Nitty Gritty.

Ok. Here is my opinion-- since you're reading my blog and you therefore must desire to know. I cannot stand when artists put out double CDs. Unless its a compilation disc then there is no reason not to just cut your current stash of music to the best 70 or so minutes and fit it on one excellent CD. Release B-sides. Wait a year and release another album. Anything but 2 discs.

With that said, I'm getting really really into the new Red Hot Chili Peppers CD, Stadium Arcadium, after taking matters into my own hands and burning a 15 track disc of my favorites instead of the obnoxious 28 on the original. And its fantastic. I really can't stop listening to it.

I read a review in AMG which said something interesting: "...Stadium Arcadium could be seen as the point when albums were seen as a collection of digital playlists. Yes, it's pressed up as a two-disc set ... but this is an album that's designed for you to mix and match, create your own playlist, rip and burn on your own. It's designed for you to sequence its 28 songs in some kind of cohesive manner..."

Perhaps that's where we're at now. Let the bands put out a mess of songs and let the audience decide which ones are worthy via the ipods and playlists. Why not? Of course the brilliance of a near-perfect album will always impress the shit out of me, and nothing compares to listening to a great album from start to finish with the case in one hand and the paper insert in the other. But for ambient driving or houseparty music such as this, the virtual jukebox might just cast CDs aside like... idunno... Cassette tapes? We'll see.