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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
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Monday, July 8, 2002
The Album Will Live On
Neumu's Steve Gozdecki writes: I recently read an excellent "Daily Report" essay in Neumu by Kirthana Ramisetti entitled "Is the End of the Album Near?" Though I enjoyed the piece, especially the description of the way Ramisetti experiences music, I disagree with the title and the piece's conclusion. For those of you who may be worried that the answer to the question asked in the title of the piece is "yes," I wish to reply with a resounding "NO!"
The crux of my disagreement with Ramisetti's perspective is that "the Napster experience" — in which one listens to a single song or two by an artist, rather than a complete album — is not a new phenomenon. Singles have received airplay since the birth of rock 'n' roll; the concept of the rock album really didn't come into being until some time in the early 1960s. Consider, for example, the initial albums from any number of bands, which collected songs rather than making the grand artistic statement we associate with "albums" — e.g. The Beatles with Rubber Soul, The Who with The Who Sell Out or The Kinks with Face to Face.
In terms of how people chose to listen to records, the stackable turntable — which allowed the playing of albums without interruption for hours at a time — only played a single side of each record before going on to the next (this didn't, of course, preclude listening to a single album side and then flipping the vinyl over). In the late 1980s, the single-drawer CD player was quickly supplanted by various multi-disc players, which allowed listening in "shuffle" or "random" mode, as well as track programming. And, of course, the CD player allows easy skipping of "filler" tracks for those who just want to hear personal favorites or hits. And all the while, people have been making mix tapes, and now CDs.
To me, file-sharing programs serve as a type of radio on demand — which Ramisetti echoes in writing that "We download the stuff we know, and to hell with the rest." But at a certain point, most people crave something new as well — a major stated point of concern for the record industry, as new albums are now leaked onto the Internet before they even hit the stores. And a lot of people are more interested in the rarities they've uncovered through music-swapping than in commercially available songs.
File-swappers tend to fall into a few general categories:
* Casual fans who just want to grab the hits.
* Cheapskates who don't want to pay for music (along with rebels intent on screwing the record labels, which make far more per album sold than the artist)
* People who want to sample an artist's work before plunking down nearly 20 bucks to buy an album. (How strange it seems that DVDs are often cheaper than CDs!)
* Completists who want to track down every possible recording by their favorite artists.
If you're reading this, chances are you're in one of the latter camps. And you probably enjoy making and receiving mix tapes and CDs, regardless of whether the source material is an original CD or a downloaded MP3. But this doesn't detract from your ability to enjoy an entire well-sequenced album, does it? This duality is the reason most of us enjoy a good soundtrack, a best-of/greatest-hits release, or other "non-proper" disc as much as we like a genuinely well-conceived album — be it one with some hit singles, such as Automatic for the People, or a single-free release, such as Kid A.
So keep wearing black, but not because you're in mourning. The album is not in danger of becoming obsolete. Quality artists will continue to craft compelling collections of carefully sequenced songs, while disposable pop acts will keep throwing a bunch of tracks together and milking the masses. Both things have been happening simultaneously for nearly 40 years. And we'll continue to enjoy the best of both worlds, checking tracks out online to see if new acts are worth our hard-earned cash, sharing rarities, screwing "da man," and smiling at the realization that — despite the many troubles facing us these days — it's really a great time to be a passionate music fan.
The InsiderOne Daily
Report appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9 AM PST, except when it doesn't.
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