A Modest Display of Argumentative Rhetoric

I decided that something needed to break this void of inactivity. This letter to the editor was written in response to a tepid EP list by one of my university's music editors.

“Top” EP list is well-intentioned but ultimately flawed

Published in the April 6th edition of the The Northern Review, Alan Ohman attempted, in the article “Quick listens: top modern EPs”, to justify that the presence of an EP in an artist’s catalogue serves as an ideal entry point into the respective discography. Unfortunately, while a benign theory on paper, Ohman’s choices are dubious at best regarding artistic relevancy. Ohman’s first controversial selection is The Mars Volta’s debut EP, “Tremulant”. While Ohman champions the EP to be a precursor of Volta’s “impeccable” output, the reader must be informed that “Tremulant” represents the initial step towards shameless over-indulgence by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. After crafting the post-hardcore classic “Relationship of Command” with At the Drive-In, Rodriguez-Lopez unwisely lets his Robert Fripp inferiority complex to take precedent over his music. Besides encouraging the reader to indulge in the conceit of, dare I say, nu-prog, Ohman double dips by promoting Rodriguez-Lopez’s collaboration with Lydia Lunch. If the curious listener would somehow enjoy this flat affair, instead of supporting Omar’s ego the listener is better suited to support Lunch’s output from her early New York no-wave band, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks.

Perhaps more disconcerting is the inclusion of Dream Theater’s “A Change of Seasons”. While “Seasons” may be an EP in name, according to my trusted sources an EP contains between “10 to 28 minutes of music” and, alas, “Seasons” includes nearly an hour of fun! The crux of this issue is that progressive rock and brevity are contradictions, so the listener expecting a concise sample may be comatose by the sixth movement of the title track. My final issue lies with the insertion of the Modest Mouse EP. An individual’s first foray with an artist should never be with a collection of B-sides, the quality being quite irrelevant. Logically if the listener should want to experience Modest Mouse, he should pack up for a road trip with “The Lonesome Crowded West” in the CD player.

If I may present my own selection, under Ohman’s criteria, I would recommend TV on the Radio’s Young Liars EP debut. Concise and elegant in its post-modern brilliance, Young Liars is a clarion call by one of the few forward thinking artists of the current decade. Besides introducing Tunde Adebimpe’s existential poetry and David Sitek’s breakthrough production techniques, Young Liars is a cohesive masterpiece that will feature in many best-of decade lists later in 2009.