Too much, too long

My boss gets Mojo magazine, and when he gets done reading the latest issue and listening to the cd that comes with, he brings it into work and we pass it around. Everybody gets a chance to read the magazine and rip the cd, if we so desire.

Now, Mojo has made some fantastic comps. The newest issue has a collection of Who covers that kicks a great amount of ass. I’ve got some great punk and reggae comps, a collection of Dylan covers, and other stuff that has opened my eyes to some really cool music.

However, Mojo has a tendency to stuff their cds as full of music as they possibly can. Last month’s comp, the Great American Songbook, was two volumes. One was older American singer-songwriters, and the second was the newer wave of folks, like Bright Eyes and Iron & Wine. However, the last track is by a band named Black Mountain, and their track “Heart fo Snow”, is nearl eight fucking minutes long.

Good song, but it continues a pretty annoying trend. The second to last track on the Roots of the Sex Pistols is an eighteen-and-a-half minute long Can piece. I Heart NY Punk ends with the nearly ten minute long “King Heroin.” Surprisingly, the Roots of Hendrix has only one song over four minutes long. Go figure.

But the fact of the matter is that the cds are fucking FREE. No need for anyone to get their money’s worth vis-a-vis a jam-packed cd. To say nothing of the fact that I simply ignore some great artists because I’m afraid to run into another epic-length track. It’s the same reason I would never buy a Godspeed You! Black Emperor album.

Here’s a very short tune from Paint It Black.

Paint It Black – “Womb Envy