#MMMayhem: Spin the Black Circle
Monday, July 19, 2010 at 3:40PM#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @TheKerp
I talked about this on a podcast a while back, episode 5 I think. It’s in there somewhere, check em out on the right. Or on ITunes. Anyone that follows the blog knows that I still buy stuff on vinyl. I’d never throw some bullshit at you about it sounding better, and I won’t get technical on you, but It sounds different. It’s a different medium, the data is stored differently, it’s reproduced differently, and so the mix required to make something sound good on it is also different. So…what you get is that same song, with potentially an entirely different vibe. And because I’m a #nerd, I dig that. But how it sounds isn’t even the point. My point is one of organizational systems. Unlike MP3s, digtal, file=based, records are linear storage.
Either way, I was listening something the other day, I think it was “The White Album”, and something occurred to me. Today we consume music a lot differently than we used to (not blowing your mind?…just wait, it’s coming.) The idea of the album is sort of dead, at least to pop consumers, because of the MP3. Non-linear storage means you can group your shit however you like. But all artistic or business implications aside I’m interested in the cultural implications. When I was growing up it was cassette tapes, and then CDs. Right there is the difference between linear and non-linear storage. On a CD each track has it’s own tag, and you can find that tag with the push of a button. On a cassette, like a record the information is one long line, you can try to find places in that line, but it’s never easy. And since listening to music isn’t really about doing work, it just makes more sense to listen straight. I can be done, sure, you can get up, go to the record player, find the song you want on the record sleeve, count the grooves and reposition the needle and hope you drop it in the right place. But again, it’s just easier to listen to the motherfucker straight through. Bands like Pink Floyd counted on this, most of their albums don’t even have track breaks.
Still, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, welcome to our world of technology. So I’m sitting on the couch listening to The White Album, and on comes the track “Revolution 9″. (For anyone who doesn’t know their Beatles, this a pretty weird ass, avant-garde kinda track.) I hadn’t listened to it forever. I never had this album on CD until last year when they were re-released. Even then, I ran through the catalogue knocking out the greatest hits, and “Revolution 9″ never came up. But on the record, without the effort to skip it, there it was. So here’s the thing…Imagine the cultural implications (at the time the album was released) of knowing that the biggest band in the group was a bunch of weirdos on drugs. Not to take anything from the art, but if all you’ve heard is “Help” and “Hard Day’s Night” you’re not getting the right idea of the dudes in the band. Imagine if somewhere between hits the backstreet boys had a song about doing acid. And you had to listen to the fucking song to get to “I Want It That Way”!!! You had to listen to it. Or at the very least you had to get off your ass and change it. There was no way not to know that they had a song about acid. To me this explains a lot of the 60s.
Spin it PJ.
Reader Comments (1)
Right on. Besides the obvious (vinyl DOES sound better! yeah, I'm one of those...), the idea of an album is way more intriguing than a file with some of your faves. You could always tell if a band put some thought into their releases or if they simply let the company put together a new 'product'. A nice old 7" is something else altogether again and can't be compared to your latest itunes purchase of a song, either.
I only got an iPod last year as an upgrade to my trusty old Walkman and can already feel the change I listen to music. I find myself listening to songs only for 30 seconds or so and then skip to the next one! And I don't like that - I have no idea why I'm even doing that! AAarrgrhrgergfrgherhvb11