Singles.

Last week, I picked up some goodies at Amoeba San Francisco and I got around to listening to them last night. It got me to thinking about 7" records.

You would think that in this day and age, when singles are easily attained as mp3s and you can google a band's new work on your smart phone before you can say "radio play", that these 7" would no longer have a place in the industry. After all, most of the radio stations which used to utilize them to hook the public on a song before a band's album would be released have been digitized, and these singles, alongside full lps, are becoming very much a niche product, for musical nerds and purists alike.

What I really love about singles is the b-sides. A lot of times, you come across things you would have never heard before. My findings last week included Broken Bells' "The High Road",which includes a beautiful instrumental b-side called "An Easy Life". After I heard it, I hopped online to find and post an mp3, but I couldn't find one. The song was a vinyl only release. I also bought The Soft Pack's single collection. They released their fantastic eponymous debut album as a box set of 6 45's as a Record Store Day exclusive--5 singles containing two songs a piece from the album and two extra tracks on the sixth 7". I love things like that. And while the internet and digital media can be wonderful for artistic expression, so can vinyl singles.

Sometimes, I'll spend an entire Sunday afternoon listening to my singles. Because music sounds better on vinyl, because I like the slowed down process of consuming music, but mostly because I have nothing better to do ; )