If you had 8 tracks made/planned at different tempos (84bpm - 168bpm) of the same kind of genre would you make an 8 track album or break the tracks up into a couple of EPs by tempo? Or even purely singles?!
Curious to hear peoples’ thoughts on the upsides or downsides of either approach…
Depends on the total length.
If shorter than 30 mins, 2x EPs
If around 1 hour, thats an album.
Just my opinion like. Doesnt mean much.
Album.
Every stadium rock album needs its power ballads as a palette cleanser for more RAWK
I don’t know what I would do or what I could suggest because I haven’t heard the tracks, and that’s crucial. My personal approach would be not to just consider tempos, but also moods, sonic qualities, styles, and any other qualities. I would think to group tracks as if I was putting together a bunch of chapters into a book, and see what collection and sequence of tracks “tell a full story” so to speak. Then I would bundle things as it makes sense to me: if it feels like a number of EPs then great, if they are eager to be together in an album, so be it, if only only a few make sense to be bundle into a group and the rest are OK on their own, then an EP or album and a few singles is the way to go.
Anyone in here can give you their 2 cents, but in the end it is your call, especially since no one other than you knows the tracks.
You could make an interesting mix style album out of it and fill the gaps between the tempo mismatch with interesting talking samples from movies or things in public domain.
If they’re all genre specific, similar genre that is, I wouldn’t try and split it up. I’d find a creative way to keep the mood going throughout.
apparently interesting is the only adjective I have access to tonight.
interesting.
Another option: If there’s 40ish minutes worth of music around the same tempo/vibe with some left over, do an album plus a maxi-single. (Then music nerds can argue about which songs from the single should have been on the album)
An Album, then, EPs of Remixes including the Original Tracks.
I had not considered running length. Great suggestion!
What is a maxi-single?!
An EP
I lean towards EPs because a full length of electronic music is a tough sell (unless you’re talking pure ambient, which is a whole other ball game).
LPs are still great imo, but you really have to have some engaging, cohesive music to pull that off.
I think its hard for any of us to say without hearing the material! I also, respectfully, don’t think anyone else’s opinion matters given that its YOUR music. If these eight tracks fit together in your mind, that’s really all that matters. EP or LP is just a name that the music industry came up with to sell things. These days, especially if it’s just digital, it really matters zero percent.
Lol. Just one. Autechre-Style.
“Autechre, this EP has an hour of music on it!”
“Lol. Get bent. Its an EP”
I’ve literally heard dozens of full length albums over the years that had 5 songs, where I’ve also been directed to listen to someone’s seven song EP even double that.
Not directed at OP in any way, but sometimes I feel like EP is a generic way of saying “I’m not confident in this material so don’t take it too seriously” which in the first place is a fine way to approach music, because every time in my life I’ve ever taken myself / my musical self too seriously, I’ve somehow got my feelings hurt.
I don’t know, I’ve put out EPs before and it wasn’t due to any lack of confidence about the material. Sometimes you just want to get the music out there quicker than working on a full album’s worth of material. Kind of a funny interpretation, IMO.
But I really think the number of tracks is completely arbitrary. For the record, my last album only had four songs! But they are all long, multi-part jams. If someone called it an EP, I’d flip my desk over and get into fisticuffs about it, lol.
I see what you’re saying, or I understand what you’re saying to be more explicit
I do feel as though we fall into this trap however, and as opposed to being a funny interpretation, my take on it is that we are struggling to fit into these categorical filings that we have been gifted by the aforementioned industry.
I don’t blame you for taking your work seriously, but I still feel like it’s a valid interpretation on a basic psychological level, especially for people who are only exposed to the internet culture of music and not an old person (referring to myself) who understands exactly what you’re saying about these categories being ways to sell 2 different holidays in the same month (such as it were).
I’m not telling you specifically your album is an ep or vice versa, nor that you lack confidence in the material. I do think though, I’m using what you said as a way to exposition what I feel, so I apologize if I used your words in a way you didn’t intend.
Oh no worries and no apology necessary! Just enjoying the dialogue and trying to contribute 
Great to get different viewpoints on all this stuff.
You can absolutely release a “double feature” with two long tracks containing the songs that are the same tempo as each other. I say it is both a business and artistic decision. Do you think you can sell more albums if you release two or one, and do the 2 song clusters fit together or would they be better apart and decorated accordingly.
I’d like to hear the music before answering the question.
