Binge Listening

It seems that everybody today talks about binge watching their favorite TV shows. With so many ways to view them and with so many episodes available all at once, there is a great temptation to hunker down and spend hours with a single show, especially now in the middle of winter. It's a much different experience from traditional viewing, one episode a week. The immersive nature of binge watching allows you to really connect with story lines and characters as they develop and change. That (and simple inertia) is probably why it's become such a popular activity.

Something I've come to enjoy is what I call binge listening. With streaming services like Spotify, you can listen to an artist's entire recorded output from debut album to their latest offering. It's very interesting to hear how some artists stick to a tried and true style or genre while others change greatly over the years.

For me, binge listening works best with an artist with a somewhat limited output. The Beatles put out 13 albums, all of which predate the CD era, so they all clock in around 40 minutes or so (not counting the double White Album). That's about 10 hours to hear the progression from a brilliant cover band through Beatlemania, folk rock, psychedelia, sonic experiments, and back to their skiffle roots. Well worth your time!

Other artists I've done this with: Steely Dan, R.E.M., and The White Stripes (still in progress). I also recommend taking a specific portion of an artist's output, like Miles Davis' second quintet albums (E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, Filles de Kilimanjaro) or David Bowie's Berlin trilogy (Low, Heroes, Lodger) if their discography is too large to go through all at once.

On the classical side, I am currently listening to Ralph Vaughan Williams nine symphonies in order. I had previously only known a couple of them, so to sit down seriously with all nine is fascinating. Quite a departure from the English Folk Song Suite.

Anybody have recommendations for their own binge listening playlist?

(Yes, I know that this is the first blog post in a year and a half. It might be the last for another long time. Or maybe not. We shall see...)