Are the days gone...

thomasross20

.... when you would buy an album, rush home, put it in the CD player and just listen to it and do nothing else... maybe read the liner notes... ??

I remember I did this for the longest time but these days with so much to do music is always on while I'm doing something else (driving, on the computer at work or at home, that sort of thing). I rarely sit down and listen to it in isolation like I used to, like I would when watching a film. I remember I loved to do that.

octatonic

Not for me. I have an hour or so a day of listening to music in a room with no internet going, just focussed on the music. It is one of my favourite parts of my day.

thomasross20

Serious!? That's amazing!! 

Moss

I make sure I listen to all of my new releases undistracted

thomasross20

OK, it's just me then.

Philly_Q

thomasross20 said:

OK, it's just me then.

Not just you.  

I really only listen to music when I'm on the PC nowadays and I'm even starting to drift away from buying the actual CDs, which I thought would never happen.  I never read the booklets any more, which I used to do religiously - that said, CDs seem to have less and less information in the liner notes nowadays anyway.

With the newer music I listen to, I couldn't even tell you the names of any of the band members.  The 15 year old me (or even the 35 year old me!) would never have expected that to happen!

thomasross20

Totally agree with what you say there...! I'm the same!

richardhomer

I've made a conscious effort to listen 'properly' again - usually a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon.

Some of my favourite music ('The Spirit of Eden' by Talk Talk is a good example) is quite 'difficult' on first hearing - it needs to be persevered with. I find I simply can't be bothered with making the effort when I'm driving or ironing (I live a very rock and roll life!) - I'd rather listen to something familiar and easier to assimilate.

I tend to devote more 'serious' listening time to new and less familiar stuff. I also listen to it off CD, on a 'proper' hi fi system, whereas everything else is off my phone or iPad.

Fuzzdog

I remember when I was young and couldn't drive, buying new music meant a half hour train journey, and I used to sit there on the train on the way home staring at the art and reading every last little line on the cover.  By the time I got home, there was nothing in the world except that album, and I'd shut myself away, plop myself down in the perfect position between the speakers and devote some decent time just to listening to it, almost foaming at the mouth like I had some kind of crazy music-rabies.

These days, it's "Oh, new album.  Click.  I'll listen to that on the PC while doing stuff."  

It's partly why I bought a record player a couple of years ago - I'm quite enjoying rummaging in shops for old tatty vinyl, bringing a physical object back home and making the effort to put it on to actually listen properly to music again through an actual stereo system.  It's really made me appreciate listening to music again.

capo4th

Currently listening to Gary Clark Jr - The Story of Sonny Boy Slim delivered through my letterbox yesterday.

Sounds great through a big pair of floorstanders. 

I also enjoy listening to New CDs in the car.

jonnyburgo

I used to do nothing but listen to vinyl whilst lying on the bed as a yoof, these days there is always something to do though, by the time everythings done it's family time. It's shit being a grown up sometimes.

mudslide73

Just in the car and at bed time. I would have wet myself at the recent Zeppelin reissues as a kid but I've gone through some of them once or twice. I have had a pretty rubbish year though.

thomasross20

I can't remember the last time I bought a CD (and read through the notes) either. How sad

lustycourtier

I buy music on every format, so whilst lots is on iTunes I still buy lots of vinyl and CDs. If in at a gig or it's an artist who isn't massive, I'll always buy pysically direct so they make more money. A good friends new cd arrived in post yesterday and I sat reading all notes whilst listening to it twice. We genuinely live in the best time for music. It's all there, just not everyone appreciates it.,

thomasross20

Not everybody pays for it. Even me - often at work I'll bung on youtube and listen to whole albums for free. The shame

TTony

I've been through this realiisation process myself.

Our relationship with music all started getting casual when Sony introduced their Walkmans.  Since then, music has become easy and we've lost all respect for it.

Over the past 12 months, I've rescued a load of old CDs from the loft, bought a decent hifi amp (which now sits next to, and separate from, the AV amp under the TV) and a pair of hifi speakers (whcih now sit separate from the TV surround sound speakers).  I try to make time each weekend for some active listening - think about what I want to hear, put the CD in, sit down and concentrate on the music rather than multi-tasking.

I've bought c100 CDs in the last 6 months too - just last Friday I came out of HMV with a little bag full of another 5 CDs.

I've also started carrying an iPod with me for the casual listening.  I'd stopped using the iPod, and just used my phone.  Even with the background noise of a commuter train every morning/evening, the iPod quality is much better than the phone, particularly when taking the output from the dock connector rather than the headphone socket.

darcym

I still read the notes and listen to the music in detail, more so when I'm interested in an artist, reading the sleeve gives some great info, notes on recording, where it was, who produced it, some odd guest artists, or that great drummer who you don't know his name, but then find out he's played on 10 other of your favourite records and instantly joins your fantasy band line up.

Sometimes get an idea about the man behind the music, as you'd hope they get input into the art work.

that said there is something to be said from casual listening, and some modern technology tools, I've found a few artists, by some casual listening, or by hearing something when I've been out and shazamming it and taking a leap of faith and then buying the album and really enjoying it.

Getting a good mix to really take time to appreciate the music, while using the modern tools to help you find music you'd never have stumbled across in the "old world" is pretty much the bring the best time for "listening to music" together, we have all formats, great amps, great speakers, great CD/Record players, we also have phones that can put huge record collections in the palm of your hand and connect you to a random stream of music while on a train, or you can hear a song in a shoe shop, instantly know who it is, buy it, like it and get 3 recommendations of other artists you may want to try.

From a listening perspective, I don't think we could be in a more lucky time, from a commercial point, I struggle to think of how it could be worse.

Gagaryn

It's an easy thing to fall into, I did the same after I moved away from physical media to digital. You'd think having over 40000 songs on a HD, plus Apple Music and Spotify would be a good thing but it's almost impossible to not get distracted. I moved back to vinyl a couple of years back and it's the best thing I've done. Listening to music through a proper system (no directional speaker cables or o2 free mains leads!) whilst doing nowt else in one of life's pleasures.

Philly_Q

TTony said:

I've also started carrying an iPod with me for the casual listening.  I'd stopped using the iPod, and just used my phone.  Even with the background noise of a commuter train every morning/evening, the iPod quality is much better than the phone, particularly when taking the output from the dock connector rather than the headphone socket.

Interesting observation about the audio quality.  I have an iPod somewhere, God knows whether it still works or has mysteriously died in hibernation (why do electronic devices do that?  It's like they've pined away from being unloved, like a character in a Victorian novel).  

But anyway, I've never felt comfortable listening to music in the street or on public transport, I like to be aware of what's around me - so that's another hour or two of potential listening time I pass up every day. 

darcym said:

From a listening perspective, I don't think we could be in a more lucky time, from a commercial point, I struggle to think of how it could be worse.

From a listening perspective I do find the huge variety of formats quite overwhelming - various ways to listen for free, then if I decide to buy do I go for the CD, a simple download, a CD with free download (which means the CD usually stays in its wrapping forever), a CD with T-shirt package.... I've deliberately resisted getting back into vinyl because I just know I'd obsessively start buying those limited edition double-albums in different coloured vinyl.  Then never actually play them.

But objectively, you're right of course, all that choice is a good thing even if it does stress me out.  Terrible times for the artists though.

Winny_Pooh

I like the look of a large cd collection, so I buy them for any artist where I've already decided that I love their album after having first listened on youtube or torrented it. (I think i have around 460 cds now)

I've the pc connected to a set of studio monitors for critical listening & a cd player/amp under my bed connected to lil jbls facing me for lazy listening.

scrumhalf

Back in the day when all you had was a weekly music paper to get your news from sleeves were an important source of information and disinformation.

Nowadays you can't move for the stuff.