The Living Music List #31: On Procrastination
Living our lives against the deadline is tough but, for some of us, it's necessary
Currently listening to: Sunset Key Melt by Tim Hecker
Tim Hecker is back. Following up his 2023 album No Highs, Hecker is ready to share a collection of unreleased tracks originally intended as film or TV scores. Associated projects included Infinity Pool, The North Water, Luzifer, and La Tour. The not-so-secret sauce of Hecker’s music has always been his tightrope walk between peace and disturbance, or beauty and horror. There is a duality in nearly all of his music that few others can acheive. In this piece, for example, there is the fluttering piano lightly cascading on the wind that’s been overlayed with the heavy, deathly veil of distorted drone.
Shards releases in full on February 21. You can listen to two tracks right now on Bandcamp.
Reflection
Hello, friend.
As I write this sentence, it’s 8:32 a.m. My day job starts at 9. I am not sure why I am like this.
Do you procrastinate as often as I do, friend? It’s been 31 weeks of writing this newsletter to you and still I leave this as a task for Friday morning (sometimes I begin it late on Thursday nights if I’m feeling uber proactive). To paraphrase Carrie Bradshaw’s infamous blogging line, I can’t help but wonder: Why do we so often delay doing the things we love most?
We typically associate procrastination with projects we hate, like homework or household chores. Stuff that is required but feels like a waste of time, so instead of just getting it done, we push it off and waste our time in other ways. In reality, us procrastinators do this with the fun stuff that we’re passionate about too—practicing our art, building a business, writing a weekly newsletter. The difference with the fun stuff is that none of it is really required, but in a way, it feels more necessary and important than the homework or the chores.
We suffer in the act of procrastinating these passion projects. We so deeply desire to accomplish them, but we are held back by a variety of imagined barriers. We question our ability to make good art. We struggle to see the future success of our efforts. We hear the outside noise telling us there are more valuable pursuits. Often, we’re just tired and anticipating the further exhaustion of all the truly necessary work like our day job.
Yet, there is potential in procrastination. Creativity can be a waiting game in which the
”winner” simply fucked off long enough to witness the right moment of inspiration. We are not always ready to create art or pursue our passions. I frequently find myself procrastinating when there is something in my body and soul that is simply saying “no.” It’s like we can sense when the tap is not open or the keg is kicked, but if we remain aware enough, we’ll be extra thirsty when the bartender starts his shift.
No matter how good or bad we feel we are at procrastinating or getting our work done, we live our lives under the threat of deadlines. With our personal projects, these are typically deadlines that we’ve set for ourselves, without any real threat of consequences beyond guilt and self-loathing.
Deadlines drive us to action. At my day job in advertising, they happen every day, multiple times a day. Everything is built on timelines with hundreds of tasks to be accomplished by everyone on the team. It’s how we accomplish hundreds of hours of collective work without tossing our laptops out the window and burning our agency to the ground.
At home, deadlines like my loose goal of publishing this newsletter every Friday keeps me honest and on track, but there’s always a doubting voice of dissent in the back of the room that reminds me I don’t need to publish it. But silencing that voice every single week is more satisfying to me than meeting any deadlines at work.
Overcoming procrastination can make the work all the more fulfilling. Perhaps we procrastinate as a reminder to ourselves that:
We are not machines, and work we do for fun is not meant as tasks to be completed.
We can overcome doubt and disbelief in ourselves, which are the true influences behind procrastination.
We are not endless fountains of creative flow… there is a time to do the work and a time to fuck off.
Music Recommendations
Hello again, friend.
Thank you for reading today’s post. I hope you enjoyed the reflection—and I hope you feel ready to begin something today.
Got a list of some new recommendations for you, as always. Happy listening.
The Living Music List—Ambient
Note: All of the below ambient projects are available on Bandcamp, except #1 which is available on major streaming services.
A Touch of Zen by Flor van Myller (single / meditative) [Independent / Streaming]*
13 by bvdub (album / drone, experimental) [Past Inside the Present / Bandcamp]
Tom Tom Bike & Mix by Futuregrapher (album / drone, meditative {note: track 4 strays into electronica with some percussion}) [Neotantra / Bandcamp]
Hometown Girl by U.e. (album / jazz, experimental) [Independent / Bandcamp]
oord 17 (one hour environment) by tom eaton (album / drone) [Independent / Bandcamp]
Over the Clover オーバー·ザ·クローバー by Hiroshi Yoshimura (single / ambient piano, kankyō ongaku) [Temporal Drift / Bandcamp]
Savage Modern Structures by Ian Hawgood (album / drone) [Home Normal / Bandcamp]
For Those Who Hear Actual Voices (20th Anniversary Edition) by Zane Trow (album / drone, minimalist) [Room40 / Bandcamp]
Singles by Calm Pieces (album / electroacoustic, classical crossover) [whitelabrecs / Bandcamp]
Born Organic Vol. 2 by Future Museums (album / organic, field recordings) [Aural Canyon / Bandcamp]
The Living Music List—All Genres
Note: All of the below projects are available on major streaming services.
I Exist Inside This Machine by Max Cooper (EP / electronic)
AMB001-008 by Demuja (album / electronica)
Humanhood by The Weather Station (album / alternative)
Balloonerism by Mac Miller (album / hip-hop/rap)
Slowly, It Dawns by Victoria Canal (album / pop)
Weft by Blue Lake (album / instrumental folk)
We Are Always Under The Same Sky by Qrion (album / dance)
Spindrift by Benjamin Lackner, Mathias Eick, Mark Turner, Linda May Han Oh, & Matthieu Chazrenc (album / jazz)
Blue Moon by Brendon Moeller (album / electronic)
TRUST! by Rebecca Black (single / pop)
crazy arms by Pigeon Pit (album / punk)
You Are The Morning by jasmine.4.t (album / singer/songwriter)
Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell by Willow Avalon (album / singer/songwriter)
into a pretty room by lots of hands (album / indie folk pop)
I still want to share by Sophie Jamieson (album / singer/songwriter)
Lux by Suichu Spica (album / alternative)
Stigma by Green!Eyes (album / indie rock)
Mado by Chiyaki Nakayama (album / classical crossover)
The Revisit: 15th Anniversary Live at Cloud Gate Theater by Cicada (album / neoclassical)
The Movie “THE HARBOR LIGHTS” Original Soundtrack by Hiroko Sebu/THE HARBOR LIGHTS (album / soundtrack, classical piano)
That’s all for this week’s issue. Thank you for reading. Until next time.
Your friend,
Melted Form
Remember to listen to the hum, buzz, & hiss of the world around you—there is music to be heard there.
Read the previous issue of The Living Music List:
Afterword—Let’s Get In Touch
Are you an artist, a label owner, or a member of the press? Want to share an in-depth feature of your upcoming release, an advertisement, or a guest post for a future Hum, Buzz, & Hiss issue? Get in touch with me at meltedform@gmail.com. As always, I would love to hear and recommend your music, especially if it’s new and ambient/electronic/experimental.
