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.

Is it just me or is this age of easily downloadable digital music making us all really fucking lazy?

I could pin some of this on the time taken up in raising a child but that wouldn't be entirely fair. After all most of the concerts that I used to go and see in a previous life (20-25 rock concerts in 2004-2006) didn't get rolling until 10pm or later, long after Ciaran has gone to bed. So why have I only seen 1 live rock concert in 2007? (2nd upcoming thanks to Kyle) Can I blame you sorry sods for being equally comatose when it comes to the live music experience?

And it's not restricted to rock music. The last opera I saw was over a year ago and I haven't been to see the TSO or any chamber music in a couple of years. How are the rest of you on this count? Have you seen anything lately or see anything on the horizon that looks interesting?

As for the music package itself are any of you still purchasing with any frequency. Amazingly it has been over a year since my last purchase at Soundscapes and the only CD I've bought since the summer was the new Band of Horses. If any of you are still buying the shiny silver discs are you seeing the strength of the Canadian $ reflected in the prices?

On a similar "demise of music" note I see that Sunrise downtown is now selling used CDs in addition to their regular inventory. Makes me think HMV will soon be the only game in the heart of the city.

read an interview w/ stars frontman torquil campbell, quoted as follows:

"God bless Animal Collective, but they really have, in their own strange way, made indie rock a much more conservative place than it should be. If you can create intellectual distance from your work, then critics will feel clever for getting it and give you good marks; if you create music that fucked-up 13-year-old girls might enjoy, then critics will feel like you're trying too hard and not give you good marks. The Pitchfork phenomenon in particular is bizarre because it seems to have altered the fundamental way in which people get into music. I really do think that people should probably lose their virginity before they start writing reviews for Pitchfork."

Questions that follow:
1) Are bands that are wear their heart on their sleeve musically penalized for so doing? Know we touched on this discussion a few years back (sentimentality vs. ironic distance) so wondered if you all felt the same today.
2) Is Animal Collective's music really intellectually distant? I would argue otherwise.
3) Is it likely that most Pitchfork scribes have yet to engage in coitus? If so, should they be barred from publishing until they've done the deed?

Should these questions bore you to tears, here's an article on the future of itunes.

Alone together absolutely....I think thats the second time that Chet album has been discussed, so anyone not owning it may want to do so....I'd add Miles davis Nuit sur les Champes-Elysces from Ascenser Pour L'Echafoud

Excellent choice...favourite version of it?

I'll add Coltrane's "Naima" and Howard Dietz's "Alone Together" (fave version of which is Chet Baker's from "Chet").

In the jazz category I'll nominate Jimmy Van Heusen's "But Beautiful".

In honour of the NYC trip, I thought I would pose a jazz question to the bloglodytes. And here it is:

What are the top five jazz ballads (compositions rather than performances), and top five rock ballads (or slow songs, if you'd rather), of all time?

I will start with one jazz to get the whole thing going - Goodbye PorkPie Hat by Charles Mingus.

Are the Onion A/V Club writers cribbing from my blog posts? (scroll to bottom of my link...blogger isn't handling the permalinks very well). Realize that I was riffing on 1987 and not 1997 but still think I'm owed some type of royalty.

Allow me to second Brian's praise for your links, Derek, which will serve me well this month as I try to figure out how to spend my monthly emusic downloads with so few pop choices of interest.

Also (why not a further jab at Herr Watson) thanks for posting on the correct blog.

Derek I have three words for you. Fan Tas Tic. Exactly what I needed. Tanya is long gone but I'll be mailing these anyway.

The Mullova disk is one that I had considered buying at Gregorian a couple of months back. I'm impressed that emusic has it.

Incidentally, Billy Hart is part of Lovano's band at Birdland on the NYC weekend.

Finally getting around to suggesting some music for your disc(s) Brian assuming they aren't already on their way to South Africa.

I'll stick to music that I've downloaded from e-music over the last few years so at least that way you can easily procure the music for yourself.

In a classical vein:

Peter Donohoe playing Michael Tippett's piano sonata No. 1, 2nd movement.

Pascal Devoyon and Dong-Suk Kang playing Poulenc's violin sonata: Intermezzo.

Viktoria Mullova and Katia Labeque playing Clara Schumann's Romanze for violin and piano.

Mieczyslaw Horszowski playing Schubert's piano sonata in B-flat, D.960 1st movement.

Maxim Rysanov and Evelyn Chang playing any of the following three pieces from their 2007 album: Glinka's violin sonata in D minor (allegro), Enescu's concert piece and Tabakova's "Whispered Lullaby"

As for some jazz:

Dave Douglas - Meaning and Mystery cd - "Blues to Steve Lacy"

Antonio Farao - Takes on Pasolini cd - "Julian e Ida"

Mary Lou Williams - Zoning cd - "Ghost of Love"

Mimi Fox - Perpetually Hip cd - "Night and Day"

Billy Hart - Quartet cd - "Charvez" or "Lullaby for Imke"