Was wondering what you all do out there to keep new CDs/downloads in a regular rotation to assess whether you like them or not. I'm having a tough time with it right now as I seem to be playing catch up with an ever-expanding queue. Do growers need a certain amount of time to grow or just repeated listens? Discuss.

Well, for one thing, I try to only listen to 2005 releases after September 1 so I can catch up on all the year's best releases. After the New Year arrives, I seek out other older releases by my favorite 2005 bands. It seems to work for me.

I typically won't buy more than three CDs at once and try to give them all a fair shake before moving on to the next batch. I don't have an iPod or a personal computer, though, so I don't download much at all. If I had those, it would probably be a different story. As it is, if I'm going to spend $10-15 on a CD I better try as hard as I can to like it.

I also have the problem of doing most of my listening in the car. Some CDs just don't work for riding in the car. As a general rule, mellow CDs aren't good for driving and as a result, I often don't listen to them as much as I'd like.

Its a bitch, a bitch I tell you.

I don't plan shit. I listen to whatever feels right. As far as new music goes, sometimes I listen to it right away, while other times it may sit for a month still in the package. That's what keeps this as a hobby or source of amusement, rather than an occupation or obsession. I think a fair amount of people forget about the fun aspect of listening to music.

This has been my worst nightmare....

I consume way faster then I have a chance to give honest 2-3 listens to a particular CD...

Usually , they will get one immeidate play and fall into one of three categories.

1) Love it and it goes into immediate rotation....
2) Like it alot, not blown away, and put aside for more intensive listens in the near future....
or
3) Not bad at all, will give it another listen when the inspiration hits me. could be weeks or even months.

One of the reasons I stopped freelancing. The other being that getting paid is a complete pain in the ass.
But I still miss it from time to time.

As for new/unheard records, there's no rhyme or reason for me. I try to keep only new (to me) CDs in my car for commutes and work driving and keep the bathroom, bedroom and living room CD players stocked w/ new stuff as well. But damn if I don't get in a mood for Dylan/Stone Roses/name an artist and the whole plan goes kerflewy.

This is how I fall behind the easiest. I'll often get a hankerin' for something classic and listen to it for weeks. It's very common with Dylan, Dinosaur Jr, Wilco, Radiohead and many others with me.

Unfortunately, the high cost of gas has severely hampered my roadtrippin', because that's when I get a lot of listening done.

I have a spindle of CD's that I take with me to work and back.

i just devote a hell of a lot of time listening to music. but then, most people dont have that luxury.

This definitely feels like more of a sick obsession for me....

I've got a bunch of playlists set up for my Ipod. I have one just for 2005 music, then one for each month's releases. I haven't actually used any of those in quite a while, I just don't feel like devoting myself solely to 2005 right now. Yeah, there's a lot of new stuff out, but there's also a lot of boring crap out among it, too.

Shit, tell me about it. I'm almost to phase 3, which includes showing up in this guy's office everyday to bug him (or his secretary if he's not in) about getting paid on two jobs that were done in April and June.

Hey, Sketch.

What I usually do is I take all the week's "new music" and I divide it into three listening destinations: Cars (2 6-pack players) Work (basic portable Cd)
and Home (audiophile system).

What music makes it to what destination, usually has to do with my preconceived notions of the disc(s). .i.e., My Home destination is for discs I'm just itching to spin, in depth; whereas, the other two destinations are reserved for discs that come highly recommended or that I've read a ton about.

Then, after a week's worth of music listening, I sort music into three piles: small pile of "need more spins" large pile of "file and revisit" and a third pile of "pass it on to a friend, who might like this, but I don't".

This is by no means scientific, but it seems to work.

I'll be purchsing an ipod hard-drive portable in the next month, so god only knows how this alters things for me.

Hope this helps,

audiobill

It was best during college or when I used to walk to work, I could consume a lot while doing homework or during my walk.

Now I generally give every new album 3 listens when I get it, and then come back to it about 2 months later for a revisit. The problem is that I therefore don't spend a lot of time on my already existing collection.

45 min each way to/from work.

I really wish I had the problem of buying too much! I generally go into the whole thing where I listen to a c.d. over and over for like 2-3 months. I've been lucky this year with my purchases -- everything has warranted constant play.

Actually, this is pretty straight on what I do (although my reasons for divvying up are different -- I tend to listen to the disks I think need more dedicated listening to at home; metal and hard rock and pop in the car; instrumental music at work).

I think what I'm realizing is that a lot of my assimilation was in my car when I had it. I've been without one for 18 months, so the shift has been to my iPod. I don't listen to music at home that much, so as much as I like the division method . Apps like my beloved MusicMagic add so much more possibility but also so much more confusion.

Right now, I'm experimenting with different "disc of the day" techniques where I listen to it at least two or three times along with similar albums. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Keep it coming.

I have sorted to not reading about new music (which is easy on this board nowadays), buying new music, etc.. seriously though, I havent had time- or the energy really. I just am happy when I happen to find something new or exciting.

I keep my new (bought in 2005) albums filed seperately in a different bookcase from the main body of CD's and as a result generally listen to CD's from there. If I get a hankering to listen to Lennon or the Velvet Underground I can just go to the other bookcase but generally I stick to my new releases when I just want to stick something on.

At the end of the year, they'll get moved over with the others, filed away and I'll start over.

I actually don't WANT to listen to every album that comes out - I'm basically looking for 3 or 4 new albums that I can spin for a month or two without getting sick of them. Of course, this often means that I have to buy/dwnload a lot of albums, but once I find the things I really like I listen to them a lot.

I can listen to about 5-6 albums per day, sometimes more. This can let me plow through a number of new releases. My occupation allows for this, at least at present. I usually put my new releases for that week at the top of the queue. I'll listen to those a couple of times, sometimes more if it one really grabs me (Kings of Leon I listened to all afternoon). For growers, I'll force a couple of extra to see if I just wasn't in the mood for it earlier (Wolf Parade didn't immediately hit me). And hopefully I don't go into a phase in the middle of my new release week and listen to nothing but the Velvet Underground/Dylan/Stones etc.

Aurally.

Sometimes, osmosis.

before i bought my mp3 player:

one week listening time at work.
mandatory car listen.
file.
re-visit in a few months.

now i'm having the digital dilemma. it's not the same when i listen to an album on my mp3 player. i think i'm too much of a sucker for the physical product. i want to look at the cd, read the liner notes, etc.
the only thing i'm really digging my mp3 player for is random play through the 11,000 songs i have loaded on there.