August Playlist: Roll with the Changes

August - and, by extension, summer - is just about over, but before we dive head-first into autumn (my favourite time of year, brimming with colour and crispness and dancing celebrities), let's look back at the last thirty days and take stock of what I was listening to this month...

1. Dimed Out - Titus Andronicus
(from The Most Lamentable Tragedy)
August was the month I finally sank my teeth into Titus Andronicus's two-disc rock opera, The Most Lamentable Tragedy. The album's rollicking lead single is still a highlight, but there's plenty more where this came from - read my thoughts on TMLT here.

On Finding Signed Albums in Charity Shops

Story time!

The album pictured above is Flap!, a thoroughly excellent little set from the Australian jazz troupe of the same name.

I picked this album up from a charity shop in Penarth (British Red Cross, if memory serves) back in 2012. I'd never heard of Flap! at that point, but my eye was caught by the eye-catching album cover and the presence of a song named Tetris on the tracklist very much sealed the deal (I'm a total Tetris addict, as I've mentioned previously).

Pay Attention!

What do you do while you listen to music?

I don't doubt that some of you will find this question redundant. Perhaps you are able to simply sit still and listen to an album from start to finish without any other distractions or diversions. If so, congratulations - you're made of stronger stuff than me.

Personally, I get kind of restless when I'm not doing anything else, and so the majority of my listening is done in conjunction with some other activity, such as...

• Browsing the internet
• Washing dishes
• Driving
• Writing

The only time I'm really able to do nothing but listen is when I'm in bed, and even then, I'm usually trying to get to sleep instead of 100% committing to the music that's playing.