Endurance Test
Back in the days when cassette tapes were a viable format, I made a ton of mixed tapes. They were 90 minutes long and averaged over 30 songs each. If my math is right, that means the average cut on these tapes was under 3 minutes. (On some selections I faded out early and sometimes I even sped up sonngs--easy to do with some turntables.)
There was a reason. With rare exceptions, if a song hasn't said what it needs to say in 3 minutes, it's not gonna get any better. When it comes to mixed tapes, brevity is the soul of music. I'd rather hit rewind than fast forward.
In this view, the move in rock from the single to the album being the essential unit was a bad trend. Artists got self-indulgent, using the greater length available to them not to do anything better, but to slow down, stretch beyond their talent, repeat themselves and intersperse mind-numbing solos.
After this long-winded intro (another problem on lengthy cuts) to my link, I'll admit it's not impossible for a ten-minute pop or rock song to be good. It's just unusual.
The A.V. Club has an interesting list of 10+ minute songs. I don't agree with all the cuts, and a few I'm not familiar with, but they've got some of my favorites, including three in their top five:"Cowgirl In The Sand," "Marquee Moon" and "Sister Ray." On the other hand, "Desolation Row" shouldn't be there. Dylan had plenty of great long songs, but not this one.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:11 AM
7 Comments:
On my i-Tunes I have a mix list that is songs of less than three minutes that have greater than three stars. Always an enjoyable listen and great road mix.
AAGuy
I thought they were called "mix tapes" not "mixed tapes."
I like Desolation Row and agree that more Dylan should be there.
Some call them "mix tapes," which I've always believed is a simpflication of "mixed tapes." Sort of like calling "fried chicken" "fry chicken."
Naturally, this list is ruined by the prejudice of rock critics against progressive rock.
Sure, omitting prog from a list of the greatest dance tunes makes sense. But creating a list of great 10-minute songs and including only one real prog song? Ridiculous.
(To be fair, I give them credit for that song being "Heart of the Sunrise", which is in fact Yes' second-best song ever.)
Big minus for including "Dogs", a real dog of a track from Floyd. I'm not a big Floyd fan anyway, but if you want to listen to a great long Floyd song, "Echoes" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" are the right choices.
But no, prog is a pariah. You can include the Scandinavian death rock band Burzum, whose leader is a convicted murderer and a Neo-Nazi. But don't you dare to include Emerson, Lake & Palmer, because the great Lester Bangs declared them "war criminals".
P.S. I made several mix tapes back in the early 1980s too. But none of them came close to 30 songs.
P.P.S. I say "mix tapes" too. But I say "boxed set", not "box set". I think the latter is common in England.
P.P.P.S. "Desolation Row" is Bob Dylan's best song ever. Better than "Stuck Inside of Memphis", "Tangled Up in Blue", or "Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar". I guess today is my day to disagree with LA Guy on everything.
If you made a tape this year, you could stutter and call it a MMIX tape
Ugh- I've been trying to use that all year and its worse that Leno's Ebony & Apology joke
You've been waiting all year to make a roman numeral joke? Wow, Superbowl XL must have provided some sweet material back in the day, eh anon?
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is my favorite Floyd tune, but Desolation Row isn't in my top 5 Dylan songs.
As to mix/mixed, I'm not so sure the derivation works how LAGuy thinks. I grew up on hip hop and there were lyrics about being "in the mix" and a guy called "Mixmaster." All presumably derived from a mixing board in a studio, where the product is called a mix. So a tape of your mix of songs -- mix refers to the songs, not the tape.
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