How People Listen to Music - Bizarre

Getting into vinyl over the past 12 months has opened my eyes to something bizarre.

People don’t listen to music the way they should. I know that sounds like an incredibly ‘music-snobbish’ thing to say, but I’m not alluding to the format, it’s what comes in-between.

To listen to a record, you need a turntable, and depending on what turntable you get (anything under £100 is probably poor unfortunately), you need some sort of speaker/headphones and amplifier setup. This is what baffles me most, for a few reasons.

Reason 1: Lack of HI-FI Systems

 HI-FI

How many people have a HI-FI system in their house? I’ve never had a conversation with anyone about their setup, probably because they don’t have one. However, I have had numerous discussions with friends and classmates on how they watch movies and TV shows. Surround sound systems are far more common-place in people’s houses, and a discussion on their best film role (I find) is more likely to follow a conversation about an actor, than a discussion on the best Beatles album, when talking about how much Paul McCartney is worth.

This leads me onto my second reason

Reason 2: Nobody listens to albums

Why don’t people listen to albums, old and new?

 The Long-Player (LP)

Forget about formats, a high-quality mp3 beats a bad vinyl pressing, believe me. I got Warpaint’s latest album on double-red vinyl and side C has so much static in the left channel, I have to switch my receiver/amplifier over to my computer for the last four songs, with the free mp3 download linked to the album, coming in handy.

If someone says they don’t have time for albums, they’re lying. I would estimate that most albums last from 30 to 45 minutes, that’s about the length of your weekly TV show, or half the time of most mainstream films (excluding huge budgets films) at around 90. Time does not matter here

It is then very strange when comparing Film and TV with an LP. Most people fail to realise that albums by-and-large have no filter from its inception until its end. What I mean by this is, artists that write their own material, especially independent artists, have their ideas fleshed out exactly how they see it. A true musical artist gets what is in their head, onto a recording. And whether or not they write the song with band-mates or have a producer, the song starts and ends with that artist. Film and TV writers on the other hand, require an idea to be pitched to a company, pass certain regulations, have it directed and produced (although some do these themselves), have it portrayed by actors and see the best takes edited by a post-production team.

An album therefore, is much more direct.

Reason 3: Cost

A HI-FI system requires a CD/Record or even an MP3 player, an amplifier, speakers and or headphones.

My HI-FI setup consists, at the moment of:

• Headphones at £100, for studio quality Audio-Technica ATH M50’s.

• A Stanton T.92 USB capable turntable at £230

• A Yamaha AV Receiver from my family's surround sound system of which I do not know the price of

• No speakers (surround sound doesn’t do the job for me, however some will be purchased)

The headphones and turntable may seem a steep price, but in reality, most houses now have at least one or more HD TV(s) ranging from anywhere between £150 to £1000 from various sizes and specs. Add a surround sound system on top and you’re looking at nearly £2000 for your overall audio-visual needs. In this instance, the two systems are not too dis-similar and if anything, HI-FI is cheaper.

 The new money-maker

So how do YOU listen to music?

I know of 3 people that listen to records, two of which are brothers. To my knowledge, they don’t have HI-FI systems unless something changed whilst writing this piece. The rest listen to music mainly in their car, where their best quality lies, via their iPod/Phone on low-quality headphones or (where the real fun begins) laptop speakers.

 The Enemy of speakers

But how can something like music, that can change the way people think, speak and look, receive such low-quality consumption?

My emphasis on comparisons with other art-forms is crucial to this observation. I don’t know of anyone who would watch a film in 240p resolution, yet I know of people who will listen to music, judge whether or not they like that music, and dismiss it in less than 30 seconds by listening to it through laptop speakers.

Bizarre

So in conclusion, I urge you, if you haven’t already, to start with a pair of budget, studio quality headphones and work your way up. It’s a sad thought that the highest quality music system most people have is situated in their car. And even if you don’t have the desire to buy records or even CDs, treat the music you listen to with more respect. I guarantee, you WILL enjoy it more, you WILL want to listen to more music and you WILL ask yourself why you hadn’t done this sooner.

I know I did.

'Hozier' - Album Review

Andrew Hozier-Byrne is a great singer.

This worried me, a lot going into this album.

This worried me because great singers don’t tend to write great songs these days.

The reason why great singers don’t write great songs these days is because their voice is their main asset. Normally great singers have a certain range, a certain style, a certain pocket within the music that they feel strength within. That is who they are, and it is what gets them results.

Pockets are small. Pockets don’t give you room to breathe. Pockets are the enemy in my opinion.

Adele is a great singer. No one can take that away from her. But man, does she love her pockets. Once you hear one song from her, you hear her pocket. Pockets are the enemy.

Comfort zones… good god! Comfort zones give a little more space to breathe, but comfort zones don’t let anything in or out. For better or for (in the case of contemporary singer-songwriters) worse. They amount to nothing more or less than what that artist feels is required. Comfort zones are the enemy in my opinion.

James Morrison is a great singer. No one can take that away from him. But man, does he love his comfort zone. Once you hear one song from him, you’ve heard them all. Comfort zones are the enemy

Pockets and comfort zones leave little to the imagination, which in turn leaves little creativity. Most singer-songwriters these days have little creativity. Throw them an acoustic guitar or a piano (don’t throw that, wheel it to ‘em this isn’t jackass), show them a few minor chords, a finger picking pattern and you have a top-ten album, guaranteed.

Boring.

Andrew Hozier-Byrne holds one of these traits and discards the rest.

Andrew Hozier-Byrne is a great singer. No-one can take that away from him.

However, Andrew Hozier-Byrne doesn’t do comfort zones. Nor does he do pockets.

Hozier, brings a lot more to the table.

For nearly an hour, Hozier doesn’t amount to just the piano or the acoustic guitar, he does that, and then some.

Electric guitars on the epic opener “Take me to Church” (which you’ve probably heard on the radio) put the normalities out the wondow from the get-go.

Furthermore, the alternating between a striking reverb riddled guitar and haunting Piano chords on “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene” is brilliant, great song title too! Well in Hozier!

Even the song afterwards which provides a quirky riff, has guitars. This album loves its guitars!

The reason I mention guitars is because this album took me by surprise. I was expecting more singer-songwriter, pain and melodrama. Yet another one hit wonder album, which takes the meat and bones from the song that put the artist on the radar, and fill an album full of the artists' comfort zone. Get him his vocal range pocket, and there you have it. Just another album. You’ll never hear of this artist again.

I want to hear more of Hozier. Even when you feel he is slipping into a filler in the form of “From Eden” 3 minutes in, and an array of Sgt Pepper-esque strings enter the fray, utterly UN-comforting, then blending back into the intro guitar line, Brilliant.

Speaking of intros, Hozier nails every single one of them! Whether it be a clean, crisp finger-picking guitar, a slow, off-beat drum groove, or a grandiose piano, the album never stagnates. It is constantly evolving. Evolving in a way that Hozier appears to have looked at other singer-songwriters and believes he knows how to make a better album than them. Instead of being simply an acoustic guitar, finger-picking, melancholic vocalist (which he does really well on the few occasions he gravitates towards this realm). Hozier embraces huge chorus’, fully orchestrated rhythm and blues stompers and alternative rock anthems.

ANTHEMS! From a modern day singer-songwriter, who’d have thought it?

There are moments of beauty darted across this album, mainly in the guitar leads and Andrews chilling falsetto vocals from time to time. But there also moments of darkness which lyrics such as “Take me to church, I’ll worship like a dog in the shrine of your lies, I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife” only perpetuate.

This album took me by surprise.

Hozier joins Angel Olsen and Sun-Kil Moon in my all too short, favourite, contemporary singer-songwriters list.

Evolving, from beginning to end.

'Hozier' - A Pleasant Surprise