I own both "Low" and "Heroes". The reason I didn't dish out more dough for "Lodger" is that neither of the first two discs in the trilogy has wowed me all that much. Fairly noodly and new agey for the most part there really aren't that many songs from either disc that are standouts for me. I suppose if I had to pick a few "go to" tracks (other than the two mentioned by Kyle) they would be "Always Crashing in the Same Car", "Warszawa" and "Weeping Wall" from the Low album and "Sons of the Silent Age" from the Heroes record. The first two tracks on Heroes may be the most annoying beginning to a so called classic album that I know of.

They are available to be borrowed for anyone who wishes.

Having just listened to "Exile on Main Street" tonight I know what a truly classic album sounds like and neither of the Bowie discs comes close regardless of how innovative they may have been at the time and I'm not sure I buy that anyway.

i haven't listened to any of those albums. just familiar with a few of those tracks ('heroes', obviously, 'sound & vision'). anybody have these and willing to lend them to me?

For me this gets back to our earlier debate about artists who have a later period of artisitic creativity (ie paul Simon, Robbie Robertson etc...) vs artists who only put out good stuff for a brief period of time when they are young..
I cant really claim to know much of Bowies 90's music and it may be possible that he has some great stuff in there, but there is so much other music that is great during the 90's that it seems a waste of time putting in the effort to find out...If it really was that great my guess is we would know about it....considering that the 6 of us probably spend more time perusing reviews checking stuff out online etc... then say.... most medium sized cities in North America...
PS Anyone who does not own Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust is simply befeft of some of the finest music of the 70's...( not to mention the slightly weaker - diamond dogs...alladin sane...)
Does anyone own any of his Berlin trilogy......I have heard some love those too.....

Orleans, schmorleans. Why no love for Tino?

Back to music, is there any reason at all for a David Bowie box set of his output from the 1990s? Is this being released solely for the purpose of appearing on the Onion's annual least essential list? 'Little Wonder' was a catchy enough, drum-n-bass-like hit, but the rest? Can't think of a potential box set that could rival it for 'inessentiality', other than, say, 'The Paul McCartney Collection (1980-present)'.

I believe that the guys on the Orleans cover really are actually straight, and that that look was to get the girls all hot and bothered... It simply boggles the mind....was this a 70's look for the babes are did these guys completely miss the boat? (or maybe they are gay and they hit their target audience...)

It's true he has great legs just like me......but unfortunately he can't match my gorgeous skin tone.

the resemblance is uncanny. this guy reminds me more of you, brian.

Wow Stuart, I never realized that you were the lead singer for Orleans back in the 70's! (you're so modest). Who are all your nice-looking friends on the album cover?

Kyle i forgot to respond to your post....but you had it wrong, the album I love the most is this one..

You've obviously confused that woman with the one I was clearly smitten with.

sorry Derek i just

dont see how you think she is hot...

You guys are killing me. Stuart, thanks for all of the fascinating questions. Isn't blogging cool?

Scarlett was laughing at Derek's post. Then she wondered if Stuart failed to click on the 'Accept terms of agreement' box required to upload images. Then she went back to thinking about Kyle and pleasuring herself.

I think the problem is somebody gave you access to a computer.

so if I hit the little icon that says upload image, and I browse my directory and select the jpeg file and then hit upload, and it takes a few moments to do the upload, why does the image not show up on the metabeats site...does anyone know what I am doing wrong...

well its better then the stuff you listen too like these...

stuart, i thought you only listened to music like this...
i don't know what it sounds like but i love the cover.

Hi, For those of you who forgot me, I am a music fan who only likes Neil yonge and wussy music...apologies for being so absent of late, life is very busy...
1) Although I still buy cds, i agree with Brians summary exactly, ths classical and jazz cds I also still reread the liner notes regularly re who plays whatetc... whereas w pop I a) can remember or b) dont care ie...who the drummer of the clientelle is for example...
2) I have never done the great ep game, but I have often done the weak double record that could have been a great single disc...ie Fleetwood Mac Tusk, Smashing Pumpkins -mellon choly...., springsteen - the river.....Electric ladyland zeppelin-physical grafitti, u2 -rattle and hum
some of you will wrongly say some of these are great albums, but my point is that most are arguably just good albums, maybe even very good, but most of these would have been great single albums ranking alongside the best of there recorded output..

Hey I kind of like that game. Good not just for holly Mondays, but for a man-the-Leafs-suck-and-I'm-too-sleepy-to-read Thursday too. I could probably think of a whack of good 'uns with a bit of time, but what immediately comes to mind are The Clash's Sandanista, which may win the award for the most music you have to cut to create a decent record, if pared down to Hitsville, Somebody Got Murdered, Police on My Back, and the Call Up, is a pretty bitching EP (and a travesty really in its natural state); secondly, The Breeders Last Splash - with Cannonball, Invisible Man, Divine Hammer, and Saints definitely takes it from good (and era-defining) album to great great EP.

Beck's Odelay is a great example of that too. One of the best. And I would argue that (since you bring up Pavement) Wowee Zowee is a strong candidate as well - very good in its full form, but man, if it had been released as a five-songer with We Dance, Rattled, Grounded, Father to a Sister, and Kennel District, how amazing is that.

You could probably make a good case for the White Album - even if you just eliminated Revolution #9.

I could do this all night. But I'm tired. Good night, sweet blog.

An interesting exercise for a dreary, rainy, Monday afternoon. Come up with your own 'good album that could have made great EPs' a la this article.

I'd go with...

Beck's 'Odelay'. The EP becomes: 1. Devil's Haircut 2. Hotwax 3. The New Pollution 4. Novacane 5. Where it's At
I always end up skipping to these tracks whenever I listen to this album, finding the rest either too abrasive, silly or both.

Stereolab's 'Mars Audiac Quintet', which becomes: 1. Wow and Flutter 2. Ping Pong 3. International Colouring Contest 4. Three Longers Later 5. Fiery Yellow
Really love this album but the sound can get a little repetitive. These five tracks are not only the best of the bunch but a nice representation of the band's range, from the shoe-gazer-like drone featured on 'Wow..' and 'Three Longers' to the 60s space lounge of 'International Colouring Contest' to 'Ping Pong', an improbably dancable socialist critique of the foundations of capitalism.

Pavement's 'Terror Twilight', which becomes: 1. Spit on a Stranger 2. Cream of Gold 3. You are the Light 4. Major Leagues 5. Speak, See Remember 6. The Hexx

Am I missing some obvious choices?

Hey great list. Only a couple of additional thoughts off the top...

Hands in the Snow (the song) - Saturday Looks Good to Me (the band)
Open Eyes - Apple in Stereo (couple of other goodies on this very strong record)
Suffer for Fashion - Of Montreal
Ghost Town - The Bicycles (an 06 record but an 07 thing for me)
Rally - Phoenix (ditto above)
Stay With Us - New Buffalo
Rides the Rails - Besnard Lakes
You Can Build an Island or Down in the Valley - Broken West (On the Bubble also a goody)
Fallen Idol - Imperial Teen

Wow, there's a fair bit of 60's inspired frilly pop in this collection.

Thanks for the suggestions Kyle. I don't know of about half the tracks you've listed here. Gives me a good headstart for coming up with a nice soundtrack to finish off the year. Might suggest that "Smile" more rightly belongs in 2006 but is a good song regardless. Anyone else out there have any ideas?

I actually spent half an hour in HMV yesterday and was quite pleased to see that they've marked down a lot of discs in jazz and classical by about $5 on average presumably to adjust for the very strong loonie. While in the jazz section they were playing the latest Jarrett / Peacock / DeJohnette disc. I have a few of their live albums already and what I heard of their latest was extremely beautiful.

http://wc10.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:f9fixz9hldje

Some suggestions for 2007 singles to put on a playlist:

Nude - Radiohead
Icky Thump - The White Stripes
Tonight I Have to Leave It - The Shout Out Louds
Our Life is Not a Movie Maybe - Okkervil River
On the Bubble - The Broken West
Double Vision - The Ponys
Boyz - M.I.A.
Arcadia - Apparat
Mistaken for Strangers - The National
Melody Day - Caribou
Burn 2 Ash - Chad Van Gaalen
Ships - New Ruins
Stronger - Kanye West
I Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse
Smile - Lily Allen
Been There All the Time - Dinosaur Jr.
I am Taking the Train Home - The Twilight Sad
Disaster - The Besnard Lakes
She's a Rejector - Of Montreal
Comfy in Nautica - Panda Bear
Neo-Plastic Boogie-Woogie - Mahogany
Have You Seen in Your Dreams - Miracle Fortress

I'm sure there are a few that I'm forgetting or can't see readily in my itunes...

Re purchasing music, I feel similarly though not the exactly the same. I'm far more inclined to purchase a CD of classical music, and somewhat more inclined to do so with jazz. Pop (once again) comes in last. Though it seems about every six months, perhaps less frequently than that this year, I'll go to Soundscapes, sample a bunch of music, and buy a few things . Not a great investment, as much of it ends up on the once-a-year playlist, but it's something I've been doing for my entire life, just with less frequency.


I still seem to find an excuse to go to Gregorian every few months and scour the shelves for new classical music. For me, the reason that I'm tending to buy the hard copies of the softer stuff is that I listen to my stereo (read: CDs and records) after hours as I'm reading (read: falling asleep) so the quiet melancholic stuff tends to fit best. For pop, it's all about the subway and music to walk to, so digital works well. No, this is not a good evolution.

When are we going to have our next gathering? The pre-Christmas calendar is filling up a bit.

I'm with you Kyle when it comes to the need to own the actual CD with packaging. It's not like I'm 15 and plan to sit down and sing along with the music for hours on end. Half the time these days the bands don't even include lyrics anyway. It's still nice to own the actual disc for me at least as it probably means I'll give the album at least 5 or 6 spins before consigning it to the scrap heap or elevating it to the status of a disc that gets repeated plays over many years.

Case in point is this past weekend when I threw on Richard Buckner's first album. I'm not sure that if I had it stored somewhere deep in a computer folder that I'd be looking it up, throwing it on the iPod and connecting it to my stereo. By that point the mood that struck me to listen to it in the first place might have passed. What I find with digital music is that if something doesn't strike me fairly quickly I might never go back to it and that might be after only listening to the first few tracks on the way to or from work. I should really take the Doyle approach to e-music and download a select few tracks from any given album and take them for a spin and then go back for the rest if it strikes a chord. But again that takes time and energy that I don't always have.

Speaking of single tracks anyone have any faves from 2007 that might go well on year end comps? Figured we can beat the December/Pitchfork rush and I need some cool playlists for my iPod.

The availability of downloads and their attractive price point is a huge disincentive to going out and purchasing those silver discs, which only clutter up living space, break easily, are far too expensive, and whose contents will likely still have to be ripped to digital form in order to be played on the devices that we use every day (no longer a cd player). Why would I want to own or buy a cd? The album art? Not sure it's worth the premium.

Sure there are those who would argue otherwise. Radiohead hasn't released sales figures for the enhanced box set version of In Rainbows, available for pre-order for 40 pounds, but I'm guessing there are quite a few fans who opted to purchase this version instead of just downloading the album for as little as a few pounds. But I'm happy with my 3.50 pound purchase of the digital only version.

My only complaint at this point is that maybe I have too much new music and need to pare down my consumption of it so that I can better appreciate (or at least listen to) what I already have. In addition to the 90 tracks (roughly 6-7 albums) I get from emusic, I usually get another 2-5 from other sources, legit or otherwise. Even with all the time I spend travelling, which affords me extra listening time each month, I still find I'm a little overwhelmed by the selection of new music from which I can choose. And yet...I don't want to miss out on any potentially new or interesting music so paring down doesn't appear to be the answer either.

As for concerts...though children should be apportioned far more blame in this society, I'd have to lay the blame at just not having enough time in the day to schedule a concert, get a decent amount of rest/sleep, and still meet family and work obligations. I'd like to see more bands that come into town, as well as more operas, plays, dance troupes, etc...but alas, even when I'm making an effort to book tickets and arrange my schedule accordingly, I still find it incredibly difficult.