I believe that bands push too much music these days.  If we could have just 7-9 great tunes per album, I’ve a feeling that we’d enjoy our music so much more than we currently do.  Digital distribution allows us to access so much music these days that we literally swim in songs.  Of course, you get a band that just does no wrong no matter what songs they make, where more than the usual amount of songs on an album works. It surely didn’t hurt the Ramones on their debut.  Even Elvis Costello crammed albums with songs but he was an extraordinary songwriter.  It worked.  However, how much better and more memorable could The River have been had Bruce just made it a 9-track single LP?  I think you know what I’m talking about. 

With the re-emergence of the LP as a cultural event, something that I like a lot, we can perhaps start to see the time-constrained vinyl media encouraging artists to pare back on song releases, perhaps making greater song choices so that some would have to go ‘into the can’.  Even more fun, bands could release bonus interim EPs if the material is good enough for such a release.  Further, bands could release the ‘extra tracks’, tracks that would have gone onto a lengthy CD, as occasional freebies, a practice that would delight fans.

U2 has stated that they have a massive inventory of recorded songs after the selection of cuts that made it onto No Line on the Horizon.  Imagine if U2 elected to digitally distribute the best five of those unreleased tunes as bonus ‘freebies.’  How would fans react to this generosity?  I would think favourably.  It might translate into even more sales for the album that Bono is calling potentially one of their best ever.

It’s no secret that we all love our music.  We wouldn’t be reading these pages if we didn’t.  But I would love the quality of the songs to improve greatly; something that I think could happen if fewer songs were concentrated upon.  I hope that the re-emergence of the vinyl LP proliferates, where people utilize the CD as a medium to assemble mix-discs.  Cassettes never really overtook the LP as a medium of choice but it shone in its ability to create a mix of favourite tracks to take around with you.  Let CDs be that.

LPs could recondition the market.  They could re-immerse us into the artistic development of covers.  They sound better.  And still…they’re considered cool.  Artists trying to navigate the ladder-climb of success could still break in by digital tracks, but sell their works – like many are now doing – by LPs.  When I find a band that I like, I look for their LPs to purchase.  Recently, I ordered a copy of the S/T LP from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and you know what?  I feel like I’m back into the love of music much like I was back in the early periods of my life, and much more deeply.

And so, I hope that bands continue to work with vinyl Long Players.  It certainly can’t hurt.

We have two reviews for you today that include several titles from 2008. The first is a review by Mark Squirek of an interesting Jazz album that converts known Rock titles (LedZep/TheWho/Others) in a satisfying way. The band is Wave Mechanics Union and the album is Second Season. The second is a review of a French import title (a damn fine one at that) by French duo, Mediavolo. The album is called Unaltered Empire.

Rhino Records is releasing the Phish set, The Clifford Ball, on March 3. Rhino has kindly provided a few links that present not only a listening party but also six videos. All of the links are below the cover art. I hope that you enjoy them. Bonus for the weekend!

Phish - The Clifford Ball - Listening Party

- Videos -

Fee

Fluffhead

Punch You in the Eye

Save to the Traffic Light

Bathtub Gin

See ya on Monday. Great weekend, y'all!

For the long promised Albums You MUST Hear Before You Die! list (#37), I will be posting a letter each post until exhausted (there were only 17 21 25 27 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 40 emails).  Some were only a few titles, some only one.  But there were more than a few that were massive and a few extended, well-detailed lists.  I’ll post them as I received them.  For today's post, it's a short list with commentary.

Kate Bush - The Hounds of Love
There is a lot to say about this record and none of it can be said without hyperbole. Kate Bush's career served as the spring board for a generation of highly acclaimed female musician who rose to prominence in the 90's.  The Hounds of Love (and it's related b-sides) is the best example of what Kate Bush was all about.  It is not her best album but it the record that best represents her.  Side one is chocked full of her most "pop" songs to date and side two is collectively known as "The Ninth Wave" which is much like Dark Side of the Moon or side two of Abbey Road in that it is a collected suite of songs of varying styles and tempos that are all connected.

The Cure - Seventeen Seconds & Faith
This is bleak stuff but in a good way.  These two records are still the best expressions feelings futility and ennui that I have heard. Each album has a song or two that has been elivated to "greatest hits" status but they aren't why I recomend these albums.  On the Seventeen Seconds, A Forest is the gem and on Faith the title track sums it all up.  Back in the mid 80s these two records were combined by Sire Records in the US on one CD as Happily Ever After.  Warning:  Prolonged exposure to the Cure's Happily Ever After will probably result in a long bout of clinical deparession or possibly even suicide. 

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Pyschocandy
The descritpion of the Jesus and Mary Chain's sound on this album is best put in the words form the liner notes "chainsaws in a wind tunnel".  Even though heavy on distorted guitar this record never comes across as anything remotely close to Metal or Punk.  The combination of distortion, psychedelic mood and surf guitar melodies was truly unique when this came out and you can hear the infulence in all the "shoegazer" bands of the late 80's and early 90's.

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Speaking of "shoegazer"...Loveless is the benchmark of the genre.  It sounds alot like noise but there are great melodies and pop hooks in there that make this a great record.  This record takes the ol' Phil Spectre "Wall of Sound" idea to new extremes and is totally original in it's execution.  Reportedly this album took most of a year to record and bankrupted Creation records and broke up the the band (and personal relationship of Kevin Shields and Belinda Buthcer.  That is one extreme committment to your art.

Love and Rockets - Express  
Former members of pioneering Goth band Bauhaus go psychedelic and cover a soul classic to boot.  Their cover of Ball of Confusion on the US release of Express was a huge hit in clubs catering to the college radio crowds in the mid 80's.   Side one goes from from a soft saxaphone intro into a hard driving punk mood and then puts you into a song that compares transcendental meditation to a journey by train (complete with the sounds of a chugging locomotive which become the opening guitar riff).  The song All in My Mind is on here twice, once as an up-beat accoustic based ditty and again dramatically slowed down with a substituted minor chord to provide exactly the opposite feeling.  I know this has been done before (Think the Beatles' Revolution) but it is used to great dramatic effect on Express.

The Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions
I never knew the history of the recording sessions for this album until I got the Trinity Revisited cd/dvd earleir this year but now that I know how this record came about it make me appreciate the original that much more.  This is a great collection of original songs so insprired choices for cover songs all performed pretty much the same way but to great affect.  Margo Timmins has a voice perfect for singing just above a whisper and it works perfectly on the songs on this album.  Also, after Oliver Stone used the Cowboy Junkies version of Sweet Jane in his movie Natural Born Killers I can never quite see Woody Harelson and Juliette Lewis in the same way again.

I could go on and on adding albums to this list but I'll leave it at this.  

We're going to keep the Best Album of ALL Time up for a long while as we continually update it. But I'll say this: The Beatles took the lead with not only The White Album but also the fact that they have been selected with two albums. Like The Albums You MUST Hear Before You Die! run, which does not show signs of stopping (I'm still getting emails, which I have no problem with and encourage - Send Them In), I'm hoping that this new thing stays strong. Send in your selection (one only, please) for the album that is the ruler of all.

If you have missed the last As The Disc Spins (updated), check it out here.

To access the previous site and catch up, click here.

Folk/Rock band, Great Lake Swimmers, will release their next album via Nettwerk Records on March 31.  The album is called Lost Channels and will appeal to fans of Fleet Foxes, and My Morning Jacket.  The album features 12 tracks and is accompanied by an extensive, multi-date tour that began in January of this year.  I suggest that you track down their MySpace page and check out a few tracks from the band.

Nettwerk Records will also release the third solo album from Maria Taylor (Azure Ray) on March 31.  The album, which will contain 10 tracks (thanks, Maria, for attempting to make each of your songs more memorable by releasing fewer tracks on the album).  The new album is called Lady Luck.  You can check her out at her MySpace page..

Reform Records and Rock Ridge Records will release the S/T debut from metal band, Cycle of Pain, planning the album for April 21.  Cycle of Pain is called a modern twist on the bands that originated metal.  Interesting.

Columbia Records along with Aware Records will release a 12-track CD for new female vocalist, Angel Taylor, called Love Travels.  This album is expected by the labels on April 7.

Sony Masterworks will release two 2CD Essential series titles on April 7.  Those will be for Vladimir Horowitz, and for Glenn Gould.  The Horowitz selections will differentiate between the RCA Red Seal years and the Columbia years, selecting 16 tracks per period.  The Gould selections will contain 26 tracks.

Verve Forecast will release Where It Ends by 16 Frames on March 24.

Here’s a note on the upcoming Blue October album, Approaching Normal, which is expected on March 24.  There will be a PA (Parental Advisory) version and an Edited version.  An interesting marketing pitch is that the band will release a track on the PA version that will NOT be on the Edited version, and vice versa.  The PA track will be “The End,” and the Edited track will be “Graceful Dancing.”

Decca Records will release Sounding Point by guitar prodigy, Julian Lage, planning the issue on March 24 through EmArcy Records.  This album will feature 13 tracks along with 2 extra bonus cuts.

Concord Records and Prestige Records will revisit the vaults of Prestige Records with a 60th Anniversary Collection that features 25 classic Prestige tracks over 2 CDs. Some of the artists on this Various Artists collection include Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Thelonius Monk, and a bunch of other notable artists.  This set is called The Very Best of Prestige Records and will be released on March 24.

Island Records will release the new album by Japan’s Utada called This is the One, which is expected on March 24.

You're in for a treat when you hear this album of Jazz treatments for songs that you know very well. Songs like "Won't Get Fooled Again" (The Who); a wonderful translation of "Elephant Talk" (King Crimson), "Killer Queen" (Queen), "The Rain Song" (Led Zeppelin), and eight other delightful renditions. Second Season from Wave Mechanics Union is a fun time with music.

Normally, I don’t get all giddy and excited about a single album, but this self-titled debut release by the interestingly named The Pains of Being Pure at Heart has got my music interest greatly piqued.  I’m having a tendency to pair this with some great albums that originated from NYC bands in the past, particularly the raucous and energetic Rock of the late ‘70s.  And this album just does it all over again for me.  It makes me remember why I love Rock n Roll in the first place.  Yes, I’m that excited about this album AND this band.  I can’t wait to see them live!