Album

lazer_guided · Post by **lazer_guided** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:19 am

When's the album out? And if it's not out anytime soon, can we have an official Acoustic Manlines?

alan_cohaul · Post by **alan_cohaul** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 2:15 am

Inquiring minds wanna know!!

bcastle21 · Post by **bcastle21** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:08 pm

a beautiful noise · Post by **a beautiful noise** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:32 pm

please!

olliemorr · Post by **olliemorr** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:03 am

All of the above!

davey · Post by **davey** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:34 pm

lazer_guided wrote:When's the album out? And if it's not out anytime soon, can we have an official Acoustic Manlines?

I too would like to associated with the remarks of the last speaker!

mh · Post by mh » Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:11 pm

Or even if we can't have an official AM, how about an "unofficial" one in Complementary Medicines?

bcastle21 · Post by **bcastle21** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 6:37 pm

seconded!

ben crook · Post by **ben crook** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 8:30 pm

album is finished and it's utterly beautiful and amazing.

i'm afraid i don't know when the release date it yet.

a beautiful noise · Post by **a beautiful noise** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 12:02 am

ben crook wrote:album is finished and it's utterly beautiful and amazing.

i'm afraid i don't know when the release date it yet.

hey ben,

how about telling us something we don't know!

bcastle21 · Post by **bcastle21** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 5:55 am

do they even have a record label now? are copies being pressed and ready for distribution?

????

burningwheel · Post by **burningwheel** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 4:01 pm

ben crook wrote:album is finished and it's utterly beautiful and amazing.

i'm afraid i don't know when the release date it yet.

can you tell us more what it sounds like??

bcastle21 · Post by **bcastle21** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 4:32 am

bump.

mark · Post by **mark** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:39 am

Ben,

Can you send me a copy and I will review it for the site. I feel that would be a fair compromise.

Thanks

Mark

estee · Post by **estee** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:49 am

...or you could leak the album online, we won't tell anyone, honest

bunnyben · Post by **bunnyben** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 6:05 pm

mark wrote:Ben,

Can you send me a copy and I will review it for the site. I feel that would be a fair compromise.

Thanks

Mark

yes i would like to offer a second opinion. can i have a copy also to review for the site?

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:08 pm

I'd be happy to at least know if it's coming out this year or next year. I fear that we're looking at 2008. Pitchfork said this morning that the new Radiohead album isn't out until '08, either. Drag.

Spiritualized
Radiohead
Spiritualized
Radiohead

That should get some people here riled up a bit.

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:27 pm

One thing I can sincerely say for Radiohead is that they've stubbornly kept their running times under control during an era in which almost nobody else has. Despite my extreme fondness for both records, I'll admit that Urban Hymns is probably twenty minutes too long, as is Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. For all OK Computer's faults, overlength isn't one of them, and that's to Radiohead's great credit, as it's the one thing about which they've been consistent through six albums and three big-name producers.

mark · Post by **mark** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:34 pm

Ladies and Gents is 2 hours too short

radioshack · Post by **radioshack** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:44 pm

twentysixdollars wrote:One thing I can sincerely say for Radiohead is that they've stubbornly kept their running times under control during an era in which almost nobody else has. Despite my extreme fondness for both records, I'll admit that Urban Hymns is probably twenty minutes too long, as is Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. For all OK Computer's faults, overlength isn't one of them, and that's to Radiohead's great credit, as it's the one thing about which they've been consistent through six albums and three big-name producers.

I agree. Urban Hymns is 73 minutes long, which is ridiculous really. And out of all the albums you've mentioned, I think UH is the only one you could cut some songs from without seriously compromising the album as a whole. I think we've had this debate before, but I think I could've lived with an 11-track UH.

Apparently Radiohead think that OK Computer is a little too long (53 minutes I think), and their next two albums were under the 50 minute mark as a result. The Amnesiac album at just over 40 minutes is probably their best sequenced record, and flows very well. By contrast, their last album was over an hour long, and in my opinion would have benefitted from losing at least 2 of the tracks. Obviously their quality control, or hang-ups over album length have gone awry in recent years.

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:08 pm

Personally, I was quite pleased that SFA decided to keep their new album at 36 minutes or so. Listening to Ladies & Gents or Urban Hymns is such a massive commitment. It's nice to be able to put on a pop album of reasonable length and enjoy the whole thing in one sitting without experiencing restless leg syndrome.

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:56 pm

TheWarmth wrote:Listening to Ladies & Gents or Urban Hymns is such a massive commitment. It's nice to be able to put on a pop album of reasonable length and enjoy the whole thing in one sitting without experiencing restless leg syndrome.

I agree, although Urban Hymns has always been a great-outdoors type of album for me, so the commitment has never felt so onerous. But I really admire, say, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, which says everything it has to in 38 minutes or so and on which none of the songs overstay their welcome. I think this is instructive in contrast to, say, Alone With Everybody, which has some decent bones and which could have been tolerable if not for the fact that *every single song* is 2-3 minutes overlong.

The other thing I should say is that, during the period in which it was one of the most important records in my life, I was listening to Urban Hymns on cassette; so in that sense it was essentially two albums, the first of of which ended after Space and Time and the second of which started with Weeping Willow.

This is strictly a CD-era problem, by the way. For anything longer than 50 minutes made before '87 or so I make no excuses. And it's telling that only _three_ of my twenty or so favorite albums are longer than even 40 minutes. No doubt more than a third are briefer than 30 minutes.

Post by **runcible** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:07 pm

twentysixdollars wrote:...briefer than 30 minutes.

Wow. Now that is a whole new area. 'Full length albums under half an hour'.

I think Damned Damned Damned qualifies here. Not that sure of others. But I'm curious!

Another pre-CD era phenomenon would be great 'track 1 side 2' songs. In my time this was always one of the key tracks on an album - the 1st track on the second side of any album simply had to be good. We're talking tracks like 'Midnight Rambler', 'New Rose', 'Career Opportunities', 'Street Fighting Man', 'Heartbreaker'... and the rest (many have slipped my mind at this time of night obviously). This position on an LP record would be regarded as crucial by any industry type (often even stronger than the opening track on the album) but it's something that is bound to have been consigned to the strictly historical or nostalgic shelf.

darynm · Post by **darynm** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:20 pm

Beatles - A Hard Day's Night comes in around the 30 minute mark

Morrissey - Kill Uncle is about the same - I remember buying this on release in 91 and thinking if only this was 45 minutes long! Then I listened to the likes of King Leer and prayed for the end!! "Could it be he only has one knee!!!" AAAAAAAAAHHHHH

Pavel Nedved · Post by **Pavel Nedved** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:16 am

add 'Blue' from Storm in Heaven for the best 'side two track one' list.

Personally, I think there is no such thing as too much of a good thing - what could be cut from LAGWAFIS to make it a better album (which, IMO is pretty much perfectly balanced)?

Long (and good... I want to be clear here, they have to be good albums on the whole) albums are, I think, a wonderful thing, the longer the better - if its the malaise of the cd-generation to find some albums too long, well, that's what the playlist function on iPod was invented for...

It's almost ironic that this comes on the thread of begging for more! if you want more, why not listen to the tracks you always skip?

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:57 am

Pavel Nedved wrote:It's almost ironic that this comes on the thread of begging for more! if you want more, why not listen to the tracks you always skip?

The point is, I think everyone would agree that we would all prefer to have a 30-minute album every year rather than a 60-minute album every two years. Same amount of music, but presentation and bite size matter. And that's that.

Some <30 min. albums of distinction, off the top of my head:

-tons of punk, hardcore especially.
-the second, third, fourth, and fifth Byrds albums; the first Gene Clark album.
-every 60s Beach Boys studio album barring Pet Sounds and possibly Today (which includes a filler talk track).
-virtually all 60s Motown albums.
-Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity and Bells (maybe a cheat as that album is one-sided)

bunnyben · Post by **bunnyben** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:02 am

i'd say aprox 50 mins is the perfect time. d'u remeber when you'd tape an album to play on your walkman and it would fit on side A of a cassette, sometimes it would creep onto side B for a couple of tracks

Fuzzhead · Post by **Fuzzhead** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:20 am

bunnyben wrote: d'u remeber when you'd tape an album to play on your walkman and it would fit on side A of a cassette, sometimes it would creep onto side B for a couple of tracks

I do! Oh the memories...

simonkeeping · Post by **simonkeeping** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:05 pm

too long? I have to say if something works then it works? Surely? If it gets boring and doesnt hold your attention then that is what makes something too long. The fact that you need to pop out and buy some fag/pot noodle/shoes doesnt really come into it does it. I know what you mean its nice to have a nugget to pop on every now and then and 45 minutes later its done, but come on people this is art we're talking about! shave two minutes off I think im in love, 3 off cop shoot cop. etc etc. Its what it is.

Laz69 · Post by **Laz69** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:21 pm

I understand the concept of an annual 30min album, but the idea of making them seems rather crazy to me, especially for a band like Spiritualized, where some of the songs are epic compositions lasting anywhere up to 18 mins long. To allow music like this breathe i think you have to let it naturally extend. If you can compile 10 tracks which have a natural flow to them AND they still clock in at under 30mins, then good on you, but i don't think that would be something that Jason could do. He takes a lot of time arranging and locating tracks specifically due to the way they work together. It does HOWEVER sound right up the mainstream street for bands like Coldplay/Keane/<insert mainstream bands you hate in here>. They can toss out their wank 10 a penny and would make huge sums of money from it. 3 "albums" a year. Surprised record companies have not thought about this already...

Can you imagine the length of time we'd have to wait for Jason to record, mix, remix, master, remix again, remaster, etc THEN decide what tracks he wants to include on his 30min album??? We'd probably get one album in 10years; the album would probably consist of 6 CDs, all coming in at 30mins, each with their own themes/style like the way LGM was done and all individually packaged but compiled in one snazzy package...

MUFCSPACEMAN · Post by **MUFCSPACEMAN** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:32 pm

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 3:10 pm

Laz69 wrote:I understand the concept of an annual 30min album, but the idea of making them seems rather crazy to me, especially for a band like Spiritualized, where some of the songs are epic compositions lasting anywhere up to 18 mins long. To allow music like this breathe i think you have to let it naturally extend.

I don't know about that. A lot of jazz albums have quarter-hour tunes and still come in in the mid-thirties. Coltrane's Lush Life is a good example. Actually a lot of early Coltrane albums. Freddie Hubbard's Straight Life is 36 minutes and three cuts - 17, 13, and 6 minutes, respectively.

I hesitate to add that a lot of prog rock follows this paradigm as well. So there's definitely precedent. And anyway, the average Spiritualized song is 5 minutes, and only two of them (on five albums!) have cracked the 10 minute barrier - three if you include "Feel So Sad", which isn't an album track.

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 7:46 pm

mark wrote:Ladies and Gents is 2 hours too short

ha ha ha....exactly!

simonkeeping · Post by **simonkeeping** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 4:30 pm

I don't know about that. A lot of jazz albums have quarter-hour tunes and still come in in the mid-thirties. Coltrane's Lush Life is a good example. Actually a lot of early Coltrane albums. Freddie Hubbard's Straight Life is 36 minutes and three cuts - 17, 13, and 6 minutes, respectively.

fair point but what label would let you release a 3 track album? Thats an EP surely? And he'd be strung up by the press!

bcastle21 · Post by **bcastle21** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:11 pm

speaking of, isnt the new album supposed to be released soon?

ben??????

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:14 am

simonkeeping wrote: fair point but what label would let you release a 3 track album? Thats an EP surely? And he'd be strung up by the press!

The 90s gave us a really skewed impression of what an EP actually entails. It sort of makes sense - album lengths were inflating to the point of ridiculousness at the same time. But all those Radiohead "EPs", for example, which could run forty minutes, were absolutely album-length and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. According to the standard definition, an EP has four or five songs and runs about 15 minutes at most. In fact, I think the British charts define as an album anything that's longer than 20 minutes or has more than five tracks (?).

Post by **runcible** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 8:23 am

twentysixdollars wrote: According to the standard definition, an EP has four or five songs and runs about 15 minutes at most. In fact, I think the British charts define as an album anything that's longer than 20 minutes or has more than five tracks (?).

So where does that leave the 1st 2 Spacemen 3 EPs, both of which are the length of an album? I remember at the time people believing they were actually albums!

bunnyben · Post by **bunnyben** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 11:04 am

simonkeeping wrote:
I don't know about that. A lot of jazz albums have quarter-hour tunes and still come in in the mid-thirties. Coltrane's Lush Life is a good example. Actually a lot of early Coltrane albums. Freddie Hubbard's Straight Life is 36 minutes and three cuts - 17, 13, and 6 minutes, respectively.
fair point but what label would let you release a 3 track album? Thats an EP surely? And he'd be strung up by the press!

earth 2?

Stuart X.Hunter · Post by **Stuart X.Hunter** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 12:33 pm

twentysixdollars wrote: The point is, I think everyone would agree that we would all prefer to have a 30-minute album every year rather than a 60-minute album every two years. Same amount of music, but presentation and bite size matter. And that's that.

Should we be expecting a 2 or 2.5hr album soon then...what inside info do you have 26?

Thats only 6 songs according to average length of Spiritualized tracks!

To me thats an ep or a mini-album.

Bizarre. Sure in the 'good ole days' of the 2.5min single when financial and time investment was slim to say the least...thats fine.
Today...I actually feel let down if an artist isn't prepared to fill the CD in it's entirety. Oh and while we're at it it...screw vinyl and it's time/quality constraints.

If an artist of a certain calibre can only create 30 mins of music in 1 year then...then thats paltry.

And (not directly at 26) whats the deal with an album being consuming or exhaustive or too much of a commitment?

Have I stumbled on the start/pause/stop/contemplate brigade! Absorb the lyrics/music and interpret them in your way....there's no true meaning to art.

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 2:12 pm

runcible wrote: So where does that leave the 1st 2 Spacemen 3 EPs, both of which are the length of an album? I remember at the time people believing they were actually albums!

The fact that Transparent Radiation contains alternate versions/extended mixes muddies the waters a bit, but basically, yes, WWJ & TR are both album-length, especially the latter, and would have charted as such had they sold in any significant quantities! Although I was under the impression that they were designed as '12" singles' and not 'EPs' - I seem to recall Peter bragging that TR was the longest single ever up until the Orb topped it in '95 or something. TR, I think, is actually slightly longer than the first proper Sp3 album - I might be mistaken; it _feels_ longer! - and three minutes longer than the longest single Byrds album (barring Untitled, which is actually two albums, and it's longer than either of those also.)

eleKtroniK:musiK wrote:Today...I actually feel let down if an artist isn't prepared to fill the CD in it's entirety.

Well you've got a slight a slight problem there, and that's this: there has never (ever - ever) been a pop (or jazz) album over 60 minutes that wouldn't have had enjoyed measurably more consistency and integrity were it at least ten minutes shorter. Too often (always?), filling a CD to the brim involves releasing barrel scrapings.

Stuart X.Hunter · Post by **Stuart X.Hunter** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 4:16 pm

twentysixdollars wrote:
Well you've got a slight a slight problem there, and that's this: there has never (ever - ever) been a pop (or jazz) album over 60 minutes that wouldn't have had enjoyed measurably more consistency and integrity were it at least ten minutes shorter. Too often (always?), filling a CD to the brim involves releasing barrel scrapings.

ok but depends on you're opinion of what "pop" is and what 'type' of album you're referencing i.e. studio album/compilation/soundtrack/remix
I've not bothered with greatest hits

some i'm currently enjoying:

Astronomy for Dogs - Aliens - 62:06
Capsule for One - Vector Lovers - 68:32
Eyes set against the Sun - Mira Calix - 62:37
Four Quarters - Vladislav Delay - 61:06
Consumed - Plastikman - 77:21

others:

26 mixes for cash - Aphex Twin - 139:01
Back to Mine - Dave Seaman - 64:04
Boulevard - St. Germain - 65:10
Collection of Ice-Cream Vans Vol.2 - Tele:Funken - 61:35
Dead Man's Shoes - OST - 67:42
Dimension Intrusion - F.U.S.E - 66:58
Exile on Main St. - Ver Stones - 63:19
Headstates - Slam - 68:06
Lazer Guided Melodies - Spiritualized - 60:55
Mezzanine - Massive Attack - 63:36
Music has the right to Children - Boards of Canada - 62:51
A Northern Soul - The Verve - 64:01
Phenomena 256 - E.A.R - 68:58
Philophobia - Arab Strap - 65:44
Pure Phase - Spiritualized Electric Mainline - 67:57
Second Coming - The Stone Roses - 62:49
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 - Aphex Twin - 64:40
SAW 2 - Aphex Twin - 156:36
Skimskitta - Mira Calix - 61:03
Takk - Sigur Ros - 65:29
Voices from the New Music - Telstar Ponies - 67:28

Maybe its because i enter things from a perspective that it takes time to set the mood, to settle into the journey, to explore the sounds, textures, the purpose. When i like something I want to ride with it for a while not for it to be done and dusted in 45 mins. I believe music should take you somewhere...allow you to breathe to consider...contemplate...and then let you find your way back to put into action what you've learned or discovered. Maybe i'm just slower to get there.

If anything a lot of music requires addition not deduction...if it's intense...great...embrace that intensity, that drive to convey something...but its always your own personal something.

Is it not more beautiful to add that little sound here or that 30sec filler of noise here or this looped audience laughter there or this tempo changing song here...too enhance the overall album than lets cut that last verse and have the tune punch out rather than fade out and that track isn't in keeping with the sound were trying to get across.
I'd rather artists chose the road less travelled; with many paths leading many places.

However on the subject of albums that require preening

Look at LAGWAFIS: i reckon that is an album that needs some serious trimming.
Home of the Brave - what had to be said, is said in Broken Heart...why bring out the subtle narc references for the same subject matter? He knows that...thats why it's broken up with The Individual fillet.
No God, Only Religion - another fillet...well couldn't run Cool Waves after Broken Heart be too quickly cleansing.
I think i'm in love - it doesn't fit IMO between Come Together and All of my Thoughts
Cop shoot Cop...more narc references...too much improv playing...IMO a reworked Born Never Asked would have said it all if he is trying to establish that from the ashes will arise...

Don't get me wrong...it's a stunning album and for the fact he's tossed a flugal horn into Broken Heart to add to the expansive desolation is a tiny spot of pure genius.
Compared to Pure Phase thought that is full of just engrossing/sublime subtle poignant moments; i find it weak. That said I aint listened to LAGWAFIS in about 3/4 years so...this will be open to re-appraisal.

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 12:59 am

That's a french horn, not a fluegelhorn. A fluegelhorn is what Chuck Mangione plays. (& others, I know, I know...)

About all I can say to the rest of your post is that is that I guess I'm older than you, and thus have a slimmer tolerance for bullshit!

Stuart X.Hunter · Post by **Stuart X.Hunter** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:51 am

twentysixdollars wrote:That's a french horn, not a fluegelhorn. A fluegelhorn is what Chuck Mangione plays. (& others, I know, I know...)

About all I can say to the rest of your post is that is that I guess I'm older than you, and thus have a slimmer tolerance for bullshit!

Cool...adds the exact right tone though...expansive barren desolation...lost in the desert...trying to get home...(home being sanctuary and not literally)

"One man's bullshit is another man's bible" and all that...

Just out of interest (and it's an interest in ideas not about being a smart-arse) what would be the 10mins you'd trim from

LGM
PP
LAGWAFIS
LICD

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:14 pm

Only 10 minutes? Easy! (Numbers in brackets are minutes trimmed per edit.)

eleKtroniK:musiK wrote: LGM

Much of the midsection of "If I Were With Her Now" (1). Part or all of "Symphony Space" (4). Everything before the instrumental break of "Take Your Time" (2.5). The first minute of "Sway" (1). The first minute and a half of "200 Bars" (1.5) = 10 minutes.

PP

The title track (6), a minute of "Take Good Care of It" (1), the first two minutes of "Electric Mainline" (2) and the first minute of "Feel Like Goin' Home" (1) = 10 minutes.

LAGWAFIS

One minute out of the instrumental midsection of "I Think I'm In Love" (1), all of "Stay With Me" (5), a minute each out of "The Individual" and "Broken Heart" (2), two minutes out of "Cop Shoot Cop" (2) = 10 minutes.

LICD

A minute out of "Do It All Over Again" (1), all of "Out of Sight" (5.5), a minute each out of "The Straight and the Narrow" and "I Didn't Mean to Hurt You" (2), a minute and a half of "Stop Your Crying" (1.5) = 10 minutes.

mojo filters · Post by **mojo filters** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:58 pm

twentysixdollars wrote:Only 10 minutes? Easy! (Numbers in brackets are minutes trimmed per edit.)

eleKtroniK:musiK wrote: LGM
The first minute and a half of "200 Bars" (1.5)

Surely not...that subtle build to probably the most rocking track on LGM is perfectly timed; well in keeping with the flow of the album from the previous songs.

ro · Post by ro » Wed Aug 22, 2007 4:00 pm

twentysixdollars wrote:Only 10 minutes? Easy! (Numbers in brackets are minutes trimmed per edit.)

eleKtroniK:musiK wrote: LGM
Much of the midsection of "If I Were With Her Now" (1). Part or all of "Symphony Space" (4). Everything before the instrumental break of "Take Your Time" (2.5). The first minute of "Sway" (1). The first minute and a half of "200 Bars" (1.5) = 10 minutes.

PP
The title track (6), a minute of "Take Good Care of It" (1), the first two minutes of "Electric Mainline" (2) and the first minute of "Feel Like Goin' Home" (1) = 10 minutes.

What!
These minutes make the songs what they are!

I find this very funny, though:

all of "Stay With Me" (5),

angelsighs · Post by **angelsighs** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 5:03 pm

twentysixdollars... some of your hypothetical edits I totally agree with, some make me hopping mad! In particular:

I reckon the build up at the beginning of 200 Bars is what makes it!

Although hardly a cornerstone of Ladies & Gents, nothing wrong with Stay With Me, I reckon its a case of bad sequencing rather than bad editing there- it so shouldn't be next to the virtually identical All Of My Thoughts.

A minute out of Do It All Over Again- it's hardly a long song as it is, is it??

To generalise, I agree that both PP and LICD are a little bit flabby (no one's mentioned Won't Get To Heaven yet, that goes on for yonks), whereas LGM and L&G I love in all their lengthy glory.

It can't be coincidence that Spz's worst album is their shortest and least ambitious (AG).

After reading this thread i've been giving the 'album length' subject much thought. It is a shame that some artists see the 75 min barrier as some sort of challenge ("fill her up, lads!"), but as with most things in music it's hard to generalise/systemise- there are short albums I love (the aforementioned Pink Moon, Back In The USA, Zuma) and long ones too (Urban Hymns, Electric Ladyland).

Now, when I ever get the chance to listen to those long albums in one sitting is a different matter, being a fully employed adult. Any album over 45 (?) mins before CD was a double record, so obviously invited dividing listening between its two portions. Like you, $26, I had UH on tape and saw Space & Time as the beginning of 'Part 2'. My beloved Electric Ladyland also has 'suites' of sort.

Another thing I was thinking of was the usage of 'extended mixes' on singles & EPs (a fond tactic of Jason, The Clash, and lots of bands in the 80s)- the album could be the tightened, edited, bitesize version and you could stick the remixed, stretched out, ambitious exploration on the flipside of a single- Electric Mainline, Feel So Sad, there's also a great extended version of Bittersweet Symphony that would have made UH even longer!

ro · Post by ro » Wed Aug 22, 2007 5:05 pm

Somewhat Relevant Remarks about halfway through
http://download.yousendit.com/1C27AC2828CB4B07

mh · Post by mh » Wed Aug 22, 2007 5:51 pm

It's obviously a case of "one man's poison", although I'm really wondering if 26$ even likes Spzd at all.

Me, I wouldn't change a thing on LGM, aside from bringing it back to 4 tracks. Granted, there are superior versions of some of the tracks elsewhere, and when listened to in isolation maybe some of the LP versions do go on a bit. But in the context of a full LP, it's pretty damn close to perfection as it is.

PP on the other hand, from day one I saw as being composed mostly of filler and re-used songs (if you bought everything as it came out you already have most of the LP), with an awkward running order; and still think the same. There must be someone out there who's favourite Spzd track is Electric Phase, but that's infinite universes for you. I've made a decent enough 45 minute take on this one.

Ladies & Germs is fine. Elvis should come back, but otherwise there's no need to change anything on it.

LICD is the odd one, in that I think it works better if the B side tracks are actually added. Oddly enough, the AM takes on the songs that have bothered me the most on it have actually showed them to be really strong songs.

Haven't listened to AG since it came out, and don't feel inclined to at any point soon, so I'll refrain from commenting there...

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 9:56 pm

mh wrote:There must be someone out there who's favourite Spzd track is Electric Phase

Well I don't know about 'favorite', but I'm fond of it. If anything I wish it were a touch longer! Give me some caterwauling noise with a bit of forward momentum on the rhythm and I'm happy. "Electric Phase" is one of the reasons Pure Phase is my favorite Spiritualized album - no joke!

Stuart X.Hunter · Post by **Stuart X.Hunter** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:26 am

twentysixdollars wrote:Only 10 minutes? Easy! (Numbers in brackets are minutes trimmed per edit.)

eleKtroniK:musiK wrote: LGM
Much of the midsection of "If I Were With Her Now" (1).

* Yip feelin that...that "jaws harpy" sound and the you gave me drugs... line

Part or all of "Symphony Space" (4)

* Yip also feelin that...maybe that could be trimmed to about 2 mins first 1.5mins and last 0.5 mins...bit long for a bridge/breather between the two other tracks

Everything before the instrumental break of "Take Your Time" (2.5).

* We've been blessed with some amazing live renditions of this track that the album version does pale and perhaps this section of the album gets a little meandering

The first minute of "Sway" (1).

* Ouch...you can't do that!!! It's the staggered build-up to the twisted empty-breathed thousand yard focussed Slide through the back door...

The first minute and a half of "200 Bars" (1.5)

* Double-ouch!!!...thats the subtle sweet voice that gently pulls you out the comatose...you're coming 'round.

PP
The title track (6)

*No, no, no...give me that sound pumped into my brain every single second of my life!!!

a minute of "Take Good Care of It" (1)

* which minute...i feel it has to be soft at the start as its stemming from Let it Flow and soft at the end otherwise that sonic intitial punch from Born Never Asked may fail to hit

the first two minutes of "Electric Mainline" (2)

* If they made the opening guitar stab more pronounced they could've went straight from Born Never Asked straight to Lay Back In The Sun without Electric Mainline...which is similar to what happened with Symphony Space

and the first minute of "Feel Like Goin' Home" (1)

*No way...thats a huge sound...don't deny it.

LAGWAFIS
One minute out of the instrumental midsection of "I Think I'm In Love" (1), all of "Stay With Me" (5), a minute each out of "The Individual" and "Broken Heart" (2), two minutes out of "Cop Shoot Cop" (2) = 10 minutes.

*my thoughts already stated

LICD
A minute out of "Do It All Over Again" (1), all of "Out of Sight" (5.5), a minute each out of "The Straight and the Narrow" and "I Didn't Mean to Hurt You" (2), a minute and a half of "Stop Your Crying" (1.5) = 10 minutes.

*don't know and haven't explored this album enough to offer any thoughts

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:45 pm

eleKtroniK:musiK wrote:However on the subject of albums that require preening

Look at LAGWAFIS: i reckon that is an album that needs some serious trimming.
Home of the Brave - what had to be said, is said in Broken Heart...why bring out the subtle narc references for the same subject matter? He knows that...thats why it's broken up with The Individual fillet.
No God, Only Religion - another fillet...well couldn't run Cool Waves after Broken Heart be too quickly cleansing.
I think i'm in love - it doesn't fit IMO between Come Together and All of my Thoughts
Cop shoot Cop...more narc references...too much improv playing...IMO a reworked Born Never Asked would have said it all if he is trying to establish that from the ashes will arise...

I respectfully disagree there. That part of the album, 'Home Of The Brave' > > > 'Cool Waves' is perfectly segued. There are narc references but by the time we reach 'Broken Heart' the tone has changed quite a lot from 'Home Of The Brave', and not just musically. I think it's a little bit easy to get drawn to what might seem as the obvious sometimes, or maybe what those five tracks say to me might actually be the obvious. We may never know, but it's fun guessing...

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 1:59 pm

I've just read these last two pages here today, and i'm sitting shaking my head, laughing but also bemused.

I seem to recall in the past 26$ suggested an edit of 'Ladies & gentlemen', maybe it was 'Pure Phase', it was "controversial" though I remember a lot of irate replies. Good to see he's not lost his edge!

Now, my take on it is this : I wouldn't change a thing. On any album.

For example - I love 'Electric Phase', and I always felt if you didn't like that bit you may not like the full-on live show. Plus its great sequencing, between 'The Slide Song' and 'All of my tears'...

Stuff like 'No God Only Religon', i used to listen to the album on tape and I think it opened side 2. Anyways, would not want to lose that, and 'I Think I'm On Love', sometimes, is just too short!! And the sequence is wrong EleCtronic...??? Madness! The sequence on that album, that part in particular is perfect!

I agree with this...

mark wrote:Ladies and Gents is 2 hours too short

Good stuff Mark. The whole idea of having any restrictions on album lengths is absolutely ridiculous, and is the same as telling an author not go over a certain page length, and also "we would prefer a smaller canvas for this painting...".

Sometimes, these things just have to go a bit longer, have to be a bit bigger. If its good it doesn't feel like any time has actually passed anyway.
Sorry, but the last thing I do while listening to music is checking the time - "oh shit, its gone over 30 minutes and I was just beginning to enjoy that..."

There's a few hip-hop albums that could have a trim, mainly of the jokey skits but you can always just skip them.

bcastle21 · Post by **bcastle21** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 3:08 pm

here's hoping the new album (ahem) is a solid hour of great music...

Stuart X.Hunter · Post by **Stuart X.Hunter** » Sat Aug 25, 2007 3:48 pm

BzaInSpace wrote: And the sequence is wrong EleCtronic...??? Madness! The sequence on that album, that part in particular is perfect!

I agree with this...

mark wrote:Ladies and Gents is 2 hours too short

Agree to disagree.

Anyway...i'm struggling as the LAGWAFIS is done from memory...don't play it, don't have it on hard-drive...don't need it.

PP is my LAGWAFIS... i wouldn't touch that bad-boy at all...my thoughts on Electric Mainline were just alternative ideas.

I could go on and on (invariably do) but there is no point spouting more memories of impulse feelings i had that stick from years ago.

jack white · Post by **jack white** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:36 pm

oh god. i'm starting to feel like cartman waiting for the Wii. excitement has suddenly come upon me these last few minutes.

only two acoustic mainlines shows left, yea?

mark · Post by **mark** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:46 pm

Look at LAGWAFIS: i reckon that is an album that needs some serious trimming.
Home of the Brave - what had to be said, is said in Broken Heart...why bring out the subtle narc references for the same subject matter? He knows that...thats why it's broken up with The Individual fillet.
No God, Only Religion - another fillet...well couldn't run Cool Waves after Broken Heart be too quickly cleansing.
I think i'm in love - it doesn't fit IMO between Come Together and All of my Thoughts
Cop shoot Cop...more narc references...too much improv playing...IMO a reworked Born Never Asked would have said it all if he is trying to establish that from the ashes will arise...

Don't get me wrong...it's a stunning album and for the fact he's tossed a flugal horn into Broken Heart to add to the expansive desolation is a tiny spot of pure genius.
Compared to Pure Phase thought that is full of just engrossing/sublime subtle poignant moments; i find it weak. That said I aint listened to LAGWAFIS in about 3/4 years so...this will be open to re-appraisal.

[/quote]

I'd take shine a light of lgm, superfulious noodling from a drug addict and his drug addict mates banging on about jebus...again, boring.

Don't even get me started on Btoken heart, I mean - get over it, girlfriend.

throb · Post by **throb** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:20 pm

I'd take shine a light of lgm, superfulious noodling from a drug addict and his drug addict mates banging on about jebus...again, boring.

Don't even get me started on Btoken heart, I mean - get over it, girlfriend

oh be-have!

Zenchan · Post by **Zenchan** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 6:13 pm

Am I the only one who thinks Electricity is shit?

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:06 pm

Yeah, probably

simonkeeping · Post by **simonkeeping** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 7:39 pm

ben crook wrote:album is finished and it's utterly beautiful and amazing.

i'm afraid i don't know when the release date it yet.

Any news?

Spiritualized

Album

Album

Re: Album

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