LISTENING HABITS

Due to the introduction of the digital age our listening habits have changed. No longer do we listen to whole albums or complete mixes anymore. before when we bought a cd we would put it into the  player and just hit play and enjoy, yes we used to skip back to our favourite's  and listen to that one or two more than the others. But now we take it home listen and then install it onto itunes. This is where this change has taken place. now we have playlists and random buttons that give us individual tracks, our top choices and we forget about the little classics tucked away that might compliment a fav tune. A whole album can paint a picture in your head of what the artist is trying to achieve. This is especially the case with dance music mixes. Back in the day most mixes came on tape so you listened to the whole thing, the DJ taking you on a journey from start to finish. 

" listen to this mix coming in, its banging"    "what is it ?"  "don't know but its bangin". i miss that. When the very first ' essential selection' album came out in 1996, the tracks were split half way through the track so that when you listened to the tracks individually you got the whole mix from one track to the other celebrating the DJs skill on the turntables. what a great idea as when you listen to one track on that album your hooked because your in the mix from the word go not just listening to the track you liked the most. you have to listen to where the music is going and what the DJ is going to do. And on this first essential selection album the DJs are Pete Tong, Sasha, Oakenfold and the wonderful Carl Cox, so you better believe the mixing is the highlight. We can download any track any time, but what one of these guys can do with two of those tracks mixed together is really what is worth listening to on a mix album. Even though our listening capabilities are now huge, we are listening to less albums as a whole. We want instant gratification aurally as with all aspects of modern life. Im sure that was not the aim when Pink Floyd made dark side of the moon or when Kid A was produced. so when you get in tonight stick on an album or mix and listen to it from start to finish, you will be surprised and gratified.