Music, books and how to make them whole

Before I start, a disclaimer:

You have to be a reader and a listener in order to understand the following text. Please do not read if you can't (duh) and/or if you don't listen to music. In addition, kill yourself. No joke.

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Music. One word, countless feelings evoked. Ah, yes, so you came here to read something written by this guy that tries soooo hard. Here you go. Today's essay's about emotional/conceptual associations we make between books and music we listen to at the moment of reading. Most of it is just me rambling pointlessly, though.

The first time it happened to me was a long time before puberty. I think I was 5 - 8 years old at the time. I had a Disney book called "Hercules" and it was nice and shiny and colorful. It told a disturbing story of a ginger muscle guy and his anorectic girlfriend or whatever. Good stuff. Anyway, somehow I ended up listening to an M people cassette while reading the book. And even now, many years later, I still "feel the feel" of the book every time I listen to M people... which is never by the way, I don't listen to that crap anymore! So, I used to feel it, every time I listened to M people. And I still do whenever they pop up on the radio. It's just as if the music were a soundtrack to the story, regardless of how incompatible M People and Hercules might seem.

Another, maybe even sillier example, is Bjork's "Isobel", a track from Post. As an avid prehistory fan, I read many books about dinosaurs throughout my childhood. I knew "all there was to know" about these creatures. I was obsessed to the point where I saw them among the trees while looking through the car window, hell, I even used to walk around the house, pretending to be one! None of this is made up, I swear! So, anyway, I used to listen to Bjork quite a lot at the time, still do. And "Isobel" has become that one track I instantly associated with dinosaurs. In my infinite naivety, I actually thought it was ABOUT dinosaurs, running through the forest, majestically raising their heads above the treetops. How disappointed I was when I found out, many years later, what the track's name was (yeah, as a kid I didn't care much about titles) and what's more, that it's absolutely NOT about dinosaurs. I still love the song, though.

We tend to forget a lot of the good stuff we learned as kids, and only a few years ago did I realize that I could actually enhance my reading experience by listening to one album over and over again while going through a book. It creates a bond, it makes every book even more of your own, personal experience. Obviously it can't be just any album but rather one that you already know pretty well and like quite a lot. For instance, I've just read Murakami's Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of the World, one of his most surreal books. Given how I had an awesome experience with Reisefieber by Mikołaj Łoziński combined with One Armed Bandit by Jaga Jazzist, I started to do this book-to-music thing on a regular basis. If it worked, I had this book "stuck" in the music for the rest of my life. If it didn't, well, I'd change the music or settle for silence. So, anyway, I listened to Kayo Dot's Coffins on Io while reading Murakami. And let me tell you, it worked great. Both the book and the album are amazing but they're even better as a duo. Kayo Dot gives you a sense of wonder, menace and psychedelia and that's exactly what you need to amplify the distorted, dreamy mood of Hard-boiled Wonderland.

I know it might not be the most groundbreaking thing and some of you have already tried this. Still, if you haven't, give it a shot: pick an album you like, album you think would go well with the book you're reading and give it a try. Bind the album to the book and keep it this way forever.