> Touch, feel its texture, feel its weight, get tactile feedback, organising physical objects in a spatial world. This is simply the natural behaviour of the human animal.
I would add that there was also joy to be had resulting from the effort, intent and commitment required to interact with tangible things. Nowadays it's just too easy to instruct your assistant to play a song, skip around, move on to something else, etc.
I used to get so much satisfaction from everything that went into listening to music for the most part. The excitement of a new song/album/artist. The time you had to wait for the release or finding a copy due to the initial demand. Going out to a store to buy it. Sometimes on public transportation that would only extend the excitement post-purchase while you sat on the bus waiting to get home so you could play it on the hi-fi. Struggling to get it free from the pesky plastic wrap. Popping in the cassette and fast-forwarding to the hit song, turning up the volume and sitting back to finally enjoy the fruits of you labor. Listening to the rest of the album only to discover an even better track! You get the point...
At the time, I was excited for a future where a lot, if not all of this "friction" would cease to exists. The Walkman was probably the first step in this direction. The CD was next removing the need to ff/rwd. Then mp3s and Napster, resulting in time spent burning/hoarding instead of actually listening. Now Spotify/YTMusic/etc...
These days I struggle to find any new music that gives me the same kind of sensation. A lot of it has to do with just the sheer amount of material available and ease to access it all, but I would also argue has to do with giving the material a chance and really taking the time and opportunity to appreciate it. This is especially challenging if you have trouble controlling your impulses.
Most of the time I just listen to music that I grew up with. I imagine this has a lot to do with trying to rekindle these sensations from long ago.
I would add that there was also joy to be had resulting from the effort, intent and commitment required to interact with tangible things. Nowadays it's just too easy to instruct your assistant to play a song, skip around, move on to something else, etc.
I used to get so much satisfaction from everything that went into listening to music for the most part. The excitement of a new song/album/artist. The time you had to wait for the release or finding a copy due to the initial demand. Going out to a store to buy it. Sometimes on public transportation that would only extend the excitement post-purchase while you sat on the bus waiting to get home so you could play it on the hi-fi. Struggling to get it free from the pesky plastic wrap. Popping in the cassette and fast-forwarding to the hit song, turning up the volume and sitting back to finally enjoy the fruits of you labor. Listening to the rest of the album only to discover an even better track! You get the point...
At the time, I was excited for a future where a lot, if not all of this "friction" would cease to exists. The Walkman was probably the first step in this direction. The CD was next removing the need to ff/rwd. Then mp3s and Napster, resulting in time spent burning/hoarding instead of actually listening. Now Spotify/YTMusic/etc...
These days I struggle to find any new music that gives me the same kind of sensation. A lot of it has to do with just the sheer amount of material available and ease to access it all, but I would also argue has to do with giving the material a chance and really taking the time and opportunity to appreciate it. This is especially challenging if you have trouble controlling your impulses.
Most of the time I just listen to music that I grew up with. I imagine this has a lot to do with trying to rekindle these sensations from long ago.