The problems presented by the album in popular music.... With any kind of music that features long pieces, though, no problems exist - except how to efficiently fit the pieces onto the discs. You can even italicize the names of the compositions and no-one will look at you funny. But try inscribing it Dancing Queen.
Just how arbitrary is the album? The contemporary milieu, with the single song regaining its primacy (some of the time) leaves us fretting over all the mental energy spent upon thinking of albums as whole singular works of art. Were they ever really? Even with "concept" albums, didn't the form (the single or double L P, or the 74-minute, then 80-minute, C D) dictate too much?
The best songs tend toward the beginning - side A better than side B - "Heart of Glass" and Bringing It All Back Home being exceptions that prove the rule. Several albums, perfect on side A, then, if they don't falter badly, at least nod along until finally over: Roxy Music and The B-52's being conspicuous examples. Other albums put too many of the better tracks earlier on: Metal Box, for example.
So, what if we think of albums like singles? The A side is the main attraction. Or, if they want to avoid that particular rut, a couple great songs on each side are accompanied by - the old watchword of Rock critics - filler!
Also, what if I had started - way back in the younger years of my listening - with the B sides first? Having become familiar with those tracks before the A side's, would I have convinced myself that the best tracks are always put on the B side? Perhaps the "shuffle" mode on C D players is a route to take, in addition to starting with both the A side and B side first (that is, if the album comes out on vinyl). I'll have to try it in the future.
You can imagine then the ennui that comes when I force myself to go back and complete albums I only listened to partially, including multi-disc sets! Earlier in the year, I didn't consider that my obsessive-compulsive tendencies would impel me not to want to leave any portions of an album stranded in past time. Alas, the Listening Log, like any scientific experiment, exerts its influence on that which it documents. This desire to complete the circle (encircle the square?) allows me to avoid having to choose what music to listen to. More often than not, the music in these cases just drifts into the background; it's demoted to the status held by the clock radio in an old man's home, always tuned to the same station, providing some background noise to void the void. Nonetheless, I appreciate these imagined singular listenings, as if I'm truly finishing an album seven or eight months after I began listening to it, instead of embarking upon a new excursion. Sometimes I remember the earlier moments - lying in bed listening to Luciano Berio on headphones, listening to the vinyl Mobile Fidelity version of Murmur.
Alas, I failed to appease my obsessive-compulsiveness in the case of the Los Angeles Free Music Society's The Lowest Form of Music and the four-disc set compiling all the tracks originally released on seven-inch records accompanying Henri Chopin's sound-poetry journal of the 1960's (Cinquième Saison). I listened to five of the ten L A F M S discs four times each, the other five two times each; I listened to the first and fourth disc of the Chopin set three times each, the second and third only once each. I had really wanted to explore this collection more, but of course there's so much to listen to. This failure comes even as I conceived of the multi-disc sets as cohesive albums only if they were structured that way: besides the two mentioned above, Neil Young's Archives Vol. 1 and the Improvised Music From Japan ten-disc set. Young's set, actually released this year; the others I'd wanted for years, finally getting for free online. The former, an individual in control of the final product, indeed reaching a new degree of control over the legacy of his recorded output. The others, numerous projects and individuals coming together in ideal settings.
Years and decades and centuries are nearly as arbitrary as albums. Or more so.... What, after all, is the content in question? A year, or decade, of what? Here, of course, it's listening. We do like events to conform to temporal restraints. It makes history seem like it's easily transformed into art - when, in fact, history always is an art. So make it fit if you want to. Excepter started in 2002, in New York in the aftermath of a terrorist attack that only New Yorkers had the right to get upset over, but the burden of which Americans - brilliant at self-victimization as they are - took upon themselves to justify radical right-wing degradation. In such a time, the mainstreams of culture come to seem vacuous, unable to reflect upon/ embody the contents of absurdity's huge shadow; they become tainted by association. So, the vital energy lies beyond: Charalambides takes on a new improvisational approach, releases the results on C D R's; Neil Michael Hagerty, having started over as a solo artist, starts over again as The Howling Hex (and again with a different version of that project); the beguiling Free Folk of the Jewelled Antler artists and Pelt (when they "unplugged") reworks a word as common as "acoustic" and a concept as basic as Folk; the New Improvised/ Noise Rock music for which the Rock past is not a burden (The No-Neck Blues Band, Jackie-O Motherucker, Burning Star Core, Sunn, Avarus, O O I O O, Boris) rarely cease to entertain in true mind-enveloping fashion; the ever-expanding world of experimental music in its multifarious forms (for just a bare beginning, see these young-ish - relatively! - artists/ groups: Sachiko M, Zeitkratzer, Polwechsel, Pan Sonic, Jason Kahn, Aki Onda, Supersilent) reveals old disparate methods to be the symbiotic processes they always were; and of course veteran warriors refuse to buckle under the pressure (Sun City Girls, The Nihilist Spasm Band, Keith Rowe, Peter Brötzmann, Paul Flaherty, Evan Parker, Keiji Haino).
How then does any one group stand apart? For me, for the same reason Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion is the album of 2009: I listened to it the most (though I can't "prove" that I listened to Excepter more than any other artist this decade). I don't mean to assert the superiority of my year-long Log to the standard pontifications you get in journalists' year-end, and decade-end, lists. Indeed, I fully support ascertaining the wider significance of an artist or work of art, beyond one's own appreciation. After all, I found myself listening to Michael Jackson this year, both his music I enjoy (Off the Wall and Thriller) and don't (Bad and Dangerous, the behemoth flops nonetheless very evocative of that period when many artists were convinced they needed to fill up the C D's running time). One does want to tap into the zeitgeist, as demeaning as it is to the spectator. So, when Pitchfork didn't include Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere among its top fifty albums of 2006, I wanted to say, "Yes, but how often did you listen to St. Elsewhere compared to those mostly-mediocre fifty you've enshrined? Are you too eager to maintain some sort of Indie cool aloofness precisely you're just another entertainment-"industry" gossip rag?"
Granted, we would've liked Excepter to finish/ publish its upcoming two-disc Presidence by the end of 2009. That would've been perfect. Or, maybe not, given that I left myself with much listening to do as the year comes to a close - with Vic Chesnutt's death adding to the bulk, his own music alleviating the sadness, for both those close to him and the entire music scene of Athens, Georgia, now surely (but not confidently) entering into a new phase of its storied history. Either way, as at the beginning, Excepter's a year too late. Appropriately so, I suppose, since I also rank them as exemplary of the decade's music precisely because they're not young. A crucial gradual shift that has taken place in popular music, post-Punk, has been the breaking-away of the connection between youth and "pop." No more 20-year-old Rock stars, thank you. They worked fine for awhile - that is, forty years ago, and to a limited extent, briefly, in Punk's early years - but no more. Let fans of Hip Hip convince themselves that 22-year-old men have anything intelligent to say.
The New Yorkers with which Excepter got grouped together - Black Dice, Gang Gang Dance, as well as Animal Collective (though by the time they got poular, they didn't live in the City) - and indeed the whole array of experimental acts arising from the Rock vanguard in Brooklyn, warrant our respect. At the time when, because of their presence, and that of T V on the Radio and a host of crappy bands whose names do not warrant mentioning, New York became Rock's epicenter for the first time since the late 1970's, the mere existence of the likes of Oneida offered glimmers of hope in an Indie Rock that has become shockingly gauche.
Oneida and Animal Collective, alongside Sunn, give Excepter plenty of competition in the race for Band of the Decade. Which is to say, if I'd listened to them nearly as much as I have listened to Excepter, I imagine - based upon the listening that I have done, and my ensuing conceptualization of their work - that I would rank them as highly. Who's to say? Perhaps not even myself, as I doubt I'll ever get a chance to listen to their music as much as I have Excepter's. Too much to listen to, too little time. Too much to read... etc.
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By the way, Black Beach is great, though I would have preferred that the album come out by itself at first, then later the film: keep the listener guessing as to the sounds' origins. The movie's daytime shots counter the imagery of the beach at night, blackened. The music and the film deserve a greater distance between them.
(This article is illustrated with the covers of the albums I listened to this year that were released this year as well.)
12/1:
Improvised Music From Japan (discs 2, 3, and 8);
Miles Davis - The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (disc 1; and disc 2, tracks 1 and 2);
Excepter - Steps: La Sala Rossa;
Vic Chesnutt - At the Cut.
12/2:
Excepter - Black Beach;
Jandek - Glasgow Friday;
Vic Chesnutt - At the Cut;
Vic Chesnutt - Skitter on Take-Off;
Pandora - Space Amazon;
Vic Chesnutt - Little;
Musica Elettronica Viva - M E V 40 (1967-2007) (disc 2);
Nirvana - Nevermind.
12/3:
The Pentangle - Basket of Light;
Miles Davis - The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (disc 4);
The Saints - (I'm) Stranded.
12/4:
The Jewelled Antler Library (disc 3);
Atlas Sound - Logos.
12/5:
Blondie;
Miles Davis - The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (disc 3);
The Los Angeles Free Music Society - The Lowest Form of Music (discs 5 and 7);
Miles Davis - Milestones (tracks 4-6);
Vic Chesnutt - About to Choke;
Atlas Sound - Logos.
12/6:
Cecil Taylor - Nefertiti, The Beautiful One Has Come (disc 2);
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (disc 1, tracks 6-11);
The Smiths (tracks 6-10);
Sunn - Black One;
The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street;
Yoko Ono - Season of Glass.
12/7:
Joe McPhee - The Willisau Concert;
The Avalanches - Since I Left You;
The Los Angeles Free Music Society - The Lowest Form of Music (disc 9);
Musica Elettronica Viva - M E V 40 (1967-2007) (disc 3);
The B-52's - Wild Planet.
12/8:
The Los Angeles Free Music Society - The Lowest Form of Music (disc 4);
Menomena - Friend and Foe;
The People Band;
Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza - Azioni (disc 1);
Anthony Braxton - Five Pieces 1975.
12/9:
The Bug - London Zoo;
Musica Elettronica Viva - Friday;
Dinosaur Jr. - Dinosaur;
Anthony Braxton - Tentet (New York) 1996.
12/10:
The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Tutankhamun;
Anthony Braxton - Tentet (New York) 1996;
Air - Air Mail;
Vic Chesnutt - North Star Deserter;
Daft Punk - Homework.
12/11:
Vic Chesnutt - North Star Deserter;
Vic Chesnutt - At the Cut;
The Los Angeles Free Music Society - The Lowest Form of Music (disc 5);
Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (tracks 5-10);
Circle - Paris-Concert (disc 2);
Animal Collective - Feels.
12/12:
Morrissey - Years of Refusal (tracks 7-12);
Phil Collins - Face Value (tracks 7-12);
R E M - Murmur (tracks 7-12);
Henry Flynt - New American Ethnic Music Volume One: You Are My Everlovin'/ Celestial Power (disc 2);
Annette Krebs - Guitar Solo (tracks 4-7);
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (disc 3: Live at the Riverboat (Toronto 1969));
Royal Trux - Singles, Live, Unreleased (disc 1);
Keith Rowe/ Sachiko M/ Toshimaru Nakamura/ Otomo Yoshihide (disc 2).
12/13:
The Dream Scene - Christmas;
Excepter - STREAMS 01 (disc 1);
Charlemagne Palestine - Four Manifestations on Six Elements;
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (discs 2: Topanga 1 (1968-1969); and 8: North Country (1971-1972)).
12/14:
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (disc 4: Topanga 2 (1969-1970));
OU - Cinquième Saison: Complete Recordings (disc 3);
Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, and the Amorphous Strums - Dark Developments;
The Homosexuals - Astral Glamour (disc 2).
12/15:
Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet - The Breadwinner;
Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, and the Amorphous Strums - Dark Developments;
The Revolutionary Ensemble - The People's Republic;
Ornette Coleman - The Empty Foxhole;
X-Ray Spex - Germfree Adolescents (expanded edition, disc 2);
12/16:
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (tracks 7-11);
Robert Wyatt - Solar Flares Burn for You (tracks 5-13);
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (disc 7: Live at Massey Hall (Toronto 1971); disc 6: Topanga 3 (1970); and disc 8: North Country (1971-1972));
Gensis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (disc 2);
Cabaret Voltaire - Methodology '74/'78. The Attic Tapes; (disc 2).
12/17:
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind;
Derek and the Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (tracks 8-14);
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (disc 5: Live at the Fillmore East (New York 1970);
The Los Angeles Free Music Society - The Lowest Form of Music (disc 2);
Roscoe Mitchell and The Note Factory - Nine to Get Ready;
Cabaret Voltaire - Methodology '74/'78. The Attic Tapes; (disc 3).
12/18:
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind;
Quiet Hooves/The Dream Scene;
Mouser - Storm Dumps;
The Homosexuals - Astral Glamour (disc 3);
Circle - Circulus (tracks 3-5);
Cecil Taylor - Air Above Mountains (Buildings Within) (track 2);
Keith Rowe/ Sachiko M/ Toshimaru Nakamura/ Otomo Yoshihide (disc 2).
12/19:
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind;
The Jewelled Antler Library (discs 1 and 3);
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life (disc 2, incl. A Something's Extra Bonus);
The Los Angeles Free Music Society - The Lowest Form of Music (disc 5).
12/20:
The Los Angeles Free Music Society - The Lowest Form of Music (disc 3);
Dave Holland - Conference of the Birds;
Nostalgie d l'Avenir (tracks 7-11);
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (disc 1: Early Years (1963-1968));
Musica Elettronica Viva - M E V 40 (1967-2007) (disc 4, track 2).
12/21:
Improvised Music From Japan (disc 4);
Anthony Braxton - Sextet (Victoriaville) 2005;
Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull;
The Velvet Underground - The Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes (disc 2);
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound (tracks 5-8).
12/22:
The Revolutionary Ensemble - The Psyche;
Keith Rowe/ Sachiko M/ Toshimaru Nakamura/ Otomo Yoshihide (disc 3);
The Art Ensemble of Chicago - The Meeting;
Magazine - The Correct Use of Soap.
12/23:
The Art Ensemble of Chicago - The Meeting;
Improvised Music From Japan (disc 5);
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (disc 2).
12/24:
The Velvet Underground - The Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes (disc 3);
Improvised Music From Japan (disc 10);
Charlie Parker - The Legendary Dial Masters (disc 1);
Vic Chesnutt - At the Cut.
12/25:
The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night;
The Beatles - Revolver;
The Beatles - Mono Masters (disc 2);
Vic Chesnutt - North Star Deserter;
Zoviet France - Popular Soviet Songs and Work Music (disc 3);
William S Burroughs - Real English Tea Made Here (disc 3);
The Beatles - Please Please Me;
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (disc 3: Live at the Riverboat (Toronto 1969)).
12/26:
The Beatles - Beatles for Sale;
OU - Cinquième Saison: Complete Recordings (disc 1, tracks 13-22);
Sun City Girls - 330,003 Crossdressers From Beyond the Rig Veda (disc 2);
The Velvet Underground - The Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes (disc 1, tracks 5-11);
Ramon Sender - Worldfood (track 2);
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (disc 5: Live at the Fillmore East (New York 1970));
The Art Ensemble of Chicago With Fontella Bass;
Vic Chesnutt - North Star Deserter;
Vic Chesnutt - Left to His Own Devices.
12/27:
Vic Chesnutt - Little;
Vic Chesnutt - Ghetto Bells;
Improvised Music From Japan (disc 9);
Throbbing Gristle - 20 Fazz Funk Greats (tracks 7-11);
Musica Elettronica Viva - M E V 40 (1967-2007) (disc 3);
The Beatles (discs 1 and 2);
The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Reese and the Smooth Ones.
12/28:
The Jewelled Antler Library (disc 3);
The Henry Threadgill Sextet - When Was That?;
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kurzwellen [L P version] (disc 1, track 2);
La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela - The Tamburas of Pandit Pran Nath;
Keith Rowe/ Sachiko M/ Toshimaru Nakamura/ Otomo Yoshihide (disc 3);
Vic Chesnutt - Drunk.
12/29:
Andrew Hill - Point of Departure;
Vic Chesnutt - Silver Lake;
Vic Chesnutt - About to Choke;
The Jewelled Antler Library (disc 2);
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (disc 7: Live at Massey Hall (Toronto 1971));
The Beatles - Please Please Me;
With The Beatles;
OU - Cinquième Saison: Complete Recordings (disc 4);
Keith Rowe/ Sachiko M/ Toshimaru Nakamura/ Otomo Yoshihide (disc 3).
12/30:
Sync or Swarm: Improvising Music in a Complex Age (tracks 8-12);
Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind;
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (disc 2);
Swans - Swans Are Dead (disc 2);
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Spiral/Wach/Japan/Pole (disc 2);
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kurzwellen (disc 2, track 2);
Philip Corner - On Tape: The Judson Years (tracks 5-11).
12/31:
The Los Angeles Free Music Society - The Lowest Form of Music (disc 9);
Brett Larner and Taku Sugimoto - Deluxe Nakamura;
Cecil Taylor - Air Above Mountains (track 2);
Atlas Sound - Logos;
Neil Young - Archives Vol. 1 (1963-1972) (disc 3: Live at the Riverboat (Toronto 1969); and disc 7: Live at Massey Hall (Toronto 1971));
David S Ware - Go See the World (tracks 5-7);
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Spiral/Wach/Japan/Pole (disc 1, tracks 1 and 3; and disc 2);
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kurzwellen (disc 2).
