Let’s discuss any and all music here. Got a new artist who’s rocking your boat that you want to talk about? Post a video! Found out about that unearthed Coltrane album that has the jazz freak in you losing your mind? Lay it out for us! Have a theory about what your favorite band might do for their next album? Let’s hear it! Anything and everything music-related goes here.

This week’s discussion prompt: Hidden Tracks

What are the first ones you remember hearing? What are some of your favorites? At what point did a “silent gap” at the end of an album go from being an unexpected treat to a predictable waste of time (and then on to being a huge pain in the ass during the “ripping CD-to-MP3″era)?

The first hidden track I ever encountered was at the end of the cassette version of Gonna Make You Sweat by C + C Music Factory, indicated only by a barely noticeable question mark at the end of the track listing on side 2 of the tape.

When I first heard the ? song, I kind of freaked out as I wasn’t expecting it at all – and since I basically only listened to Top 40 stuff at that point, the track sounded weird and kind of creepy to me. Apparently it wasn’t included on the Canadian cassette either (I’d bought mine in Florida on a family vacation) so since none of my classmates who had the same album knew about it, I thought I had really stumbled onto something special.

But in a way, it was special: while the rest of the album is basically cheesy dance pop (though to the credit of Robert Clivilles and the late David Cole, it’s very catchy, well-crafted, cheesy dance pop) the hidden song is actually a really solid house track called “Shade” that transcends mere nostalgia and is something I genuinely like.

The vocal sample “We’re not going to be shady, just fierce” is taken from the 1990 documentary film Paris Is Burning. And the lead female vocals on the title track belong to singer Martha Wash.

As always, any and all music-related topics are welcome. Have fun, and rock out with yr guac out!