Less pops in my pop music please

As I sit listening to the remastered version of “No 1 in Heaven” by Sparks I can’t help but notice that some of the extra tracks are sourced from vinyl. I understand that 30 year old master tapes get lost and I can accept that sometimes this is the only source available. But what I don’t understand is why they are always so badly mastered.

If an enthusiast such as DJPaulT can master vinyl to sound immaculate for his excellent “Burning the Ground” website; why can’t professional engineers do the same? It doesn’t take long to remove pops and crackles from a digital recording and adjusting EQ isn’t too complicated if performed by someone with skill.

Either record companies need to start looking harder for master tapes or employ DJPaulT to master their vinyl. Take pride in your work like Paul or don't bother I say. Music is too important for half hearted efforts.

Jarre remastered?

Most of the artists I listen to have had their back catalogue remastered and released in some form or another. The first artists to do this were the Pet Shop Boys, followed more recently by Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, New Order, Mike Oldfield, The Beatles and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. The list goes on and on. But why I asked myself have Jean Michel Jarre’s albums not been re-mastered?

Various Jarre CDs in my collection

Well the truth is I forgot it had already been done. It's been done more than once in fact. Dreyfus released tweaked versions of all Jarre’s albums in 1991. These CDs were not released in the UK and were only available for a short time. Thus I own only two of the discs and don’t remember them particularly well.

The second attempt at a reissue was made available when Jarre transferred to Epic in 1997. These CDs have clear trays and the name of the album written in the tray insert. They we all remastered by Scott Hull in New York.

However, both sets of reissues have one thing in common; they don't sound different from the original pressings. Yes, the live albums and compilations have different running orders or double albums have been shrunk into a single disc, but the music doesn't actually sound very different. Only with 2011's "Essentials and Rarities" did Jarre's old works receive what I would consider a true remastering.

Happily Jarre has begun work on a set of new masters which are to be reissued by Sony sometime on the near future. Zoolook seems to have been the first to have the fairy dust sprinkled upon it and whilst nothing has been announced officially, it seems all of his back catalogue is to receive the same treatment. Let's hope there will be new vinyl as well as CDs. New remastered vinyl would help banish the memories of the terrible reissues of his fist 3 albums from 2011.

Pet Shop Boys - Electric Box

It's that time of year again when I pay through the nose for a massively over priced Pet Shop Boys box set. "The Electric Box" is a limited edition of 350 signed copies that sold for an eye watering £500 each. Not only was it extortionately expensive, it was also 2 months later than promised (seemingly routine for Vinyl Factory releases) and massively disappointing. So lets see what £500 gets you...

The box was delayed for an additional 2 days thanks to DHL, but it was at least intact

Inside was a second box with the warning "PLEASE OPEN WITH EXTREME CARE" Gulp...

Once inside, a pair of white cotton gloves and instructions on how to assemble your box set are seen

Under this there is a folded piece of paper with the credits, an envelope with 5 PVC sleeves and the vinyl records

Then there is the gaudy perspex box which is almost identical to the one from the "Yes" box set but is transparent and has grooves inside to hold the records in place.

 

The coloured12" singles are shipped in 'transport' sleeves and are intended to be placed in the transparent PVC sleeves and then slotted into the box (hence the cotton gloves). One of the records is single sided and is signed and numbered on the label.

However, you wont be seeing my box assembled anytime soon. The PVC sleeves are not actually big enough to hold the records comfortably. To get the records into them involves a great deal of praying and squeezing. The vinyl makes horrible noises as the edges are dragged against the PVC to the extent that I thought "This cost £500; I'm not risking breaking it" and gave up on the first 12". For a product so delayed, one would think they would be able to create sleeves big enough to hold the records.

My confidence wasn't boosted by the fact that the instructions were taped to the top of the box with double sided sticky tape. This tape was applied in a very haphazard fashion and was stuck to the box, the envelope containing the sleeves and the records themselves. The whole idea of having to provide assembly instructions on a £500 box set seems like a complete anathema to me (The Vinyl Factory "hand craft" it and then I have to assemble it myself?) but to then stick tape all over the contents seems crazy.

The piece of paper with the credits feels like an after thought and adds nothing. It looks like it was rushed out on an inkjet printer and is superfluous. The whole package leaves you a bit underwhelmed: it just doesn't seem special enough when you consider the price. However, I shouldn't rush to judgement as I haven't even seen it put together. Maybe I should grow a pair and actually put it together before I condemn it too heavily.

I would never try to justify this purchase in terms of value for money. I have bought it as a collector, I feel a compulsion to own it. Nobody put a gun against my head and made me buy it. But as an object, it is rather disappointing; especially when compared to one of its predecessors. Not only was the "Yes" box set £200 cheaper, it contained exclusive mixes, signed artwork, was packaged in a much more stylish box and had over double the amount of vinyl. I never really fell in love with any of these box sets, but the original "Yes" set is much more special and now feels like a bargain when compared to "The Electric Box".

Erasure for Christmas?

When I found out Erasure were recording a Christmas album, I have to admit, I wasn’t very excited. In fact I was anticipating it being as bad as “Other People’s Songs”. Yet, as a sucker for a limited edition (I even subscribe to @sdedition twitter feed) I couldn’t help but order the deluxe box set of “Snow Globe” and boy am I glad I did. Not only is the box set one of the most thoughtful I’ve ever bought but the music is quite brilliant.

Firstly we should look at the music. Why does (what on paper) looks a terrible concept, work so well in execution? Well firstly Andy has truly found his inner choir boy. Tracks like “Silent Night” and “Silver Bells” work specifically because Andy sings them so well. Vince’s sparse arrangements seem to extenuate the beauty of the vocals yet remain imaginative and unique. Christmas related music makes up 75% of the album with the remainder taken up by fantastic new tracks such as “Loving Man” and “There’ll be no Tomorrow”. From first listen this album was good enough to even make this Scrooge feel Christmassy in November. The box set also features a second disc with remixes, acoustic versions and oddities plus a  third disc with a 'Radio Show'.

As you might expect, the 3000 box sets were only available for pre-order and are sold out. 

 

Losing my edge

Sometime in 2005 I was going to work on a night shift and for some inexplicable reason I tuned my car stereo to BBC Radio 1. This was strange as I never listened to this station normally and frankly, I haven’t listened to it since. But as I drove along that night, I heard a track titled “Daft Punk is Playing at My House” that was both weird and glorious; I loved it instantly. I bought LCD Soundsystem’s eponymously titled debut album as soon as I got access to Google and Amazon.

Over the next few years I bought “45:33” and “Sound of Silver” and found LCD Soundsystem were increasingly brilliant. By the time the glorious “This is Happening” was released I was truly engrossed by Mr Murphy’s music as it was a cunning mix of the sombre and the facile.

However, it became apparent that this was to be the last LCD Soundsystem album and by the time I went to see them live in the spring of 2010 we knew it was soon going to be over. I followed the break up of the group via their website with a mixture of disbelief and ambivalence.

Yet it is only when I watch “Shut up and play the hits” that I realise what a loss LCD Soundsystem are to the music world. Yes, we have the music and the memories, but to think a talent like James Murphy no longer has an output is quite sad. He says touring was ageing him and he wanted to get on with his life. Fine, stop touring if you have to, but please Mr Murphy, make some music. You’re too good not to.

Aventures in vinyl

I recently acquired a new turntable. Consequently I have spent quite a lot of time collecting new vinyl from a wide variety of sources. I have bought from eBay, collector web sites, charity shops, big chains like HMV and independent record shops all across the country.

I have bought ‘mint’ or ‘excellent’ records that look like they have been stored in a dust trap and conversely I have bought 30 year old vinyl that plays and looks as good as the day it was pressed. I have received flimsy 12” singles that I won for 50p wrapped in the sturdiest and most frustratingly secure packaging known to man. I have also received much anticipated eBay victories stuffed in a jiffy bag without a stiffener and its fate trusted to the Royal Mail (it turned up with a heavily creased sleeve but vinyl intact). I have bought record cleaning brushes, a new stylus, cartridge protractors and all kinds of protective covers. So what have I learned from all of this?

The remastered Kraftwerk LPs are by far the best I have bought

Modern remastered vinyl sells at a premium: Most modern pressings are often of a very high quality and that is reflected in the price. You get what you pay for I guess. The soundtrack to “Blade Runner” by Vangelis (2013) is £28-32 depending on where you shop, but is worth every penny. The remastered Depeche Mode (2007) and Kraftwerk (2009) LPs are fine examples of what is possible with brilliant mastering and virgin heavyweight vinyl but average out at £20 each. However….

Brand new 180g vinyl doesn’t guarantee quality: The reissues of Mike Oldfield albums such as “Crises” (2013) are lamentably inferior to the Kraftwerk repressings and quite disappointing. In 2011 Jean Michel Jarre’s first three LPs were released on vinyl for the first time in 20 years. Vinyl does have its limits and these releases highlight the compromises that must sometimes be made. The higher frequencies seem attenuated making the music sound dull, especially in tracks such as Equinoxe Part IV (with a terrible edit at the end of Part VII ruining the second side of the disc).

Not many people understand how to grade a second-hand record: When buying records, major suppliers and collectors use the system created by Record Collector Magazine. The average seller, who is often ignorant of the grading system, will commonly list a record as “good” when it should be graded as “excellent” and vice vesa. Buying vinyl on eBay from private seller is something of a minefield as a result. It took me 5 attempts to secure an “excellent” condition of one LP. Most people simply don’t refer to the condition of the record and this should be a warning!

The Technics SL1200

I used to own a cheap copy of a Technics SL1200 made by a company called SoundLab. It had a rubbish USB audio output and to say it wasn't robust is an major understatement. When the rather poor cartridge developed a fault I decided to throw the baby out with the bath water and start again.

So what turntable to choose? Taking into account my limited budget, I decided I definitely didn't want one of the ubiquitous Pro-Ject or Rega turntables. Having owned a Pro-Ject Debut deck for a few years I knew I couldn't go back to lifting the platter and moving a rubber band between wheels to change speed. Little weights dangling on pieces of nylon thread and a platter that takes an age to stop spinning when turned off aren't features I look for either. So what I wanted was something of better quality than my current deck but with the practicality of an SL1200 copy. Well, what about a real SL1200?

The SL1200 with its original Stanton 500 cartridge

The debate about whether the SL1200 is truly an 'audiophile' turntable still rages on Internet. The issue of belt versus direct drive finds me firmly on the direct side of the argument. Every belt drive deck I have ever owned has displayed noticeable wow and driven me to distraction. Similarly I have never noticed any added motor noise from direct drive and find the brake a useful function. With a high quality cartridge there is no reason why an SL1200 can't sound miles better than any entry level 'audiophile' turntable.

Having watched eBay auctions for a month or so I realised a few things. I needed a seller near to me as posting a heavy turntable with breakable parts is best avoided. Prices vary wildly depending on the cartridge installed and they are often sold in pairs. An original example in excellent condition will fetch between £200 to £250. Other criteria included an intact dust cover, working lights, to not have been gigged and totally unmodified (some of those Ortofon Concorde cartridges, blue neon lights and 'custom powder coatings' look dreadful).

The Rega Fono Mini is a marvel

Having won a suitable deck I couldn't help but be impressed by its solid construction. An SL1200 is made of a solid rubber base and weighs in at a hefty 12kg. On recommendation form a work colleague I ordered what turned out to be an essential element in improving the sound of my vinyl: a phono pre amp. Its amazing how much difference a little black box costing just £85 can make to the sound of a deck. The Rega Fono Mini is an amazing product that I recommend without hesitation. It even has a USB out so digital conversion is just as easy as any cheap USB equipped piece of junk. I have also thrown out the Technics slip mat and added a decidedly "non-slip" rubber mat and ordered a Denon DL110 cartridge.

The thing about playing vinyl on this set up is that it is a complete pleasure. Not only is the sound rich and punchy but the laborious nature of traditional turntables is eradicated. The SL1200 is very easy to live with and its practicality makes me more inclined to throw on an LP rather than an mp3; something I was not inclined to do with my old decks.

The critics and Hi-Fi snobs may sneer but the Sl1200 suits my needs and sounds better than any other turntable I have ever owned.