There’s so much perfectly decent music in my inbox at the moment, that I find it hard to write about any of it.  Yeah, you know, ho hum, it’s all pretty decent but none is blowing me away.

Islands’ Arm’s Way is pretty decent, Bon Iver’s album For Emma, Forever Ago isn’t bad either, but I honestly don’t find it quite as brilliant as almost everyone else seems to.  The new albums by Half Man Half Biscuit and even The Wave Pictures are both pretty good but just not awakening much passion I’m afraid.  Ditto Fleet Foxes, Bowerbirds, Tindersticks and a few others.

I guess this happens, and this is why people have old favourites in the first place: occasionally you just need to go back to the cup of tea and a biscuit part of your collection – for Americans that might be the chicken soup with rice part – and just listen to the stuff so good and comforting and familiar that it always does the trick.  No thinking, no evaluating, no trying to pull comparisons out of your arse, just give the brain a rest for a bit and stop thinking.   How conscious a process is music enjoyment supposed to be anyway.

I never participated in No Music day, but I thought it was a good idea, albeit not for the reasons suggested.  Not every moment of every day needs to be soundtracked.  We are not movies, and it is good for all of us to take the headphones off, turn off the stereo and just enjoy being peaceful from time to time.  Right now is that time for me.  I just need to go for a walk and listen to fuck all for a bit, and when I do listen to something it needs to be some Dylan stuff, or Tom Waits.  Or Calexico, or the Willard Grant Conspiracy, or Billy Bragg, or Belle & Sebastian or an old REM album or something like that.

Sometimes you have to stop processing music, and just enjoy it.  And sometimes I get to the stage where I need to be reminded of that.  Like today.

Calexico – Sunken Waltz
Bruce Springsteen – Growin’ Up
The Smiths – William, It was Really Nothing
Eels – Susan’s House
The Wedding Present – Gazebo