I was never really under the impression that Paul Westerberg had his finger on the pulse of technology but look at him go! Four years since his last solo record (that is if you don't count the Open Season soundtrack), the former Replacement now finds himself on the cutting edge, self-releasing his new album at the WTF? price of 49 cents. No hitches, conditions or registration involved. All you do is pay $0.49 by either credit card or Paypal and voila! 49:00... Of Your Time/Life is yours.
Conceived half-jokingly by Westerberg that fans would be willing to pay "a penny a minute," the 48-year-old rocker could only get Amazon to bite, but the heaps of press so far seem to have accomplished this mission alone. The money he'll rake in will only be peanuts, but Westerberg's on to something here, bypassing the "pay what you can" plan and actually assigning a value to his music.
I can honestly say that the album is certainly worth more than the ticket price. Like his work on Vagrant, 49 is grittier and more stripped down than his first three major label efforts, and of course, Open Season. Paul seems to have shortened his attention span considerably, as nine of the songs are under a minute, and three are under two minutes, possibly as homage to the Mats, who are constantly guests in the rumour mill. Who knows.
Nonetheless, it's good to have him back, and at such an affordable price.
Canadians and other non-Americans can buy the album by clicking here. Or if you live in the States, you can buy it from Amazon by clicking here.
Since your MP3 won't come with one, here is the official tracklisting, which if you add up all of the times should equal 49 minutes:
1. (Tell Me) Who You Gonna Marry? (3:57)
2. With or Without Her (3:01)
3. Something in My Life is Missing (3:42)
4. Mothers Day (3:32)
5. As Yet to be Determined Noise (0:06)
6. Devil Raised a Good Boy (3:13)
7. Youre My Girl (0:24)
8. Everyones Stupid (2:37)
9. The one that says Fuck (0:09)
10. What Do You Want (0:20)
11. Now You Gone (0:44)
12. Goodnight Sweet Prince (3:54)
13. Guess Ill Be Going Then (0:08)
14. Out of My System (3:22)
15. Be My Darling (3:44)
16. Money Goes Straight to Her Heart (0:12)
17. Hey, Hey (1:12)
18. Squeaky Obscene (1:11)
19. Six Seconds of Stuff (0:06)
20. Itll Never Die (4:04)
21. Back To Saturn X Radio Report II (0:56)
22. I Think I Love you b/w Something I Cant Discern (1:05)
23. Johnny Said So (2:09)
Conceived half-jokingly by Westerberg that fans would be willing to pay "a penny a minute," the 48-year-old rocker could only get Amazon to bite, but the heaps of press so far seem to have accomplished this mission alone. The money he'll rake in will only be peanuts, but Westerberg's on to something here, bypassing the "pay what you can" plan and actually assigning a value to his music.
I can honestly say that the album is certainly worth more than the ticket price. Like his work on Vagrant, 49 is grittier and more stripped down than his first three major label efforts, and of course, Open Season. Paul seems to have shortened his attention span considerably, as nine of the songs are under a minute, and three are under two minutes, possibly as homage to the Mats, who are constantly guests in the rumour mill. Who knows.
Nonetheless, it's good to have him back, and at such an affordable price.
Canadians and other non-Americans can buy the album by clicking here. Or if you live in the States, you can buy it from Amazon by clicking here.
Since your MP3 won't come with one, here is the official tracklisting, which if you add up all of the times should equal 49 minutes:
1. (Tell Me) Who You Gonna Marry? (3:57)
2. With or Without Her (3:01)
3. Something in My Life is Missing (3:42)
4. Mothers Day (3:32)
5. As Yet to be Determined Noise (0:06)
6. Devil Raised a Good Boy (3:13)
7. Youre My Girl (0:24)
8. Everyones Stupid (2:37)
9. The one that says Fuck (0:09)
10. What Do You Want (0:20)
11. Now You Gone (0:44)
12. Goodnight Sweet Prince (3:54)
13. Guess Ill Be Going Then (0:08)
14. Out of My System (3:22)
15. Be My Darling (3:44)
16. Money Goes Straight to Her Heart (0:12)
17. Hey, Hey (1:12)
18. Squeaky Obscene (1:11)
19. Six Seconds of Stuff (0:06)
20. Itll Never Die (4:04)
21. Back To Saturn X Radio Report II (0:56)
22. I Think I Love you b/w Something I Cant Discern (1:05)
23. Johnny Said So (2:09)
