shorter albums? is it snobby of me to say this only matters if you listen to shitty pop music?

i read this article the other day, and it got me thinking. mostly about two things. first, is there any truth to the idea that albums are getting shorter? second, if so, who cares? i mean, an album is an album, and anyone who is a genuine artist who is making an album as part of being a genuine artist (you know, instead of making an album the record company tells you to make so you can get some cash) is probably going to make it however short or long as they want, and good on them if so.

i mean, most of the extremely short albums and extremely long albums i've ever heard have been by artists who could never be accused of holding up the status quo. i own a mason jennings album that is around 24 minutes long and a phish album that is 78 1/2 minutes long. i paid the same amount for each (approximately), and do i feel ripped off somehow when i listen to the shorter album? no. if i get a disc (like the abovemention phish album) that is completely full to its capacity with songs, i'm still going to be happy if those songs are good. and if they're bad, i'm going to feel ripped off. likewise, if somebody wants to give me 24 minutes of their best work and doesn't like anything else enough to include it on the album, then i'm willing to take them at their word that those 24 minutes are the real deal.

does that mean i think nobody should give a shit whether albums are long or short? no, not really...but after years of concertgoing and blog-reading, i've seen many a concert review spoiled by people bitching because a band played 20 songs instead of 22 (seriously, the excellent wilco show in spokane last year was largely panned because the band "quit early", playing two whole songs less than their tour average). so maybe i'm a little sensitive to the length issue. i don't see why album or concert length should matter that much if what you're getting is excellent. sure, if we hear a good album or see a good concert, we're going to want more. but we just have to listen, we don't have to actually write the songs. that shit takes time.

i saw m.ward this past spring, and it was one of the best concerts i've ever seen. i drove all the way to portland, got a hotel, and hung around all day waiting for the show, to see him play for 55 minutes. is that short by most concert standards? yes. would i have liked for him to play longer? yes. was i appreciative of what i got? yes.

if you don't like it, just take your attention and money elsewhere. but that's a point for the next post...