honky tonkin'

With this enhanced access in the past decade, one is far more likely to hear more less often than less more often. This shifts the way one listens, as the process becomes more like a 'one-off' experience of something that is 'live' or 'unrepeatable', almost like it was before the age of recording. Cassette sharing has been replaced with links and playlists. The physical experience of holding something as a treasued possession is lost, or it would be if you'd put your laptop or iPhone down. The loss of the artefact in favour of info.txt and jpegs is unfortunate; however, I recall many hours spent in record stores only looking at the covers.

Vicki Bennett, Collateral Damage, The Wire #337