My ripping victory

I have been downloading and ripping MP3's since about 1998; so I've accumulated quite a few. Looking through my library recently I decided it was time for a clear out and an upgrade. Any file that was below 256 Kbps was deemed unsuitable and a replacement sought. The majority of the time this simply meant re-ripping CDs at 320 Kbps, but I soon found some CDs wouldn't rip. No matter how many times I cleaned the disc, cleaned the laser and screamed at the screen, some CDs just weren't playing ball. In a vain attempt to overcome the situation I even bought another copy of one particularly frustrating disc, a-ha's "Minor Earth Major Sky", but the new copy was even worse than the original.

Nope, it wasn't copy protection, it wasn't scratches, it wasn't bronzing. At first I found this quite mysterious as I had ripped all of these CDs previously. But it soon occurred to me that this was some years ago using different PCs and different operating systems. The majority of my MP3s were created on a desktop machine with an internal optical drive running Windows XP. Windows 10 on a modern laptop just couldn't get the job done.

My old 'copy protection workaround' of using an optical output from a traditional CD player was so laborious that it was impractical for the number of CDs I was looking at. Google searches weren't really turning up any useful information and I became increasingly frustrated. I gave up.

Fast forward about 3 years and I found a solitary forum post that seemed to describe the exact issue I was having. The poster had identified the one thing all of these discs had in common. Three dirty letters: WEA. It seems discs manufactured by WEA are different, and not in a good way. Most solutions for difficult to rip CDs centre around using old optical drives. It seems more recent hardware just can't cope with some discs, and for my laptop, as with many others, this meant WEA discs.

Today, most people seem to have abandoned optical drives and CDs (one colleague recently said: "Who buys CDs in this day and age?"). Not being 'most people' means there are bargains for the rest of us. I was able to find an old Sony USB optical drive on eBay for just a few pounds.

As soon as the new drive arrived I plugged it in, threw in a copy of Madonna's "Music" and watched it spit the disc out like it was poison. Next I tried David Gray's "White Ladder" and Windows Media Player crashed as soon as the drive span up. When I tried my nemesis "Minor Earth Major Sky" the drive disappeared from explorer and Windows crashed without so much as spinning up the disc.

In order to eliminate the laptop as the source of the issue I plugged the drive into my work laptop. As the disc began to spin I noticed the laptop was not only reading the disc, it was actually playing the audio! With lightning speed I hit "Rip CD" and crossed everything. Immediately Windows put up the shutters. My work machine is obviously configured not to allow ripping. Foiled again.

Recently I was working on my laptop whilst simultaneously trying to keep one of my children entertained. In desperation I picked up an old netbook I had lying around the office and gave it to her. It took a minute or to for the light bulb moment to happen but when it did, it triggered intense negotiations to retrieve the netbook and convince a two year old that Peppa Pig wasn't as important as ripping CDs.

In hope rather than expectation I plugged in the optical drive and fired up Media Player. With trembling hands I placed HARD-Fi's "Starts of CCTV" into the drawer and pushed it closed. Yes,it read the disc and started to play it; but I'd been this close before. However, when I clicked "Rip CD" this time... it did. Not only did it rip this CD but it also devoured David Gray, breezed through Madonna, didn't even pause on ripping New Order and Prince was a push over. This just left 'the big one', the most difficult to rip of them all: "Minor Earth Major Sky". At first the CD span but didn't play and then the first track ripped but it then returned an error and the drive dropped off the list of available devices. Damn you Morten Harkett.

Yes, repeating the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is insanity; but I decided to restart, plug the drive back in and try again. I was not going to be beaten by an eighteen year old CD. And I'm pleased to say that I wasn't beaten, second time around the CD ripped without so much as a murmur of protest.

So, I have finally ripped all of the discs that were giving me trouble and am now about half way through ripping my CD collection. So if you will excuse me I'm about to pull box number 12 off the shelf and get stuck in.

Oh, and if you know of anyone who would like to buy a copy of aha's "Minor Earth Major Sky" do let me know.

Remixes - too much of anything is never enough

I’ve always defended the use of remixes. Yes, they have been used to cynically exploit the record buying public at times, but they have also given much joy. I love remixes that either improve on or drastically alter the way you perceive a track. I have a playlist on my computer entitled “The Best Remixes Ever”. Here are some of the gems it includes:

Front 242 – Rhythm of Time [Victor the Cleaner] remixed by The Orb [the only decent remix The Orb ever did] I forgot about the Depeche Mode "Happiest Girl" remixes when I posted this

Nine Inch Nails – Only [Richard X Mix]

Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence [Ewan Person Extended Remix]

Mansun – I can Only Disappoint You [Perfecto Club Mix]

Baxendale – I Built this City [Michael Mayer Mix]

Björk – Hunter [Skothus Mix] remixed by Gus Gus (I used to think the single version of “All Is Full Of Love” was a great remix until I found out it is the original version and that the album version is a remix)

I could add loads of other great remixes and I’m sure most fans of dance or electronic music have their own. But when do remixes get out of control? How many mixes are enough?

In the 1980’s record labels began releasing multiple formats of the same single which all counted towards its chart position (only sales of physical product counted then). Picture discs were a particular favourite tool with free posters also common. As dance mixes became more popular these various formats began to fill with different remixes and in turn spawned more formats. Historically most people have cited Trevor Horns plethora of “Relax” 12” singles as a turning point in the life of the remix. By the 1990’s singles such as Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” were being released on no less than 7 different formats. Luckily the digital age arrived and saved fans the maddening task of identifying and procuring every release and remix. Or did it?

The Pet Shop Boys single ‘Vocal’ was released back in June. There were 9 versions of the song released on the CD with a couple more available as exclusives on services such as Beatport. However since its release it has become apparent that there were many more remixes commissioned but not used. These mixes seem to have been released back to the artists who are making them available online, presumably with Neil and Chris’s consent.

The trouble comes in the sheer volume of these ‘official mixes’. Personally I lost count somewhere around the 40^th different mix. Many of them are average, but strangely none of them are terrible. A few are superb. The ‘Drop Jackson mix’ seems to be universally praised amongst fans with the ‘Armageddon Turk Occupy Mix’ and ‘Leonidas & Hobbes Vocal mix’ also personal favourites. So why weren’t these mixes released? Well they have been. ‘Officially leaked’ seems to be the order of the day. If you want to spend hours on dodgy websites duelling with Trojans and spyware looking for that one last dub/edit/instrumental you are missing, then you can. Alternatively you can be happy with your digital download from iTunes and leave the searching to idiots like me. It seems you can never have too many remixes.

Electronic "Especially Bad Edition"

There have been many poor “remastered” CD’s issued by increasingly desperate record companies in recent years. The New Order “Deluxe Editions” of 2008 remain the pinnacle of record company ineptitude and stupidity.

But there has emerged a challenger to New Orders crown with the release of the “Special Edition” of Electronics’ eponymously titled debut.

Why would you include a second CD with new edits of songs that are completely unrelated to the original album and exclude the rare and unreleased single edit of “Tighten Up”? Why add alternative versions of tracks recorded eight years later and omit remixes of “Getting Away with It” which have never been released on CD in the UK? Why label “Feel Every Beat” as the “2013 Edit” when it is in fact the DNA remix from 1991?

The release of this CD is a mercenary act that has been conducted by people who are completely ignorant. If you were to be generous to EMI records, you would describe this collection of music as ‘eclectic’. If you were feeling evil you would say it is a complete mess not worthy of a single penny of your hard earned cash.

If a CD is worth reissuing as a “Special Edition” surely it is worth getting right? This lazy ‘scatter gun’ approach to track selection is pathetic. I guess we should be grateful nothing on these two CDs has been taken from a vinyl source (unlike the afore mentioned New Order releases) and the uninspiring packaging does at least contain some new sleeve notes.

Personally I think it should be relabelled as the “Especially Bad Edition” and I encourage everyone to steer clear of it.

It's OK not to love Tubular Bells.......

Like many others, the first Mike Oldfield record I ever heard was Tubular Bells. I didn’t buy the album when it came out as it was released the same year I was born. In fact, I didn’t buy it at all. Back in the 80’s when CD players were first becoming popular; manufacturers would bundle in free CD’s with a new player. One of my five (yes five) freebies was Tubular Bells. When I first played it I was totally bemused by it and rarely listened to it again - I was expecting something different.

It wasn’t until I saw the premier of Tubular Bells II on TV a few years later that I thought this Oldfield guy might actually be quite good. I went back to Tubular Bells but still found it a bit too odd and gritty for my taste. The sequel however, was a glistening and fluid journey through a magnificent musical landscape. I decided to blindly venture into Oldfield’s extensive back catalogue and see what else came up (not something I would recommend without assistance).

Now, if the next album I had bought had been Discovery or Islands my Oldfield odyssey might well have ended there and then. Happily my next purchase was Crises. As a fan of the Fairlight the title track was an immediate favourite. If you couple that with Moonlight Shadow and a few other less well known but interesting songs, you have a great album. In fact Crises (the track, not the album) remains my favourite Oldfield composition. Suddenly I was a Mike Oldfield fan.

When The Songs of Distant Earth was released I was stunned. For some reason I found it a quite affecting piece of music and the more I revisited the album the better it seemed to become. I still like to listen to the whole album rather than selected tracks as it is such a cohesive and moving piece of work. It remains my favourite Mike Oldfield album by quite some way.

Fast forward twenty years (surely not...*checks*…yes twenty) and Oldfield has just released some nonsense remix album that is barely worth the entrance fee. I started reading some reviews online just to check that my opinion of Tubular Beats isn’t too out of step with fellow fans. As a devotee of electronic, rather than acoustic or guitar driven music, I always assumed my opinions on Oldfield albums were often contrary to the majority of his fans. But the more opinions I read online the more I realised my destain for Tubular Beats and love of Crises and The Songs of Distant Earth is shared by many.

So if you are a Mike Oldfield fan; I’d just like to say, it’s OK not to love Tubular Bells. You are not alone.

My CD is cheaper than your mp3

In previous posts I have reasoned that buying CD’s should be dispensed with and that buying music digitally really is the best way forward. And yet I find myself continually buying CDs at a steady rate. So why? Well here is one reason why:

Today I realised a big hole had appeared in my music collection. I’m not 100% sure if I ever bought Massive Attacks “Mezzanine” or if I have lost it; either way, I don’t seem to own it at present. To remedy the situation I went straight to my chosen retailer (always amazon.co.uk as I’m lazy) and searched for the album. Just before I clicked on buy mp3 for a reasonable £2.49 I saw the price of a second hand CD.

A small light bulb lit above my head and I clicked on "used". Why would I buy a collection of mp3's when the cheaper option is to buy a CD for 1p? That's right 1p. 

I have bought a few books on amazon for this price before, but never CDs. Most people are just trying to have a clear out and figure they will make some money on postage I think, but you really do get the item for 1p. Yes, the postage is £1.20 or something, but it still works out cheaper to buy a CD than buy a digital copy. 

So all of my rhetoric about buying music in digital form has been undermined and my CD collection keeps expanding not shrinking. I will have to live with the headache of where to store all of these CDs; but with a few more pounds in my pocket.

CD Rot

A few weeks ago I wrote about the idea of buying music largely as mp3's rather than in any physical format. I am failing miserably in this endeavour as the ever growing pile of amazon packages my postman is delivering testify. 

 

Now, the idiocy of my expanding CD collection is no longer solely limited to lack of space. I have begun to encounter the first incidence of what I think is CD rot in my collection. On opening up an Eurythmics CD I must have bought sometime in the late 80's, I noticed it had a distinct brown/copper tinge that I do not remember it having. I can find no pictures of the actual CD of this release on the net and am slowly convinced it is succumbing to bronzing. The disc does have a tendency to produce read errors but is also scratched a little so I can't identify if the problem is the scratches or the presumed bronzing. 

Either way the CD is easily replaced and is not especially significant. However, if one day I open up the cupboard and find a few hundred CD's unreadable and brown, I am not going to be impressed. If these discs are bronzing because of a known manufacturing error should the record company not offer us recompense? Faulty workmanship of any other sort would demand redress.

Whilst a blown hard drive may wipe out my music collection, I can at least make multiple copies of my music to offer some sort of safety net. If my CD's rot and become unplayable I am stuffed. This digital collection idea makes increasing sense. Anyway must go. Postman is at the door with a package from amazon.

CD's - what are they good for?

About 5 years ago I threw away a wheelie bin full of CD’s. I had listened to them once and had no intention of listening to any of them again (you know “Eskimos and Egypt” “Spacehog” - shit like that). I needed to slim down my collection as I had moved house and didn’t have as much storage. It turned out to be a painless process and I have never thought “Oohhh where is that ‘Phil Collins Hits’ CD?” only to find it has been binned. I don’t regret anything – so why do I find it so hard to swap to digital music and let go of the rest my CD’s?

I keep a back up drive of my MP3’s as I’m worried that should my hard drive die, I will loose all of my music. Yet, I know I always have the back up of the CD’s. But each of the boxes in my spare room contains around 50 CD’s. There are 27 boxes - so that’s about 1350 CD’s (I have sold/thrown away/given away about as many in recent years too). That’s a lot of weight and storage space for a ‘back up for a back up’. It’s ridiculous.

Increasingly I am realising that the CD’s might be a 'back up' for a lot of my music, but there is an increasing amount  which I only own in digital download format. Sometimes this is because I have no choice and the music is only available as a download, sometimes it is out of choice, but I am becoming increasingly comfortable with the idea that music doesn’t have to come on a black or silver disc. I never play my CD’s or vinyl anymore and only use them as a source to rip. I play music from my phone via Bluetooth in my car and home; I use last.fm on my Xbox and play MP3’s constantly from my PC. Thus, it is totally illogical that I continue to buy music in physical formats.

I am trying hard to give up physical releases and weaning myself off by only buying digital downloads of artists who are new to me (such as Chairlift’s “Something” this week) and sticking to physical releases for artists I love and consider myself a collector of (Pet Shop Boys, Nine Inch Nails etc etc). I hope I can stay on the path to CD sobriety; my spare room is small enough as it is and I really don’t want to have to throw away that Sven Vath CD – oh no, hold on a minute……..