The Death of Liner Notes

[bud]

Saw this article by Don Was. Found it insightful. Music used to be delivered as a "multi-genre" experience (it is now, in a different way, with video) but a 33 1/3 LP gave you (when it was great) great music, great graphic art, and at times great writing/commentary. You sat down and experienced the art as a whole and you took note of the people involved in the production. Maybe it was because music was not as portable. You had to have a turntable to play it back (although FM radio did let you experience it on the move, but even then you had people playing entire records or entire sides of records).

Maybe I'm unique, or maybe I'm just old... Thoughts?

http://blogs.metrotimes.com/index.php/2010/12/don-was-on-itunes-and-the-death-of-liner-notes/

[tom]

i do miss the experience of getting a new lp and sitting down with the cover and liner while listening to it. which brings up a sad realization, i seldom just sit and listen to music anymore:(

[kevin h]

i do miss the experience of getting a new lp and sitting down with the cover and liner while listening to it. which brings up a sad realization, i seldom just sit and listen to music anymore:(

i agree on both counts.

[ToneLounge]

The release of a new record (LP) meant purposeful listening.

We all had a place at home where the turntable lived, a comfy place to sit or kick back, and we dedicated time to consuming art. I miss this dearly!

[dannopelli]

It's a shame but true. Remember how we used to obsess over our "home stereos" to get the right components for "music listening". Now we worry that our "home audio systems" properly recreate "surround sound" to support our "video experience."

Music is on an iPod and compressed.

And we listen to talk radio in the car...

[Pietro]

A friend just released his band's EP in 10" vinyl.

I only have a tripod at work in my office... so I played it.

Records, we sometimes forget, sounded GREAT!

[tom]

"purposeful listening" i love that! now it's mostly background music.

[Stys]

THe great thing about albums was rushing home, listening to the record while devouring the liner notes. Looking at pictures of the band members because we rarely saw our favorite musicians - only through new albums and the Creem magazine we bought every month. Musicians, as a result, had sort of a mystique because we did not know every aspect of their lives.
The music stores we had here in Michigan; Harmony House, Peaches, Musicland, are all gone. Love the internet but, going to Peaches to buy an album was always a fun day.

[Pietro]

Love the internet but, going to Peaches to buy an album was always a fun day.

Picking it up on the way out of Wal-Mart with whatever else your picking up just doesn't do it the same way, eh?

heck, I used to like looking through the cut-outs in the bin at Woolworth. Even THAT was cooler than what we have now. Remember the millions and millions of copies of "Out of the Blue" by ELO that were sold as cutouts for 4.99?

[bud]

A friend just released his band's EP in 10" vinyl.

I only have a tripod at work in my office... so I played it.

Records, we sometimes forget, sounded GREAT!

Make's you realize what was lost when CD's became the delivery format of the industry, and digital audio distribution made it even worse.

I think part of my nostalgia is that I am thinking back to a time where I had essentially nothing but time. I think too, the fact that you could fit 70-80 minutes of music on a CD, while an LP was limited to around 44 had the effect of making music less urgent/vital/special. Artistic decisions of what tracks made it onto the record (and their sequence) got devalued by the need or opportunity to "fill up the space" (there are exceptions, but as a whole, I think this is true).

I saw Steely Dan perform Royal Scam and Aja, in their entirety. One thing that really resonated with the crowd was when they reached the end of what would have been a side of the LP, they stopped and a spot-light hit a record spinning on a turntable. One of the singers walked over and turned it over, and they continued. That pause, and the anticipation of what was to come, brought back the memories of what it was like to "purposefully listen" to one of your favorite records.

[ToneLounge]

And as the delivery method has deteriorated the quality of the final product, so went the crafting and recording as well. Recorded material now seem like less art, and more "production."

[Pietro]

I think too, the fact that you could fit 70-80 minutes of music on a CD, while an LP was limited to around 44 had the effect of making music less urgent/vital/special.

Yes, I'm not the only person who thinks that the ability to hold almost an hour and a half of music on a CD is NOT a good thing...

[guitarzan]

Interesting discussion. Last night, on a whim, I bought Billy Squire's "Emotions in Motion" on iTunes. I haven't listened to that record since I was in elementary school in the 80's. I listened to it on my iPod heading back home today from church and each song reminded me of intentional and deliberate sessions of listening while I stared at the album art. I remember playing a tennis racquet while listening to "Everybody Wants You".

As a side note, it just hit me this week that generations of adults from here on out may have more shallow musical tastes because more music is being experienced on earphones. By that, I mean that my kids don't listen to my music in the car. They spin their own very short list of songs that they own on their iPods and they won't get the exposure to music that pushes their tastes and creates enviromusical memories. I never loved it personally, but hearing "Pancho and Lefty" reminds me of my mom and stepdad dancing in the living room after too many drinks and it's a warm memory seeing how they both passed a few years ago. Similarly, I never loved it personally, but hearing "American Pie" makes me think of visiting my real dad in Dallas and driving around in his pickup truck. The songs and the memories are one now. My kids will have fewer of those because they have Linkin Park on repeat.

I suspect we are all mourning the transition of music as enveloping experience to music as a minor and static footnote to the environment.

[Pietro]

...it just hit me this week that generations of adults from here on out may have more shallow musical tastes because more music is being experienced on earphones.

YES!

We don't let our 8-year old listen with headphones at this point, and he shares musical experiences with me very often. We listen to a lot of jazz (my adopted son, Charles, is African-American, and I INSIST on feeding him the very BEST of AA culture... which is easy because I ADORE Miles, Trane, Mingus, Duke, Wynton, etc...)

Anyway... I ramble...

concerts on DVD (and now blu-ray) are our saviors here. Right now as I type this, Charles and I are experiencing a GREAT U2 concert (360 DVD) with great surround sound. No headphones. He always wants to watch concerts... which I... uh... obviously... approve of. Great excuse to buy plenty of concerts, eh?

[oakridge]

Maybe we are just getting old
The world has changed since I was a kid and I can't see kids these days foregoing email,xbox,fast broadband internet , texting etc
we are now in a world of instant gratification where a quick convenient itunes download is preferable to visiting a music shop (even if significant reduction in quality)
Don't get me wrong I too embrace newer technologies--take this forum for example--a huge amount of information shared from people in a different hemisphere to me! Information which assisted me in ordering 2 Anderson guitars!
The instant gratification however is a huge attraction to everyone
From a musical point of view, however, I think our Kids/Families(TAG forum members) are lucky. They see first hand that there is more to music than itune downloads-My kids (10,7,and 2) get to see their old man playing with his mates having fun and making music, they share in the dynamic of live music (and desire to contribute)
just my ramblings anyway!
ps I just recently saw U2 live (2 nights ago) and took my 10yo daughter to see the Eagles--both were Awesome!