Isn’t the Light OK?

For the most part, I’m completely in tune with the idea of digital music. I love being able to buy music a song at a time and get it instantly. I realize that MP3 files will never match the fidelity of recorded music, but at high enough encoding rates, I’m OK with the tradeoff. I’m a huge fan of the “long tail” aspect of things like Itunes, and what that means for independent artists like myself.

Two nights ago, I decided to bite the bullet and buy my first full album off Itunes, Winter Pays for Summer by Glen Phillips. I absolutely love the album…it’s possibly the best work he’s done since the breakup of Toad the Wet Sprocket. I only wish there had been a digital booklet provided with the album download, like what Itunes has done with the latest Dave Matthews Band album. There’s a lot of information (and packaging artwork) that a rabid fan like myself misses when the transaction is purely bits of music. Sure, lyrics can be found online, and to a lesser extent, artwork. What you can’t find, though, is a place that tells you who played what on what song. Allmusic.com tells me that Jon Foreman from Switchfoot sang backup on one song, but there’s no way to find out what song. Or where Ben Folds or Jon Brion fit into the mix.

I suppose it’s a tradeoff and that’s what I get for wanting immediate gratification. It would be nice to see a PDF of the liner notes/lyrics sheet, though.

You listening, Lost Highway?

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