December 30, 2004
That Album Thing
Honestly, isn't it quite boring to listen to ten songs in a row by the same artist? I might have become impatient when it comes to album listening, but it sure demands something extraordinary to catch your attention for up to 40 minutes, or even longer, doesn't it?
In 2004, an album had to be something of a quest to catch my interest. Something that isn't what it looks like at the first glimpse. Something that tells a story you can't fully comprehend the first time you hear or read it. Or something as pretentious as a journey with unknown goal. An album had to be either like that, or representing a clear concept.
Merely collecting ten songs one by one didn't make me listen to any record from début to fin more than five times. Actually, only 13 artists succeeded in making me do so this year. Sadly, not a single one of them is Swedish. The three I by far feel most for are:
01 Tommy February6 - Tommy Airline
02 Ada - Blondie
03 Kazumasa Hashimoto - Epitah
I was going to present the remaining ten records in alphabetical order, but when I look at them now 24 hours before 2004 is over they look surprisingly dull to me, so I feel better leaving you just these three exceptionally well-executed examples of how a record should be built. With spotless perfection.