Mixtapes, Radio, and Elevator Music
Living in the digital age makes it difficult to find an excuse to listen to the radio. Radio used to find its allure, among other things, in the fact that it was almost entirely free, but since computers in the music industry have managed to soil the reputation of the word free to a point where the holy choir that used to sing at the very mention of the word has been all but replaced by that trombone-wah wah-how unfortunate sound, digital has taught the world to associate free with mediocrity, and has hence significantly deflated impact of radio.
Instead of listening to radio, we’ve all moved on to mix tapes. You know how it goes. You discover an artist you quite enjoy, and so you run a Google search and track down his or her Radio 1 Essential Mix and presto, you find yourself smack in the middle of a set to remember. Don’t like a tune? Not to worry; The track listing is posted. Find a track you want to listen to and skip right to it. Right?
(Sidenote: Is anyone else sick of the word “track”? Who wants to come up with a better word to use that doesn’t so forcefully imply that a song has been stripped of all its soul in order to comply with the guidelines of mixability?)
See, this is where the sweet sentiment of old time radio perks its head up like a dog in a purse; Track listings and the freedom to cycle through mixes as one chooses–they’re almost a curse, or at the very least, a blessing that most of us aren’t strong enough to handle. Because what are we really going to do when that mix falls into our hands? We’re going to judge it by it’s cover. We’re going to listen to the tracks that have intriguing names, and the ones that are catchy within the first five or ten seconds. We’re going to skip through to the middle of most of the tunes “looking for the good parts,” and even worse, we’re going to skip some titles altogether, for no reason at all. Even worse, when we happen to find a mix that we’re particularly fond of, it’ll make its way into our daily rotation to be listened to over and over again, at the expense of the discovery of new music. Digital mix tapes give us more control over our ears than we were ever meant to have, and in most cases, we don’t have the restraint to keep ourselves from using it.
I miss the radio. I miss being forced to listen to songs (hand picked by DJ’s who are paid to cater to my taste 24 hours a day) in their entirety, even when they veritably oppose the mood I’m in, because it’s unpredictability lies at the root of creativity, and unpredictability is one thing I’ve never been able to pull from a prerecorded mix.
So here’s the thing. Thinking about these ideas the other night prompted me to take a turn away from my regular playlists and to dive into one of the many online radio stations that I’ve long known about, but never actually made an effort to listen to. Scrolling through the electronica section (Does anyone else cringe at the fact that so much good music is continually forced to bear the title “electronica?”) I spotted a station that looked interesting, and proceeded to lock in for the evening. Long story short: Best choice ever.
Not only did the radio open my eyes to a wealth of tunage that would otherwise have zoomed over my head and gone unnoticed, it also reunited me with the childlike excitement that comes from listening for a first time to that occasional masterpiece that tickles your groove box just a little bit better than all the rest. I heard a track I’d never heard before, and the wait for the DJ to speak its name was an almost unbearable eternity. He did eventually reveal the artist’s identity, but it didn’t do much to alleviate the tension: Google was quick to explain that the track in question had yet to be released, and that I still had exactly one month to go before I’d be able to hear it again.
Fabric Presents Elevator Music, Volume 1
Long story short, that one month was up two days ago, and the track is every bit as good as I remember. It was released (among a slew of other extravagantly simple tunes) by Fabric (you know, that London club that’s behind the “Fabric Live” phenomenon) on a compilation entitled Elevator Music Volume 1 (which is ironic, considering the whole reason I discovered the tune was in my attempt to avoid compilations) but hey, sacrifices will be made for that which makes one’s blood boil.
So here we go. Song of the hour:
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If you dig it, the rest of the compilation is highly recommended. You can rest assured, it’s both sarcastically and aptly titled.
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January 21st, 2010 at 8:28 am
Great post,
i am extremely interested to reading this,
thank you for the post.