Lose yourself in Sleeps Dopesmoker. Double album 1 song.
24 minutes of Electric Moon ( you will ) live forever now they are not even on Spotify as the average length of their space/ Psych Jams clock in at 20-25 mins.
I doubt if Radiohead's Paranoid Android would make the cut. Or even Queens Bohemian Rhapsody. Now I've nothing against short songs. Slayers master class that is Reign in Blood album clocks in at 28 minutes. But yeah can't wait for the artist that comes up with the multi platinum album of 1 note masterpieces for the Spotify audience 150 tracks on that fucker. Single album edition with plenty of limited edition variants blocking up the pressing plants.
Maybe I biased or just an old fucking cynic. Im interested where a song takes me. I've lost count of the times I've dismissed a song or band after 20 seconds of sound bite only to revisit them and be blown away. Yeah it's our listening habits that have changed. The reason I love records is I have to engage it's not background noise. Firstly I have to choose something for myself ( how novel ) then Ive gotta listen for 20 odd minutes. No skipping tracks here. Then I gotta get up and turn it over and listen to another 20 odd minutes how quaint. Might even have to clean the thing . Listen to a click or pop. But boy if you wanna get to know your artist. But a record.
I'm gonna stop now. As no fucker will read this as it's far to fucking long with no hook🤣🤣
Loved this weeks post Carre - it’s made me reflect on the beauty of music (and my personal tastes) - completely agree - song length is now directly aligned with younger people’s attention span (not being pejorative - just a reflection on my kids tastes!) however as a huge fan of 80’s Punk and HC - I love me a sub 90 second song! Void, MDC, Germs, Negative Approach, DOA, Circle Jerks, Minor Threat - some
AMAZING tunes played hard and fast but that was about emotion, anger and rebelliousness from the band - not the audience per se - so how the tail wags the dog and musicians have to temper their art for their audience - that fucking sucks! Don’t get me wrong, I also love Flipper, Black Flag etc who draw out punk into sludgy long dirges (fantastic) but again - their choice. I’m not fussed about the duration of a song - as long as it’s a great song but I do worry about the pressure on artists to meet demanding algorithmic structures as any son of acceptance or quality. This will only weaken artists, promote throwaway music and the future kids will never be exposed to true artistic, inspirational music. We need a(nother) music revolution ……
PS - yes please, send Ike Turner (the song) back into the world - great tune - maybe on the setlist for the 14th? 😃
Someone....Please unplug the Internet as it ruined everything especially music! I'm happiest howling Neutral Milk Hotel's nearly 9-minute "Oh Comely" at the top of my lungs. A 30-second A.I. melody just pisses me off!!!
I can't remember the exactness of the meme or post...but it was something to the effect of Taylor Swift fans gushing over her releasing a 10-minute song & how no other artist had ever done that before. The punchline was someone saying "hold my beer" and plunking down Sleep's 'Dopesmoker' which is essentially a 63+ minutes long song.
Besides, short songs clocking at under 1 minute (or less) should solely be reserved for hardcore punk and grindcore bands. That's it. Anyone else, stay in your lane. ;)
This is really thought-provoking, and I believe you're right on the money on many points. Would love to see Chris Dalla Riva do one of his statistical analyses on this topic in his 'Can't Get Much Higher' Substack.
I loved "Ike Turner". If I'm not mistaken, he wrote the lyrics. :-) Your singing reminds me a bit of the pathologically shy Austrian woman I persuaded to sing ths song for me three years ago. I not only never met her, but never even spoke on the phone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z75ZaOYepLw
"Maybe this is the new binary: artists who prioritize going viral vs. artist who prioritize being artists. Content vs. craft."
I think this has always been the binary, it's just that everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too, or at least thinks they can. Guy Clark said that you have to choose between being an artist and being a star because they aren't the same thing, they each have their own demands, and it's rare that someone is actually both.
If 30 second songs are the way things go, it'll just be a lot easier to tell who the artists are vs the people who just want to be famous. Will there be some artists among the 30 second song crowd? Sure. But who wants to spend tons of time and emotional energy making music for a listening audience that struggles to sit still for 30 seconds and probably won't even really listen to the words you're singing anyway? Sounds pretty fruitless to me.
So true. And I agree with decoupling the art from the money.
For whatever it’s worth, I think I’m the perfect listener, because I will actually listen to a whole record with my attention, read interviews with the artist to understand it better… read books about Joy Division making Unknown Pleasures….
I’m weird. But I’m not the only one. If we as creatives are able to find our other creatives, maybe that’s enough? Support each other… I swear Bandcamp is just mutual aid for musicians.
a VIP in music biz told me the other day that being on Bandcamp screams of career "failure." Like, it looks bad. Of course I couldn't wait to tell him how I'm on bandcamp and sell handmade bracelets as merch on there. I always know how to make things very awkward. Haha
I think my reply to that person would be, “the existence of Bandcamp screams industry failure”, that streams don’t pay the bills.
Also Bjork and Radiohead and Alessandro Cortini, month so many others, are on Bandcamp so I don’t think that person knows what the actual hell they are talking about, LOL. 😂
I love Bandcamp, but I’m totally convinced it’s like 99% us musicians selling music to each other. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I recently read Mood Machine about algorithms and the converging of artistry. I’m always wary of making a big hype out of something that has always happened to some degree, but the shortening of song is objectively a thing. Thankfully I’m not on TikTok because my brain would literally melt, but after several years of Spotify choosing for me, it’s been nice turning back to listening to albums straight through and full length at the very least.
Lose yourself in Sleeps Dopesmoker. Double album 1 song.
24 minutes of Electric Moon ( you will ) live forever now they are not even on Spotify as the average length of their space/ Psych Jams clock in at 20-25 mins.
I doubt if Radiohead's Paranoid Android would make the cut. Or even Queens Bohemian Rhapsody. Now I've nothing against short songs. Slayers master class that is Reign in Blood album clocks in at 28 minutes. But yeah can't wait for the artist that comes up with the multi platinum album of 1 note masterpieces for the Spotify audience 150 tracks on that fucker. Single album edition with plenty of limited edition variants blocking up the pressing plants.
Maybe I biased or just an old fucking cynic. Im interested where a song takes me. I've lost count of the times I've dismissed a song or band after 20 seconds of sound bite only to revisit them and be blown away. Yeah it's our listening habits that have changed. The reason I love records is I have to engage it's not background noise. Firstly I have to choose something for myself ( how novel ) then Ive gotta listen for 20 odd minutes. No skipping tracks here. Then I gotta get up and turn it over and listen to another 20 odd minutes how quaint. Might even have to clean the thing . Listen to a click or pop. But boy if you wanna get to know your artist. But a record.
I'm gonna stop now. As no fucker will read this as it's far to fucking long with no hook🤣🤣
Loved this weeks post Carre - it’s made me reflect on the beauty of music (and my personal tastes) - completely agree - song length is now directly aligned with younger people’s attention span (not being pejorative - just a reflection on my kids tastes!) however as a huge fan of 80’s Punk and HC - I love me a sub 90 second song! Void, MDC, Germs, Negative Approach, DOA, Circle Jerks, Minor Threat - some
AMAZING tunes played hard and fast but that was about emotion, anger and rebelliousness from the band - not the audience per se - so how the tail wags the dog and musicians have to temper their art for their audience - that fucking sucks! Don’t get me wrong, I also love Flipper, Black Flag etc who draw out punk into sludgy long dirges (fantastic) but again - their choice. I’m not fussed about the duration of a song - as long as it’s a great song but I do worry about the pressure on artists to meet demanding algorithmic structures as any son of acceptance or quality. This will only weaken artists, promote throwaway music and the future kids will never be exposed to true artistic, inspirational music. We need a(nother) music revolution ……
PS - yes please, send Ike Turner (the song) back into the world - great tune - maybe on the setlist for the 14th? 😃
Someone....Please unplug the Internet as it ruined everything especially music! I'm happiest howling Neutral Milk Hotel's nearly 9-minute "Oh Comely" at the top of my lungs. A 30-second A.I. melody just pisses me off!!!
I can't remember the exactness of the meme or post...but it was something to the effect of Taylor Swift fans gushing over her releasing a 10-minute song & how no other artist had ever done that before. The punchline was someone saying "hold my beer" and plunking down Sleep's 'Dopesmoker' which is essentially a 63+ minutes long song.
Besides, short songs clocking at under 1 minute (or less) should solely be reserved for hardcore punk and grindcore bands. That's it. Anyone else, stay in your lane. ;)
If there were ever a time for Napalm Death’s “You Suffer” to chart, it’s right now.
Exactly! Strange how few plays it has on Spotify 🤔 lol
The world got lame
This is really thought-provoking, and I believe you're right on the money on many points. Would love to see Chris Dalla Riva do one of his statistical analyses on this topic in his 'Can't Get Much Higher' Substack.
I loved "Ike Turner". If I'm not mistaken, he wrote the lyrics. :-) Your singing reminds me a bit of the pathologically shy Austrian woman I persuaded to sing ths song for me three years ago. I not only never met her, but never even spoke on the phone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z75ZaOYepLw
Wow…this is indispensable! 🔥🖤
"Maybe this is the new binary: artists who prioritize going viral vs. artist who prioritize being artists. Content vs. craft."
I think this has always been the binary, it's just that everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too, or at least thinks they can. Guy Clark said that you have to choose between being an artist and being a star because they aren't the same thing, they each have their own demands, and it's rare that someone is actually both.
If 30 second songs are the way things go, it'll just be a lot easier to tell who the artists are vs the people who just want to be famous. Will there be some artists among the 30 second song crowd? Sure. But who wants to spend tons of time and emotional energy making music for a listening audience that struggles to sit still for 30 seconds and probably won't even really listen to the words you're singing anyway? Sounds pretty fruitless to me.
So true. And I agree with decoupling the art from the money.
For whatever it’s worth, I think I’m the perfect listener, because I will actually listen to a whole record with my attention, read interviews with the artist to understand it better… read books about Joy Division making Unknown Pleasures….
I’m weird. But I’m not the only one. If we as creatives are able to find our other creatives, maybe that’s enough? Support each other… I swear Bandcamp is just mutual aid for musicians.
a VIP in music biz told me the other day that being on Bandcamp screams of career "failure." Like, it looks bad. Of course I couldn't wait to tell him how I'm on bandcamp and sell handmade bracelets as merch on there. I always know how to make things very awkward. Haha
I think my reply to that person would be, “the existence of Bandcamp screams industry failure”, that streams don’t pay the bills.
Also Bjork and Radiohead and Alessandro Cortini, month so many others, are on Bandcamp so I don’t think that person knows what the actual hell they are talking about, LOL. 😂
I love Bandcamp, but I’m totally convinced it’s like 99% us musicians selling music to each other. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
That last line yesss. How freeing.
I recently read Mood Machine about algorithms and the converging of artistry. I’m always wary of making a big hype out of something that has always happened to some degree, but the shortening of song is objectively a thing. Thankfully I’m not on TikTok because my brain would literally melt, but after several years of Spotify choosing for me, it’s been nice turning back to listening to albums straight through and full length at the very least.