methods of listening to music

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i've realised lately that 95% of the time, the way I listen to music is via self-made compilation CDs. I literally can't remember the last time I sat down and listened to an album from start to finish.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Does anyone else ingest their music in non-standard ways?

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 30 January 2003 04:30 (twenty-three years ago)

toasted with butter

― JasonD (JasonD), Thursday, 30 January 2003 05:06 (twenty-three years ago)

for a while i couldn't stand hearing a whole cd or knowing the name of the band so i'd do the mix-tape thing for every track on a revolving basis. but it was too time consuming.
recently i discovered the joy of listening to a whole cd again (i was forced too, by lack of time) but, hey, i just got a walkman that plays mp3's so i might just wack 10+ cds on and hit random...

― gaz (gaz), Thursday, 30 January 2003 09:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Me too ...

I almost never listen to whole CDs by bands ... I just pick the best stuff to burn to compilations.

Of course, sometimes I trawl through the back catalogue to find new "best stuff".

― phil jones (interstar), Thursday, 30 January 2003 13:00 (twenty-three years ago)

In a box, with a fox.

I have all of my CDs in 300 disc changers. I set the things on random and see what happens. Occasionally, I listen to a CD all the way through.

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 30 January 2003 13:17 (twenty-three years ago)

I listen to a lot of music in my car, but my car cd player is weird, and if it's a long cd, it usually starts to skip about 20-30 minutes in. So usually I end up listening to the first 6 or so songs, but not the rest. If a song's near the end of an album, I don't know it as well.

― Nick A. (Nick A.), Thursday, 30 January 2003 14:19 (twenty-three years ago)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The album is an arbitary form which needs wiping out. It has no place in the world these days and encourages rushed, shoe-horned tracks.

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Thursday, 30 January 2003 18:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Funny - I am totally addicted to albums. I thrive on them.
Sure, I like compilations, but mostly as a guide to discovering
new albums. It just feels right to me, listening to 30-80
minutes of music with a unified spirit. If I get bored or
unsatisfied, I just skip a track or move on to another
artist - I don't blame it on the medium.

This extends to the digital sphere as well. Some people
consider mp3s a totally track driven medium - well, not
in my fetishistic world. With a broadband connection,
I have no problem downloading entire albums, sorting
them into folders by artist and year.

So, if albums are an anachronism, I'm a counterrevolutionary.
And if that makes me weird, that's fine - I never understood
vinyl people, either.

― Squirlplise, Thursday, 30 January 2003 18:32 (twenty-three years ago)

When I'm reviewing a record, I generally find that I listen to it best if I put it on while I'm playing PS2. I dunno why, exactly, it just seems like I always hear things best that way. I think it's that a small part of my brain is occupied by the game, while the rest just listens hard and picks things up. I keep a notebook next to me to jot down thoughts. It's the way I've always done it.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Thursday, 30 January 2003 18:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm an album freak...I love more than anything when an artist takes into account the fact that there are still those of us who listen all the way through and arrange their albums such that they "flow" from beginning to end as though one solid piece of music.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 30 January 2003 18:45 (twenty-three years ago)

I think all of you who can't muster the attention needed to listen to a whole album are buying shiatty albums, suffer from ADD, and/or have been tainted by MTV's (and TV's in general) quick pace.

That being said, I need to have something else to do while I listen--can't just stare at a wall and listen for an hour. Of course, if I'm stoned out of my gord, there's (almost) nothing else I'd rather do than listen to a whole album and stare at the wall.

― andy, Thursday, 30 January 2003 18:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Listening with your eyes closed for an hour works better.

― man, Thursday, 30 January 2003 19:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I agree with Squirlplise (except for the MP3 stuff, and vinyl is great) - love to listen to whople albums. Sure I make a mix CDr once in a while, but a lot of songs that are great in their album context aren't really mix material. For ex the latese Montgolfier Brothers album, only a couple of songs I would put on a mix but the album as a whole is a great listen.

― g (graysonlane), Thursday, 30 January 2003 19:24 (twenty-three years ago)

When I make mix CDs, I generally try to set them up to flow like an album would. Especially when they're a mix of rarities by one artist (like a Beck b-sides/rarities comp I did, or a disc containing only Tom Waits/Primus colabs).

I'm a sucker for context. A song sounds so much better to me when it comes between other songs just different enough that the aural juxtaposition enhances the song's individual identity.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 30 January 2003 19:38 (twenty-three years ago)

I usually listen while playing PS2 as well. But most of the time its here at work and I don't get a good grasp on what I'm hearing. Mostly because I'm concentrating on work. But when I really want to get into it I put on my listening robe.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Thursday, 30 January 2003 19:42 (twenty-three years ago)

But when I really want to get into it I put on my listening robe.

PIC! PIC! PIC!

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Thursday, 30 January 2003 19:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Mixes are fun -- my iPod essentially runs on permanent mix mode -- but I'm much more taken with albums and still will be.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 January 2003 19:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Ninety percent of the time i listen to entire albums, all the way through. Compilations are great, but they can radiofy some excellent tunes into complacency. Weekly i might listen to 40 or 50 albums (or CDs). ¥

― christoff (christoff), Thursday, 30 January 2003 20:23 (twenty-three years ago)

I've got an iPod, too, and the only time I ever put it in mix mode is to provide background music for a party. If I'm listening it's always whole units (but that could be singles as easily as albums).

― ara, Thursday, 30 January 2003 21:15 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm a sucker for context. A song sounds so much better to me when it comes between other songs just different enough that the aural juxtaposition enhances the song's individual identity.

yes. but sometimes stark ridiculous contrast is the order of the day.

― gaz (gaz), Thursday, 30 January 2003 21:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Well, yeah, "stark ridiculous contrast" is one of my favorite styles of music-style juxtaposition on a mix...it makes each piece stand out a little more.

I think my love of stuff like this is why some of my favorite albums are arranged with pieces in "stark ridiculous contrast" to each other...like on Phrenology with the "Rock You" into "!!!!!" into "Sacrifice" song-sequence and stuff like that. Like, by being placed next to something that SHOULD be inappropriate, it seems to enhance that song's impact.

Maybe it's 'cause I have ADD, though. ;D

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 30 January 2003 21:32 (twenty-three years ago)

can you develop ADD? I never used to have it...

― gaz (gaz), Thursday, 30 January 2003 21:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Lynskey you may be right, but the simple fact is if you're an independent musician you'll simply get no attention unless you have a full-length record, shoe-horned filler or no.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 30 January 2003 22:26 (twenty-three years ago)

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