What do you think about the relationship between, the single versus the whole album in the current moment of electronic music that we’re in?
As a dance music veteran, I love albums. It says so much more than a song. So many times you hear a song, like let’s say “White Horse.” Y’know, If you wanna ride/ride the white horse, that song.
I ended up getting the whole album because I loved that one song. I listened to the rest of the album and it was nothing like that song. What’s going on? It was kind of disappointing, and I don’t latch onto that band so much, but when there’s like a, let’s say, Japan or something, “Gentlemen Take Polaroids,” it’s such a great album that it becomes part of…I don’t know, it just hits me more. Wait, I don’t know how to say this right.
I think I’m following…
Yeah, but how do I say it? I guess it becomes more substantial. The album is a whole…it’s a movement instead of just a piece.
That’s a good way to frame it.
While I’m doing this interview, I’m throwing the ball to my dog—Keeps my body busy, so my mind can focus.
That’s how all interviews should be done! So what were you were saying about being in a weird time for singles…
Well for example, when I’m having people over to the house I used to put an album on. I’d put on, let’s say, Kraftwerk “Computer World,” and we’d listen to the whole thing: A side, and B. People would just sit around and talk. Now, you put on Spotify, Apple Music, or something, and you put on a playlist, or you put it on a radio thing, and it’s just chaos, you know?
It is, yeah.
The mood is going all over the place, and people are running to put on the next song saying, “Oh, I’m gonna play this, I wanna play this.” I guess it makes it more exciting, and it makes it more dynamic because people are involved instead of just sitting back and relaxing.
But, is it almost too much?
You don’t accomplish the same thing at the end of the night. Maybe you don’t walk away feeling moved, as you would have before, I guess. It’s all temporary.
Yeah, unless you take the time to unpack every single song right? You’re not going to go back and listen to every full record even though they’re all available to us.
Yeah, it’s easier to forget if you hear a cool song. It can get washed away by a different genre and a different style. It’s like your brain forgets what it just heard three minutes ago. It’s so temporary, whereas, if you listen to an album, the sounds reinforce themselves. After awhile, the emotions stay, and the feelings stay, and there’s more permanence. Of course there’s pros and cons to both ways of listening. It’s just unfortunate that no one’s doing the album thing anymore. Why would they?