SAP

= Someone who invests in a new digital format.

Anybody have the Edison Wax Cylinder of Come On Pilgrim? Can you post it to me via USPS?

I have the punch rolls at home but my player piano just took a dump (bad hammers - felt mold), and I'd really love to hear it again.

Thanks!

Mr. Chimp wrote:Anybody have the Edison Wax Cylinder of Come On Pilgrim? Can you post it to me via USPS?

I have the punch rolls at home but my player piano just took a dump (bad hammers - felt mold), and I'd really love to hear it again.

Thanks!

Why, I heard that on my crystal radio only last night!

"I foresee a time when we will record to wax cylinder, or perhaps a release only on sheet music. Further and further back in time." - Frank Black

From Music Direct:
"Surfer Rosa established the Pixies as an essential indie rock band, and also established Albini's reputation as a highly innovative record producer. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain frequently cited Surfer Rosa as one of his major musical influences.

Originally titled 'Gigantic', this 1988 release was the Boston quartet's first full-length recording. It established the Pixies almost instantly as an exciting and essential band on the national indie scene and a distinct place in the history of Punk. Producer/Engineer Steve Albini created both a compulsive and hypnotic 'in your face' rush in the economy of each song, while still retaining the band's cryptic quirkiness.

Surfer Rosa is being re-mastered by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab from recently discovered, first-generation, Analog Original Master Tapes."



I guarantee this record got a grade-A ass-fucking, er, re-mastering.
I mean, what the fuck was "wrong" with the original issue, aside from the fact it wasn't recorded and mixed to sound commercial and disposable?

First, let's clear up a misconception. This Pixies "SACD" is in fact a dual-layer hybrid disk that plays on normal, red book cd players. It will not, like DCC, minidisk, or 8 track, be difficult to play back any time soon.

If you have an SACD player, it will recognize the disc as SACD and play it as such.

My comments are on the red book layer played through a normal cd player--well an audiophile one connected to an audiophile system.

This disc is not compressed at all, but it is eq'd. They took the the original masters, transferred them in heretofore unavailable resolution, and then leaned on the treble knob. That makes detail jump out, and may account for the impression of "room sound," but it doesn't sound right.

Unlike every other Albini recording I've heard, the cymbals dominate the mix rather than being cut from a whole cloth with the rest of the sounds. They have much more of a 'sssss' sound than on any other Albini recording I've heard. Strummed acoustic is all string and no body for the same reason. Kim Deal's voice has a halo of sibilance almost like it's being mistracked by a bad phono cartridge. And the tonality of the guitar and wussy male voices are altered by the treble boost as well. There may be some bass boost too but it's within the realm of acceptability.

I'd be very curious to see what Mr. Albini thinks, as I suspect it would take him 30 seconds to form an opinion.

I'd advise people to save their money except, in ten years this disc is likely to trade for more than the current retail, possibly 5 times as much, as it is limited and from a label that is quite collectible. But the sound is crap. You decide!

BadComrade wrote:
Your Pixies SACD will look really cool on the shelf next to your Doolittle DAT, your Bossanova minidisc, and your Planet of Sound DCC (digital compact cassette) though.

i'm tempted to make a poll with "favorite obscure/dated music medium". i have a friend with a DCC player. he probably was the only loser in uruguay who bought one.
and minidisc are awesome. and they look great.

I like Bossanova best on photograph.

very erudite opening post, mr/ms tracingerror. Is the cd layer thick enough to technically be "red book" though?

god bless you, wikipedia

The thickness I couldn't tell you but these discs are the same thing as the hybrid Dylan discs on Sony and the hybrid Stones ones in digipaks from 2002, which have since been recently been replaced by regular cds in jewel cases. They should all play fine in cd players for years to come, and you can copy them on a cd-drive no problem. (The SACD layer can only be copied via an analog-out, however).

I agree SACD is going the way of the dodo, and there are some SACD-only discs--Sony did a bunch, and some audiophile label licensees have done them too. But actually these are quite the in-demand items among the precious few who commited to high resolution digital formats, since few were pressed and few are on the market. Yep, you can get $60 for some stupid Stevie Ray Vaughan on SACD, and probably will be able to for quite some time.

However, it appears the vinyl has safely won the war of specialty formats.

i will really like to listen this different version!
i love the Pixies.....and i love Steve too!