Category: Blog
The idea that the album is dead is nothing new. Most artists living outside the mainstream music scene have been saying this for years–with digital distribution there is no reason for the album in the traditional sense.
First an anecdotal history. Why are albums the way they are? Well, it’s pretty simple, the media always defined it. The LP was introduced in 1948 and due to mastering issues are usually limited to 45 minutes (The format can actually hold more music, but fidelity suffers.). Since most pop and rock songs average at 3-5 minutes, that pretty much means you are limited to 10-12 tracks an album. There are of course exceptions (double disk albums etc.) but for the most part the 10-12 track rule holds true. When Philips developed the CD, they were operating in this paradigm, so the red book standard somewhat mimicked this rule.
Now you may have also assumed that pressing and distributing vinyl and later CD’s isn’t cheap, so it’s in the artist’s and label’s best interest to utilize as much of the medium as possible, therefore, if you are an artist, you don’t release any music until you have enough to fill an album.
There we have it, a primer history of the album. However, as you also may have noticed, fewer and fewer people are actually buying media instead of downloading it. All of the limitations of media and distribution are now gone, so why wait for 10 tracks before releasing your music?
Now some claim the album was done long before digital downloading took over the world, and I somewhat agree–bad albums killed the album. People simply got sick of paying for ten songs when in reality there were maybe two songs worth a listen. Also, singles were often hard to find, and not much cheaper, so people just grudgingly bought the album. Napster changed all that. No longer did people have to blow money on an album for a song, they could just download it. iTunes and similar services just legalized that practice.
I don’t necessarily consider the single centric music world a good thing. The 45-60 minute music experience still is worthwhile, but why does it have to be in the same release? Writing an album is time consuming and that time can destroy any momentum from previous releases, especially for artists that don’t have the machine or super tour supporting their releases. Also, there’s no real reason to wait anymore because indie artists aren’t having to cough up a bunch of money to press vinyl or CD’s, therefore, here comes the staggered release.
Think of it like a miniseries. Instead of releasing a full album at once, release bunches of songs that will make up the full album once the releases are finished. Other times it may be like releasing a short story EP.
Following this paradigm, I am working with some talented people on an album that will be released in two parts. There is currently no name for the project but it is a poppy dance album. None of the deep themes in the previous SDO albums. So far there are about two songs in the can. This should be fun. The goal is to have the first release in April. I will let you know.
Some have commented that all is quiet on the western front, well here is what is going on. First of all, I am not neglecting Apparent Horizons and the work that is still to be done on this release, but I have been back in the studio. I have been writing some full on dance/pop and am looking forward to working with a young talented vocalist by the name of Laura Slade Wiggins. It should be fun, she’s talented and these songs are catchy!
Regarding Apparent Horizons, I am starting pre-production on a music video for False Prophet. This is going to be a full fledged exercise in creativity due to the spectacular budget and crew. All that to say, I have a film degree, perhaps it’s time again to use it.
It’s been another year and although there really aren’t any noticeable differences in the days, this man made milepost always gives one reason and hope to start over. 2009 was a crucible year, it will be interesting to see what comes out of the impurities that were just melted off.
I hate to just whine and moan, but the late Thanksgiving is doing a bit of a number on this season. Christmas creep bugs me, so I do my best to focus on Thanksgiving then Christmas, but this year it may have been a mistake. It just dawned on my that we’re staring down 15 days until Christmas, and then 17 days until I turn 30. I may be projecting my annoyance with the quickness of the season on Thanksgiving when actually I am not real stoked about turning 30, but I digress.
Really, this entire blog is a digression. I am both at peace with turning 30 and annoyed, frankly I am a bit stoked about it as I think big things are going to happen this decade, but the fact that I am at the age where if I was an NFL running back I would be considered a relic is fairly depressing. More on hitting the age later…
What’s in a name? Naming a new album is one of the most difficult parts in the process. How do you encompass months of work and emotion into a couple of words? But first, where did this album come from? Unlike the previous album ‘Before Third Stage’ that was a reaction against religion, Apparent Horizons is a reconciliation with the world through the maturation of a new found faith. As in all art, the result is the result of the artist growing. So why ‘Apparent Horizons’? An apparent horizon is a term in physics that describes invariant properties of spacetime that are observer dependent. Observer dependent is key. This is how I view the world.
Making an album is a very deliberate act. It requires hours upon hours in the studio and while there is creativity, once there is an idea, that idea needs to be executed on with vigor. It’s been 3 years since ‘Third Stage Ignition’, so at the outset it was decided to comb through the hundreds of ideas accumulated during that time and find a theme. Finding the themes turned out to be very simple. The themes were:
- Reconciliation of my life and faith with how I know the world to be, not with how I was taught the world is by well meaning sheltered ignorant Christians.
- I need to let go of the guilt.
- Find beauty in my life as I struggle to maintain my goals with a rediscovery of faith while experiencing life the way the creator intended.
That seems to be quite a bit for a single album, but as it turns out, it’s not. This album is about reconciliation and moving on. For once you have moved on, you can experience life.
Track 5, ‘Finding Life’ nicely sums it up, if I may quote my own lyrics, here goes:
Find my life again
Find my fire within
And I’m running down a path that is bombarding me with sin
But it is so beautiful, my life is full, and so is my soul
I hope you enjoy the album. It will be out soon.