EPs

So in looking through my music, I realize just how many EPs I actually own. I've also, for the time being, slotted Beirut's Lon Gisland EP into the top 5 of albums released so far this year. But how can 15 and a half minutes of music possibly stand up to the scope and diaspora of styles and themes found in a full album? (Well, one that's not released by the Shins, who seem to rerelease the same half hour album every couple years)

For some artists, the EP is a way to try new things, to tinker with a fuller band sound (Beirut) or percussion (Iron and Wine), for some it's a chance to clear out the archives (Sondre Lerche), or even just experiment with a cheesy synth riff (Architecture in Helsinki). The Flaming Lips released two of the worst EPs known to man by repackaging some remixes and one-off covers to capitalize on the expanded visibility they had with Yoshimi, whereas Colin Meloy used the EP to release (for the most part only at tour stops) his covers of Morrissey and Shirley Collins tracks (I'll be honest, the "Sings" series is the only way I'd listen to Morrissey), which ostensibly influenced him, though he followed those quite listenable EPs up with a full length Decemberists album that contained none of that folk introversion.

Anyway, I'm sure these thoughts are quite underformed, but maybe there's a poetic justic in not being able to properly talk about otherwise deserving albums, like Hello Saferide's Would You Let Me Play This EP 10 Times A Day or They Might Be Giants' Why Does The Sun Shine EP, because they themselves don't properly sit with the artists' full length releases.