Re: [microsound] Re: How long should a "digital" album be

[Michael Samos <michael.samos@xxxxxxxxx>]

I really think it depends specifically on the music.  I've been listening
intently to Todd Dockstader's Aerial 1 & 2 and I'm eagerly awaiting number
3.  I have no problem with listening for over 200 minutes if the music
warrants that type of listening.  Having said that, I often like to listen
in "chunks" of 5-15 min and then repeat the listening.

Last weekend, I was recording an album for a rock band in Boston I am
friends with and they mentioned to me that they prefer to play 25 minutes
sets.  People come up to them and tell them: "that was great! why didn't you
play longer?"  They feel it is a better response than people standing around
with their arms crossed after 45 minutes of non stop playing.  I think there
is a degree to which this applies to albums too.  Filler is definitely a bad
thing.  I listen to the Zeena Parkins and Ikue Mori disc that came out a few
months ago (somewhere in the mid 30min range if I remember right) and I am
left wanting more.  I like feeling that desire.

-mike
www.michaelsamos.com

On 6/26/06, jeff@xxxxxxxxxxxx <jeff@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> This is a very interesting question -- one I hadn't previously spent
> more than isolated moments "thinking" about.
>
> I think the 60 minute album length is, for the most part, a marketing
> ploy. "Over an hour of music" screams the sticker! And as others have
> already pointed out, all too often the hour has many, many minutes of
> filler. On the other hand, I have more than a few 70+ minute CDs that
> end all too soon for my ears.
>
> I'll weigh in on the side of those who feel an album (or EP or single)
> is done when it feels like everything it needs is already there -- no
> matter what the time length. Also, I love the concept of multiple hour
> CD/DVD lengths, and the "release early, release often" concept has merit
> too.
>
> =j=
>
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