Listening to Duster Everyday for a Month: Day #2
Over the last few months, I’ve been on a bit of a listening spree. Whatever I can get my thumbs on, I listen to. It had been going pretty well actually since I would end up listening to a large variety of music, alot of which I wouldn’t have put in the effort to listen to otherwise.
Still, I felt like way of listening to music wasn’t really working for me. While I was listening to a lot of artists in a short period of time, my understanding and appreciation for those records was a pretty superficial one. It wasn’t like when I was 14 and would listen to the entire Nirvana discography everyday or when I listened to The Beatles everyday for a couple of months. Those listening experiences were meaningful. I got so into the music that I developed a very strong appreciation based on a variety of aspects. My new style of listening to music was more like a drunken hookup.
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So, not being one for the middle path, I’ve decided I’m going to listen only ONE band for this whole month and that band is called Duster. If you don’t know anything about them then don’t feel bad. I didn’t either.
Today was day #2 of doing this. I heard their debut album ‘Stratosphere’ a solid 3 times today and quite enjoyed it. I think it’s going to be pretty cool to document how my perception of this album changes the more and more I listen to it. At this moment, I like it but I don’t love it.
It’s a good lo-fi indie record with a whole 90’s vibe around it. You can hear the tape hissing in the background. The songs are pretty diverse too. Sparsely arranged, mostly. I could hear several bands that I love in different songs of theirs, bands like American Analog Set, Slint and Mogwai. I kind of feel like the first half is better than the second half. Also, it’s probably worth mentioning that this album has 17 songs but is still not that heavy a listen.
Anyway, it’s just day #2. I hope I still I have just as much to say about this album all through this month. I’m sharing daily updates on my Instagram handle about this journey so you can follow me there if you want!
