Blue Moon Playlist Review Club - Season 2 - Episode 27 - Out on blue 6 - Gone Too Soon (pg 438)

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Back to back!

Ship of Fools - World Party, Anthony Thistlewaite

(yikes, I see this now made the 80's theme back in April [sorry, before my time here], so if we don't do repeats, I'll pick something else). Still love this one.

If no repeats, I'll choose another ship themed one from my childhood:

Ride Captain Ride - Blues Image

 

[Coatigan]

This post has got me thinking about the whole question of the continued role of the album. Received wisdom was that with the advent of streaming music we would go full circle; popular music started with just single songs, transitioned to the concept of the album but would now return to single song output and albums would become what they first were, in effect 'playlists' of singles. I'm not sure what the numbers say but I assume the number of albums bought continues to decline? Nonetheless it seems to be enduring as a form which in some ways is surprising and makes me wonder all sorts of things...
Do labels still demand albums of artists?
Why do bands go through the emotional labour of writing an album when recording and distribution economics suggest it's not necessary?
Are they still needed to market/promote a tour?
Are you not a proper artist/lightweight if you can't hack creating a 'proper' album?
Given most listeners cherry pick from albums, what's the point of creating 'filler' these days?
Should albums be created in an 'agile' fashion, put out a song or two get some feedback and then do some more ? Obviously there will always be a place for the concept album, but even there why not release in episodes a bit like Dickens did with his novels?
It strikes me that artistically there will always be a place for the album, and not just concept albums. Crawler by Idles that Coatigan alluded to earlier is ultimately just a collection songs could you not just collect them individually and stick them in an individual playlist (just like the first 'albums' which were interconnected blank sleeves to put a collection of songs in - the musical equivalent of a photo album) ? I think the answer is no, even though it's not a concept album there is merit in the songs being released together, there is a coherency to them that transcends the individual songs and you have to spend time with it to appreciate it. It demands more from the listener but I don't think that's a bad thing.

I was with you, till you got to Crawler. I disagree there. Ultra Mono, absolutely, that's exactly what it was, a collection of songs done over covid, grouped together. But Crawler is a proper album, with a theme, a beginning a middle and an end. It is thought out to minute detail, mood cycle, the order of the songs, transitions, and flows well and tell a story. It is excellent, as an album.

On your wider point though, very interesting, I'll come back to that with a bit more time.

 

[bennyboy]

Carl Perkins' Cadillac...Drive By Truckers.

 

[stoneblue]

Back to back!

Ship of Fools - World Party, Anthony Thistlewaite

(yikes, I see this now made the 80's theme back in April [sorry, before my time here], so if we don't do repeats, I'll pick something else). Still love this one.

If no repeats, I'll choose another ship themed one from my childhood:

Ride Captain Ride - Blues Image

As there is a chronic shortage of bicycle nominations in this theme I was going to suggest "The Pushbike Song" by The Mixtures but figured I would have lost any credibility I may have on this forum!

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Carl Perkins' Cadillac...Drive By Truckers.

If someone would have told me there was a group of people that are mostly City fans and have some big DBT/Isbell fans, I would have said no friggen' way, that can't exist.

One reason I say this is because these groups still mostly play some of the smaller venues in the US, not that I'm complaining there, as those shows are by far better than arenas or larger outdoor venues (RHCP, Foo, KOL, etc.).

So glad I was wrong or didn't take any such bet! Other musical groups haven't surprised me, but this by far has. Y'all rock!

 

[threespires]

I was with you, till you got to Crawler. I disagree there. Ultra Mono, absolutely, that's exactly what it was, a collection of songs done over covid, grouped together. But Crawler is a proper album, with a theme, a beginning a middle and an end. It is thought out to minute detail, mood cycle, the order of the songs, transitions, and flows well and tell a story. It is excellent, as an album.

On your wider point though, very interesting, I'll come back to that with a bit more time.

Not sure we do disagree, I just can't articulate myself properly. The bit about a collection of songs was supposed to be a rhetorical question to which my answer in the next sentence was No, but reading it back it's johnsonesque wordsoup. What I then referred to as it's coherency you have broken down much more clearly and precisely and I would agree with it. My whole reason for referencing Crawler in the first place, after you had mentioned it, was it illustrates there is still huge merit in an album as an album. It's like when I'm 25 yards out and the ball pops up nicely, my brain knows what it's trying to do, the rest of me just doesn't fall in line :-)

 

[threespires]

As there is a chronic shortage of bicycle nominations in this theme I was going to suggest "The Pushbike Song" by The Mixtures but figured I would have lost any credibility I may have on this forum!

I loved wobbling my head to that song when I was little, got beat to number one by some hippy shit from George Harrison :-)

 

[threespires]

If someone would have told me there was a group of people that are mostly City fans and have some big DBT/Isbell fans, I would have said no friggen' way, that can't exist.

One reason I say this is because these groups still mostly play some of the smaller venues in the US, not that I'm complaining there, as those shows are by far better than arenas or larger outdoor venues (RHCP, Foo, KOL, etc.).

So glad I was wrong or didn't take any such bet! Other musical groups haven't surprised me, but this by far has. Y'all rock!

Since I was introduced to DBT via this forum I have been keeping an eye out on where they tour and as far as I can tell they can barely be arsed to leave Athens! Looks like they 'did' Europe sometime 2005/06. They need to take their own advice and get their ass on the plane (in fairness looks like they're doing a handful of dates in Oz, maybe they've got family there).

 

[bennyboy]

Since I was introduced to DBT via this forum I have been keeping an eye out on where they tour and as far as I can tell they can barely be arsed to leave Athens! Looks like they 'did' Europe sometime 2005/06. They need to take their own advice and get their ass on the plane (in fairness looks like they're doing a handful of dates in Oz, maybe they've got family there).

They have toured loads of times in the UK pre covid.
I have seen them live 4 times.

 

[threespires]

They have toured loads of times in the UK pre covid.
I have seen them live 4 times.

Oh right, maybe their tour history isn't comprehensive or maybe I just can't read. I'd like to see them at some point, I imagine they put on a really good show?