Also, the new Enya CD is only 37 minutes long! I thought one advantage of this format was to allow for up to 75 minutes. What was Enya thinking? What a rip off man! Someone will be hearing about this. I just had to vent.

Only 37 minutes? You should be grateful it isn't longer. There's only so much lightweight, saccharine simpering one can listen to.

Enya makes the Corrs look like Pearl Jam.

Ross

Potential storage capacity of a physical medium should never determine length of content ... ideally, we're buying art, not artichokes. If a great book is only 100 pages, should we complain?

A CD can hold 80 minutes of music, but that certainly doesn't mean it must. If an artist has only 37 minutes of something to say, why should they say more? Especially if that 37 minutes is good, and even more especially if it's bad.

Market pressure on musicians to fulfill the maximum capacity of the compact disc is resulting in a glut of diluted and overly long records. Let's remember that some of the greatest albums of all time, some by The Beatles, for instance, are only 25-30 minutes. Quality, not quantity.

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...lightweight, saccharine simpering...

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Very nice! Ross, I see you were following Vuk's and Joe's statements. Damn you people You won't see any Pearl Jam chez moi though, that's a promise!

But hey, has anyone heard of these Medieval Babes???

As far as how long a CD should be my view is that in this day and age any artist should be looking to fill at least 60 minutes of a CD's running time, if they have the material and if they do not then they should either wait until they do or release what they have as a single.

cheers

Nigel

The judges have informed that you've just been nominated for the infamous Worst Taste in Music Snappy.

What I want to know is what I have done to deserve having two of the three front-runners actually come to my house and play their CDs?! All I need is Steve Grantham to fly over for a visit to complete the hat-trick.

In case, you are all wondering / have forgotten, Mike Hanson is the other one (Pat Metheny, Barnaked Ladies, jock rock, etc.).

Vuk.

[This message was edited by Vuk Vuksanovic on SUNDAY 26 November 2000 at 17:17.]

I have no fear of any further derision, as my FEP count is already -ve something so massive that instruments have not yet been created that can effectively measure this quanta.

I agree they look better then they sound, and that quite a lot of their stuff is 'dodge' - but if you want good qaulity (almost) recordings of pre-classical north european music you sometimes have to take it where you can find it.

I also quite like looking at the pictures. On my own in a dark room. In the words of Tom Waits "You call yourself up your always in, you know what I'm saying? Making a scene, with a magazine..."

The bottle of scotch is just being opened - and my revolver is within reach....

Jonathan

PS I also like Pat Metheny.

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As far as how long a CD should be my view is that in this day and age any artist should be looking to fill at least 60 minutes of a CD's running time

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Why?

Sorry - I wasn't paying attention earlier, hi again.

Just wondered if you and the Dreamhouse team are likley to do any gigs in Europe in the near future?

Cheers
Jonathan

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Just wondered if you and the Dreamhouse team are likley to do any gigs in Europe in the near future?

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From your mouth to NAIM's ears!

Near future? In geologic terms, yes ... the very near future. Definitely sometime in the new millennium (insert your favorite emoticon here)

But seriously, thanks for your interest. We would love to play anywhere we are wanted, logistics willing. Nothing booked as of this time. Would absolutely love to come back to Europe. Jonathan, you have my blessings to set something up. We'll be there.

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Enya makes the Corrs look like Pearl Jam.

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Nice one, Ross!

I can handle Watermark, and tried again with The memory of trees... which sucked, mostly. I even read some review of her latest effort where the reviewer praised the 37 minute release as ballsy and the mark of a well established artist !(my paraphrasing) A more cynical view is that the contract demanded another album, the record company wanted to get it out, it was tough enough to get 37 mins down, and having fulilled obligations... I think this squarley falls into the quality not quantity debate, but does this album* (EP?) fall into either category? Just curious.

*remember folks, there was a time when 37 mins was the norm (self-indulgent prog-rock triple albums aside), back when the earth was flat and LP12's roamed the plains freely...

Rico - musichead

cheers

Nigel

Joe

P.S. If the link doesn't work, just copy and paste this URL into your browser's location window: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/5473/enya.wav

[This message was edited by Joe Petrik on MONDAY 27 November 2000 at 15:06.]

Agree with Fred's point that when a thing is over, it's over, though I doubt it's too hard to add goodies to a finished CD: video footage, for example, doesn't intrude on the playback experience or artisitic intent in any way, but does add an extra tangible something which is probably available in many cases (at least cases as high profile as Enya's) for fans who want to stick it in their computer. Electronic catalogues with short sample tracks are another simple use of otherwsie dead space which might help the label make some more and help the listener find something new they like.

Vuk, that you can sweep aside Pat Metheny in a single line suggests you haven't listened very carefully, to the incredible breadth of output aside from anything else. "Song X" is nothing like "Still Life Talking", for example (though I love them both).

The Baebes are okay, though more about marketing than anything else. I'd suggest a trip to Linn's label site where all their discs are avaialble for a tenner and there's a very good selection of early music, especially vocal stuff.

Pete.

Jonathan, I haven't even tried to calculate my FEPs! Thanks for the Babes story, much appreciated. Thanks to Pete for the Linn label info. I'm sure they do look better than they sound, it's just that they sounded so different that it caught my attention.

Fred, sorry about pushing the short-length issue. I wasn't aware that you were a musician. It's just that I get so excited when I load a CD and find more than 60 mins of music because then the CD seems worth the price. Regular prices are ridiculous, you need to get them when they are on sale.

[ITALICS] The Memory of Trees [/ITALICS] wasn't that great, but this new release is good. I still wish it was a bit longer though. Also, it may be a bit longer than 37 mins. because when I load the CD, it shows nine tracks. However, when I actually let it play, it goes to 12 tracks. But it's still not close to 60 mins.

Another major rip-off these days are DVDs. I just bought [ITALICS] The Thomas Crown Affair [/ITALICS] for $12.99 CDN. on sale whereas its regular price was $22.99. The sale price was $1.00 less than the price of a newly released CD (example U2)! Where's the logic in that???

Q: why do they charge so much for CDs?

A: because they can.

That's about it. Damn site cheaper in N.America than Europe, mind...

Pete.

The boys in the UK pay a fortune for CDs. They pay in pounds what you pay in dollars, even though the sterling is worth about twice as much.

Even in the land of the free and home of the brave, CDs are fairly expensive (an average of $16 US, or about $24 Cdn). Canada, in comparison, has some of the cheapest prices I've seen.

Joe

One of my favourite bands is Morphine and they rarely reached 40 minutes. I love the music but it is still a rip-off.

cheers

Nigel

Haven't heard the Medieval Babes, and from the marketing pitch, it doesn't look like something I'm likely to chase. If you're interested in medieval vocal music beyond the illusion of busty serving wenches, look up the Anonymous 4 on the French Harmonia Mundi label, e.g., Love's Illusion or An English Ladymass for two.

Cheers,

John Schmidt
"95% of everything is crud" - Theodore Sturgeon

[This message was edited by John Schmidt on MONDAY 27 November 2000 at 21:46.]