When I was younger, I tended to buy a lot of EPs. I didn’t necessarily do it for love of the art form; I mostly just wanted to build up a massive CD collection that I could show off to friends and a few jealous family members. I wanted to have that unrivaled physical collection in my little suburban hometown, and so I bought EPs. EPS only had five songs or so, and that meant that they were consistently cheaper than full releases.
Plus, it was always easy to find EPs that no one else seemed to want, regardless of what store I was looking in or when I was looking.
Did I studiously listen to these albums?
Not really.
Do I still have them?
Yes, I do.
However, I’m noticing something with EPs, something I didn’t notice until I downloaded Spotify onto my MacBook a few months ago.
EPs are relevant again – and not just for adding to my physical CD collection. Our digital technology has made EPs kind of awesome, actually.
Phantogram’s 2011 EP, Nightlife, featuring songs including “16 Years.”
I further realized this after Governor’s Ball a few weeks ago (you can see my post about it on here!). One of the bands I saw, Phantogram, was so good that I went home and immediately started playing them on Spotify. I had given myself a taste of the band’s music before going to the show, but afterward, I just couldn’t get enough.
And it was while I was listening to Phantogram’s six-song release Nightlife that I realized how great it was that they had taken the time to write and record six songs. They have one full release under their belts, 2010’s Eyelid Movies, but after listening to that album in its entirety, I’m definitely left wanting more.
And since I want more, I can go listen to Nightlife and feel satisfied.
Another example: I saw the Horrors at Brixton Academy at the end of May, near the end of my time studying abroad in London. It was easily one of the best shows I’ve been to, and the Horrors are a band that I’m ready to see again. However, one of their opening acts, TOY, also blew me away. Their debut album doesn’t come out until September, and I know I’m going to have to do some scouring to find it stateside. However, when I Googled TOY, I found their label’s website and discovered that you could get a small EP of already recorded tracks from TOY for free.
Of course, I went and downloaded the EP, and now I have a short bunch of songs from TOY that I can put on right before I listen to the Horrors (when I feel like reliving the show in Brixton, of course).
Cincinnati, Ohio-based Walk the Moon’s 2012 EP, Anna Sun.
These are EPs that I might not have physically sought out. However, online, they’re the perfect amount of extra music or teaser music, and they’re so easily accessible. I don’t need to show these off; I actually want these EPs for the music they have. Even Walk the Moon, a band transplanted out of Ohio much like me, released a three-song EP prior to their full-length debut months later. I listened to Walk the Moon’s EP release before seeing them, and that combination of sight and sound was perfect.
I’m making the argument that Spotify and other digital streaming platforms have made the EP relevant. A few years ago, I don’t think I cared too much about EPs, especially when I was downloading all of my music into iTunes and paying for every song that went on. At that time, an EP didn’t seem like a solid investment. However, now that I’m streaming and finding all of these new bands, EPs are perfect – and I find that I want more of them.
So let’s embrace the EP again. It’s coming back with a vengeance.
