The Long Player: Marvin Gaye's What's Going On

Image by thejcgerm via FlickrLast night was the inaugural Long Player night at Derby Quad - a chance to sit down and listen to an album in full, from start to finish, with other people and then have a chat about it over a drink. And when you think about it, that is quite a weird premise.

First off, how often do you sit and listen to an album? Come to think of it how often do you buy an album, let alone do nothing but listen to the whole thing? The way we consume music has changed. We Shazam, we Shuffle, we let individual tracks soundtrack all the other stuff we're doing. Music eeps out rather than a release being an event of its own. This, of course, wasn't always the way of things, isn't necessarily bad but as last night showed, sometimes it is good to sit back and really let a whole album soak through you.

The first Long Player was a bit of an experiment. Could a group of people sit together and just listen to an album all the way through. I think the result was a resounding yes.

It feels a bit weird at first. I did momentarily wonder why I was spending my Tuesday evening sat on a plastic chair, staring at a wall while a bloke I didn't know put the needle in the groove and play Marvin Gaye's What's Going On off vinyl. It actually felt a little uncomfortable. I realised that listening to an album had been a previously solitary activity. It's not like going to see a band perform as there is nothing to look at. Taking sneaky side glances I could see that most people were trying not to make eye contact, a bit like school exams, the slight embarrassment and fear of getting the giggles.

But this didn't last long. I was soon off in my own little bubble and actually hearing this album properly for the first time in...well...maybe since the first time I listened to it in my bedroom as a teenager. I was drifting not only on the Motown jazz groove but the political resonance of this album seemed magnified (perhaps boosted even further by the big screen telly in the market place outside lighting the wall I stared at with reflections of the world right now). I was struck again by just what a phenomenal album this is (if you don't know it go now...read about why it is so important - musically, politically, socially).

As side one finished talk in the room broke out about the album. From a group of people who had hardly known each other the passion for music and finding like-minds was starting to seep out. It was fantastic.

Side two absolutely hurtled past as we all relaxed and just listened in our own way. A brief round of applause at the end and we went to reflect on the experience. Although the listening was as solitary as ever, just in the presence of others, it is this sharing of the experience that I think made us an audience, a group.

We spoke lots about the album we'd listened to, how the night could be better (a more intimate cosier space with a stereo set up rather than piped PA would be a small step to take a massive leap I think). But we quickly spun off into other albums that should get the Long Player treatment, the local music scene, politics in music, the effect of the Internet...all kinds of really interesting stuff. Yes, it verged on being all a bit High Fidelity Hierarchy of Music Geeks but it never felt exclusive. This was not chin-stroking hipster country but people who like good music, want to hear things recommended by other people that like great music and then have a chat about it all. An event that can only ever be full of win if you ask me.

The next Long Player is on Sunday 10 April from 8pm at Derby Quad where they will be playing Wu Tang Clan's 36 Chambers. You can join the Facebook group to keep up to date.

(If this sounds like your thing you might also want to get into the EpicMixtape project for another way to start a conversation and something new from your music-related nostalgia)