Back in the 1980s, technology triggered a tidal wave of experimentalism in popular music. Punk had established an “anything goes, anyone can do it” attitude, and punk bands like Tubeway Army, Wire and DEVO began to explore the possibilities of the cheap synthesizers being built by companies like Casio, Korg and Roland. This grew into the new wave movement, with groups like The Human League, Depeche Mode and OMD achieving chart success with stripped-down experimental sounds that would never chart today.
Why the hell do publishers of classical CDs break up pieces into multiple tracks when they’re played as one continuous piece of music? Who listens to part 4 of “Music For Eighteen Musicians” without listening to the other 6 parts? Or listens to them in a different order?
I mean, maybe there are people who listen to (say) the second section of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 In B Minor, Op. 74 ’Pathetique’ without listening to the first or third sections… but such people need to be hunted down and taught the error of their ways.