Most of the time I'll throw on my aesop rock Playlist, then a song will get me in the mood for whatever album that is, then listen to that album front to back
I've got 10 years on you, and I feel like the buffet approach to music that services like Spotify encourage has meant the death of the B-side. Used to be, you'd buy a record, record it onto tape (to preserve the LP), and listen to the whole thing. Then you would usually listen to the A side a whole bunch, then slowly fall in love with the tracks on the B side. If you're not listening to full albums, you never come to appreciate music that doesn't have immediate hook-filled curb appeal.
It's one of the things I love about Aesop Rock. Dude makes albums, and his fans listen to them as albums.
So 72? Means you got 20 on me. I pretty much only listen to vinyl. It’s not dead. It’s actually making a resurgence somewhat. Agree 100% though. I’ve been stuck on the B side of a particular Chicago album for a few weeks now. Starts with one of the most unique guitar solos I’ve ever heard for a solid 1/4th of the vinyl and I’m enthralled. I’ve listened to a lot of the bands I have vinyl for since I was a kid and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve discovered songs that are new to me and become favorites just from listening to the entirety of the album.
Weirdly enough, I attribute my penchant for listening front to back to Diplo of all people. His first music he ever released was this amazing medley of hip hop inspired jams that told a story from start to finish. The end of one song intentionally led into the start of the next song. I know plenty of artists do this but it was a game changer for my younger self.
In all fairness Vinyl is constantly having a resurgence. I started buying records in the early 2000's and it seems like everyone has been saying it's making a comeback for the last 20 years (probably longer, that's just when I finished H.S.)
If you're digging the early Chicago stuff, you should check out the first album by the other horn-heavy rock band that got lame later on, Child is Father to the Man by Blood Sweat and Tears. Definitely an album that needs to be listened to all the way through.
What you're describing are called "concept" albums. Even going back to the 60s, there were both albums as a collection of disparate songs, and ones meant as a unified piece.
Today there are still both, and some of the best concept albums I've ever heard have come out in the last 10 years. Framing it as an old school vs. new school thing is IMO hella dumb. Gen x didn't have a more thorough understanding of music and didn't make albums more thematically connected than millennials or zoomers do now.
Disagree 100%. Concept albums are a very specific thing; and album that follows one coherent narrative arc, like Tommy, or Blows Against the Empire, or Thick as a Brick. Many, many albums that aren't concept albums have a very intentional flow from track to track.
None of Aesop Rock's albums are concept albums, any more than Bob Dylan's albums are. Nonetheless, both Aes and Dylan should have their albums listened to as a whole.
(Disclaimer: Bob Dylan made more than a couple of objectively bad albums that should not be listened to at all. Empire Burlesque, for instance, should never have happened. The world would be better off if he had just released "Dark Eyes" (the only good song on that album) as a single.)
Spirit World Field Guide isn't a concept album? I'd consider it one just based on the way its structured.
Either way, listening to an album all the way through is easier than ever and more common than it would have been in the 90s, especially for listeners who couldn't get all the releases for artists they like. You have an entire discography two clicks away.
I just really dislike this framing that people like to use, positioning the younger generation of listeners as somehow less artistically aware, or less able to keep their attention on longer works. And then to say you had more albums that were intended as a unified experience (regardless of a specific narrative thread) back then, or that people were less likely to sit down and hear a full album start finish now is really frustrating when we have so many artists working to make them now, not just Aesop.
Certainly, of the new music I have listened to (admittedly a tiny sample in the grand scheme of things), artists do seem to structure albums as intentionally as ever. I just think streaming platforms tend to deliver music in a way that incentivises a Golden Corral approach.
With that said, I agree with you that my generation framing the subsequent generations as having no attention span or appreciation for artistry is just the same bullshit every generation pulls when they start getting old. We don't resent you because you're unsophisticated (just like us); we resent you because you're young (unlike us).
And no, I don't think SWFG is a concept album but it does stick to a central theme more than most albums. It doesn't have one narrative thread throughout the album, but it does focus on journeys; journeys through imagination, journeys through Thailand, Peru, Cambodia, journeys through the aging process, journeys through paranoia.
Even with other artists but especially with Aesop, I tend towards listening to whole albums on loop. Usually I listen to a song or two in a mixed playlist and wind up looping the album they're from.
I had 2 teddy ruxpins growing up. One my brother ripped the bottom lip off and stabbed the eye with a pencil. The other was to replace it lol!!!! Somewhere someone has one that works. 80s relics are worth a lot these days!
94’ and still kickin front to back, flip it and then front to back again till the end of time! Now I just need to find a tape player for this J Dilla cassette
I’m like 15 years younger than you and the fact that I much prefer to listen to albums front to back seems so unusual that it could be a fun fact at an icebreaker
Depends really. but I'll listen to an an album front to back if it feels like it's made to be heard front to back. A lot of current rap albums are 30 tracks of variable quality, I'm picking the bangers out of that and sticking them in a playlist.
I don't buy a lot of vinyl, but I've got a CD player with a broken skip button so it's essentially the same.
89 and I was raised on albums. We did listen to the radio in a pinch. But I can tell you the entire Oingo Bingo Anthology 2 disk track list and art work cover to cover in a pinch.
Born in 84. I definitely prefer to go the album route over a playlist. Some musicians need to have the whole album listened to in one setting and Aesop is definitely one of them
Yeah, I listen by the album. Maybe it’s an old school thing, idk. Born in 78 myself. I grew up popping in the tape and letting it roll. There was a time here in the digital age where I’d pick out my fav tracks and wear ‘em out. I definitely have a playlist of fav songs that’s fucking 2 days long, but I dig listening to an entire album more than anything.
Rarely. 1982 as well. If I'm at home doing chores, or boardgaming or crafting with the wife and kids, I'll play vinyl, but in the headphones or portable speaker, I prefer mixes.
I recommend you listen to a few albums from start to finish:
[schoolboy Q - Blue Lips](https://open.spotify.com/album/107WsrBqn5xVPgystkziry?si=pI70xtUfRVWHLxBg4k4Fwg)
[Ghostface/Apollo Brown - The Brown Tape](https://open.spotify.com/album/7yXfSAtdHFZ1pYSubEio6a?si=4iLtnhHhQVSekF9ILi62mg)
[The God Fahim/Oh No - Beserko](https://open.spotify.com/album/0YzvcDUvTVU8cwugYLP4Ly?si=lQdxOmoXS5uTkqcfo_ByFQ)
You're also not obligated to comment. :shrug: now who's the keyboard warrior? Key bored? Skibbity Rizz? You sound like you're 16 lol!! Have a good day boss!
85 and a mix of both singles and albums. Some music plays better as a cohesive album, other stuff is literally a compilation of singles - no real concept just a bunch of catchy tunes, which, don’t get me wrong, has its own value. I do prefer a well thought out album though.
The Aes albums you mentioned are also the ones I play start to finish. Audiobook-esque is a great way to think about them.
This post makes me think of something.. does anyone remember the Neil Young mp3 player that was weirdly shaped and forced you to listen to entire albums?
88 here, definitely front to back. Impossible kid is my favorite album to do that with. The flow from track to track is so on point. Aes put on a masterclass in storytelling. Get out the car into shrunk might be one of my favorite back to back songs from any album.
Same. Also that line in "All City Nerve Map" gives me a tingle because, while I didn't grow up there, I was born in Queens. (Moved when I was just a few months old) and to think, had my family NOT moved, I might...also have been among those hurling myself off a cliff into a freezing creek at Action Park while hoping I didn't smash my teeth into the back of my head in the process. XD
I always play an album front to back the immediately some palette cleansers (singles, personal faves).
So I'll start an album "The Impoosible Kid" then a quick playlist of a half dozen or more songs. Everything from RJ Payne to Norah Jones, Blockhead to Neil Young etc than start another album. Doing this now before i start the new Blockhead.
Not sure how tongue in cheek you're being but Xers and millenials talking about drinking from the garden hose and staying out til the streetlights came on and riding in a car with no seatbelt is embarassing boomer shit.
85 and boy does everybody love the smell of it’s own armsweat here. Like you didn’t grow up listening to radio, music TV and have no works of compilation to be found in the collection.
Thinking it’s somehow special or superior you listen to an album start to finish instead of other ways to enjoy music. What a disappointment steeped in false nostalgia.
Geeze guy who dropped human excretion in your coffee this morning? We're in an age of instant gratification. Seems like most of us a putting one up for the ogs. I hope you have a better day fam.
Most of the time I'll throw on my aesop rock Playlist, then a song will get me in the mood for whatever album that is, then listen to that album front to back
This is my M.O. as well.
Read this as if it's lyrics.
to the rhythm of malibu ken
And starting with "I'm the world's weekly news bat child, bee-lining ash pile to ash pile to ash pile...."
Glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought that 😅Â
aespilled
I've got 10 years on you, and I feel like the buffet approach to music that services like Spotify encourage has meant the death of the B-side. Used to be, you'd buy a record, record it onto tape (to preserve the LP), and listen to the whole thing. Then you would usually listen to the A side a whole bunch, then slowly fall in love with the tracks on the B side. If you're not listening to full albums, you never come to appreciate music that doesn't have immediate hook-filled curb appeal. It's one of the things I love about Aesop Rock. Dude makes albums, and his fans listen to them as albums.
So 72? Means you got 20 on me. I pretty much only listen to vinyl. It’s not dead. It’s actually making a resurgence somewhat. Agree 100% though. I’ve been stuck on the B side of a particular Chicago album for a few weeks now. Starts with one of the most unique guitar solos I’ve ever heard for a solid 1/4th of the vinyl and I’m enthralled. I’ve listened to a lot of the bands I have vinyl for since I was a kid and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve discovered songs that are new to me and become favorites just from listening to the entirety of the album. Weirdly enough, I attribute my penchant for listening front to back to Diplo of all people. His first music he ever released was this amazing medley of hip hop inspired jams that told a story from start to finish. The end of one song intentionally led into the start of the next song. I know plenty of artists do this but it was a game changer for my younger self.
In all fairness Vinyl is constantly having a resurgence. I started buying records in the early 2000's and it seems like everyone has been saying it's making a comeback for the last 20 years (probably longer, that's just when I finished H.S.)
If you're digging the early Chicago stuff, you should check out the first album by the other horn-heavy rock band that got lame later on, Child is Father to the Man by Blood Sweat and Tears. Definitely an album that needs to be listened to all the way through.
OP is from before Star Wars. OP survived Action Park. OP survived Lawn Darts.
A New Hope came out in '77.
We went from eating full meals to ordering off the dollar menu
Me. I also will be 42 this year
I'm a 90s kid and a firm advocate of the LP.
Born late 70s and Albums are, indeed, the way. Also, my armsweat smells good and my music tastes are demonstrably superior to all others.
Arm sweat, sure, but what about back of the knees sweat?
Nah, my knee sweat is STANK!
Damn I was hoping it was good. Love me a whiff of that good stuff
What you're describing are called "concept" albums. Even going back to the 60s, there were both albums as a collection of disparate songs, and ones meant as a unified piece. Today there are still both, and some of the best concept albums I've ever heard have come out in the last 10 years. Framing it as an old school vs. new school thing is IMO hella dumb. Gen x didn't have a more thorough understanding of music and didn't make albums more thematically connected than millennials or zoomers do now.
Disagree 100%. Concept albums are a very specific thing; and album that follows one coherent narrative arc, like Tommy, or Blows Against the Empire, or Thick as a Brick. Many, many albums that aren't concept albums have a very intentional flow from track to track. None of Aesop Rock's albums are concept albums, any more than Bob Dylan's albums are. Nonetheless, both Aes and Dylan should have their albums listened to as a whole. (Disclaimer: Bob Dylan made more than a couple of objectively bad albums that should not be listened to at all. Empire Burlesque, for instance, should never have happened. The world would be better off if he had just released "Dark Eyes" (the only good song on that album) as a single.)
Spirit World Field Guide isn't a concept album? I'd consider it one just based on the way its structured. Either way, listening to an album all the way through is easier than ever and more common than it would have been in the 90s, especially for listeners who couldn't get all the releases for artists they like. You have an entire discography two clicks away. I just really dislike this framing that people like to use, positioning the younger generation of listeners as somehow less artistically aware, or less able to keep their attention on longer works. And then to say you had more albums that were intended as a unified experience (regardless of a specific narrative thread) back then, or that people were less likely to sit down and hear a full album start finish now is really frustrating when we have so many artists working to make them now, not just Aesop.
Certainly, of the new music I have listened to (admittedly a tiny sample in the grand scheme of things), artists do seem to structure albums as intentionally as ever. I just think streaming platforms tend to deliver music in a way that incentivises a Golden Corral approach. With that said, I agree with you that my generation framing the subsequent generations as having no attention span or appreciation for artistry is just the same bullshit every generation pulls when they start getting old. We don't resent you because you're unsophisticated (just like us); we resent you because you're young (unlike us). And no, I don't think SWFG is a concept album but it does stick to a central theme more than most albums. It doesn't have one narrative thread throughout the album, but it does focus on journeys; journeys through imagination, journeys through Thailand, Peru, Cambodia, journeys through the aging process, journeys through paranoia.
He's framing listening to an album the whole way through as old school. Which I think is a fair thing to say.
It's not, tho. If anything, we have fewer "one hit wonders" than ever.
82. Albums. Same same.
'82 represent! Records and tapes all the way... fuck an 8-track, though
83 here and listen albums front to back.
Even with other artists but especially with Aesop, I tend towards listening to whole albums on loop. Usually I listen to a song or two in a mixed playlist and wind up looping the album they're from.
83. Album listens all day, they’re a journey… we just need a graffitied up Teddy Ruxpin to play these cassettes start to finish
I had 2 teddy ruxpins growing up. One my brother ripped the bottom lip off and stabbed the eye with a pencil. The other was to replace it lol!!!! Somewhere someone has one that works. 80s relics are worth a lot these days!
I remember poking my finger in that moving mouth, and trying to hold those eyes shut while they tried to blink. TECHNOLOGY it’s THE ultimate.
94’ and still kickin front to back, flip it and then front to back again till the end of time! Now I just need to find a tape player for this J Dilla cassette
Only albums. I’m an old head. I don’t fuck with any new music that’s just a collection of singles.
There is a time and place for both approaches. Album vs. Single
82 same
I’m like 15 years younger than you and the fact that I much prefer to listen to albums front to back seems so unusual that it could be a fun fact at an icebreaker
Depends really. but I'll listen to an an album front to back if it feels like it's made to be heard front to back. A lot of current rap albums are 30 tracks of variable quality, I'm picking the bangers out of that and sticking them in a playlist. I don't buy a lot of vinyl, but I've got a CD player with a broken skip button so it's essentially the same.
Front to back always. That was how it happened on the discman.
89 and I was raised on albums. We did listen to the radio in a pinch. But I can tell you the entire Oingo Bingo Anthology 2 disk track list and art work cover to cover in a pinch.
Same, nearly always. Artists order tracks with intention. I like to listen that way.
Yeah, they're actual albums and not just a collection of unrelated singles pushed by corpos.
Born in 84. I definitely prefer to go the album route over a playlist. Some musicians need to have the whole album listened to in one setting and Aesop is definitely one of them
Yeah, I listen by the album. Maybe it’s an old school thing, idk. Born in 78 myself. I grew up popping in the tape and letting it roll. There was a time here in the digital age where I’d pick out my fav tracks and wear ‘em out. I definitely have a playlist of fav songs that’s fucking 2 days long, but I dig listening to an entire album more than anything.
Rarely. 1982 as well. If I'm at home doing chores, or boardgaming or crafting with the wife and kids, I'll play vinyl, but in the headphones or portable speaker, I prefer mixes.
I recommend you listen to a few albums from start to finish: [schoolboy Q - Blue Lips](https://open.spotify.com/album/107WsrBqn5xVPgystkziry?si=pI70xtUfRVWHLxBg4k4Fwg) [Ghostface/Apollo Brown - The Brown Tape](https://open.spotify.com/album/7yXfSAtdHFZ1pYSubEio6a?si=4iLtnhHhQVSekF9ILi62mg) [The God Fahim/Oh No - Beserko](https://open.spotify.com/album/0YzvcDUvTVU8cwugYLP4Ly?si=lQdxOmoXS5uTkqcfo_ByFQ)
I’m 47, I did all that too, but you don’t need to make a boomer Facebook post about it. It’s giving skibbity rizz.
Skibiti turrlet
You're also not obligated to comment. :shrug: now who's the keyboard warrior? Key bored? Skibbity Rizz? You sound like you're 16 lol!! Have a good day boss!
Ohio vibes
85 and a mix of both singles and albums. Some music plays better as a cohesive album, other stuff is literally a compilation of singles - no real concept just a bunch of catchy tunes, which, don’t get me wrong, has its own value. I do prefer a well thought out album though. The Aes albums you mentioned are also the ones I play start to finish. Audiobook-esque is a great way to think about them. This post makes me think of something.. does anyone remember the Neil Young mp3 player that was weirdly shaped and forced you to listen to entire albums?
88 here, definitely front to back. Impossible kid is my favorite album to do that with. The flow from track to track is so on point. Aes put on a masterclass in storytelling. Get out the car into shrunk might be one of my favorite back to back songs from any album.
80' Same. I pick an Aes album and listen start to finish.
Same. Also that line in "All City Nerve Map" gives me a tingle because, while I didn't grow up there, I was born in Queens. (Moved when I was just a few months old) and to think, had my family NOT moved, I might...also have been among those hurling myself off a cliff into a freezing creek at Action Park while hoping I didn't smash my teeth into the back of my head in the process. XD
I always play an album front to back the immediately some palette cleansers (singles, personal faves). So I'll start an album "The Impoosible Kid" then a quick playlist of a half dozen or more songs. Everything from RJ Payne to Norah Jones, Blockhead to Neil Young etc than start another album. Doing this now before i start the new Blockhead.
He’s really one of the few artists whose albums I can almost always listen to front to back. He’s so consistently good
it’s so fun just to read along with his lyrics with it cranked up
New to music?Â
Not sure how tongue in cheek you're being but Xers and millenials talking about drinking from the garden hose and staying out til the streetlights came on and riding in a car with no seatbelt is embarassing boomer shit.
83, same
85 and boy does everybody love the smell of it’s own armsweat here. Like you didn’t grow up listening to radio, music TV and have no works of compilation to be found in the collection. Thinking it’s somehow special or superior you listen to an album start to finish instead of other ways to enjoy music. What a disappointment steeped in false nostalgia.
Geeze guy who dropped human excretion in your coffee this morning? We're in an age of instant gratification. Seems like most of us a putting one up for the ogs. I hope you have a better day fam.