Jul 22 2008
Paul Westerberg - 49:00
Cover art of the year, no?
- Artist: Paul Westerberg
- Album: 49:00
- Label: N/A
- Release: 2008
- Links: Official Site, Amazon.com, TuneCore
Paul Westerberg hasn’t released a new album since 2004’s uneven Folker. He hasn’t released new material since contributing a handful of songs to 2006’s soundtrack to the animated film Open Season. Despite this, 2008 has been good to Westerberg fans. In April, The Replacements’ Twin/Tone catalogue was reissued and expanded by Rhino. Last week, it was revealed that Rhino will drop reissues of the Mats’ four major label efforts for Sire on September 23rd. Over the weekend, Westerberg fans received an unexpected surprise that skyrocketed their 2008 from good to great.
As detailed in-depth by Billboard, Paul Westerberg has released a new album digitally on Amazon.com and TuneCore (for non-U.S. listeners). The album is called 49:00 (It is only 43:55 in length though) and it has two twists. The first is that costs $0.49 and the second is that it is a glorious mess contained within a single MP3 file. Westerberg’s manager Darren Hill told Billboard, “He finished it on Monday, sent it to me on Tuesday and it was out this weekend. It’s just wonderful that you can actually do this. The freedom an artist can enjoy these days is fantastic. Can you imagine me pitching this idea to a label?” This is Westerberg on an unrestricted level, ignoring every rule and thriving because of it.
The album does not come with a tracklisting and many of the songs fade in and out of each other or overlap. On albums that skip around or are delivered in a fast pace, reviewers often use an analogy that liken the music to an artist switching stations on a radio. I can’t think of a better analogy to describe 49:00. It even contains a cathartic mash-up of classic rock covers near the end. 49:00 sounds like classic Westerberg, but he comes off as so much more comfortable in this situation where he has decided that the rules simply do not apply. To say the least, it takes Folker to the woodshed. This is the most fun I’ve had as a Westerberg fan in quite some time.
Hey, if you don’t like it, it was only $0.49.
[…] really like this review at Unfinished that says, “On albums that skip around or are delivered in a fast pace, reviewers often use […]
I hadn’t listened to the “Mats for a long time and (I’m ashamed to admit) I’d rarely listened to Paul Westerberg’s solo stuff. I happened across some site on the net a few days ago that mentioned PW was putting out 49:00 for 49 cents and figured what the hell…how can I go wrong for half a buck? The surprise came when I put this on and freaking LOVED it from the start. I don’t know what it is about the whole thing but it seems so fresh somehow. I can’t, nor do I want, to try to explain why I like it so much but I urge you to get this album if you haven’t already. I think part of my positive reaction is that it brings back the feel of the great GBV lo-fi albums of the early to mid ’90s when there seemed to be no rules for making music ’cause you made it on your own terms, as Westerberg has done here. The funny thing is, as perhaps Mr. Westerberg knew, that the album’s also kind of revived my interest in PW’s music (and the Replacements, too.) I just wonder how Westerberg’s making any money on this ’cause I’m sure Amazon and credit card companies are taking almost all the 49 cents. Maybe it’s some kind of loss leader thing?
Jim (bookofkills.com)