Welcome to Immersions from LP - and the Active Listening Manifesto

Welcome to Immersions by Ian Sharp at LP. This month, for paid subscribers: The Active Listening Manifesto.

Hello!

This is the first of the monthly (ish) Immersions long-reads for paid subscribers. If you currently have a free subscription, and want to read past the paywall, click the button to begin a monthly or annual paid subscription - an annual works out at just £3.00 per month, and enables me to reinvest in music. In 2024 you'll receive another nine of these long-reads, and exclusive playlists. For everyone, free or paid, I’m continuing with the weekly album Glimpses and Gems playlists. 

I’m happy to offer you a seven-day free trial with this first long-form article.

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Introduction to Immersions

When I began on Substack, I had a conversation with

Faith Current

(fellow Beatles fanatic). Our conversation led me to further thoughts about active listening. What has become the Manifesto presented here was in the air. I jotted down some ideas that are the foundation of Immersions.

In my Immersion writing I explore albums that reward active listening. Immersions are 10-15 minute reads, with links to the music, videos, and references. These longer posts are best read on the Substack app, or on the LP website.

Photo by Lee Campbell on Unsplash

Of course, sometimes it’s enough to listen and enjoy. Doing so has benefited my mental health over the years. When I returned home from work (not the right work for me, so stressful) the only solution was to blast out The Who. In that state, it had to be The Who. Many accounts of The Who in popular culture exist. They focus on the Mod subculture; or the meaning of the albums Tommy, Quadrophenia, or Life House; and much else besides. Yet all I needed at that point was the music, as loud as I could get away with, blasting out from my bedroom. It was inconvenient, but unchangeable, that this was located in the middle of a row of terraced council houses. There were neighbours to think about - or to educate in The Who's music.

Sometimes music isn't only about reducing stress and relaxing. It can be good to listen, and think, actively. Even when not listening, it's good to reflect on the impact music is having on us. What is it about music that could change my mood, my entire state, and keep my mental health together? What is it about music that is meaningful to the human experience, and the experience of being human? 

What are we doing when we listen to music actively? Of course, we all hear music, whether we want to or not. We hear it in shops. We hear it as soundtracks to films and television programmes. We hear it booming out from passing cars, in advertisements, on the radio. Hearing, though, is not active. It's not listening. 

In the weekly Glimpse posts I choose a classic album. My aim is to write an enjoyable overview, a five-minute read. As a result, the reader might listen to an LP they’ve not heard before or rediscover an old favourite. Immersions focus on the music and the context in which the music was made. Immersions build into a guide to active listening.

If I had a fear when I started LP, it was that listening to music would become something of a job. The act of writing might leave pure listening enjoyment far behind. 

In fact, analysing and digging into the background of music increases enjoyment. I should have known it would work that way. In the 1980s I studied for a degree with the Open University, including a course on popular culture.¹ We pulled apart novels, films, sitcoms and, of course, music, and subjected them to deep theory. The question of spoiled enjoyment was addressed by my tutor. She assured us that studying and analysis would increase our enjoyment. As promised, it did.

These Immersion pieces are not a course in popular culture, much less in music theory. As I said in the last Glimpse of 2023, I don’t understand music on that level. Not a 'course' then, but more than random Substack posts.

The LP you’re used to continues each week. But if you want to get the most from my music writing, please consider a paid subscription. See you tomorrow with the next Gems playlist, and on Monday with another Glimpse of a classic album.