Y / 7 / Z
flaccus
mixes and playlists
As we consume music more and more via streaming services we also more and more drift into a snack bite attitude towards music. Like movie theaters struggle to stand their ground not only against streaming services like Netflix but also against the ultimate visual snack bite junk food habit of wasting feature-film-long hours on youtube and social media, switching from one 10 second snippet to another, music as well risks to regress from art to instant dopamin micro-dose without purpose or meaning. What's left is a never-ending mashed loop of pointless superficial elevator music pulp immune against deeper exploration or truely emotional connection.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a heavy-weight Spotify user for more than a decade, but I used to celebrate listening to music albums as a whole opus, carefully unpacking a 12-inch vinyl, cleaning off some dust, carefully lowering the needle and then sinking into the story of the album, while looking at the cover art to feel deeper into the mood and story of this specific publication in the context of the artist's full oeuvre.
Occasionally I still do that. I also still buy records. For three reasons, by the way:
1. to support the artist (because they make like nothing from streaming)
2. to experience the album on this deeper level like described above.
3. to simply have it. Like "at home". Because believe it or not: One day Spotify and your account might be gone. HOLY CRAP, god forbid! All my playlists? All this work??
Which brings me to the three reasons for these mixes down here:
1. I love my eclectic "favorites of the year", and I love to remember and listen to them in an album-like form. Which is the mix. They also become an association of a specific point in time.
2. The older we get, the less fresh music we find. I consider the inspiration of new music as one of the greatest gifts to friends.
3. Eventually some of you might become new supporting fans of some artists in the future.
If you want to do me a favor: Consume this oldschool and listen to or download the mixes instead of hitting the playlists immediately. And if you really like an artist consider to buy one of his albums. You will thank me later.
Here we go.
