spynotes ::
  January 21, 2007
More conceptual music

Thanks for all the comments. Because there�s still a fair amount to be said, I opted to respond in an entry instead of another comment. If you haven�t read the previous entry on iTunes and long form rock music, and its associated comments, you�ll want to click back and do that first or this won�t make much sense. I�ll try to reply in turn.

Elgan, yes, it�s true. The other component of the album that is being lost is the cover art. But that�s been in decline for years � CDs were just too small to be as extravagant as album covers. But that�s a discussion for another day.

Smed, I totally agree and I never said that it wasn�t a good thing to be able to buy by the track for most bands, only that I think the technology that preferences the single may ultimately eliminate the option of the long form album. And yes, a lot of concept albums are dreadful, but they are also places where the category itself seems to define itself experimentally, so you see a lot of unusual and interesting things and you also see bands attempt (not always successfully) to develop more complicated ideas (both musically and philosophically). I�m not saying there aren�t concept albums I could live without � Dr. Geek�s example is a good one � but that singles are limiting. Now it is possible that this might result in some entirely different, hybrid genre. That remains to be seen. Erin, thanks for the recommendations. I�ve been meaning to check out both Gainsbourg and Arcade Fire for some time now. Also, although I still haven�t heard more than one song of his, Sufjan Stevens seems to be working on the concept album idea writ large with his states project. The concept oeuvre?

And Dr. Geek, you�re right about your particular sampler � that does seem unusually eclectic, especially since it�s only one song. It is revealing of a lack of musicality behind the scenes. It would be interesting to know what the criteria were for inclusion. And I do agree that it seems that record producers have become less musical over the years, but � and I�m no expert on the music business here � money has always been what its all about and I think any statement to the contrary is the result of our collective rose-colored vision of the good old days. But money has become a more prominent feature because the stakes are higher now. In the past, successful bands with long term contracts have been able to negotiate tit-for-tat types of arrangements of the �I�ll make a big money-maker if you�ll pay for me to do this project I�ve always wanted to do.� Long contracts are disappearing fast, and with them, I suspect, the availability of more experimental music. The music business parallels the overtaking of individual retail outlets by large corporations. It homogenizes the market. I do think iTunes has done a lot of good things for rock music, and certainly for rock music consumers � maybe even mostly good. Not only can we pick and choose the songs, sorting through a lot of the filler, but artists without big recording contracts can get their songs out there anyway. But I think those types of music that don�t fit the model � classical music, concept albums and just about anything that doesn�t fit the short form format � will ultimately suffer. But perhaps it was suffering already. As for the good album vs. the concept album, I think perhaps we are at least at times talking about the same thing. I�m probably looser than most in my definition of the concept album. And as II said in yesterday�s entry, I do think that to some extent one person�s concept album is another person�s album with unusually good cohesion. The �Exile in Guyville� example is one that I think is on the fence that way. To me, what keeps it from being a concept album is its fairly ubiquitous subject matter. It�s a good album, one I like to listen to as an album and also as singles. But I�m not sure I feel it�s got enough unity beyond the fact that one person is writing and singing all the songs. Of the bands you mentioned doing �engaging whole albums� � Wilco, Tori Amos, Rufus Wainwright, Poe and the Foo Fighters � I can only speak to Wilco (I can�t stand Amos, I don�t know Poe and I�ve only listened to Wainwright and Foo Fighters by the song). But I think a case could be made for Wilco producing concept albums in the most general sense. And some of their work is definitely of a more experimental nature. I also think their music works best as an album rather than by the song � I think I mentioned this briefly when I reviewed a mix sent to me by fairlywell a couple of weeks ago. She included Wilco�s �Hummingbird� which I�d never heard out of the context of the album. It sounds quite different in isolation. I like it both ways.

Dr. Geek also raises the possibility that the concept album is simply an artifact of the 1970s that will not quite die. That makes a certain amount of sense in that the long form concept album would be most associated with an era of music that adored the symphonic arrangement in many of its rock songs. They are, to my ear anyway, two different responses to classical music on the pop front. And perhaps they are less relevant now. The aesthetic agendas are certainly different today. But I still think that giving bands � some bands � the chance to work in long forms is worth listening to.

4 people said it like they meant it

 
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