Is music becoming a passive experience?

[spacelordmother]

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147 ... experience

I've never heard or this guy, or of his band, but I think he makes a good point. When I was younger I used to count down the days until the new album I was waiting on came out. Then I would rush to the record store and play it non-stop for weeks, taking notes, decoding lyrics - drinking it all in like it really meant something. There are still albums I wait on now, ones that still feel like they mean something, but I don't think I ever really drink them in. What's different?

I know that the whole model in how we acquire and experience music has changed, and that things won't ever really be going back that way (and I am definitely not someone who falls into the bullshit "good old days" mentality -- with anything) but I guess in reading this it made me take a pause and think about how I could try and slow down a bit and give new music that seems important a sense of importance. It seems like that's important?

[Mudfuzz]

I can agree with some of it.. the click away bit IS a double edged sword… on one hand I miss having to read about bands and then try and hunt down anything by them and also I like that I can actually find shit I want to listen to any time I want

but I still get fixated on a band and will get all their shit and listen to it for months problem is finding a artist that can interest me enough, I am not one of those people that buys tons of albums and songs and or bother to keep up with what everyone else is into… and sometimes I only bother to listen to shit 10 years after it was popular and have to kick myself for not caring when the band was together… or alive

I also think a lot of it has to do with something that a lot of people in the industry really don't like to talk about… If everything sounds like something you have already heard, or is in the vein of, or is based on, then how can it really hold anyone's interest for very long? You use to get a lot more different then we do now… now there are just so many derivatives that they have to keep making more to keep interest… Like the link…. the song… played well, sung well, but have you hear tons of bands that sound like that? yep… and so what anyway It just means you have to spend more time sifting through boring stuff to find a gem, and that can almost be the same as reading in a mag about a band and hunting down a out of print album

[Ugly Nora]

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147 ... experience

I've never heard or this guy, or of his band, but I think he makes a good point. When I was younger I used to count down the days until the new album I was waiting on came out. Then I would rush to the record store and play it non-stop for weeks, taking notes, decoding lyrics - drinking it all in like it really meant something. There are still albums I wait on now, ones that still feel like they mean something, but I don't think I ever really drink them in. What's different?

I don't know how old you are, but I assume you are older than you were when you were younger. When you were younger you probably didn't have as much responsibilities, stresses, and real life shit to deal with. Sounds like you done grown up, son

[rustywire]

Becoming?

[AxAxSxS]

It's as passive or involved as you make it. Entirely dependent on the individual.

[backwardsvoyager]

> makes boring derivative alternative rock music
> is angry that his fans are mostly spoon-fed zombie morons

well, uh, i think i found your problem

It's as passive or involved as you make it. Entirely dependent on the individual.

Quoting for truth.

[well... it's green]

music can be as impassive as you make it, you just have to turn it up louder and louder and louder and eventually you can hurt yourself and others, and that's really what's important in life.

[D.o.S.]

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147 ... experience

I've never heard or this guy, or of his band, but I think he makes a good point. When I was younger I used to count down the days until the new album I was waiting on came out. Then I would rush to the record store and play it non-stop for weeks, taking notes, decoding lyrics - drinking it all in like it really meant something. There are still albums I wait on now, ones that still feel like they mean something, but I don't think I ever really drink them in. What's different?

I don't know how old you are, but I assume you are older than you were when you were younger. When you were younger you probably didn't have as much responsibilities, stresses, and real life shit to deal with. Sounds like you done grown up, son

[spacelordmother]

I also think a lot of it has to do with something that a lot of people in the industry really don't like to talk about… If everything sounds like something you have already heard, or is in the vein of, or is based on, then how can it really hold anyone's interest for very long? You use to get a lot more different then we do now… now there are just so many derivatives that they have to keep making more to keep interest… Like the link…. the song… played well, sung well, but have you hear tons of bands that sound like that? yep… and so what anyway It just means you have to spend more time sifting through boring stuff to find a gem, and that can almost be the same as reading in a mag about a band and hunting down a out of print album

But don't you think that things sound more the same because there is increased access to tons of bands and therefore influence? Further, bands have always been the same but is it that increased access now means that we can see on a much wider scale that a local band from California sounds just like a local band from New York sounds just like a local back from London, etc? I am not at all arguing against this access - there are a ton of great bands I would never have heard of without it, but this just made me think about my own interaction with music as a progression of effort.

I don't know how old you are, but I assume you are older than you were when you were younger. When you were younger you probably didn't have as much responsibilities, stresses, and real life shit to deal with. Sounds like you done grown up, son

Do you guys really think it's as simple as that? That I/we don't invest as much time in music simply because we're older and or busier?

> makes boring derivative alternative rock music
> is angry that his fans are mostly spoon-fed zombie morons

well, uh, i think i found your problem

Regardless, don't you also see the situation he is talking about across most musical genres, barring a few that have an extremely rabid sub-culture? I still haven't listened to his band, and I doubt I will, but it got me thinking because it's something that I've noticed more, and in myself as I mentioned. I don't even know if I want to obsess over bands like I used to, but I wonder why that is and wanted to hear what others thought.

It's as passive or involved as you make it. Entirely dependent on the individual.

Quoting for truth.

Truth is true.

music can be as impassive as you make it, you just have to turn it up louder and louder and louder and eventually you can hurt yourself and others, and that's really what's important in life.

Utmost truth.

[retinal orbita]

I'm not reading much into musings from a guy in a band called Blood Red Shoes (wtf is this some sort of a joke?) but it's actually a very valid point. In general, there are pros and cons to how music listening has changed our lives pre and post internet. It seems the biggest downside is that there's so much availability of everything that we often don't get a chance to absorb it the same way we once did (ie, spending 3 hours in the record store, buying one record, taking it home, listening to it a hundred times, or tape trading, or stealing Sabbath records from your dad) and there's so much to filter through critical thinking has almost been subverted by reviews and blogs (ie, xxxx is essential, check it out). I think the great thing is you can actually hear everything, but how often now do people mentally file something away as "great, heard that, now what else do I need to hear" to mentally complete some list of what's essential?

So instead of say, discovering some lost Krautrock band you hit a few torrents, download everything, hear it, move on. That's the part of music that is really lacking is the excitement of discovering something new and really bonding with it.

Last record that really blew me away was Sanatana and Mclaughlan's fusion Coltrane tribute album Love Devotion Surrender. I bought it on a whim because of how funny they looked on the back cover and it was seriously a great album. How often do I go into a store and buy a record based on the cover? Never any more, a) because I did that too many times in my teens and have a basement clogged with shit records and b) everything is so accessible now.... fuck, if I'm browsing in a store and see something cool it's easier to hit up youtube on my phone and check a sample rather than play a guessing game.

I remember reading an interview with Prurient and he mentioned music's dividing line was "pre and post internet" and it's quite a valid point from such a cranky guy. I guess you either remember tape trading or you don't, is another way of looking at it.....

[retinal orbita]

Do you guys really think it's as simple as that? That I/we don't invest as much time in music simply because we're older and or busier?

I'm as interested in music at 33 as I was at 15. Just different music.

[skullservant]

It's become more passive for me. I was actually thinking about it the other day too.
I used to find new releases in record stores only, bought stuff off chance, etc etc.
I didn't do any internet research, buy stuff on bandcamp, or add stuff to a digital wishlist while listening before hand.
I miss those days! I guess it would help if I actually lived close to a record store like I used to, I think that is partially why it has changed for me.

[D.o.S.]

I still hit my local record store the same way I did when I was 13. But I definitely have fewer opportunities and less disposable income. I try to go at least once every other month.

[spacelordmother]

I still hit my local record store the same way I did when I was 13. But I definitely have fewer opportunities and less disposable income. I try to go at least once every other month.

That's 1.AWESOME; and 2. a perfect validation of the "older, busier" point.

There used to be an amazing record store in between an old job and the bank, and after depositing my check on paydays I would always get sucked in and come out with too much stuff! Shit was the best. Nowadays I think diminished access to disposable income and the ability to listen/preview online prevents me from buying things because it might suck and I don't want to "waste" my money.

On top of that that I haven't played music on a physical format in years, and so there's even less reason for me to go into a record store.

[D.o.S.]

See, my Ipod is on the fritz and my car has a CD player. I drive ~500 miles every weekend, so I get a lot of music time.

My record player just died though. and that sucks. Nothing's more active, IMO, than sitting down with some vinyl.