Spoon’s falsetto funk
Way to go Matador Records for making the best song from Spoon’s latest available as a free download. The track, “I Turn My Camera On,” is a pre-punk disco-falsetto funk, unlike anything else in Spoon’s fine catalog. It reminds me of You’ve Got to Hear the Music, the excellent CD from New Zealand’s Dimmer. Pitchfork’s recent review of Gimme Fiction raves about this track, “a Prince-tastic masterpiece hearkening back to the Stones’ “Emotional Rescue”, but with a show-stopping grandeur that beats them both at their own game.” And it’s available as a free download!
It’s a difficult issue for labels and artists: give away an album’s best material as its strongest promo or hold it back as the strongest reason to buy the CD. When a label chooses the former it shows a confidence that usually inspires me to go out and buy the whole thing. If the rest of the CD doesn’t live up to the free track(s), it’s hard to be upset with the label for giving away something so precious.