Your preference that is? Do you like yours to impress straight away or do you prefer it to grow to be fully appreciated. I’m definitely a fan of growers when it comes to my music – yes, music! I wonder at the amount of bands and albums and songs that I have dismissed after only one or two listens that could have become all time favourites had I just been prepared to give a little more time.
“BARR is really good”. This is what I’ve been saying to people when I’ve been giving them mix-cds. “Forget everything else, track nine, Half of Two Times Two, love it!” I feel obliged to give it special mention as it is definitely, for me, a grower and I would hate for anyone to not give it the time it deserves and, in my opinion, needs to be fallen in love with. But how do you define a grower? It is not simple because I believe there are many different types.
They can be ‘slow burners’ – you’ve been listening to a highly recommended album for a few days now, perhaps not giving it your undivided attention, you may not even realise it is mind blowing till a break in a song or a chorus. You sit up, not sure where this has come from. You re-start the track and listen to it fully and it slowly dawns of you that you’re listening to something really special.
They can be ‘leapers’ – albums that you listened to a few months, maybe a few years back and you enjoyed it but to no great extent. Leap forward to today, bored of what you’ve been hearing over and over again recently you go back and delve into your shelves for something you’ve not heard for a while. You replay the album and like a fine wine its matured into something wonderful. I’m not sure if in the dormant period the music has made a concerted effort to get better or in the time between listens subconsciously your brain has made sense of it all and has been awaiting the chance to listen again properly.
They can be ‘clickers’ – you’ve listen to a few songs by some group for a day or two just before you’re about to give up and consider it for recycling suddenly everything falls into place and all the stuff Pitchfork or that blog or what your mate has been saying makes sense. “This band is awesome!” A treasured favourite is born.
This is what BARR (Brendan Fowler) was. When first recommended to me, I didn’t think much of him, then another friend recommended him and I said I’d listen again. After a friend, with whom I had previously agreed BARR was nothing special, turned around to me and say he’d been converted I went back and was determined to discover what the fuss was about.
CLICK! The stripped down production with spoken word delivery at first seemed too bare but now beautiful. CLICK! Initially Fowler’s voice felt monotone and inexpressive but now subtle yet acerbic. CLICK! I got what he was actually talking about and who he was talking to, this opened up all his songs and his style became so much easier to understand. I think he has to be seen live to fully grasp what he’s about. Having now fallen in love with him I have to say his album Summary, one of my favourite albums this year (cover below), is definitely worth getting and giving it a few listens to – or however long it takes.
1. First
2 The Song Is The Single
3. Summary
4. Complete Consumption Of Us Both
5. Untitled
6 Half of Two Times Two
7. Was I? Are You?
8. Piled On Piles On Head
9. Context Ender
The best thing about a grower is you feel that you’ve really earned it. With the music not immediately brilliant and the time needed to be given to fully appreciate how good it really is you feel like you’ve come away with something both you and the artist have put effort into making and it this creates connection between yourselves. For me it creates one of the strongest relationships with a band I can have.
I played it to a friend and she loved it straight away. She totally missed the point.
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