Almost Perfection (Tunesday with a twist)

[Davey]

We all talk about it in the CD era, what a record that woulda coulda shoulda been if they just had someone around with the balls to honestly tell them to just pick the best 10 to 12 songs, the ones that really flow together, instead of including all of those extras that should be relegated to a future b-sides collection, and the obligatory single the record company wants that doesn't fit at all. Throw it all on the wall and see what sticks.

One of those for me is the debut of one of my favorites of the last decade, Augie March. The year was 2000, country Australia, fantastic collection of talent, but somewhere along the line they decided to make a beautiful CD called Sunset Studies that went beyond the maximum standard at the time of 74 minutes, even had to get special media imported to do it. Crazy and misguided. Fortunately, we music listeners, who of course always know best, have the means and the technology to remedy the mistakes of our music idols. So I was playing around with the tracklisting, because I do really love this record, and wound up doing a search to find out if there were thoughts on this in the computer world, and sure enough, some blogger using the Mindless Munkey handle comes through with a trim of about 15 minutes and some minor rearranging, and it does really make it a much better record ...

the mindlessmunkey edit of Sunset Studies:

1 ~ The Hole In Your Roof
2 ~ Maroondah Reservoir
3 ~ There Is No Such Place
4 ~ Tulip
5 ~ Men Who Follow Spring The Planet Round
6 ~ Believe Me
7 ~ Sunset Studies
8 ~ Heartbeat And Sails
9 ~ The Offer
10 ~ The Good Gardener (On How He Fell)
11 ~ Here Comes The Night
12 ~ Owen's Lament

Total run time: 1:02:16


So, any cool recent listens you'd like to mention in the spirit of Tunesday Tunes, or big favorites you'd like to trim and rearrange? I remember a thread about the Cure's Disintegration, that's another big favorite that I trimmed, though in that case it was because I came to know it via the vinyl which omitted 2 of the songs and gave it a decidedly different flow, and a much better record for me. So after getting the CD years later, I decided to edit it to match the shorter vinyl. Sacrilege, I know. The life of a music geek in the computer era

[3-LockBox]

Well, the new Marillion for one. I've whittled a two CD, 120 minute plus album, down to 10 tracks just under 60 minutes. I don't know about perfection, but its a better listen. I did something similar to a Marillion album from years a go.

As much as I love Smashing Pumpkins' Melloncollie And The Infinite Sadness, it too shoulda been whittled to a single CD - not that it was full of filler, but two 60 minute CDs just made for too spralling of an album.

I've also done the opposite to a CD. I made a CD of Yes' Going For The One reissue with studio demos. The studio outtakes were so good (the instrumentals that is) that I rearanged the CD with those instrumentals inserted, and I rearranged the tracks order, making for a more longer, yet still cohesive album.

I can't think of too many 2-CD albums that aren't in need of some editing. Of course now, there is a trend towards shorter albums, which is a good idea, but we're starting to get albums with 36 minutes (and less) worth of music...not exactly bang for your buck. Given that CDs let us do our own editing, I'd rather do my own editing.

[BradH]

Afro-Cuban All Stars - A Toda Cuba le Gusta...Explosive cascades of Latin percussion with in-your-face, beautifully recorded brass and haunting melodies. Divine.

Jade Warrior - Last Autumn's Dream....Their third from 1972 and the earliest I would recommend. They always had a schizoid feel with imaginative, transient tracks, sometimes heavy on the Eastern percussion sound, sitting side by side with balls to the wall, early 70's rock and a scorching guitarist who remains sorely underrated from the era. This is the first album where the rock tracks had interesting melodies instead of amatuer blues fakery from the vocalist. From '72 on, things just got better as the rock tracks mellowed and the experimental tracks became more interesting, almost a merging of the two sides. I don't think they ever made a dime though.

Caravana Cubana - Late Nite Sessions....More Latin excellence. Not as brilliantly recorded as the All Stars but definitely good enough and excellent picks from each artist.

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife....I still think it's ridiculously overrated and more listens only makes it worse for me.

I did a Brain Salad Sugery shootout so you don't have to. I didn't have the Rhino but the 24-bit JVC import beat out the new Deluxe Edition by Sanctuary Records, only by a hair though. It's ever so slightly clearer. Good dynamic range on both. The Shout remaster is garbage with muddy, quieter bass and the high end reverb is completely missing - and this album has a lot of reverb in the mix. I think it's safe to say the Rhino would've beat the Shout remaster (and maybe held its own with the other two). All of these releases reveal the difference in sound between the two studios used to record this album.

Another ELP 24-bit JVC import is Tarkus and it gets its butt kicked by the MoFi gold disc.

I can't remember the rest.

[3-LockBox]

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife....I still think it's ridiculously overrated and more listens only makes it worse for me.

I can still listen to this one alright, but yeah, it got fauned on heavily on the web and the print press. This year's example, Fleet Foxes got heavily fauned over in the print media but its still just an OK album. Reviewers tend to gloss over the Foxes over-use of reverb to the extent that some songs are impossible to listen to on certain gear.

[Davey]

Afro-Cuban All Stars - A Toda Cuba le Gusta...Explosive cascades of Latin percussion with in-your-face, beautifully recorded brass and haunting melodies. Divine.

Caravana Cubana - Late Nite Sessions....More Latin excellence. Not as brilliantly recorded as the All Stars but definitely good enough and excellent picks from each artist.

Man, you ever heard this one ...



... That Afro-Cuban rhythm that gets it all started in the opening track "El Rumbón" really makes my body want to move. And some of the ballads that follow slow things down to a nice sensual groove. His playing has so much body and strength, at times it seems almost liquid, more dense than the air it moves through. Hot stuff.

[BradH]

Haven't heard it but I'll check it out.

This reminds me of the other disc I forgot to list:

The Mosquitos - Sunshine Barato....Stripped down alt esthetic meets Sergio Mendez sunny pop hipness. It's honest, brilliant, simple yet sophisticated....am I gushing yet? This is the future of pop music. There, now I'm gushing.

[bobsticks]

Afro-Cuban All Stars - A Toda Cuba le Gusta...Explosive cascades of Latin percussion with in-your-face, beautifully recorded brass and haunting melodies. Divine.

Hey Brad,

During my World Music pilgrimage I came across quite a bit of Latin/Caribbean/Island tunage. One that I keep coming back to is a fairly mid-fi affair but comes with the real-deal stuff...




Son Cubano - NYC
The recordings on Son Cubano highlight this movement and were made over the decade beginning 1972, for the new Salsoul and SAR labels and their sisters Mericana and Guajiro. Because of the more Cuban personality of these recordings, they were suppressed by radio stations - inexcusably dismissed as old-fashioned or unjustifiably accused of having Communist associations. This was still the period of the Cold War - when Eddie Palmieri was accused of 'communist salsa' for his song Mozambique (which isn't even salsa) - and the radio stations did their bit to suppress Cuban culture.

[BradH]

Thanks, I'll make a note of that one too, sounds like it could be hot.

[Swish]

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife....I still think it's ridiculously overrated and more listens only makes it worse for me.

I did a Brain Salad Sugery shootout so you don't have to. I didn't have the Rhino but the 24-bit JVC import beat out the new Deluxe Edition by Sanctuary Records, only by a hair though. It's ever so slightly clearer. Good dynamic range on both. The Shout remaster is garbage with muddy, quieter bass and the high end reverb is completely missing - and this album has a lot of reverb in the mix. I think it's safe to say the Rhino would've beat the Shout remaster (and maybe held its own with the other two). All of these releases reveal the difference in sound between the two studios used to record this album.

...you dislike The Crane Wife but enjoy Brain Salad Surgery? I'm so confused.

[Troy]

...you dislike The Crane Wife but enjoy Brain Salad Surgery? I'm so confused.

Why, because they are so similar?

[BradH]

...you dislike The Crane Wife but enjoy Brain Salad Surgery? I'm so confused.

HAHA!! Well, I don't enjoy it with the intensity I did when I was fourteen, that's for sure. I think Tarkus was far more cohesive and downright fun to listen to. But ultimately I think the Decemberists' melodies and vocal stylings are boring and unoriginal. Hell, maybe I'm the one who's confused, I don't know. But I'm through giving The Crane Wife more chances.

[3-LockBox]

I haven't listened to the Crane Wife in a spell, and haven't had the desire to whip it out (the CD) but it does make an appearence in MP3 rotation. But I can count on one hand the number of times I've made it through an entire ELP album. Keith Emerson got the cheapest, cheesiest sound out of thousands of dollars of equipment.

[Swish]

HAHA!! Well, I don't enjoy it with the intensity I did when I was fourteen, that's for sure. I think Tarkus was far more cohesive and downright fun to listen to. But ultimately I think the Decemberists' melodies and vocal stylings are boring and unoriginal. Hell, maybe I'm the one who's confused, I don't know. But I'm through giving The Crane Wife more chances.

I have to say I listened to BSS more than a few times way back when, but the thought of it now? No thanks.

Crane Wife was a favorite of mine when it came out, but time has a way of changing opinions. It doesn't come close to Castaways and Cutouts, which I feel is their best (right Slosh?) or Picand Castaways or Picareque. I do like a few tunes on it, but a few others I have to skip through.

Swish

[Swish]

I haven't had the desire to whip it out.

Consult your physician.

[Slosh]

I've been kinda bored with music lately. Don't get me wrong; there are quite a few good 2008 albums in my collection but they're kinda samey with many older albums from similar artists, as you would expect. Maybe I need to go off in a new direction for a while. I've been just playing my whole library on shuffle lately, not even bothering to pick a genre, year, etc. Of course that means I'm hearing stuff that I haven't listened to much before or older stuff that I've not revisited in a good long while, but I miss the new discovery aspect that made me a music geek in the first place. I kinda feel like I did in the late '90s where even though there still was plenty of good new music being made I was bored by most of it. Gotta get outta this rut. Maybe noddin0ff's funk comp will derail my boredom.

Fortunately I've got other hobbies and distractions too . . . .

NP:

[bobsticks]

I've been kinda bored with music lately. Don't get me wrong; there are quite a few good 2008 albums in my collection but they're kinda samey with many older albums from similar artists, as you would expect. Maybe I need to go off in a new direction for a while. I've been just playing my whole library on shuffle lately, not even bothering to pick a genre, year, etc. Of course that means I'm hearing stuff that I haven't listened to much before or older stuff that I've not revisited in a good long while, but I miss the new discovery aspect that made me a music geek in the first place. I kinda feel like I did in the late '90s where even though there still was plenty of good new music being made I was bored by most of it. Gotta get outta this rut. Maybe noddin0ff's funk comp will derail my boredom...

Ain't that the truth.

I could say that this season and the unprecedented amount of access I have to the games effected my listening...and I could say my current break-neck work schedule was detrimental as well...and both those things would be true to an extent but in reality it's nice to read that someone else has noted what I've been suspecting all along: 2008 started off with alot of promise, a lot of good names, and a lot of touted records but it certainly has been uninspiring.

Yeah, "Ten Stones" still gets some play...and "Carried To Dust" but I find myself as often as not reaching deeper into the stacks if at all.

I will say I've gotten some nice care packages from a couple of you-know-who's that have been welcome icebreakers. Love me some metal and Government Mule is spinnin' away right now.


Thanks boys. Ye shant be forgotten...

[Auricauricle]

And you call yerselves Audiophiles!! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!!!

Come on!! Don't get a life!!

Um...