Are you one of those people who think they have every album available from your favorite band? Have you snagged all the LPs, the vinyl editions, and downloaded web-only covers?
I fancied myself a Spoon fan. Not a diehard by any means, but certainly someone who kept up on band-happenings. I'd seen them twice live and am still sifting my way through the deeper parts of their library. Still, for some reason, unless it gets rave reviews, EPs hardly ever come to mind as legitimate parts of a discography. (Call me ignorant if you like, but this why we have a 'Musings' column.)
So while Spoon's newest and intriguing release Transference is the most current LP, there's a whole other list of music to get into your ears. Love Ways (2000) is a great use of the EP format. Sometimes its the smartest release a band can make. Examples: before the debut record is ready, in between records but with music to put out, or my personal favorite, a small group of songs that seem like a great package deal and can stand alone. To be honest, Love Ways is a transitional piece, with echoing synths and reverberating vocals that look forward to tracks from Gimme Fiction and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, but other moments (like the EP highlight "The Figures of Art") that hark back to the days of "Car Radio".
So I've got 6 more EPs, just from Spoon, to contemplate (shame on me for being anxious before the arrival of Transference). Not to mention that I'll taking some time to revisit some of my favorites: Broken Social Scene's EP to Be You and Me and of course the Arcade Fire's self-titled EP. There's a whole other game out there with EPs, especially now in the day of the mp3, when our attention spans are waning and LPs get harder to sit through.
Thanks for your support in the past month or two. Mixtape Muse is growing, and we hope that we can keep bringing new and interesting content to whomever may stop on by.
(Love Ways is available on Amazon, here.)
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