Can - complete vinyl boxset, Tago Mago ?!

[jonnyhambone]

I've been seeing that the Can discography is slowly being remastered and coming out on cd and, select titles, on SACD. Supposedly, there is also a gigantic box set coming out early 2012 which will include all of their official releases (14 albums) on remastered vinyl along with cd copies of each and a vinyl-only live performance (not ever released before?) and a vinyl only remaster of Out Of Reach. This seems to be true as the anticipated reissue of Tago Mago did actually just come out. Finding any info. on pre-ordering the box set or what approach of quality-control/improvement the remasters will be is proving to be difficult....just a re-packaging job? Remastered from what source? Anyone else psyched for some Can?! Anyone able to speak to improvements in the sound of the new Tago Mago 40th Anniversary cd? This is one of my go-to headphone/psych. albums but I have an old cd release (forgot the label and not going to dig right now...:Yawn:) so if there's some good sonic improvements, I'd be excited.

[Rae]

Oh man, this'd be tempting. I only have Monster Movie on vinyl... where'd you read this?

~Rae

[jonnyhambone]

yep, me too. I have no Can on vinyl but don't know that I need That much either... tempting if the remastering was esp. good and the repackage was cool but still, that's a lot of Can! Here's the link to what I've read, but it doesn't tell you too much about the details...
MUTE • Can • Tago Mago – 40th Anniversary 2CD Edition (http://mute.com/can/tago-mago-40th-anniversary-2cd-edition)

[Davey]

Ya know, like most audio things, it kinda depends on what you like. It's no secret that I dislike most modern mastering because of all the limiting and compression used, and the Can SACD remasters used quite a bit of limiting on the peaks, both on the CD and DSD layers (my experience is mostly with Tago Mago since it's a big favorite, so I'll just talk that about one). Those were around 2004, then they were reissued as CDs in 2007 from the same masters (waveforms look identical). And now it's repackaged again as a 40th anniversary set with a live CD, but using the same master for the studio CD. The remasters aren't too bad, just pumped more than they need to be. I guess some thought the original Tago Mago release was a little tame in the bass and drums, but my goto is usually a 16-44 rip of the original United Artists UK vinyl, just sounds more natural to me. Same with the 1989 CD releases, though I only have collections and not the original Tago Mago CD. I'll post some flacs of Mushroom at my song of the day link, I've got a few on my computer, including the SACD.

But who knows, I'd be careful and not splurge on a package deal without hearing one of the LPs first, though the set may be collectible. I imagine they are all from the same digital masters used for the SACD releases ("newly cut to vinyl from the remastered tapes"), so if you like the sound of the recent remasters, you'll probably like the new vinyl if they do a good job.

Edit: OK, four versions up at song of the day link in signature. You should see ...

Can - Mushroom (1971 Tago Mago UK vinyl)
Can - Mushroom (1989 Cannibalism I (1969 to 1974))
Can - Mushroom (2004 Tago Mago SACD 24-88.2)
Can - Mushroom (2011 Tago Mago 40th Anniversary)

Just click and download as you would normally. They are full song flacs so around 23M each except for the SACD, which is 80M. For reference, below is 1989 waveform vs 2011, so you can see the levels are much lower on the old one. The SACD waveform looks the same as the 2011, but I converted from the ISO with the gain set a little low so it's a few dB quieter than the CD. Also, the Mushroom track from the Cannibalism collection contains the explosion at the start of Oh Yeah, but I edited that out in the waveform below so the two would line up. It's still in the audio file. I do actually have the original Tago Mago CD too, but just checked and it sounds similar to the track I grabbed from Cannibalism. Not identical, but close. BTW, it appears the original vinyl rip has the channels reversed, I hadn't noticed that before. Not sure if it's the LP or the transfer, but it does make for a little different perspective - maybe that's why I like it :)

1989 Mushroom
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22278349/mushroom-1989.jpg

2011 Mushroom
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22278349/mushroom-2011.jpg


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DELUXE VINYL BOX SET & UNRELEASED LOST TAPES BOX SET DETAILS FOR 2012
PLUS HALLELUWAH! EXHIBITIONS IN GERMANY

Spoon Records and Mute announce the release of the 40th anniversary edition of the classic Can album Tago Mago on November 15, 2011.

The new edition of this genre-defying album comes packaged in the original UK artwork for the first time since 1971, and includes a bonus CD featuring 50 minutes of unreleased live material from 1972, remastered in 2011.

Tago Mago, the first album with Damo Suzuki on vocals, features the Can line up of Holger Czukay on bass, Michael Karoli on guitars, Jaki Liebezeit on drums and Irmin Schmidt on keyboards, and was recorded at Schloss Nörvenich in 1971, released later that year on United Artists.

Can’s influence is well known and far-reaching and the impact they made on music is felt today as keenly as it ever has been. They themselves have always been impossible to classify and reflecting this, the scope of artists who in recent years have cited Can as a major influence is varied. Of all the band’s oeuvre, Tago Mago has been most often cited as an influence for a host of artists including John Lydon, Radiohead, The Fall, Ariel Pink, F*CK Buttons, Sonic Youth, Factory Floor and Queens Of The Stone Age. Just last week Geoff Barrow (Portishead) mentioned Can as his favorite and most inspiring band ever (The Quietus).

Listen to ‘Bring Me Coffee Or Tea’, as featured on the OST for the 2010 film adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s novel Norwegian Wood here:
Can - Bring Me Coffee Or Tea by Mute UK on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free (http://soundcloud.com/muterecords/can-bring-me-coffee-or-tea)

All 14 of Can’s studio albums have been newly cut to vinyl from the remastered tapes for release as a vinyl deluxe box set in early 2012. This will include CDs of all the albums, extensive booklets, an exclusive never released live album (vinyl only) and a newly remastered "Out Of Reach" previously unavailable! The vinyl deluxe box set will be available for pre-order at the beginning of October 2011.

The long awaited box set, The Lost Tapes, will be released in March 2012. Curated by Irmin Schmidt and Daniel Miller, and edited and compiled by Jono Podmore, this will include unreleased studio, soundtrack and live material.

To further celebrate the 40th anniversary of Tago Mago, Abtart gallery in Stuttgart (Sep 16 – Nov 5) (Galerie ABTART | Start (http://www.abtart.com)) and Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (Nov 24 –Dec 18) (Künstlerhaus Bethanien - News 12/11 (http://www.bethanien.de)) will host Halleluwah!, a visual homage to Can. Artists have been invited to interpret Can’s pioneering role in composition, sound, playing technique, and group dynamics.

Comprising painting, drawing, videos, objects, and sound pieces that relate to the broad spectrum of the band’s manifestations and to the facets of the collective, including critical considerations of its being turned into a myth, some works will respond to the covers of CAN albums, others will be investigations or continuations of sound into the present, while yet others will simply be hallucinatory bows before these great musicians. For further information, and a full list of confirmed artists which includes Albert Oehlen, Daniel Richter, Malcolm Mooney, Carsten Nicolai, go to: The Official CAN / Spoon Records Website (http://www.spoonrecords.com/)

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Michael Karoli's death on the November 17 2011, Spoon Records will offer a Best Of Michael Karoli Edit for free download on their site The Official CAN / Spoon Records Website (http://www.spoonrecords.com).

Can was formed by ex-student of Stockhausen Irmin Schmidt, who, fired by the sounds of Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa abandoned his career in classic music to form a group which could utilise and transcend all boundaries of ethnic, electronic experimental and modern classical music.