Why I Love The Long Player...

Last night was the third gathering of The Long Player - an evening of album appreciation at QUAD arts centre in Derby. We played Fleet Foxes new album Helplessness Blues and it was GRATE. I've also now come to appreciate how much I enjoy putting expectations on a record and hearing it with other people. I thought I might write a few short thoughts on the matter.

Great Expectations...

I want records to connect with me. Music is unlike many other art forms in that the audience is usually quite receptive to a record they have bought/downloaded before they have even heard it. We want records to speak to us, we look for meaning in the lyrics or throw awesome shapes on dancefloors (I do anyway, I'm like Michael Jackson escaping from a straight-jacket). A record will always have a bit of a head start in trying to worm its way into our hearts because pop music has become so entrenched in our lives and so easy to access. But this convenience shouldn't result in us giving new records an easy ride by allowing them to become background music. Last night, after avoiding listening to the album and just seeing a few of the many favourable reviews posted online, I found myself making time to sit down with a gathering of people and getting excited about hearing it for the first time. I'd built it up and my experience was much richer for it. Every lush wave of vocal harmonies felt amazing with the sun setting over the buildings and refracting through the blues and reds of the glass in QUAD's Box (currently a very comfortable cafe/bar while their refit continues on the ground floor). It almost made the Assembly Rooms look pretty.
So next time you get a new record, just try making time for it. It's not a case of you making a concession for a record, it's that you should expect great things and a great experience from it. If you don't expect a record to be capable of that "aura" then it can only disappoint.

All My Friends...

My next point is this - I love records. I love them in all their forms (singles, albums, EP's, double-gatefold concept albums about vegetables, whatever). That's not to say I love all the music on them, just that I don't care what format I'm presented with as long as it works. Hence I would be sad to see 'The Album' go the way of the Dodo. Albums, when done well, can shape a whole evening as each track plays with recurring themes and a whole picture steadily builds up of what the artist thinks and feels. By experiencing that with others in a public setting, we create expectation in the same way a live gig would. We're opening the album up to criticism, not just keeping it locked up in our own heads. We might wonder if other people are enjoying it and if it's an album you already like, the hope that your companions are connecting with it in the same way becomes a really important part of the experience. That and there have been times when I've spotted a few people at these nights make a move to clap after a song before realising there's no-one to receive their applause.

With these thoughts I'm just going to round off with a plug for the next night in June. On Weds 15th, we will be paying due care and attention to Rings Around The World by Super Furry Animals. As we are totally 2011 multimedia wizards, we are opting to make use of the Box's cinematic capabilities and presenting this on the DVD release which is in ear-caressing 5.1 surround sound and features a visual accompaniment to every track. This album is amazing, if you don't know it, this is a great way to start.

Stay frosty marines,
Rob

The first Long Player at QUAD

Cheers Marvin!

Last night was the kicking off of our Long Player series at QUAD (my initial post on which can be found here). Thanks to all who attended, we had a great night. It was definitely a strange experience but a shared one and an enjoyable one.

The wonderful Sarah Lay has done a blog post about it which for me is bang on the money so I won't just repeat everything she said. You can read it here and check out her great Epicmixtape Project while you're at it.

We've got a few ideas to enhance the next one but I'll update with details of that in the near future. Till then, head over to the facebook group and event page for the next one - Enter The Wu-Tang Clan: 36 Chambers.

Bring tha ruckus!

Snug Recording Co & QUAD present... The Long Player

We've teamed up with QUAD Arts Centre in Derby to host and curate The Long Player - an evening dedicated to the much maligned 'album experience'.

A little background...

Recently I attended The Art of Record Production Conference in Leeds. A fantastic weekend with some incredibly insightful speakers (including the ever articulate Steve Albini). One of the strands for that weekend included a lot of thoughts around the way that we as listeners connect with music and part of this ever changing relationship is always centred around how we listen and how much attention we devote to it.

This has changed a lot in the last 15 years or so. The march of technology has enabled us to be more flexible about where and when we do our listening but has it also reduced the amount of time we dedicate solely to relaxing with a record? Has all music become background listening? In our constant multi-tasking, have we actually lost the ability to just sit, listen and consider what we hear?

One parallel I could draw would be in the world of film or tv. With the advent of Youtube we can easily relive specific scenes from our favourite films during our trawls for entertainment. These snippetts become short distractions, you couldn't experience the same feelings that watching the whole film would provoke. Equally, would you be able to accurately recount the plotline to a film by pressing play and then doing the washing up on the other side of the room? Of course not, and yet we are happy to experience music in these ways - shuffling between thousands of songs on an ipod whilst concentrating on the washing up / the gym / facebook, etc.

Now, before anyone gets the wrong end of the stick, I'm not saying that any way of listening to music is right or wrong. When I was at the aforementioned conference, some responses to this 'problem' were to scoff at the musically uneducated serfs who are content to listen to music on their mobile phone speakers or cheap headphones. This is patronising and it shows a lack of understanding and adaptation. There's no right or wrong way to experience music. If anything, the only lesson here is for mobile phone manufacturers to improve their speakers.

Sometimes I've not really connected with an album until I've listened to it in a certain setting (I could make endless compilations of music for train journeys for instance). I'm also guilty of not giving records the time they deserve for me to absorb them. This is mainly as I'm busy - most of my listening opportunities are snatched during walks to work or when dropping off to sleep at night - it doesn't mean I'm unable to develop a meaningful relationship with music.

Trying to consider and explore this subject does fascinate me though. Knowing how people relate to music and how they listen to it informs my decisions as a producer, it's essential in order for my work to be successful and achieve what the artist requires to connect with their fans.

The more I think about the way I experience music, the more I do miss getting a new record, going home and doing nothing but sit comfortably and listen. Let the music do its thing and allow myself to be influenced by it. That's the inspiration behind The Long Player - to give an opportunity for a community of music lovers to get together, listen to a great record and then discuss it and socialise over it. We're not enforcing a 'no talking' rule or dictating the way that people should listen to music (that would be the same as scoffing at the kids on the back of the bus). What we are doing is merely providing a record and an environment. Beyond that it's an entirely personal experience, one that we'd love to hear about afterwards.

So our first outing will be something of a classic (don't worry, not Dark Side Of The Moon) that people are maybe not as familiar with as they might think. At 8pm on Tuesday March 22nd, in The Box at QUAD we will be playing 'What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye. Entrance is free so if this sounds like your earful of tea then come down, enjoy, listen, discuss and relax.

Please post your thoughts in the comments section below, I'd love to hear some other opinions on this subject.

Rob