vinyl

Quick Question: Taste Over Technology?

Nov 162007

I’ve got a quick question that’s been nagging me. Perhaps someone has stats on this or at least their own impressions to share. Has the length of new albums released on CD gotten back to the standard vinyl-era lengths of 40 to 45 minutes and 12 to 14 tracks?

Remember when CDs were constantly running over 60 minutes, with at least 5 tracks you knew you would never listen to if you were anywhere near your CD player? Remember when some of us snobs would reply to charges of “poor taste” demonstrated by these epic CDs with a [sniff, adjusts Pince Nez], “You know, the only reason the vinyl albums you old farts treasure so at their typical length of 40 minutes is because of technological limitations.” Am I the only person who’s wondering whether artists are accepting the fact that albums usually work best within the 12-song/40-minute scope of vinyl-era releases for reasons other than technology?

The Art of Rock Links

Posted by mrclean

Nov 102007

I’m always on the look out for sites that showcase LP/CD and related artwork. Here are some links to checkout:

Sleevage
Record Envelope
LP Cover Lover (my favorite is above…)
Blue Note Covers Gallery
Album Cover Art Gallery
I suppose I must link this over-linked Worst Album Covers page.

Sadly one of my favorites – a large collection of Bollywood LP covers seems to be offline now. Please post some links to good LP/CD art in the comments if you have any…

Prime Dave Edmunds, 1977-1981

Posted by BigSteve

Apr 042007

When the desultory video performance of “Girls Talk” was running on this site last week, some people mentioned that they were unfamiliar with Dave Edmunds’ work and would appreciate a selection of Edmunds tracks. I offered my services, since I have all of the Rockpile-era Edmunds albums in versions transferred from my old LPs and Mr. Mod was busy with moderating.

Right before this era, Edmunds was focusing on letter-perfect recreations of earlier styles — Phil Spector, Sun Sessions, Chuck Berry, etc. – on the album Subtle As A Flying Mallet. But Edmunds had produced the last Brinsley Schwarz album, and he started working with Nick Lowe again on his next album Get It. The first 8 tracks on this selection are from that album.

The opening tack is the Bob Seger nugget “Get Out Of Denver”, and the album is a mix of old and new songs. Nick Lowe fans will recognize “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ‘n Roll”, but the record also features two fine Lowe-Edmunds originals – “Here Comes the Weekend” and the lovely “Little Darlin’”. Edmunds was always more of a traditionalist than Lowe (Graham Parker’s “Back To Schooldays” gets a nice rockabilly treatment here), but “Little Darlin’” shows the “pure pop” side of the Edmunds-Lowe collaboration.

Also from Get It:
“Worn out Suits, Brand New Pockets”
“Ju Ju Man”
“Git It”
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Thank Heavens for Cool, Die-Cut Album Covers!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 012007

While doing my annual re-evaluation of The Small Faces’ Odgen’s Nut Gone Flake album this morning, I couldn’t help thinking about how much mileage and forgiveness the album has probably garnered among rock fans thanks to the cool, die-cut cover sleeve in which it originally appeared. I’d show you a picture of it, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, but any 2-dimensional, digital image I can find doesn’t do it justice: the sleeve was die-cut to a circle, perfectly containing the album itself with no extra space around it. Very cool, and the motivation for saving up the spare pennies from my bookstore clerk years to buy an expensive used copy in the mid-80s!

Surely, I ran home that night, dusted off what seeds and stems I could gather, scraped out some resin from my bong, and braced myself for what would be one of those psych-rock fanboy moments a young music geek chases until he’s reached the end of the rainbow and has paid good money for one too many Idle Race albums, eventually hitting rock bottom with a desparate grab at the collected works of SRC.
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