resurfacing of feist's 'the reminder']

i don't know where to start. it's strange. music. it doesn't have a physical form - although its cover does. yet so many people purchase/gather music as mp3s these days. it is largely invisible. yet it takes so many forms. and it has the ability to affect us in so many ways. we conjure up images to suit it. we create stories to pieces that have no lyrics. is there architectural space in music? does music occupy space or place? we associate moments in our own history with it. we remember through music. we can also just be. i cannot imagine a world without music. it defines part of me + wraps me in happiness.

i used to wear tapes out from over use; i now smile at the thought of the obsessive nature of my music listening pleasure. i went out to buy 'ten' by pearl jam when i was 14 or 15, because a boy i liked wouldn't stop talking about it. i left the store, instead, with madonna's 'erotica'. i bloody love that album - sexy as hell. and at that moment, knew i would never be defined by another's music tastes. but i will never turn down a recommendation. i gave away about 100 cds when i moved from tasmania to brisbane: to free myself of collected things [it was those with the least sentiment attached]. the rest are hoarded in the bottom drawer of my chest of drawers at mum's. i always sit on the floor when i go home, and play with them. there is so much joy in such a ritual + memory recollections :) i put them in little piles, depending on my mood. i reckon i could tell you where each was bought from.

i used to spend hours poring over racks of cds. all my money spent on music. of course, i then got a job in independent music retail. it was like putting augustus gloop in the chocolate factory - a dangerous undertaking. my collection increased tenfold, and it was easier to get rare and back catalogue titles, and imports. one thing mum taught me was to enjoy music. our house was [and still is] constantly bathed in delicious [and sometimes awful] sounds. it reminds me, largely, of family dinners around the table - the best bit about going home [and mamma's cooking]. mum's partner is a muso/sound engineer, and the house has always been full of old vinyls + cd racks, reaching for the ceiling + sneaking across the floor. i love hearing a song, unexpectedly, and being drawn back to a moment of recollection. but i also fear songs that have deep associations with things such as love... then music can hurt. but you can smile after a time: and happy memories are replayed once more.

the original blog can be found here.