I'm under house arrest in the hidden track, hidden track

[vovat]

bethje and I turned in our marriage license today, but I didn't realize I had to bring in my birth certificate. They said I could bring it in tomorrow morning, though, so I guess that's what I'll do.

I was thinking this morning about how some albums used to have hidden tracks in the negative space at the beginning of the CD. I actually kind of liked the one on Mono Puff's It's Fun to Steal, even if no one else did. Does anyone still do this, or was it a temporary fad? I get the impression that, with a lot of people listening to music on their computers and portable MP3 players, it became even less practical than it already was, since you can't rip those hidden tracks. Or is there a way that I just don't know about? Really, while an interesting way to hide songs, it was annoying that not all CD players could access them. There were also the albums where the last track was just really long, with a hidden song at the end of it. But I think my favorite method was what they used with CD's like Cracker's Kerosene Hat and Blur's Modern Life Is Rubbish (although not my copy, which also doesn't have "Popscene"; I guess there must have been different versions released) with a whole bunch of extra tracks at the end, some with music and others just empty space. (Actually, I believe both "Eurotrash Girl" and "Peach" are Track 69, showing a similar sense of humor for both bands.) While the hidden track fad is probably past its prime now, it's still something interesting that you could do with a physical format that really wouldn't be practical with a buy-one-track-at-a-time download deal.

Comments

[onesto-hotel.livejournal.com]

Hiding tracks after a long space at the end of the last song (or after a big empty space at the beginning of a track after the last "real" song) is still somewhat common, at least from what I can tell. It really doesn't work well for the iPod generation though, as you generally don't listen to an album all the way through, and hearing a song on shuffle that starts with two minutes of silence is annoying.

Putting the song before the beginning of the CD though...I haven't heard of anyone doing that in recent years. You're probably right that the proliferation of mp3 players probably has something to do with that.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and if you're listening in the car or while doing something else, you often don't have the option of fast-forwarding through the silence.

[colbyucb.livejournal.com]

Very fond memories of <<ing on my CD player during the bus ride to school in order to hear the Mono Puff hidden track. And then rolling over a curb and accidentally skipping farther backward than I should've, which made my particular CD player go to the last track and I had to start all over again XD.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

My portable CD player would do the rewinding thing, but the stereo I had in my college days wouldn't, and it looks like my current one won't either. (I actually just tried it out. {g})

[colbyucb.livejournal.com]

Curses!