Entertainment For Lively Minds
"Compact" Discs
Posted by chrisf on 21 May 2011 - 4:20pm.
In his column in this months Word, Mr H. mentions the latest Paul Simon album as being a great album that is nice and short.
I would also add the new Danger Mouse / Danielle Luppi album "Rome" to that list. It's only 35 minutes long, but what a fantastic 35 minutes ..... A wonderful homage to Morricone's Spaghetti Western themes with superb guest appearances by Jake White and Norah Jones (although the Norah Jones input is fairly low key IMHO). As an added bonus it's more or less exactly the same time as it takes me to drive to work in a morning....
Any other great short albums we can add to the list?
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Back in the USA - MC5
28:08 of tight, fast, combat rock
Rocket to Russia
31 minutes and 46 seconds. 14 songs. THAT'S how it's done.
See also: Surfer Rosa by the Pixies. Again, 14 astonishing songs, this time in 33:25.
I remember an article
in an early edition of The Word where they interviewed Dogs Die In Hot Cars just before their first record came out. They explained their album was 35 minutes long because it was the perfect length for an LP and because stuff you do while listening to music takes around 35 minutes: getting ready to go out, cooking dinner, sex.*
Also, the new Cat's Eyes record is really rather good, and it clocks in at under half an hour. The best records are the ones that leave you wanting more.
*Please note, these are their words, not mine.
Computerworld
34 minutes. Sounds like it could have been recorded tomorrow.
Aphex Twin : Richard D James album. 32ish in and out,
Particularly coming from someone whose other records' quality is often diluted by wilful indulgence...
The first two...
...LPs by The Bue NIle - 37.47 / 38.36.
and
Steely Dan's Gaucho 37.58
Bowie's Station To Station 38.08
The first two...
...LPs by The Bue NIle - 37.47 / 38.36.
and
Steely Dan's Gaucho 37.58
Bowie's Station To Station 38.08
We Are the Pipettes
33'17 (or 40'10 if you got the version with two bonus tracks), and it's 14 (or 16) songs with no fade-outs.
Radiohead's King of Limbs
benefits from being a mecifully short 38 minutes.
As one of the band said "Marving Gaye's What's Goin' On was only 35 minutes".
I do think a distinction should be made between pre and post CD era albums. Pre CD, a 40 minute plus album was unusual. The extra space available on CD proved too tempting for some acts (witness the large number of dull 'hidden' tracks in the late 80s/early 90s) and Hip Hop/Rap albums that seem to go on for ever).
Still one of my favourite albums
Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy by Billy Bragg is a shade under 16 minutes (according to Wikipedia). Wiki also says the vinyl was 45rpm but I don't recall as I have only ever owned the cd (a girlfriend had the vinyl which was how I first heard it).
Short stuff
Wiki also says the vinyl was 45rpm but I don't recall as I have only ever owned the cd (a girlfriend had the vinyl which was how I first heard it).
So it is. Blimey, not listened to this for years. Actually, it's not bad at all, is it? And The Man in the Iron Mask is a cracking song.
Can't help wondering though that if it plays at 45pm and only lasts 16 minutes, how did it ever get categorised as an album and not a twelve inch or an EP or something?
My guess is
That it qualifies as an LP because it has seven tracks. Anyone know if that's correct? I think the vinyl also came with a sticker saying something like "don't pay more than £2.99 for this album". Does your copy still have that on it?
It's no sticker
It's printed on: Pay no more than £2.99 / For this 7 track album
Billy Wag
When there was a fashion (which still seems to be going strong among the unfashionable) for playing whole albums as a gig, I remember Billy Bragg played Life's a Riot ... as an encore.
Excellent
that puts the retro crowd in their place.
Pink Moon
Nick Drake's 'Pink Moon' is 28 minutes long.
Karen Dalton: "It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going
To Love You The Best"
31:33. Perfect.
Certainly
Pretty much every HJH album was concise and to the point, excluding the White Album? Sgt Pepper is over in a matter of minutes...
Slayer
Reign In Blood is only 34 minutes, or just over 30 if you ignore the remix tacked on the end.
And it's awesome.
38'08"
Miles Davis' In A Silent Way
And each time I listen to it it's like a new 38'08" of music.
Only 1.38...
...to download from Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-A-Silent-Way/dp/B001I5IX28/ref=sr_shvl_album_...
k d lang
"All you can eat" is 36.09 with 10 tracks. I remember feeling short-changed at the time
Short-changed?
That's longer than Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Pet Sounds and After the Gold Rush.
The ideal length for an album is minimum half an hour, maximum three quarters, researchers have found.
Megadeth (again)
Peace Sells... 36.2
So Far... 34.4
both big albums with eight tracks each
Shortest actual LP?
Nilsson Sings Newman: ten songs, 22 minutes.
Soft Machine Volume 2
Two tracks, really, in 17 parts.
33 minutes 33 seconds. Not a duff or wasted note.
As Robert Wyatt sings on this album:
"If something's not worth saying, shut up!"
Good rock/pop vinyl albums used to have to be structured carefully to give a start, middle and end to each side while still reaching some sort of conclusion at the end of side 2. All too many albums these days (I'm sounding -old- here, aren't I) just drift instead of getting to the point.
A Short Album...
...About Love.
31m 58s.
Ends with this, which is brilliant.
Shelby Lynne
Last year's Tears, Lies & Alibis is 37' 37"while 1999's I Am Shelby Lynne clocks in at 36' 09".
Both superb albums.
My Aim Is True...
... Elvis Costello. 12 songs, 32 mins 56 secs.
Almost perfect.
Felt
Most albums were 20-30ish minutes.
10 tracks in 19 minutes
Yup. "Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death" has ten tracks and I believe is about 19 minutes long. I admire the fact that it was released on a CD by itself. It's the best holiday soundtrack album ever IMHO.
Dylan's
Nashville Skyline is under 28 mins
The first seven Beatles' albums up to and including Revolver are all between 30 and 35 mins.
Van Halen
The Roth albums.
Gil Scott Heron - I'm New Here
28 minutes.
But on the other hand...
...a really great "Various Artists" compilation just can't be long enough.
Obviously, The Massive's CD compilers realise this because the 21 CDs of assorted good stuff I bagged at Friday's London Massive Mingle averaged out at just over 73 minutes each. Thanks to all of you and extra ups to those who burned with CD-text enabled and saved me quite a bit of typing as I ripped them to my hard drive.
Top marks for disc label design must surely go to Mr Pirrip. A photo finish between JimmyShoes and Drakeygirl for best cover art. Special exemplary-content mention to JoLean for her "Soul, Soul, Soul" disc.
For the benefit of us thickos
how does one "burn with cd text enabled"? ....please.
If you're doing it with iTunes
There's a box you should tick on the burn options window, which says something like 'with CD text'.
Which is what I forgot to do. Doh!
Ta
I don't usually use itunes but maybe I will in future to avail of this facility
Or...
...upload the contents into the Big Database , i.e "Advanced" - "Submit CD Track Names".
Gracenote
is the only one I've used and it can be very wobbly with album and track titles
And genres
I'm also puzzled as to why so many things are labelled "General …" as in General Rock or General Country. Are people afraid of putting their opinion on the line and just stating Rock?
I read somewhere...
That most of The Beatles' albums are nice and short.
Ghost Wave
Got hold of their new album yesterday. 26 minutes long. Nice.