Kanjira Handle №5: Tangibo

Putting An End To Music Shortcomings Of the Past And the Future (Continued)

Source: Made with Canva

If this sounds like faux-futurism, I have written an introduction about Kanjira which is published in The Riff. Give that a read before you come back. Otherwise, expect confusion! A confusion you may mistake for experimental writing. A confusion I want you to cherish.

For decades, the human ear wrestled with the idea of music as a tangible product: vinyl, cassette, and CD. Looking back, the unfortunate music enthusiast had to go through the process of actually getting dressed, stepping out, going to the local music store, and picking up the album s/he was waiting for or was interested in. Uncover! Drag out the item! Put it on a surface or slot! These were a few optimistic prerequisites to hear a Sly & Family Stone record. And this multi-step headache that showed itself as some sort of inevitable hobby could turn into a Snake and Ladders activity in which the album is caught through a series of intercontinental back and forth shipping, especially if the artist name was not a chart-topper on BillBoard or a Rolling Stone resident.

Then things changed. There was Napster and MP3s. They ruled for years. Then things changed again. We had better internet. So we had online streaming services like Spotify, Rdio, and Beats Music…