Albums make comeback as concert gimmick

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Interviews, performances

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Too much reflection, though, can stunt anyone’s creativity. Built to Spill is currently recording a new album in Los Angeles, so lead singer and guitarist Doug Martsch was hesitant to perform their 1997 album, “Perfect From Now On,” which will be the focus of their tour this fall.

“I put off listening to the album for a long time,” said Martsch. “The first time I tried to listen to it, I couldn’t even make it all the way through it. It was kind of boring to me. But after a few listens, it grew on me.”

Built to Spill always works in a lot of songs from its catalog in its live show, but the band leaves room for improvisation, frequently jamming layered guitar solos. So many of the songs from “Perfect From Now On” have changed since they recorded them.

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“We’re trying to get it back to sounding like the record,” said Martsch. “Even the songs that we’ve been playing, it’s relearning those.”

He added: “I’m looking forward to a whole tour of not having to make any set lists.”

Wanting to expand her set lists was a major factor in Lucinda Williams’ decision to perform five of her albums — 2003’s “World Without Tears,” 2001’s “Essence,” 1998’s “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road,” 1990’s “Sweet Old World” and 1988’s self-titled disc — in five nights in both New York and Los Angeles last fall.

“I have such a huge catalog now, that I don’t get to play a lot of the songs,” said the singer-songwriter. “And I miss a lot of them. We only have so much room in the set. I loved the idea because it kind of satisfied my need to get all those songs out again.”

Williams recalls the evenings having an “emotional impact” — as well as scrambling backstage in between sets to remember lyrics and harmonies to old, seldom played songs.

The appeal of performing an album in concert is obvious to many acts because they feel similarly about their favorite LPs.

Williams would love to see Bob Dylan play “Highway 61 Revisited” or “Blonde on Blonde” — albums that were formative for her. Martsch liked the idea when he heard that Sonic Youth was performing “Daydream Nation.”

Asked what album she’d most like to hear performed live, Phair, fittingly, answered “Exile on Main Street.”

She maintains the staying power of the album as an art form: “Artists will always want to put together a masterwork,” said Phair. “You just have more to say.”

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