While I’ve never particularly thought of Ash as rock trailblazers, there’s an interesting post on Mojo Blog about their decision to stop releasing traditional format albums.

“Marketing music in the traditional sense is becoming increasingly less financially viable,” say Ash, “It is now time to fully embrace the digital future of the music industry”. They claim their current album, Twilight Of The Innocents, will be the last of the old school – though they admit they envisage releasing ‘compilations’ of net-released tracks on the CD format.

Despite the fact that “fully embrace the digital future” sounds like a load of old toss, Wheeler and the lads have a point. I’d only buy an album these days if it was a classic. Or perhaps if somebody sent me a freebie.

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You’ve got to hand it to Ash, they’ve been on the scene for donkey’s years but you still wouldn’t class them as old farts. Newly a three-piece again, Tim Wheeler and the nameless others have seemingly dropped guitarist Charlotte Hatherley from their ranks amid unclear circumstances.

My feeling about Ash is that they’re almost permanently in danger of disappearing up their own arses. Occasionally they get the formula right (Burn Baby Burn), but You Can’t Have It All is particularly lacklustre. Bland, even. Could they be too sure of themselves?

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