Fiery Furnaces EP

[Maximo]

Is it actually fantastic? Or is it just one of the best albums this year. I still love blueberry boat.

[earl grey]

if you love 'blueberry boat,' you will definitely love the EP.

and if you don't have it, you should get their first album 'gallowsbird's bark' ASAP as well.

[beekeeper]

both! It's very close to Gallowsbird's Bark for me, which I absolutely LOVE.

[Lukas]

i never liked blueberry boat.

EP you can say is fantastic, although I like Gallowsbird's Bark more.
such a cool version of Tropic Iceland on EP.

[TheSadDebaser]

I hate that song about being "single again" or whatever. I mean, I guess it's okay, but I also kind of feel like it really irritates me, so I'm assuming I just don't like it.

[Wallerton]

Isn't this EP actually, like, 42 minutes long? That's an album, as far as I'm concerned. (Or maybe I'm being a dumbass. Does EP stand for something other than "extended play" in this case?)

What, in your opinions, distinguishes an album from an EP? The number of songs, or the length of the record?

I tend to think the latter, but I'm old school, yo. I think one of the most unfortunate byproducts of the "CD Revolution" is that albums have gotten to be way too fuckin' long. Just because a CD can hold 75 minutes of music doesn't mean it should. If I ruled the world, albums would rarely exceed 45 minutes.

It's not just the Fiery Furnaces that have started me thinking about this. The Arcade Fire's self-titled "EP" is over thirty minutes long, longer than some Beatles "albums."

[TheSadDebaser]

well, "EPs" aren't really CDs at all. they're ten inch vinyl records. so logically, if a long CD can be an "LP" then a short CD should be an "EP."

[Miss Tasty Princess]

Originally posted by TheSadDebaser
well, "EPs" aren't really CDs at all. they're ten inch vinyl records.In the days before CDs, youngun, EPs came in 7", 8", 10" and 12" variations, not just 10 inch. Basically, an EP is more than a "single" but less than a Long Play album. I think part of the designation of something as an EP is (or at least should be) taking into consideration the band's general output.

[Maximo]

Example: Radiohead

[TheSadDebaser]

Originally posted by Mr.HCI
In the days before CDs, youngun, EPs came in 7", 8", 10" and 12" variations, not just 10 inch. Basically, an EP is more than a "single" but less than a Long Play album. I think part of the designation of something as an EP is (or at least should be) taking into consideration the band's general output.

wow, I've never heard of an eight inch format, but I've also never heard of a 7" EP prior to Dischord Records. but then again, I've never heard of any EPs before the 1980s except for some Beatles ten inches so my knowledge on the subject is very brief.

interesting: EP stands for "Extended Play." it is difficult to explain the concept of EPs and LPs to people who never think about these things otherwise.

[Paul]

The difference between EP and "Single" can also be traced back to vinyl. If the A-side of your 12", 7", etc contained only one song, it's classified as a single. Multiple songs on each side classifies it as an EP.

[9000]

Originally posted by Wallerton
Isn't this EP actually, like, 42 minutes long? That's an album, as far as I'm concerned. (Or maybe I'm being a dumbass. Does EP stand for something other than "extended play" in this case?)


a lot of these songs already had been released as singles and performed live as part of FF sets for some time. rather than put out dated material as a proper LP album, they probably thought it was more appropriate to call the disparate selection of songs "EP".

regardless, it's worth checking out.

[Funk]

Originally posted by TheSadDebaser
wow, I've never heard of an eight inch format, but I've also never heard of a 7" EP prior to Dischord Records. but then again, I've never heard of any EPs before the 1980s except for some Beatles ten inches so my knowledge on the subject is very brief.

interesting: EP stands for "Extended Play." it is difficult to explain the concept of EPs and LPs to people who never think about these things otherwise.

The Spiral Scratch EP is a pretty famous pre-1980 EP; it was on 7".

The 5" vinyl format was a novelty briefly in the mid-1990s. I've read complaints aboot the format though, as the tone arm on some people's turntables wouldn't be able to play something that small, and the automatic return aspect of the turntable would kick in. They only held aboot 2 minutes of music per side, anyway. Nine Inch Nails supposedly had 9" vinyl promos done; I have a Wagon Christ 11", so people have played with the size standards.

Prince's "Let's Go Crazy"/"Erotic City" 12" is called an extended play single (it's probably 16 minutes or so), and I have a De La Soul CDEP that uses the "extended" tag right on the packaging (it's aboot 38 minutes; the vinyl configuration of the same release is tagged a single, however), so the terminology has always been pretty flexible.

I feel old and confused remembering that a little more than 5 years ago, Autechre were making a mockery of the concept of an EP with the nearly 70-minute EP7 (and it was priced cheaper than a full length, too), and now the kidz are getting outraged at a 42-minute recording do so.

[Futureman]

Originally posted by Paul
If the A-side of your 12"....

My 12" doesn't have sides.

[tinobeat]

Originally posted by Funk
The Spiral Scratch EP is a pretty famous pre-1980 EP; it was on 7".

I think the extended play 7" goes way back before that Buzzcocks EP. I remember reading about The Animals EP's from the mid 60's that had 4 songs apiece on them, and it suggested that was common practice.

Originally posted by Futureman
My 12" doesn't have sides.

kaboom!

[Wallerton]

Originally posted by 9000
a lot of these songs already had been released as singles and performed live as part of FF sets for some time. rather than put out dated material as a proper LP album, they probably thought it was more appropriate to call the disparate selection of songs "EP".

Hmm... So kind of like The Smiths' Hatful of Hollow or Elvis Costello's Taking Liberties? (You'll excuse my dated references.) Yeah, that's still an album as far as I'm concerned. Odds and ends compilations are still albums. I sort of see what you're getting at with the distinction "proper LP"--a group of songs intended to go together, etc.--but, then again, I sort of don't.

Ah, fuck it. Ultimately, these are just nitpicky semantic distinctions. I just found it sort of amusing that 42-minute record is considered an EP.

[Funk]

Originally posted by tinobeat
I think the extended play 7" goes way back before that Buzzcocks EP. I remember reading about The Animals EP's from the mid 60's that had 4 songs apiece on them, and it suggested that was common practice.

I just pulled something outta thin air for an example, but yeah, I think the EP in the 60s was more of a British thing, because I'm sure there were Beatles EPs that got combined with extra tracks and different titles and released as full length LPs in America because... well I don't know why.

[Wallerton]

Originally posted by Funk
I think the EP in the 60s was more of a British thing, because I'm sure there were Beatles EPs that got combined with extra tracks and different titles and released as full length LPs in America because... well I don't know why.

Er... yes and no. The Beatles did release a number of EP's in Britain, though they tended to contain material that was already available on their studio albums or on non-album singles. If I'm not mistaken, the only EP that contained totally new, unreleased material was Magical Mystery Tour, which in the UK was released as a double EP.

In the US, the MMT EP became side one of an album of the same name; side two was filled with non-album singles and B-sides from late 1966/1967. Why? The EP format hadn't really taken off in America.

The American Beatles albums were different from their British counterparts for a variety of reasons. I could go on at length about why that is, but I won't. Suffice to say, it's a long story.