I came across a post on the Creative Review Magazine’s CR Blog entitled U2 Linear: it’s not a music video. And indeed it is not. It is a short movie commissioned by the band and directed by Anton Corbijn.
This is a great idea. I have an aversion to the music of U2, although I have been a fan in the past, but I enjoy Corbijn’s work immensely. In the No Line On The Horizon [Box Set] [Limited Edition] [CD/Poster/Book/DVD]
Click on image to see an excerpt from Linear.
Corbijn is right when he says it is a new way to listen to an album. His idea fits neatly alongside my idea of The Music Album as The End of The Organizing Principle. I argue that musical artists are free these days to explore the delivery of music well beyond the boundaries of the CD and its artificial restrictions. It is nice to find myself playing in the same sandbox as U2 and Anton Corbijn.
I’m sorry but I don’t get it. How is this not a music video? A music video is simply film footage set to music, no?
What am I missing?
April 14th, 2009 at 11:23 am@twee2tweet
Because it’s a movie, all 50 minutes of it. Was Corbijn’s ‘Control’ movie about Joy Division merely a music video because it had Joy Division music in it? No…it was a movie, just as Linear is..
April 14th, 2009 at 11:51 amOkay…so it’s a movie because it runs longer than the average song… so how is this different from any other movie that has music running under its scenes?
I’m not understanding how this is any different and what this has to do with the ‘end of the album as an organizing principle.”
“The idea of the companion film was apparently developed during the making of the album. “The thinking is that as a lot of people buy music from the internet and are likely to hear this on a computer or mp3 player, their listening pleasure could be heightened by visuals. It is not essential to the record – you can either watch it or ignore it,†says Corbijn.”
Here’s how I read this statement: Young people today have grown up now only hearing music on computers and as individual MP3 downloads on walkabout iPods and have therefore learned to NOT hear music as an overall pieced together work of art (album.)
The band and Corbijn thought it would be a great idea to try and broaden fans’ consumption habits & expand their thinking by re-introducing the concept of a long form video (movie) that could suggest one visual depiction of the album music – and in fact eliminating the commercial single from this – for the express purpose of getting people to think & consider the content of the album, as well as hear it in different sequence.
I think its wonderful as an art piece and as an extra for fans who can buy the beautifully made special package.
I just don’t see it as making a case for eliminating an album concept – I see it as the exact opposite.
I quite enjoy seeing how we can have a completely different perspective and I very much enjoy, admire and appreciate your passion!
With love,
twee
April 15th, 2009 at 6:16 amtwee2tweet
There has been a misconception around my essay which I put down to speed-reading. You seem to have fallen into the same trap. I am not saying anything about the end of the album – I am merely pointing out that old technology trapped artists into a format of around 37 minutes of high quality analog music on a vinyl record and around 70 minutes of inferior quality digital music on CD – I am discussing the End of The Organizing Principle, not the end of musician’s work, as per the title of the essay!
Corbijn’s movie will expose me to U2’s music. If this music was only available as a CD I would never hear it for a couple of reasons – I don’t want a U2 album and I only buy single tracks these days usually from the Amazon MP3 store. The movie is what I want to see as I admire Corbijn far more than U2. I will be exposed to their music through the lack of the old-fashioned Organizing Principle. U2 can continue making CD albums for ever for all I care and, judging by the fact that in its first week this album sold exactly 50% less than their previous effort, perhaps that points to the fact that other people are caring less too?
I think you are being pedantic about movies and soundtracks. Almost all movies have a musical score or soundtrack, does that make them music videos to you?
April 15th, 2009 at 7:06 amI think you and I are saying the same thing. Music used in film has been around since before talkies. Music videos were specifically created to be visual “mini-movies” for the exact purpose that Corbijn is stating above – to bring a visual element to music to entice or intrigue someone who may normally not be interested in an artist’s music to maybe become interested because of the visual.
Thousands of people suddenly liked Peter Gabriel, who would have never given him a chance, because they loved the video to Sledgehammer, etc. It made hits out of Duran Duran before they could get heavy rotation on radio.
I don’t see movies as music videos – I see music videos as mini-movies.
Re: the Organizing Principle
I actually do not speed read – I digest slowly. Maybe its a misperception of the term ‘organizing.’ I take the thought of an album as an organized thing to simply mean its order, sequence and compilation, not a reference to its length.
I just don’t view the limitations of the various technologies at the time as trapping anyone into anything. There are still limits (file size, server space, etc.)
If what you are meaning is the idea that people can buy only one song they care about, I just don’t see this as an epiphany. To me there are good things about it (consumers have more choice), but there are downsides as well – mostly that listeners won’t be exposed to hearing things and maybe learning to like them, because they will only be focused on the one famous thing they ‘know’ they want, based on marketing and $$ push.
The Corbijn film is a nice work of art and apparently made you enjoy the U2 music where you wouldn’t have before, so its intention was fulfilled.
My bigger issue is that I don’t see how struggling artists can compete with million dollar films & limited edition packages. As you point out, if artists of the stature of U2 have such dismal sales – album or single – I do not see how the little guy can earn a living or compete. It’s pretty daunting.
April 15th, 2009 at 6:26 pm@Dave–I too am part of that group that thinks a coupe of U2 records are listenable without drinking the U2 koolaid. Personally I think Bono suffers from what I call “lead singer disease”–that peculiar egotostical need to sing over practically every square inch of a track. This malady is less noticeable on the decent u2 albums, and the best sounding stuff is where Bono is almost marginalized. I was mightily amused by the Edge-fronted song Numb and found myself wishing he’d go solo.
I’d like to see Trent Reznor become a full-time producer and get a hold of this lot. Methinks Reznor will be behind the desk more and in the studio less quite soon. Reznor as Eno has intriguing potential.
April 17th, 2009 at 5:21 am