The typical 12-inch vinyl record you will find at the record store can hold roughly 22 minutes of sound per side….if pressed at the typical 33 revolutions per minute (rpm). When Columbia Records introduced the microgroove technology in 1948, it became the standard of the music industry and a format that would come to define the Long Playing (LP) full-length record. Competing with the LP record were “45s”, the 7″ vinyl records played at 45 rpms (hence the name). “45s” were developed to play singles, or a compilation of singles, and typically would contain 7.5 minutes of music per side. In 1952, Columbia’s competitor RCA Victor introduced the Extended Play (EP) 45s as a direct competitor to the LP. The EPs were typically 7″ records that would go on to evolve into 10″ and 12″ records, still playing at 45 rpms, holding 10-12 minutes of music per side, thus allowing between 3-5 tracks to be placed per side. The limitations of these forms of vinyl recordings also became part of the appeal, as an EP could be developed usually for less money, and it consumed far less time to develop and record the music. Nowadays the appeal becomes even greater due to the other side of the equation- the listener – and the generally shorter attention spans and listening bandwidth we have developed.
A cursory scroll through the critics’ “Best of 2018” lists gives a good indication of some of the consensus picks for “Best Albums” of the year, and some marked trends can be gathered from this consensus. One glaring quality you can find in many of the picks this year is the lack of differentiation between an LP and EP. Daytona by Pusha T, Whack World by Tierra Whack, and FM! by Vince Staples were on the majority of lists I scrolled through. These are much shorter albums, either tacitly defined or formally issued as EPs, or in the case of FM!, brazenly marched out as an LP but with a much shorter running time. This led me to the revelation that I should really be making “Best EPs” and “Best LPs” lists this year- at this time more than ever. The sheer quantity of EPs that ended up on all of these lists, and will continue to appear on these lists in the future, warrant further discussion on the subject. It seems there might have been a silent critical critics mass out there deciding 2018 would be the year we no longer made the qualification of the form albums on our “Best Albums” lists are taking.
Singles and EPs make complete sense in this day and age; the frame of mind for both musicians and listeners validates this difference in approach, since digital music and the online music streaming platforms have changed the way we listen to, process, and organize our music. The playlists and collaborative projects have changed the production forms we see in the realm of music-making; more and more singles are being produced, as well as more and more EPs or “short plays”, making the LP feel less consequential when an artist’s work will be exposed to its broadest audience on a Spotify playlist (or some other platform’s brand of playlist) first. It will probably be an artist’s most “catchy” track, which they are hoping a listener will latch onto, “favorite”, flag, or whatever, that might encourage the listener to proceed to investigate the artist’s extended catalogue. This might happen, only if that initial track grabbed the attention of the listener enough to push the bold stroll out of the playlist format.
When I propose this new frame of mind for both the listener and musicians’ approach, I’m not making a judgement at all – I am merely noting the change we are experiencing these days. I too have succumbed to the seductions of both Apple Music and Spotify, as both allow me to sample a greater breadth of artists than in the old days when I was flying blind through the Internet, or checking out Amazon’s recommendations per my recent purchases, or (gulp)….reading Pitchfork, as my limited means of trying to discover new or similar artists to what I was enjoying.
As an aside, I have been pretty quick to find a new, organized process of music discovery on this new frontier. It feels as if Spotify can curate to me far better than Apple Music; tailoring playlists based on listening preferences while providing quite perceptive recommendations on a weekly basis. I can only assume they have a far more advanced algorithm/music predicting process set-up, since the playlists developed on Spotify are almost always better than Apple Music. However, once I do discover a new artist worth further journey, I usually switch to Apple Music, as the releases (LP vs. EP or Single, as well as date of release) are organized better on Apple Music.
I might be showing my geeky audiophile side at this point, and that’s fine, because I believe the parameters of different types of albums still need to exist. The art of making music needs this, and our “Best Albums” lists should still make the distinction between EPs and LPs even when digital music and the streaming platforms often make the artists’ records appear obsolete. Placing the 7-track, 22-minute Daytona on the same list as the 15-track, 47-minute Isolation by Kali Uchis just doesn’t seem right in most regards. And despite all the ways music production and music sharing have changed since those early days of vinyl and microgrooves in the 1950s, the mentality behind the issuance of an EP vs. LP has not really changed from the artist and producer’s standpoint. The EP is still, in most instances, intended as a teaser, a shorter-playing introduction to an artist’s music, a more limited exploration of musical concepts, or a quicker way to spread a new style of work from musicians. The LP is almost always a fuller, longer-developing process of creating a bigger vision. The LP takes more time to produce, requires more songs, sometimes more concepts, and most importantly: takes greater vision and discipline to create a cohesive fully-realized piece of art.
Vince Staples made a fantastic album this year (FM!), but is it an EP? I have just one of many answers.
Of course there are exceptions to the declarations above, as FM! serves to contradict. FM! is a cohesive and fully-formed concept album that manages to just eclipse, rather surprisingly, the succinct length of 22 minutes. Some might even argue (though I will not) that Whack World should be treated with the same regard and along the same terms. Many would say it has the same artistic merit as any other album despite its humble running time of 15 minutes sharp. The term “trimming off the fat” has been tossed around in regard to that album, yet I find this to be a pretty vulgar expression, since I have never considered even a 3-minute track to contain any “fat”, but rather the necessary exploration to create a well-balanced piece of music. We will dive into this later.
It is becoming ever more important to maintain the distinctions in an EP and LP in the age when the easiest way to do things is to just release four or five singles. The art of making both the EP and the LP deserves to be celebrated for the achievements they are, albeit in their separate and distinct ways. And so despite the occasional exceptions, extenuating circumstances, and nuances to the approach, I will say the EP can be defined as an album lasting less than 28 minutes (typically in the 18-23 minute range). It use to be that the number of songs, from 4-8 tracks, came to define the EP, but that clearly cannot be used now, and couldn’t be used in the past – even at the outset of the compact disc. When production techniques started to employ the short interludes, instrumental segues, and bit soundbytes in the craft of the album, we started to change the definition of what the album track could be while simultaneously making the number of tracks an archaic form of measurement. Though we can still use the number of tracks as a delineator, the length is the final determinant. To put bluntly, and to bring full circle to the beginning of this post, if an entire album could fit on one side of a vinyl record than it probably does not belong on the same list as full-length albums.
The art of the short-play EP should be commemorated, especially in the year 2018 when this short form of great music-making was prominent, and appears to be continuing to proliferate to greater degrees as time goes by. Without dragging-on with more exposition, I lay out my Top 10 EPs of 2018, to be followed in the subsequent post with the Top 20 Albums of 2018. Let’s kick it off.
10. amber mark – Conexão
4 TRACKS, 18 MINUTES
In the world of modern R&B, the scene is pretty saturated with new female voices. The capabilities in production crossed with the abilities of modern artists to blend many different influences/genres together to make dynamic and intriguing new forms of music might be reaching a zenith, although from my vantage point I don’t see an end in sight – just more false summits. I can go between artists like Ravyn Lenae, Kehlani, and Jhene Aiko pretty easily, and can see the nuances in style yet often fail to mark the beginnings and end of one artist. For Amber Mark, the music jumped out pretty clearly from the outset. With Amber Mark, the comparisons to Sade are readily on hand, and I don’t think she has a problem with the connection, as she covers Sade’s sultry track “Love is Stronger Than Pride” on this EP. What makes Amber Mark authentic is the stark lyrics and pleading vocals that seem to perpetually paint her as naked and exposed. With a voice as gorgeous and seductive as Mark’s, it’s easy to realize the appeal, and she seems to realize the kind of mellow R&B (with Caribbean inflection) is a perfect accompaniment to her vocals. She also seems open to the process of bare songwriting, and we feel she’s open to allowing us to dream with her, or about her. I was hooked the first time hearing “Regret” off of her beautiful entry EP 3:33am, and it only continued with the elegant follow-up Conexão. I am looking forward to an LP from the New York-based R&B musician.
09. channel tres – channel tres ep
5 TRACKS, 16 MINUTES
Channel Tres is quickly emerging as LA’s most innovative new Dance/Electronic artist. He’s clearly got the DJ chops (having been recently turned-on to the House music of Detroit i.e. Moodymann, as well as the House scene in Chicago), but there is more to the Compton musician than that, and I think you can hear it quite plainly on the EP. His music contains all the swagger of Hip-Hop while never skimming on the infectious beats and cold-hard drive of Electronica. The easy tag is Hip-House, but that just sounds stupid. His self-titled debut EP promises so much crossover appeal, along with an unnerving level of confidence from a young artist, that it will be a big surprise if nothing comes of this big entry onto the scene. I am not sure what the reception is around the LA-area, but the attitude in the larger sphere of American music is guarded curiosity. We’ve seen artists in the past try to make a name for themselves by creating music that avoids direct comparison, most often by taking two genres (like Hip-Hop and Techno) and combining them into something provocative, yet at some point there must be the ability for this unique individual to become prolific, or else we’ll see one or two more EPs and soon will lose interest. We’ll see if this is a flash in the pan EP or the start of something bigger.
08. The Marías – superclean, vol. ii
6 TRACKS, 22 MINUTES
Also hailing from Los Angeles, though most assuredly not from the same Compton roots as Channel Tres, is a band with refined seduction and glittering smarm called The Marías. They seem pretty aware of their formula, tagging their latest in a series of EPs as Superclean (Vol. II); the whole premise of a smooth jazz lounge band with a sexy female lead singer is about as far from grimy as can be afforded. Though I’d stop short of saying the music isn’t dirty, since there’s something nearly pornographic about the way Miss Maria sways those hips in front of a backing band of sartorial dudes all while bearing the throatiest of voices – one nearly begging for the eyes of every man in the room. Superclean Vol. II is immaculately produced and a perfectly-timed release, as the music finds a home in a current world of music known parochially as “Jizz Jazz”. Artists like Mac Demarco and Mild High Club made a name for themselves by marrying strange guitar-tunings and laid-back lounge stylings together, and The Marías took that sound, added a steamy Latina lead singer, and made it as ostentatious as possible. Here’s to being unapologetic, and unforgettable, for a hard-driving style that conforms and plays to extremes at the same time.
07. hatchie – sugar & spice
5 TRACKS, 19 MINUTES
Maybe The Marías missed out on the opportunity to call their album Sugar & Spice (because it would’ve worked), but Harriette Pilbeam certainly didn’t. The young Australian songwriter flirts with Pop music in her debut EP, but still stays within the lanes of Shoegaze and Stargaze, and whatever else kind of “gazing” worth the tag. The warm rush of guitar layering along with those hypnotic reverb-washed vocals are the perfect recipe for the makings of an unforgettable Dream Pop record. Hatchie is nearly there already, being as fearlessly on-the-nose as a band like The Marías, albeit in a very different way. Whereas we have mature, refined dreamscapes with Superclean, here we have the young and reckless sugar water sound ripped from the 80’s and made anew by an Aussie voice ready for mainstream success. I couldn’t help but fall under the spell, feeling nostalgic for a time I never grew up in, yet embraced with a preternatural recall – the kind I can only assume Hatchie’s Harriette can make her own quite adeptly. That is the brilliance of the five-track darling of a record Sugar & Spice.
06. open mike eagle – what happens when i try to relax
6 TRACKS, 20 MINUTES
The veteran Chicago rapper Open Mike Eagle had a great album in 2017 in Brick Body Kids Still Daydream, however, you can see from this EP he is still growing as a lyricist. If Mike Eagle can make an entire full-length album as otherworldly as What Happens When I Try to Relax, it will be the best album of 2019. For a man still coming into his own, the Rap is still astonishingly refreshing in a world made of Hip-Hop bravado and posturing. Mike Eagle is cerebral, at times eccentric and eclectic, but this one showcases his ability to take his unique lyrics and pair with the sonic themes of “big and epic”. The end result is something bordering on the sublime, as the waxing and waning vocals on “Microfiche” tangle with the off-kilter, swirling music in the background to form something that feels ethereal and grounded simultaneously. I’m blown away by the brilliance of this song, as well as the track “Maybe Gang (An Initiation)”, which might be my favorite closing track from an EP this year, followed closely by “Infrared” by Pusha.
https://youtu.be/uN5Gykr3apQ
05. sudan archives – sink
6 TRACKS, 18 MINUTES
Sudan Archives came out of nowhere, but is completely welcome in this modern world of idiosyncratic and iconoclastic R&B. Brittney Parks found inspiration in West African rhythms, took her virtuosic ability on the violin and other string instruments, and made something proudly unique and determined. Upon listening to her EP Sink the first time, it was hard for me to reconcile the aggressive posturing of Hip-Hop in some of her vocals with the different sounds she was trying to incorporate, but it grew on me after repeated listens to the point I was seeing her music as opening the door for even larger movements in music in the future. We’ve heard a progressive sound emerging with folks such as Esperanza Spalding, one where we step into the unfamiliar territory of Folk (no matter its origins in Africa or America) meshing with R&B/Hip-Hop, and it’s becoming more and more intriguing to imagine how it may confoundingly form with modern beats and electronic sounds to forge new forms. Sink shows us these possibilities, possibly with the greatest potential in tracks like “Escape” and “Nont for Sale”. We should see greater cross-pollination between the music of Africa, the Electronica of Europe, and the Hip-Hop of America coming soon – it’s time to make the triangulation happen and birth something of a new swagger and elegance.
04. pusha t – daytona
7 TRACKS, 21 MINUTES
Daytona was produced in the plush environs of Kanye West’s Jackson Hole Studio, one of many recordings in what is becoming famously known as the “Wyoming Sessions”. Imagining a Hip-Hop producer like Kanye, and a seasoned Emcee in Pusha T, coming together in a secluded studio with the sole focus of making a brilliant record, I actually expected better. “If You Know You Know” comes bursting out of the gate, easily the strongest opening track of any EP this year, yet the meaty center of this album is just kind of ho-hum for me. Daytona is an EP both in tracks (7) and in length (21:08), yet many had the audacity to place it on their Top Lists among full-length albums. For me, this needed more content, and stronger content in the middle at that. The fact many put this album on their “Best of” lists is a bit of a slight to those with extensive themes, more tracks, and stronger cohesion. I cannot deny this album has power and brilliance in its production, with a dark mood and a constant feel of impending doom Kanye allows to simmer with his impeccable studio presence, yet I wanted more. A great opening track and closing track makes for a memorable EP, but I often wonder what could’ve been.
03. boygenius – boygenius ep
6 TRACKS, 22 MINUTES
Recorded in just four days in an LA studio, Boygenius’ EP is a small wonder. It’s like a firefly caught in a jar, full of big wonders and a powerful radiance. When I first read about this EP and the supergroup behind it (composed of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus), I thought that nothing could go wrong – it was a masterful coming together – and this was not an incorrect assumption. The music is powerful, heady in both lyrics and singing. The parity is even more miraculous, as they all seemed to be capable of a type of songwriting where equal parts of all three ladies was captured. The harmonizing vocals are gorgeous, and balanced well with moments where each juggernaut lady can shine on her own. I take this record as a single artifact, a sum of its parts, as it was probably supposed to be. After listening a few weeks ago, what I think about now is not any one track in particular, but instead bits and pieces of different songs stitched together in a pattern, much like a quilt, that has a unified vision made of strong components that could stand (and have standed) on their own individual merit. In these regards, this supergroup’s EP is a complete success.
02. tierra whack – whack world
15 TRACKS, 15 MINUTES
https://youtu.be/_DPoQmXOBbc
Okay, the top 2 EPs from this year are controversies in my mind in part because they are two of my favorite albums of the year (regardless of EP or LP), but I couldn’t get over their length. In most regards this is a good thing – as it means I simply wanted more. The point of Tierra Whack’s Whack World is to be short and concise, but it’s still tough for me to get over. The album is made of fifteen 1-minute long tracks, but many tracks came off as a glimpse into what could’ve been a longer and fuller track. Basically, if I can finish an album in the length of a bus ride (or waiting for a bus), it’s gonna leave a lot to be desired.
Some of the segues between tracks are fantastic, others feel cut-off. Most folks out there, especially the critics, seem to adore the format and laud the brilliance of distilling the tracks down the an essential 1-minute form. They say “all the fat has been cut off” and the music “captures the essence of the music in its purest form”, but for me it all felt just a bit too close to schticky. Nevertheless, I fell in love with this tease of an album (you can watch the video version of the album in its entirety at the top of this post), which will always stand out for it’s unique format, and it’s artistic statement (one that I battle to adore, though let’s just settle on appreciate). Yet when the dust settles this will always be unequivocally in my mind a novelty item. 15-minutes is an EP; the effort in making 15 tracks of music, no matter the amount of tracks, is still the effort of making 15 minutes of music. So many of the tracks could’ve been made into greater compositions, even 2-minutes or 2.5-minutes in length. I am certain Tierra Whack can make extended tracks with bridges and interludes and exposition, but that doesn’t change the nature of at least half of the tracks on Whack World, which are condensed versions of art needing a larger canvas.
01. vince staples – fm!
11 TRACKS, 22 MINUTES
The brilliance of Vince Staples continues in rapid succession. After 2017’s immaculate Big Fish Theory, Vince came back in 2018 with an ode to the pervasive and itinerant beauty of the FM dial. Take out the skits and interludes and you have eight tracks and eighteen minutes of real meat on the bone. The razor-sharp lyricism and willful cadence of Vince Staples is only becoming more honed and calibrated over time, as FM! clearly showcases. I love the concept and the flow of the album, along with the production and uncanny sounds mixed-in, yet once again, I wish it was a long-player. I wanted more, especially from an artist at the peak of his talents. I have to understand this was a concept EP meant to collect a handful of tracks while Mr. Staples works on his next LP, but maybe we could’ve waited a year and had this album as a full-length concept? Maybe the format would’ve worked even better as a 22-track, 42-minute long LP. I have been effectively teased till I’m giddy, enough to put this little gem as numero uno on the list.
Here’s to more great EPs in 2019!
