Home Taping Is Killing Music

This Guardian blog caught my eye this morning, as I sit at home and avoid doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

"When's the last time you really listened to an album?"

LP - Back in January, either 'Twelfth Night' or Don Maclean 'Tapestry', found in a charity shop, on my Rega P3
CD - Genesis 'Wind and Wuthering' in the car (on my way to an interview), and Epsilon Indi 'Crystal Soup' at home on my home hi-fi at the weekend just gone
MP3s - Coheed & Cambria on my 'Pod, and Bert Jansch with 'Pod plugged into my home hi-fi

I tend to agree with this comment - ironically, given my recent posts - by 'bertjansch':

"I dont know how much of this is down to the digital age and how much is simply down to growing up and just not having the liberty to fart round staring at lyric sheets. For almost all of us over 25s, an appreciation of music began in early to mid-teens when lets face it, we had a hell of a lot more free time to sit around darkened rooms, smoking fattie boombatties and listening to 'Meddle' while staring at the cover. I know i tend to skip the crap tracks on my ipod, but im an impatient bugger and even on vinyl The Crunge never got too many spins! You have made me all nostalgic now im going to skive off home to sit on the floor with the curtains drawn watch Live at Pompeii while my partner and our daughter are out at playgroup, hurrah!"

Replace 'partner and daughter' with 'wife and son', and 'Live at Pompeii' with 'Yes: Symphonic Live' and you've pretty much described my (new) plan for this afternoon.

Perhaps the music-listening thing has turned full circle. Back in the 50s and 60s it was all singles and EPs, with albums only being established commercially in the 60s. Perhaps it's the fault of the computer-generated supermarket CDs, with 2 or 3 'decent' tracks and a dozen or so fillers, that are to blame for downloading of single tracks taking over. I'm not really sure it's that important, though. Some albums cry out for end-to-end listening, others don't.

My main problem is finding time, and sharing a house with others who don't share a lot of my musical taste.