The Current Music Blog: December 24, 2007 Archive

The Stream 12/24/07

Posted at 8:53 AM on December 24, 2007 by Barb Abney

Holiday cheer from the Black Arts (featuring members of Art Brut and friends.)

Coldplay covers "Last Christmas".

Today In Music History:
1924 - Lee Dorsey was born.
1945 - Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead) was born.
1954 - Johnny Ace shot himself dead while playing Russian roulette.
1994 - Pearl Jam's Vitalogy was the #1album.
2003 - Jack White turned himself in to face aggravated assault charges after he allegedly attacked Jason Stollsteimer (The Von Bondies).

What is the right length for an album?

Posted at 10:57 AM on December 24, 2007 by Mark Wheat (18 Comments)

During last weeks discussion of the death of the album, several comments suggested that there was a 'correct' length for a collection of songs or musical pieces of any genre, to work well together;
"...there's just something about that length - 45 minutes" and separately... " the Sea & Cake (one of my fave bands) has done this with every album - 10 songs, 36 minutes, and that's it." - david
" We've also got it on good authority that 36 minutes is the ideal album length." - Spoon's Myspace page quoted by Mac Wilson.

I noticed on Thursday when I played a track from Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' to illustrate this discussion, that it is 44 minutes long. Both lps of Led Zep's double opus 'Physical Graffiti" are 42 to 43 minutes long. Is it just coincidence? Well no, just as cds can technically hold around 74 minutes, 12 inch vinyl platters can most easily hold 20-22 minutes a side making this the perfect practical length.

But, and this might be the 'provocative statement' that can ignite the discussion;
I believe that 45 minutes is a biological rhythm that our bodies respond to. Musical pieces, being the physical expression of electrical energy, the universal language, work at this length because our bodies are attuned to receive stimulation in 45 minute cycles. But this theory doesn't just work in music, think about how a time period of concentration is designated in other areas of your life;
- Meetings traditionally last an hour around MPR but we take 5-10 minutes getting started and who doesn't yawn and/or look at their watch 5-10 minutes before the hour is up?! Some schools have 45-50 minute class length.
- Why are soccer games made up of 45 min halves? American Football even has 4 periods which take 3 hours to play?
- Why are the majority of films 90 minutes long?
- A cd designed to accompany yoga based meditation practices that my sister-in-law sent us...exactly 45 mins!

After some simple searching I cannot find any empirical, scientific evidence to back up this theory, maybe you can? Perhaps this is just a time signature that I have observed myself responding positively to and I've adapted a series of coincidences to suit my reasoning...so what works for you?

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"My 3 Songs" for Monday

Posted at 2:36 PM on December 24, 2007 by Steve Seel (1 Comments)

Arvid Nelson of Mpls writes, "I'm surprised it took so long for the New Pornographers to catch on and would like to see something from their first album played on the air. Bee Thousand is one of my "desert island" albums. I discovered Pinback when I lived in San Diego and am kind of missing it in my first winter in five years."

1) Guided by Voices, "Hardcore UFOs"
2) The New Pornographers, "Letter from an Occupant"
3) Pinback, "AFK"

Agreed on the New Pornographers, Arvid; it was good to spin something off that disc. Listening to that GBV, it surprised me how long it had been since I'd personally dug into some of their good ol' nasty lo-fi stuff (imagine my surprise to realize I had gravitated to the sonically polished world of "Chaising Heather Crazy" and "My Kind Of Soldier" for the better part of the decade -- apostasy for sure!). And finally: welcome to winter. Hope it treats you well.

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