In The New Yorker, Colin Marshall writes:

I’ve made a daily habit of listening to “old” music—music by artists who began their careers in the nineteen-sixties and have made the largest, most obvious marks on popular culture. Working my way through their entire studio discographies, I take one album per week and play it once every day, straight through. This method (which I used most recently to navigate the nearly half-century-long catalogue of David Bowie) requires both an obsessive streak and a certain degree of patience: the studio albums of Dylan alone, which number thirty-nine as of this writing, took up most of a year.

I’m giving this a try. Marshall’s version of old music is a little limiting — I don’t think we need to stick entirely to the ‘60s and ‘70s rock canon — but I’ll own that I have decided to start with the Beatles. I’ve heard the hits because they’re impossible to avoid, but I haven’t spent any time with the catalog. So here goes.

Two weeks in, I’m happy to report that the Beatles are pretty good! Ha. I enjoyed Please Please Me and With the Beatles has been fun, too. I’m looking forward, though, to diving into the classic records. I have never heard Revolver, Rubber Soul, or Sgt. Pepper’s, all of which are still up ahead. My favorite song so far? “Please Mr. Postman,” which is not a song by the Beatles. It’s a great cover, though!

I’ll report back on the rest of the Beatles’ discography once I’m done, which I think will be the first week of February. What’s after that? We’ll see! I have Lauryn Hill penciled in, but I might go OutKast instead. I have time to figure things out.