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I do both. Digital music is way more convenient to initiate, continue, store and take with you -- so I use that the most. But, it's almost too convenient in som

I do both. Digital music is way more convenient to initiate, continue, store and take with you -- so I use that the most. But, it's almost too convenient in some cases to the point where I often don't appreciate what is really happening and the music just becomes background noise. Although it's obviously possible, I rarely use digital music to sit and listen to an entire album anymore. On the other hand, when I listen to a record, I sit down and I listen to the record. I mean, you kind of have to do that anyway because you only get a few songs before you have to flip it. I find it makes me more mindful of the music; I feel more in-the-moment; and it reminds me of my youth. That was a time when we couldn't just tell our phone to start playing an AI curated playlist while everyone talks over it anyway. I'm not convinced we would we have wanted to do that either... People rarely talk about music anymore, compared to what it used to be like. We used to line up when a new album was coming out from a favorite artist. We'd take the tape or cd from our car, into our bedroom, over to our friend's houses, and blast it on our parent's floor speakers before they came home from work. We used to talk about that album for days, sometimes months as we got deeper into it after many replays. I can't remember the last time I had a good conversation about a new album... few seem to care anymore. A lot of people will blame the music, but there is still some great music being made today. Maybe it's the medium.

hunta2097 7y ago
Before the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit hobby forums it was your music that defined you. If you listened to metal you dressed that way too, indie pop another way, your music defined who you were, your friends, the magazines you bought. There are just so many ways for kids to define themselves these days, music is important but I don't think they feel defined by what they listen to (not to the same extent). I am jealous of how cheap music is now, I wish it could have been cheaper in my youth. Signed, Old git.
- KozmoNau7 7y ago
  Some of us still do the subculture thing. 99% of the music I listen to is hard rock and metal, and fittingly 99% of my clothes are black, mostly jeans and t-shirts and some cargo pants for festivals, and stompy boots. I wouldn't say that I define myself by my taste in music, but it does influence my choices in clothes and so on.
scarejunba 7y ago
That's probably just the groups you circle in. Our group chats were all buzzing after Lane8's latest release. People had opinions, posted their favourite remix, talked about songs that evoked similar feelings.
- bonestamp2 7y ago
  Fair enough, and I agree it is my groups. But, it didn't seem to used to matter which groups you were in. Sure, more than just the medium changed. But the Vinyl ritual is maybe even more rewarding today than it was when it was the popular option. PS - I Loved Brightest Lights. I am also looking forward to Porter Robinson's next album -- it's been a long time since the last album and I didn't love this first single initially, but it has really grown on me (the ducking is still a little much in some areas).
  - scarejunba 7y ago
    Haha, wow, you made me think if there's any EDM or house vinyl and it blows my mind that this exists! Honestly, I think Porter Robinson is sort of like Baynk in that they're both way better live. The latter especially feels less... 'tropical' live. Good stuff, though.
- hnuser123456 7y ago
  I love Anjunabeats, Above&Beyond, and I really dig what Lane8 is doing. "Howling Hand" seems to stick out for me and I've added it to the more relaxed of my top-tier playlists. But overall it's just a little too chill for me. Have you heard the ABGT350 Deep warmup set? It's a nice journey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5ZhKyOxZns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5ZhKyOxZns
  - scarejunba 7y ago
    That was dope. Thanks, man. I wasn't able to make ABGT350 but This Never Happened in Oakland was pretty damn dope. I like the no-phones gimmick too. Brightest Lights is awesome. I like the original edit the most https://open.spotify.com/track/49jWS1fz7QZQa4mBIqB0mu?si=-9Rxoig4Sc-Yun7T0_BAXg https://open.spotify.com/track/49jWS1fz7QZQa4mBIqB0mu?si=-9R... If you haven't been, I recommend the Anjuna weekender they're going to have in 2021 at The Gorge. Dude, Brainwasher is this track I think I've been searching for for a while. Mega thanks. That with Black Hole.
WifeDuringLawti 7y ago
I think it's more likely your age group. When you were young listening to tapes on your parents' speakers, didn't it seem to you that kids and teens were much more into music than most adults? I'm 20, I grew up listening to albums on YouTube, never owned a CD, tape, or record. But my experience is and was still exactly what you describe. My friends and I have countdowns on our phones ticking down the days to eagerly-awaited releases, we make plans to listen to it together at a 'premiere' hosted by whoever has the best speakers. If they live up to the excitement they get replayed to death, memorized backwards and forwards, and discussed endlessly. In middle/high school we'd write our own reviews to post online and sometimes get the artist replying to us on Twitter which made our month. The fact that we didn't have to buy a 4"-by-4" piece of plastic and put it into another piece of plastic before hitting play didn't prevent any of that and I can't imagine it making the music more exciting or engaging.
- bonestamp2 7y ago
  > I think it's more likely your age group. I agree, that's certainly part of it and I'm happy to hear that young people are still obsessed about music. I'm not suggesting you need physical media to do it, but I am saying the medium has changed things to some degree. Back then, if we wanted a mix tape, we'd have to mix it. Now, spotify generates five new ones each day for each of us, or we can request a new one on the fly for any genre, mood, artist, etc. So, it makes me wonder how these tools have changed the way young people today consume music. For example, how much of your digital listening is to entire albums start to finish vs some kind of mix/random play? What are you doing (if anything) while you listen to a complete album? Are you buying albums specifically or listening to them on a subscription service?
  - mlang23 7y ago
    When I tried spotify a few years ago, it was exactly this aspect that totally failed my expectations. I wanted a service like Spotify as a replacement for genre radio. I wanted something that somehow figures out my tastes, and generates a mix for me. In my experience, this totally fails unless you happen to like the most commercial pop music available. Whenever I tried to coax it to play some alternative and undergroundy music, it ended up playing the most commercial nonsense after 2 or 3 tracks. I haven't tried a single streaming service since, because I dont feel I want to be poisoned by the most empty and stupid music in existance.
blacklion 7y ago
I have never used "AI Curated playlists", and I'm listening to music only by full albums (no shuffles, no random, nothing), because one unit of my favorite music is album, not track (still). But I don't understand vynil records at all. It is worse than even CD, not to mention high-res downloadable albums. Dynamic range is worse, noise floor is worse, stereo separation is worse. I'm old enough to listen A LOT of LP records in the past, before widespread of CDs in my country (ok, we have affordable CDs later than USA or UK or Eastern Europe, for sure), but, no, never again! There was period of time, when mastering for CDs was much worse than mastering for Vynil, because CDs could bear "black wall" of sound and Vynil cannot. But, again, Loudness War seems to end about 15 years ago...
- ghaff 7y ago
  I use playlists too much probably. One of my semi-resolutions is to get back to listening to albums more. But, as with photographic film, while I have a certain nostalgia for vinyl records, I don't really miss the scratches and the warping and need to flip the record or put a new one on every 20 minutes or so.
- KozmoNau7 7y ago
  For me at least, the main appeal of vinyl records is that they are physical artifacts, tactile and cozy/nostalgic. I enjoy the physicality, the large cover art and the little rituals. It also forces me to listen to entire albums in order, instead of just shuffling random tracks. The sound quality is somewhere between "good enough" and "genuinely good", no match for good digital formats, but certainly good enough to get lost in the music and enjoy it. And my turntable cost around $100 second hand, nothing too fancy. I mostly buy rock and metal from the 70s and 80s, second hand. The only new records I buy are from bands that could easily fool people into thinking they are actually from back then, like Visigoth and Smoulder, old-school heavy metal. It just feels like vinyl is the right format for it.
  - 52-6F-62 7y ago
    I second this. It’s a visceral thing.
52-6F-62 7y ago
I think you’re referring to the commoditization of musical works with their treatment. I listen to both, and still have a CD collection that gets less use. I decided a long time ago I didn’t mind not keeping up with every new arts trend and just slowly wade through works I like, finding others along the way. I could talk at length about some of my favourites but I also don’t encounter those situations anymore with people. I do with my partner, though. I’m lucky she’s interested—though she’s also more current usually.

hunta2097 7y ago

Before the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit hobby forums it was your music that defined you. If you listened to metal you dressed that way too, indie pop another way, your music defined who you were, your friends, the magazines you bought. There are just so many ways for kids to define themselves these days, music is important but I don't think they feel defined by what they listen to (not to the same extent). I am jealous of how cheap music is now, I wish it could have been cheaper in my youth. Signed, Old git.

KozmoNau7 7y ago
Some of us still do the subculture thing. 99% of the music I listen to is hard rock and metal, and fittingly 99% of my clothes are black, mostly jeans and t-shirts and some cargo pants for festivals, and stompy boots. I wouldn't say that I define myself by my taste in music, but it does influence my choices in clothes and so on.

scarejunba 7y ago

That's probably just the groups you circle in. Our group chats were all buzzing after Lane8's latest release. People had opinions, posted their favourite remix, talked about songs that evoked similar feelings.

bonestamp2 7y ago
Fair enough, and I agree it is my groups. But, it didn't seem to used to matter which groups you were in. Sure, more than just the medium changed. But the Vinyl ritual is maybe even more rewarding today than it was when it was the popular option. PS - I Loved Brightest Lights. I am also looking forward to Porter Robinson's next album -- it's been a long time since the last album and I didn't love this first single initially, but it has really grown on me (the ducking is still a little much in some areas).
- scarejunba 7y ago
  Haha, wow, you made me think if there's any EDM or house vinyl and it blows my mind that this exists! Honestly, I think Porter Robinson is sort of like Baynk in that they're both way better live. The latter especially feels less... 'tropical' live. Good stuff, though.
hnuser123456 7y ago
I love Anjunabeats, Above&Beyond, and I really dig what Lane8 is doing. "Howling Hand" seems to stick out for me and I've added it to the more relaxed of my top-tier playlists. But overall it's just a little too chill for me. Have you heard the ABGT350 Deep warmup set? It's a nice journey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5ZhKyOxZns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5ZhKyOxZns
- scarejunba 7y ago
  That was dope. Thanks, man. I wasn't able to make ABGT350 but This Never Happened in Oakland was pretty damn dope. I like the no-phones gimmick too. Brightest Lights is awesome. I like the original edit the most https://open.spotify.com/track/49jWS1fz7QZQa4mBIqB0mu?si=-9Rxoig4Sc-Yun7T0_BAXg https://open.spotify.com/track/49jWS1fz7QZQa4mBIqB0mu?si=-9R... If you haven't been, I recommend the Anjuna weekender they're going to have in 2021 at The Gorge. Dude, Brainwasher is this track I think I've been searching for for a while. Mega thanks. That with Black Hole.

WifeDuringLawti 7y ago

I think it's more likely your age group. When you were young listening to tapes on your parents' speakers, didn't it seem to you that kids and teens were much more into music than most adults? I'm 20, I grew up listening to albums on YouTube, never owned a CD, tape, or record. But my experience is and was still exactly what you describe. My friends and I have countdowns on our phones ticking down the days to eagerly-awaited releases, we make plans to listen to it together at a 'premiere' hosted by whoever has the best speakers. If they live up to the excitement they get replayed to death, memorized backwards and forwards, and discussed endlessly. In middle/high school we'd write our own reviews to post online and sometimes get the artist replying to us on Twitter which made our month. The fact that we didn't have to buy a 4"-by-4" piece of plastic and put it into another piece of plastic before hitting play didn't prevent any of that and I can't imagine it making the music more exciting or engaging.

bonestamp2 7y ago
> I think it's more likely your age group. I agree, that's certainly part of it and I'm happy to hear that young people are still obsessed about music. I'm not suggesting you need physical media to do it, but I am saying the medium has changed things to some degree. Back then, if we wanted a mix tape, we'd have to mix it. Now, spotify generates five new ones each day for each of us, or we can request a new one on the fly for any genre, mood, artist, etc. So, it makes me wonder how these tools have changed the way young people today consume music. For example, how much of your digital listening is to entire albums start to finish vs some kind of mix/random play? What are you doing (if anything) while you listen to a complete album? Are you buying albums specifically or listening to them on a subscription service?
- mlang23 7y ago
  When I tried spotify a few years ago, it was exactly this aspect that totally failed my expectations. I wanted a service like Spotify as a replacement for genre radio. I wanted something that somehow figures out my tastes, and generates a mix for me. In my experience, this totally fails unless you happen to like the most commercial pop music available. Whenever I tried to coax it to play some alternative and undergroundy music, it ended up playing the most commercial nonsense after 2 or 3 tracks. I haven't tried a single streaming service since, because I dont feel I want to be poisoned by the most empty and stupid music in existance.

blacklion 7y ago

I have never used "AI Curated playlists", and I'm listening to music only by full albums (no shuffles, no random, nothing), because one unit of my favorite music is album, not track (still). But I don't understand vynil records at all. It is worse than even CD, not to mention high-res downloadable albums. Dynamic range is worse, noise floor is worse, stereo separation is worse. I'm old enough to listen A LOT of LP records in the past, before widespread of CDs in my country (ok, we have affordable CDs later than USA or UK or Eastern Europe, for sure), but, no, never again! There was period of time, when mastering for CDs was much worse than mastering for Vynil, because CDs could bear "black wall" of sound and Vynil cannot. But, again, Loudness War seems to end about 15 years ago...

ghaff 7y ago
I use playlists too much probably. One of my semi-resolutions is to get back to listening to albums more. But, as with photographic film, while I have a certain nostalgia for vinyl records, I don't really miss the scratches and the warping and need to flip the record or put a new one on every 20 minutes or so.
KozmoNau7 7y ago
For me at least, the main appeal of vinyl records is that they are physical artifacts, tactile and cozy/nostalgic. I enjoy the physicality, the large cover art and the little rituals. It also forces me to listen to entire albums in order, instead of just shuffling random tracks. The sound quality is somewhere between "good enough" and "genuinely good", no match for good digital formats, but certainly good enough to get lost in the music and enjoy it. And my turntable cost around $100 second hand, nothing too fancy. I mostly buy rock and metal from the 70s and 80s, second hand. The only new records I buy are from bands that could easily fool people into thinking they are actually from back then, like Visigoth and Smoulder, old-school heavy metal. It just feels like vinyl is the right format for it.
- 52-6F-62 7y ago
  I second this. It’s a visceral thing.

52-6F-62 7y ago

I think you’re referring to the commoditization of musical works with their treatment. I listen to both, and still have a CD collection that gets less use. I decided a long time ago I didn’t mind not keeping up with every new arts trend and just slowly wade through works I like, finding others along the way. I could talk at length about some of my favourites but I also don’t encounter those situations anymore with people. I do with my partner, though. I’m lucky she’s interested—though she’s also more current usually.