I am generally content to let anniversaries pass by unremarked, and am by no means much of a self-promoter. But when I was doing the math the other day and saw that I was on the very precipice of having posted one thousand songs from my recordings, I did feel a sense of accomplishment.
Although I try and cast a wide net, my enthusiasm for recording live music really came from a desire to document the seemingly-limitless supply of local talent in our town. There were more than a few bands that I really loved to go see live who had great songs — songs that kind of just disappeared into the aether after the band broke up or changed gears. A lot of the time there might be a single or an EP, but those never gathered up all the good stuff that the bands had in their repertoire. And it wasn't the same as the live experience.
Now of course, a recording is never quite the same as being there. Heck — sometimes, a recording isn't even as good as a closely-held memory of a show. But at the same time, we need a yardstick to hold to our memories, lest the best-remembered things become embellished by the mind's will-to-nostalgia.
And even in a time where there's no shortage of pictures and youtube clips from almost any show, I feel it's important there's a best-quality, mindfully-archived version of what went down. Which is to say, I feel like I've found my own little niche.
And best of all, it's been gratifying along the way to get the sense that what I've been doing has been useful and/or pleasant for others, whether giving a band a document of an occasion that was a big deal to them or a chance to hear what their particular noises sounded like from the crowd — or even just to help enhance the memories of the people that were also there in the crowd.
Anyway, to celebrate those thousand songs, I've asked a few of the people that have been there in one capacity or another to pick a few that were meaningful to them. So turn up the speakers, hit that little play button and join in the celebration.
Guest playlist contributors:
- Colin Medley
- Matt Cully
- Robert Gibson/Optical Sounds
- catl
- John Leeson (T.O. Music Pix)
- Rich Trapunski
- Jen Polk
- Melody Lau
- Zaid Khan
- Jay Anderson
- John Caffery (Kids on TV)
Has there been four or five songs posted here that made an impact on you? If you'd like to get in on the action and make a list, feel free to send me an email: mechanicalforestsound@gmail.com.
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