Emerald City is incredible

[Davey]

Thanks to my sloshing buddy, I've been heavy dosing on John Vanderslice's Emerald City recently, and man do I love this record. Not as richly analog sounding as the previous Pixel Revolt (which I just got recently on an incredible sounding 180gm 2-LP gatefold 45rpm set straight from Barsuk for $21 postpaid), but there's a restless urgency to it, recorded quickly live in the studio, it's got a dirtier sound, more electronic processing, the guy is on a roll and producing some of the best pop music of our times, especially since moving more onto political ground with the last two, openly questioning some of the idiocy surrounding the Iraq occupation by the US and the events leading up to it, but sadly to a very small audience. There's a cool live in the studio take on the opener Kookaburra at the Stereogum site - give it plenty of time to load before playing or it gets out of sync a bit since it does have much better video than normal youtube type junk ... New John Vanderslice Live Video - "Kookaburra" - Video - Stereogum (http://stereogum.com/archives/video/new-john-vanderslice-live-video-kookaburra_005910.html)



http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/611JM0146PL._SL500_AA240_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/Pixel-Revolt-John-Vanderslice/dp/B000A2H8AI)

Click image for amazon reviews

Steve Hoffman forum thread (http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=148793)

[Slosh]

Yeah, I've been binging Vanderslice for the last few days. Got Mass Suicide Occult Figurines, Time Travel Is Lonely, and Life And Death Of An American Fourtracker as well and all are very good. Obviously Cellar Door is next on my to buy list.

[Bernd]

I've only got Emerald City, but I totally agree. What a great album.:thumbsup: Time to check out some more of Mr.Vs output me thinks. Doesn't he produce aswell?

[jasn]

Thx for the heads up Davey. I spent a lot of time with Cellar Door, and sort of forgot to keep up with his later releases.

[Davey]

Thx for the heads up Davey. I spent a lot of time with Cellar Door, and sort of forgot to keep up with his later releases.

Yea, you're in for a treat, the last three are all great, but Pixel Revolt has that added charm of being such a nice sounding record as well. It really blooms. You can just keep turning it up louder and louder, the sound wraps itself around you with liquid bass, and it never sounds harsh or forced, at least until your speakers start to rip themselves apart :)

[bobsticks]

Thanks for the synopsis gents. I picked up Pixel Revolt a couple of weeks ago, after the original post, and am diggin' it. Maybe not as enamored as some of the rest of y'all but I got my Richard Buckner to get me through these lean times.

I agree though that PR had some very strong production value.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

I finally got the chance to give it a listen last night - thanks Slosh - and really enjoyed that initial exposure. This is my first JV album and he seems like someone I'm going to have to delve into quite a bit deeper. Even on first listen Emerald City sounded so layered and nuanced as to require many listens to release its hopefully many and long-lasting charms.

One thing that was bugging me on that first listen - and it's been a recurring theme in my "new" listening room - is the vocal seems slightly canted to the left of the soundstage between my speakers on many tracks - Davey, did you notice this? Just wondering if it continues to be a set-up issue in my room or if it's just how the album was mixed - because I moved to a different set-up (moved the speakers to shortwall) and thought I had the problem licked - but it seemed to rear its head on the JV album.

Thanks again Slosh - it's so great when good new music is sent my way through the great people that continue to populate this place.

[Slosh]

One thing that was bugging me on that first listen - and it's been a recurring theme in my "new" listening room - is the vocal seems slightly canted to the left of the soundstage between my speakers on many tracksNo set up issue. That's the way it was mixed. Quite a wide soundstage on this one, at that.

[Davey]

One thing that was bugging me on that first listen - and it's been a recurring theme in my "new" listening room - is the vocal seems slightly canted to the left of the soundstage between my speakers on many tracks - Davey, did you notice this?

JV's vocal seems pretty dead center to me, but the backup singers trail toward the left at times. And sometimes the electronic processing smears the vocal around a bit. The music has a lot of spread at times, with well defined sounds in both channels. Planar speakers are extremely difficult to set up in my experience, but I am more partial to point source type speakers with very low diffraction effects so am kind of biased. Do you have anything behind them to diffuse the sound? What about at the early reflection points on the walls? For diffusion, I've often used simple 1' x 4' shelves that you can buy precut at any hardware store, two pieces screwed together along the long edge to make an open-backed triangular column, then placed with the open side against the wall at the rear and side reflection points. One behind my listening position as well, if close to the back wall. Really opens up the room, though some people prefer absorption to diffusion. Depends on the room and personal taste. I always go for a more lively sound. I usually cover them with some heavy fabric for looks and to prevent high frequency diffraction at the point of the triangle.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

JV's vocal seems pretty dead center to me, but the backup singers trail toward the left at times. And sometimes the electronic processing smears the vocal around a bit. The music has a lot of spread at times, with well defined sounds in both channels. Planar speakers are extremely difficult to set up in my experience, but I am more partial to point source type speakers with very low diffraction effects so am kind of biased. Do you have anything behind them to diffuse the sound? What about at the early reflection points on the walls? For diffusion, I've often used simple 1' x 4' shelves that you can buy precut at any hardware store, two pieces screwed together along the long edge to make an open-backed triangular column, then placed with the open side against the wall at the rear and side reflection points. One behind my listening position as well, if close to the back wall. Really opens up the room, though some people prefer absorption to diffusion. Depends on the room and personal taste. I always go for a more lively sound. I usually cover them with some heavy fabric for looks and to prevent high frequency diffraction at the point of the triangle.

What I'm hearing sounds like the way you describe the recording - and the fact that Slosh hears it the same way tells me its a recording issue, not a set-up issue.

Thanks for the set-up tips Davey. I haven't had a chance yet to experiment with any room treatment - I guess with front wall treatment and the speakers toed-in towards the listener, the treatment should go towards the outside of the speakers, at the first reflection point, rather than between the speakers the way it would be with a conventional point-source forward-firing speaker? I have some absorption panels from RPG lying around, so I can give absorption a try. Difusion gets a little complicated as my back wall is not uniform - there is a corner rectangular column that comes in from the back wall just behind and to the right of the right speaker - so it could act a bit like your triangular diffusion thingy already. The left side speaker backs on to a conventional room corner, so if, (and it's a big IF), I can get a difusion device like you describe past my wife, I'll give it a try.

Side walls are not a big issue I don't think - the speakers are well away from the side walls (5-feet) and I have a filled Ikea record shelf on one wall and a CD rack on the other. Besides, with the rear and front outputs cancelling each other out, isn't side wall reflection a non-issue?Back wall is probably about 10 feet behind my listening so hopefully not an issue either.

Thanks again for the tips.

[Davey]

Besides, with the rear and front outputs cancelling each other out, isn't side wall reflection a non-issue?

Room interaction is less of an issue with dipolars since you do get a lot of in-room cancellation, though your bass isn't really dipolar is it. Side wall reflections are more of an upper midrange issue, and your speakers will have a fairly narrow dispersion as the frequencies increase because of the size of the source, so you won't have as much of an issue as speakers with wider dispersion. The cancellation effect really only happens at lower frequencies where the wavelengths are long and somewhat omni-directional. Probably not a big issue on the side reflections with 5' either, depends on your listening distance. I don't know the radiation pattern though. If you don't sense the walls limiting the spread when listening, then you are probably OK. Floor is probably a bigger issue. Surprising sometimes what some diffusion on the floor between you and the speakers can do, even if just a couple boxes to prop up some pillows that can be easily stashed when your wife is around :)

[Davey]

Maybe not as enamored as some of the rest of y'all ...

Obstreperous blather ... either get with the program or risk the wrath of your fellow indie hipster elitist brethren http://forums.audioreview.com/images/icons/icon6.gif

Really though, how wrathful can people that listen to this twee **** become? Hehehe, sometimes hard to know why certain artists, or even just the sound of a record, clicks with me. Kind of on a Vanderslice ride lately, also been listening a lot to the Mountain Goats Sunset Tree which is a bit like the companion piece to Vanderslice's Pixel Revolt. I get the feel that Darnielle and Vanderslice complete each other's musical visions to a certain extent, JD bringing the lyrical depth and JV (along with collaborator Scott Solter) bringing the musical depth. A bit like that team on the Cardinal record I like so much, Richard Davies and Eric Matthews, though I don't care all that much for Matthews solo work.

Who's got the more recent Mountain Goats records? Get Lonely or the new Heretic Pride? Any good? Anyone?

[bobsticks]

Obstreperous blather ... either get with the program or risk the wrath of your fellow indie hipster elitist brethren

...obstreperous blather is my milieu.

I checked out "Sax Rohmer #1" and it wasn't my cuppa. You might like the new T.H.White for a refreshing change of pace, maybe not, it might be mood dependent.

OTOH, I'd bet money that you'd like the new Anna Ternheim disc, "Halfway To Fivepoints"...chock full 'o' PJ-esque angst over acoustic atmospherism. Check it out if possible.

NP:
http://crave.cnet.com/i/bto/20080424/anna_270x270.jpg



edit: O.K. maybe not PJ, not sure what I was thinkin' with that one...how's about a breathy, English Karen Bergquist.

[Swish]

openly questioning some of the idiocy surrounding the Iraq occupation by the US and the events leading up to it

...this is certainly sounding good to me. Since I don't have Pixel Revolt as yet, but will shortly, I can't compare them musically or from the recording/sonics standpoint, but this sure does sound like a better-than-average recording to me.

Swish - go for it

[bobsticks]

... but this sure does sound like a better-than-average recording to me.

Swish - go for it


At this hour are you the most trustworthy testimonial?

[jonnyhambone]

I only know Pixel Revolt from Mr. V. Like it but haven't loved it since I burned it from my local library recently... I'm a pretty big Mountain Goats fan though so, maybe its time for another listen. I have Get Lonely from the Goats and, wanting to love it like earlier stuff, I don't. The sound quality is top-notch and there's, of course, a handfull of amazing songs but I'll always put on We Shall All Be Healed out of the 4AD releases I've heard and, if not listening through headphones (cuz' that low of a low-fi sound through phones sounds Really Bad) - my favorites are Bitter Melon Farm and Sweden. All Be Healed is beautifully recorded and still has that angry poetic spittle frothing on his lips. Man, really one of the best song-writers out there. I'll throw on Pixel R. and revisit Get Lonely tonight...

[Swish]

At this hour are you the most trustworthy testimonial?

...as a matter of fact. That being said, I've heard a lot worse, recording-wise, than this cd, so I wouldn't use it as a beverage coaster.

Swish - ready for a nice Cuban (a cigar bobsticks, not a female) and a cold IPA at Niko's. Life is good.