LPs - a good way to discover new music

[withmusic]

I'm exactly the same way with my listening routine.

However, since I got involved in producing radio shows about two years ago, my approach to music has shifted somewhat. My shows are in essence the same as making a "mixtape" like we did with cassettes decades ago, drawing songs from a wide range of different albums. So, knowing that I'll be putting together radio shows shapes my listening in the sense that I'm mentally taking note of the best or most interesting tracks as I listen.

What I've observed in general is that IPods and MP3 downloads are creating more of a focus on "the hits" for many listeners. The routine of listening to a LP or CD in its entirety is unheard of for many friends who are of the 'Ipod generation.'

Well, welcome to my past world Cactus! I did that for about 2 years. I was Music Director and Associate Producer. What you described was part of the core duties.
In actuality though having the listening habits like ours are really assets to that. we are already trained to be able to pick out play lists that make sense and such.
I also made a study of music and it's effects on the human psych if you will and I was able to put together some play lists and such that made my boss happily report to the manager of my abilities. (I was making mix CDs for a while by then and tapes long before that. so I already had the talent).
I had tons of fun being sent new CDs to evaluate and I would have a lot of home work every week listening to the new submissions and taking notes on each one even down to some song details. I would often come back in with a bunch of notes attached to the CDs and my boss would listen according to my notes and thank me for making her job easy because she agreed with me 99.9% of the time. The big boss thought I was the greatest thing since the wheel. Somehow, I took the particular show I was working in and gave it new life again through hard work mind you. The phones were ringing again much more often with folks asking "what song was that? I loved it. Great show today!" Etc. Before they would get one or two calls every couple of weeks from the same person almost, after a time when I came on board, we were getting an average of 3 or 4 of those type of calls per day! The thing that makes it notable is that people rarely call radio stations for reasons other than contests. I got the job in a strange way. I was at a open house they had and I saw a need and knew I could fill it and believe you me, this station was in need! They have asked me to come back a couple of times, but I live too far away now. They kind of went back to their old ways, which is a shame.

 

[charles 1973]

I couldn't agree more that listening to a whole side of an LP introduces us to different music than we might listen to on a CD or other digital formats. In fact some of my favorite songs on many LP's are song's I might have skipped on CD's, and sometimes had neven heard before.

It's not a matter of hearing it and deciding to pass, these songs grow on me. Sometimes at first I just tolerate it becaues I'm too lazy to skip the song on a LP. But after a dozen of so times it starts to click in. It seems this digital Age (both audio and video) has left me with the attention span of a Flea!

 

[Metalownz]

I grew up with vinyl records and I have this annoying habit (to others) of listening to not only a LP in it's entirety (side one then two), but I do the same with CDs. When I put on a CD I listen to the whole thing 99% of the time rather than skip around to certain songs. You would think with the CD being so convieniant to lend itself to that temptation that I would give in to it, but somehow I just don't. Maybe it's some latent OCD thing or I'm just an old school fart, I don't know.

:thmbsp:

 

[analog_guy]

I grew up with vinyl records and I have this annoying habit (to others) of listening to not only a LP in it's entirety (side one then two), but I do the same with CDs. When I put on a CD I listen to the whole thing 99% of the time rather than skip around to certain songs. You would think with the CD being so convieniant to lend itself to that temptation that I would give in to it, but somehow I just don't. Maybe it's some latent OCD thing or I'm just an old school fart, I don't know.

I used to listen to every album entirely that I bought when I was a kid. I had grown out of the Top 40 short attention span pattern of just listening for hits. I still didn't have much money, so I listened to whole albums because I wanted my money's worth. I had purchased a few singles, but when I realized the advantage of buying an album with a good song on it and then listening to everything, I might find some other songs I liked too.

I graduated high school in 1986 and owned a few albums, but did not purchase any CDs until college. They were still pretty new and costly. It was probably a buy 12 for the price of one BMG or Columbia deal that got me into CDs, but I kept buying albums until all the record stores were gone. Everything I bought I listened to entirely until I started working, whether it was on vinyl or CD. It seems like my own perceived lack of time is what got me listening only to singles on the radio. Whole albums were usually cassettes and only on longer drives.

Up until a few years ago when I started getting back into records, I had degenerated to purchasing only compilations or greatest hits CDs, unless it was a group I really liked. My ex got some ipods just after they came out, and filled one with music that I liked. That was convenient for trips and such, but the sound quality degeneration moving from albums to cassettes and later CDs for my car, and then further down to MP3s on the ipod kind of degenerated my attitude towards music generally. It became background noise, or something to pass time, rather than something to be enjoyed. That's when I got into the habit of listening to partial songs. There were very few whole albums on the ipod. Skipping songs was kind of like changing stations on the radio for me.

When I got back into vinyl and started listening to records again, I listened to whole albums because it is relaxing and I enjoy the music. The sound quality that I remembered from the past was back, & I refuse to give it up again for a bit of convenience. :nono: About 95% of the music I buy now is on a record. If I can find an SACD or DVD-Audio for stuff I like, I will buy those. The only CDs I buy have songs I can't get on vinyl, or are screaming bargains in the used bins. When I listen, it is almost always whole albums, usually several in one session.

One other advantage I didn't have back then is that I can go to a record store or Half Price Books and find some pretty decent records for $0.50 to $2. I don't mind buying something at that price to see if I like it because I've probably heard some of the songs hundreds of times over the years. Spending a fraction of what I would have paid to get the album new is a great incentive to find some new old music again. It also lets me explore blues, jazz, and classical music that I did not care about when I was younger. I definitely feel like records have given me a renewed appreciation for music and allow me the opportunity to listen to things that I would have passed by a few years ago.

Scott

 

[withmusic]

I couldn't agree more that listening to a whole side of an LP introduces us to different music than we might listen to on a CD or other digital formats. In fact some of my favorite songs on many LP's are song's I might have skipped on CD's, and sometimes had neven heard before.

It's not a matter of hearing it and deciding to pass, these songs grow on me. Sometimes at first I just tolerate it becaues I'm too lazy to skip the song on a LP. But after a dozen of so times it starts to click in. It seems this digital Age (both audio and video) has left me with the attention span of a Flea!

Your right about the digital age and the attention span of a flea. (Made me laugh). That explains the listening habits and interest of the generation below me and somehow just under half of my own generation (60s/70s era whatever name they give that). I look at digital this way: In and of itself, it has merit and has made things otherwise harder to obtain easier, but the problem is that it focuses too much on convienance and disregards the quality, purpose and cultural aspects of music. Digital is good if used properly, otherwise it does turn one into a flea.

 

[kirk57]

While I understand the OP's point (and I play a LOT of vinyl), I've actually 'discovered' much more music by having a music server and playing on the random function.

I don't know how many times a song has come on that I've never heard, and I really liked, that was in my collection, but I never listened to because I didn't play the CD all the way through (or at all)

The thing is, you have to PICK the album in order to play it all the way through. Most often my 'discovered' gems are on albums I wouldn't have put in the CD player in the first place.

 

[wind2013]

As I mostly listen to classical music only, I found LPs a good way to discover those great soloist/condcutors in the 1st half of 20th century.

 

[thebeez85]

Surely that's one of the great reasons of why LPs are awesome. That, plus the context of the songs and the playing order which many bands and producers carefully considered. Then you have those liner notes, readable lyrics, and other things that are part of the total package you can't get elsewhere. And if that weren't enough, vinyl sounds pretty good too! Don't even get me started on the heady aroma.

to reiterate what other's have said (forgive me for reposting older content)

couldnt agree more!

-Beez

 

[RamblinE]

I think of discovering new music in a completely different context than in which the context of this thread was written. To me discovering new music is discovering new artists and new genres and to that end listening to a single LP in it's entirety doesn't do it for me as much as digital streaming does.

 

[bhutton]

When I play CeeDees in my listening room I do tend to listen to only tracks I am familiar with turning it into a Greatest Hits session as someone has described it, I too often skip to the next piece before the piece I was listening to has concluded. When listening to a record, I usually take the time to clean it properly on a RCM, since most have never been properly cleaned,after that I will generaly sit down and listen to the entire record.I have found that some records I thought I had heard, I hadn't really.I do find a lot of new music in the digital domain, if I like it I try to find a vinyl pressing.

 

[luxmaster]

To be honest, digital music in any form tended to turn me into a short-attenion-span poster child at times. Often I'd only listen to 50%-75% of each song before moving to the next, like I was surfing channels in a hotel room. I like being forced by my laziness to hear full sides.

I totally agree with you bigwally. After 20mins of surfing songs and listening to the intros I get burnt out and loose my interest all together. With a record I enjoy holding it in my hands, placing it on the mat & dropping the needle. It is fun and then I am forced to listen to the whole side because I am too lazy to find the groove of the song I would rather hear.

 

[twiiii]

When you take the time to listen to LP's your are listening to a period of time when producers and engineers were trying to capture the true sound of the performance. WHere today the engineers and producers are making the performance. How are 36 microphones going to replicate what we hear with two ears? They are not they are going to capture the individual sounds and the producer is going to mix them to- gether into a soup that's supposed to be the performance. So, I'll take some of the older recordings any day! Most are on LP. Then speaker designers today don't try to replicate a performance but what the producer and engineer heard in their studio. Does that make you happy? Not me!

 

[Battra92]

I think of discovering new music in a completely different context than in which the context of this thread was written. To me discovering new music is discovering new artists and new genres and to that end listening to a single LP in it's entirety doesn't do it for me as much as digital streaming does.

It's NBC logic; "If you haven't seen (or heard) it, it's new to you."

 

[tubewade]

I have always thought of an LP as telling a story, each track being like different acts of a play. I play them in order and think they were intended to be played that way, much like watching a movie from start to finish. I carried this same philosophy through with CDs and only in the last few years have I started selecting only the tracks I want to hear. It is much too easy to do this with mp3s. It is very easy to simply delete tracks that you don't really care for.