Albumologist #1

Wherein I save the album from certain death.

A little context may help: this summer I fell into a love affair with the album as an idea, a form. Pretentious, I know. But. Some of the best songs are improved in tandem, in sequence – and certainly some artists set out to create albums. So let's give it some thought, shall we?

The Rocking Chair Album comes from far enough away to be less a capital-A "Album" than many, but it's so consistently good you will forgive a lack of clear architecture. The greatest virtue of this, I've found, is that you can rearrange the songs and the thing twists itself into a new shape. "Play it on shuffle. It's never the same twice!"™

LCD Soundsystem's This Is Happening is one of that special breed of beast: an album of long tracks. More impressive, long tracks that change little. And then the vocals sneak up and blindfold you, and you wake up an hour later, and you're basically standing on the walls. Well, it's something like that.

The story behind the hood on the cover of Paul Simon is probably one of the great rock stories ever told, but I have never heard it. So don't ask me. Point is that is what the cover is. In exactly the same way (I promise) the songs are precise and personal, and yet don't feel indulgent. Woah, that sentence went purple. Sorry.

I feel compelled to mention Band on the Run, the strongest of the Paul McCartney & Wings sets, although I haven't spent too long with it. The thing is, now that I've heard it through once, I can't stop. Ok, you can skip "Bluebird" and "Mamunia" every second play, but still. I'd venture a guess: these songs have been a good 40% of my listening this week.

Finally, a collection that deserves treatment as a whole, though it is not (yet) a proper album release, Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Friday (and other) tracks. Will consider final product when it arrives, but for now -- has there been a stronger output in pop of late? Well, The ArchAndroid, maybe, but. These are six- and seven-minute frenzies. Manic episodes.