While extremely fun to do, this undertaking truly gave me a hard time
For the second year in a row, I decided to attempt a challenge that requires an extreme thirst and curiosity for discovering new music, a keen sense of attention to detail, and a lot of free time. It consists of listening to an album you’ve never heard before every day, for a whole month. Fortunately for me, the month of February is the shortest month of the year. While it still might sound like a lot considering albums are usually between 30 to 75 minutes long, trust me, it’s not just a lot — it’s way more than that.
Now you may be asking, “Guillaume, why are you doing this? What are you gaining from committing to such a time consuming challenge?” Well, there’s a lot to gain from this experience. The main reason I did this was to expand my music tastes and knowledge. I find that by forcing myself to listen to a full body of work every day that is completely different from the last, it helps me appreciate what every genre has to offer and what makes them stand out compared to others. I see this challenge as I would see a Christmas advent calendar, where every day you open a door to get a different chocolate or treat — in this case you “open the door” to discover a new album and experience it for the first time. During the challenge, you will also most definitely discover a new artist or album you’ll love, which makes it exciting.
The albums that were selected for the challenge had to fit two important criteria. First of all, I wanted to include as much variety as possible. From jazz to metal and from the early 60’s to the late 2010’s, I wanted to cover as much musical ground as I could. Despite being all so different stylistically from one another, they all share a point in common, which is my second rule: all of these albums had to be considered classics by the music community within their respective genres and eras. During such a tough challenge like this, I was a lot more thrilled and motivated to complete it by listening to respected classics rather than listening to more obscure material, mostly because I know what I’m getting into.
With that said, here are the list of albums I listened to during the past month, in this exact order:
Paranoid by Black Sabbath
LP1 by FKA twigs
One in a Million by Aaliyah
Elliott Smith by Elliott Smith
Meliora by Ghost
The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest
Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins
Pieces of a Man by Gil Scott-Heron
Funeral by Arcade Fire
Bury Me At Makeout Creek by Mitski
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
Rust In Peace by Megadeth
Lord Willin’ by Clipse
Paramore by Paramore
Gets Next to You by Al Green
Doolittle by Pixies
Pure Comedy by Father John Misty
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 by Aphex Twin
Contra by Vampire Weekend
Schlagenheim by black midi
You’re Dead! by Flying Lotus
Even In The Quietest Moments by Supertramp
Yes Lawd! by NxWorries
Age of Consent by New Order
Hounds of Love by Kate Bush
Third Eye Blind by Third Eye Blind
Homogenic by Björk
The Glow, Pt.2 by The Microphones
I can’t say this challenge was a breeze for me, because it is never easy to incorporate such a time consuming activity into my already busy schedule, but what I can say is that I was definitely successful in my quest to become a bigger music nerd. I won’t lie, some days were harder than others and I did a lot of catching up, especially towards the end of the challenge, but my struggles were mostly attributed to the fact that some days, I simply didn’t have the time. On top of that, while I was doing my challenge, artists were still releasing new music (how inconsiderate of them). The new Beach House, Big Thief, and Conway the Machine albums all made it hard to focus on the older records I had to listen to for the challenge.
My top five favorite albums of the month consists of the following (this list is in no particular order) :
Paranoid by Black Sabbath
This album is a pioneer in the hard rock and metal realm, the riffs and drumming fills are way ahead of their time and Ozzy Osbourne’s songwriting is in top form on this one.
The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest
This is such a chill and laid back jazz rap album, it’s definitely for the vibers. This record is perfect to listen to while taking a walk outside.
Funeral by Arcade Fire
This album is so grandiose and powerful, it makes you feel like you could take over the world. Just an epic alternative rock experience.
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
A record that sees two of the greatest jazz musicians of all time come together for an incredibly smooth 34 minutes. It’s a meeting of the minds for the ages.
Third Eye Blind by Third Eye Blind
This pop-rock record offers anything you would want from a 90’s album in the genre: infectious hooks, angsty lyrics, and banging instrumentals.
While this challenge might seem scary at first, if you put in the time and effort, I guarantee you that the exposure to a large number of records in a short amount of time will most definitely expand your horizons and sharpen your curiosity as a music listener.
Visual by Catherine Reynolds and Lily Cowper
