Neil Young's ever-expanding oeuvre has passed me by since Sleeps with Angels, I've said "Thanks, but no thanks" to the last couple of Richard Thompson albums and wouldn't purchase a new Grumps Morrison record for love nor money.

I basically agree with your point, but if they want to keep releasing stuff then that's their prerogative. Just as it is mine to spend my money on double espressos instead.

Particularly since record companies stopped giving them big advances. Van Morrison hasn't made a record for three years and Richard Thompson's last was his first one in three years. My problem with Doctor John is people always seem to want him to make "Gris Gris" or "Right Place" again and there's really no need.

...we don't know how to stop. I mean there are certain artists, whether through loyalty or force of habit, we will always buy, regardless.

One of those artists for me is Richard Thompson. Even though I know there will be maybe just one or two killer songs (not a bad ratio these days, actually) surrounded by a lot of filler, I will always pick up his latest offering.

Ry Cooder is another, although it's probably true to say he's unique in never having let me down in almost 40 years of buying his albums.

Then there's Dylan. I didn't include him in the original post because, despite some iffy moments over the years, there's always the chance he will surprise you with a truly great record.

He made some great early albums, and his work with The Faces was superb, but bloody hell!! Someone needs to have a word with him about the Great American Karaoke-book that he shamelesly keeps wheeling out.

Personally, I've been unmoved by everything he's done since 2003. I kind of admire his relentless output - or, at least, the idea of it - even though I find virtually every recording he's made with The Cardinals to be incredibly dull. But part of me likes the fact that he feels that he's creative enough to have spun out over an album a year for a decade. Thank God, Spotify means that I can hear them legally, judge them and then not buy them.

Someone should tell that Blue Nile and that Scott Walker to slow down a bit.

has the right idea, release a record every decade or so, that way each new release feels like a bit of an event. The problem I guess is not every artist can adhere to this working model, either because of money issues or because they just get bored knocking around their houses / mansions.

No, not her latest LP (although not doubt I would buy it if it existed).

Whenever I hear conversations like this, I'm always reminded of Mr Bennet's wise words to his middle daughter after insisting on playing worthy music at a ball.

"Thank you Mary, you have delighted us long enough."

It's odd that I was recently thing the reverse of that theory for new bands.
For example, I bought the first Vampire Weekend album and played it a lot. When the new one came out a year ago I bought that and have played it a lot but I haven't played the first one since (no room on the pod for both of them). Jim Jones Revue falls into the same category. Do I need more than one album by these new bands that I will probably never really identify with but just like their music for a change?

records that aren't masterpieces, and they have a loyal fan base.

And your problem is...

when he is asked he doesn't describe himself as an artist or a songwriter; his term is "working musician". So his ethic, in his own mind at least, is to keep playing and bashing out stuff. If no-one was buying his records he would go and play sax for someone else. Only if he couldn't get a job would he stop.
Whether or not this is actually true, it's certainly a different way of thinking to, say, Kate Bush.

The. Rolling. Stones.

That is all.

Sade albums?

you will realise that he HAS to make these records. Obviously by now it's neither here nor there to him if anyone actually buys it.
It's what keeps him going every day and this stuff is just busting out of him all the time. It is lovely to read when he talks about it in these terms and makes me respect the fine musician that he is tenfold more.

...the other night at the pub, in relation to R.E.M.

I mentioned that I'd heard a pre-released track from the forthcoming album - Collapse Into Now. I’d also seen a preview of the sleeve art that resembled the cover of an unloved contract-filling live album, and I’d scanned through a list of song titles and guest collaborators, all of which painted a grim picture of a record that would (based on this evidence and also on recent form) be at best mediocre.

None the less I would buy the album when it came out, probably first thing on the morning of its release. This Asperger-like narrowing of focus, when there is limited time and an awful lot of incredibly good and vibrant music to be heard and enjoyed, makes me not much better than the zombies in Dawn of the Dead who, in a state of undeath, return to the shopping mall to act out their mindless consumerism.

Michael Stipe and his fans seem to be locked into a classic cycle of enabling behaviour. I will continue to purchase albums of self-indulgently-titled songs like Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter and Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I. The band will continue to record these and release them to diminishing returns.

One or both of us needs an intervention.

The Manics really should have stopped after The Holy Bible. I'd forego Everything Must Go just to draw a neat line under it.

aaaarrrggghhhh turn it off

sits down and makes a conscious decision to give the world what it needs. More importantly, most 5-star reviewed albums are usually not made by people who are driven by a conscious decision to do so. When musicians do think like that, we're ususally left with portentous, charlie-fueled piffle like "Be Here Now".

They do it because at best it brings in enough to pay the kid's school fees, because it's all they can do, and occasionally they even do it because they feel that they HAVE to.

If you feel that there is too much Jonathan Richman or John Otway in your life, then I would suggest that you turn away until they're gone. They're not actually doing anyone harm by merely plying their trade long after the music rags have lost interest.

Richard Thompson album, but I'll always go and see him on tour, and he's not disappointed yet.

I really enjoyed. I was not expecting that.

Not so much new records, I just wish he's stop reissuing all the old ones again, and again and again. I've losttrack of all the reissues, extra tracks, interviews, bonus demos etc etc that get tacked on to yet another reissue of Get Happy, Imperial Bedroom and the rest. Blood & Chocolate might just be my favourite record ever but do we need a 15th fucking release of it?

That's all.