EXPOSE YOURSELF - Brittlestar’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue #12
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EXPOSE YOURSELF
In the 90s I was a bit drifty.
I had been married, separated, divorced, found a new better looking woman, moved to Scotland with her, moved back to Canada with her and then took a job in a laminated art shop.
A story as old as time.
I had been an avid internet user since 1992 but things were really starting to get interesting in 1996. I knew I could do SOMETHING there… but I had only seen myself as a musician (despite training or demonstrable skill but I did have great hair some days) and anything on the internet seemed awfully nerdy.
Then I read an interview with David Bowie, the Starman himself. In it he called the internet the new rock n’ roll. A rule-busting new way for people to express themselves. It suddenly made everything internet-related seem quite a bit cooler. For an ‘old guy’ he certainly seemed up on the latest stuff.
Of course, he was totally right BUT… here’s the big thing that stuck with me.
In the article he mentioned that he had someone on his staff deliver him the Top Ten singles every weekend, so he could keep tabs on what was popular and new in the world of music.
Genius.
Thanks to streaming services like Spotify (yes, they pay artists poorly… I’m one of them), it can be easy to cocoon yourself in the familiar but… there is SO MUCH great music, art, films, books and more being created EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Thanks to technology, you no longer need a staff to go buy the latest Top Ten singles every week. In a few taps you can listen to what’s in the charts and what might be soon.
I LOVE listening to the songs of my teens on Spotify but every Friday for the past several years I’ve made a point to put aside some time to listen to a playlist of new releases called New Music Friday.
It keeps me aware of what people younger than me are into and I think it also helps me process the world we live into today a bit better.
Make no mistake, some of it is garbage… but people have been making garbage since time began.
It’s too easy to exploit technology to live exclusively in the past.
Thankfully, it’s just as easy to exploit technology to explore new stuff. It’s like we’re living in the ultimate Baskin-Robbins. A little taste can find you some amazing new future favourites just waiting for you.
In our teens the music we listened to became the soundtrack to our lives. If you’re still living life, you’re gonna need a few new tunes.
Expose yourself!
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About to expose myself to some serious ice cream stains on my shirt.