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Posted

Leigh, how is your Merge pressing?

 

Mine sounds fine, sounds like I was lucky for once 

Hi Shane,

 

Me too. No issues with my pressing either. :thumb:

 

Cheers,

Leigh

Posted (edited)

Is the Euro City Slang pressing of Swim really a 33rd pressing and not a 45rpm?  Interesting.

 

Swim is pretty hard tracking for a cartridge as the pressing almost goes to the inner label, as does Our Love actually.  I am glad I use Stevenson alignment as the inner third of any record just sails through like a Sunday drive.

 

 My copies are both the Merge pressings and both are quiet but I have cleaned them a couple of times but overall no complaints from me re the pressing.  I have plenty that are worse pressings!!

 

Does the music sound better on the City Slang pressings or just the pressings are better?

 

cheers

 

Hi Shane, I apologise for the late reply.

 

I remember it was about 3 years ago, I was just discovering vinyl (not selling then). I was amazed at how much better 45 rpm sound compared with 33 rpm records. So I naturally buy only 45 rpm if the option is available.

 

My experience with a few Merge albums so far is, while the sound quality is quite good I often find that they don't sound as open as I like them to be. I was very impressed with the sound quality of the 45 rpm Swim, but my copy is noisy, quite warped, and with distortions.

 

I couldn't live with the distortions, clicks and pops and I hated to see my cartridge going up and down to such big degree (I didn't have a VinylFlat then), eventually I bought a copy of the CitySlang from Amazon UK albeit more expansive than the 45 rpm on Merge. I have flattened the 45 with VinylFlat since but it did not get rid of the distortions and it did not get worse.

 

I found the the CitySlang's bass sounds better, the treble lighter, the overall feel is warmer and a little more open. I would not say the differences are huge (as some claimed in the discogs.com feedback), but everyone hears things differently don't we? 

 

So yes, music sounds better on CitySlang, and yes, better pressing because it's not warped as the 45 Merge, no distortions and not as noisy.

 

Does arm/cartridge tracks worse on 45rpm than 33 rpm? I always think they track better on 45 rpm but I am not experienced enough for such technical question.

 

Are all copies of Swim not pressed at 45rpm?

 

If it's Merge it's 45 rpm. If it's CitySlang it's 33 rpm. As I still own both.

 

I must stress here that both Swim and Our Love sound very good on Merge, as surprised as I was. CitySlang is just better, especially Our Love. Better bass, more wonderful bass, more. It is as good as some of the best electronic labels  such as Kompakt, !K7, Warp Records, Pampa...

 

I will always choose CitySlang over Merge as I have a few albums on CitySlang which also sound wonderful. Until I get a bad sounding CitySlang, then I will try Merge.

Edited by Discus
  • Like 3
Posted

Some may find this relevant. The CitySlang Swim whilst at 33 is over four sides.

Can't remember if CS Our Love is over two or four sides.

Posted

I don't think this would be appreciated anywhere else.

 

 

I met the Beasties one time. They were very relaxed and approachable - but that's not surprising considering it was Canberra in the early 90's.

Posted

4XWGeWr.jpg

 

Aeriae - Victris -- found this CD today in the $2 bins, took a punt because it's on the Clan Analog label. Sounds like Autechre and Aphex Twin playing a Nintendo.

 

--Geoff

  • Like 2
Posted

4XWGeWr.jpg

Aeriae - Victris -- found this CD today in the $2 bins, took a punt because it's on the Clan Analog label. Sounds like Autechre and Aphex Twin playing a Nintendo.

--Geoff

That sounds like my kind of stew, will have to check it out. Still love the Clan.

Posted

Some may find this relevant. The CitySlang Swim whilst at 33 is over four sides.

Can't remember if CS Our Love is over two or four sides.

 

Both Merge and CitySlang are:

Half-speed mastered 

Single 180g vinyl

Posted

Daniel Avery - Drone Logic - Euro 2lp superb electronica in the vein of Underworld, Chemical Brothers mixed with some NEU! intensity.

 

 

Ghost Culture - a real surprise -Euro lp A bit of a homage to Japan - Quiet Life with plenty of Depeche, New Order synth beats and layering.

 

Both records have excellent production  :thumb:

 

phantasysound-02.jpg

 

 

Ghost_Culture_Album_Artwork.jpeg

  • Like 2
Posted (edited)

Its been a while since I have posted.

Here is a mid-tempo set I prepared. I like this one quite a bit. I hope you enjoy it :-)

 

There are some 4/4, breaks, IDM, space rock and bass-style tracks.
 

Click on the link to play/ download. The set is set to 'private' because it is not yet for wider release so the embedded player won't work. 

 

Edited by Vitruvian

Posted (edited)

Andy Stott is just excellent!  :thumb:

 

------------------------------------

 

Have been enjoying Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Year With 13 Moons.

 

JefreCantu-Ledesma-YearWith13Moons-500x5

 

Fuzz synth so fresh it cleanses my mind and soul. Heavy distortions, buzzing blurts of noise, at times intense, other times pristine and beautiful. I can't help but think of Blanck Mass but this must be the Yang to Blanck Mass' Ying.

 

This must be the most gorgeous ambient sound after Blanck Mass, Balam Acab and Forest Sword alike.

Edited by Y B
Posted (edited)

Hi All

 

I seem to be playing the 3 CD set about once a fortnight, again today:

 

debbd720ec19a1ab2cda8a0b0530dd08.jpg Listening and thinking that we will not hear the concert that they said that they would do this year  :(

 

JJ

Edited by Janjuc
  • Like 2
Posted

 

The guys that made this did it for no profit and as a fan tribute. Still blows my mind.

Posted (edited)

Another free download from Ektoplazm:

va-the-world-beyond.jpg

Various Artists - The World Beyond -- 4 long tracks, starting out all ambient, shifting to minimal sequencer driven sections, before finishing with mild psychedelic trance. Very nice. Kinda similar in concept to the old Mystery Of The Yeti CDs on TIP. 

--Geoff

Edited by hired goon
Posted

DJKoze-KosiComesAround-500x500.jpgDJKoze-Amygdala-500x500.jpgDJKoze-Reincarnations-Part2-500x500.jpgDJ-Kicks-DJKoze-500x500.jpg

 

It has been a morning of Koze and still not quite enough of his whimsical, minimal tech, quirky, weird and unusual tunes. Since 2013's Amygdala, I became a big fan. 

 

1. Kosi Comes Around (2005)

2. Amygdala (2013)

3. Reincarnations Part 2: The Remix Chapter 2001-2009  (2014)

4. DJ-Kicks 50: DJ Koze (2015)

 

I need to hunt down the now very hard to find Reincarnations Part 1: The Remix Chapter 2001-2009  (2009) on vinyl..

Posted

First piece of music my parents came home with that I actually liked way back in 1987 (which was on CD) so when I found this gem in vinyl today I had to have it.

Even better it was still sealed until about 20 mins ago....

post-122789-0-85320700-1439118214_thumb.

Posted

Christian Fennesz-Venice

BBC Review

Christian Fennez follows up 'Endless Summer' with a collection of gauzy guitar based...

Colin Buttimer

 2004

Christian Fennesz is probably best known for 2001's Endless Summer, an album of processed reflections on the Beach Boys. This external focus, together with the deployment of guitar as primary instrumentation and the melodic undertow of the compositions, was perceived to set him apart from legions of glitch musicians working to a minimal, computer-based aesthetic. Such a view may be something of an exaggeration given that glitch, like breakbeat before it, is a viral entity which has already infected a wide range of musics. Whatever, there have been a number of Fennesz releases in the intervening years, but Venice will inevitably be viewed as the heir to Endless Summer. Both releases certainly share a sense of sunny warmth perhaps less familiar to their north European siblings.

Melody, depth and transparency are themes to be teased out, unwrapped or briefly spied here. Fennesz appears to be gradually approaching an essentialism which, although made up of a relatively limited number of parts, actively refuses reductivism.

The experience of listening to most of these twelve pieces might be compared to the act of viewing from a distance a series of Monet's weather and light studies (the Haystacks, the Poplars or Rouen Cathedral). The longer the gaze is maintained, the more the colours vibrate and the forms shimmer between abstraction and figuration. The lack of any form of overt rhythmic instrumentation further underlines this impression, causing the music to float like a mirage or apparition.

David Sylvian makes a sudden, declarative appearance on eighth track "Transit", his voice rich and high in the mix. Fennesz's approach appears to be that of a jewel-setter and it's undeniably a beautiful piece of work to behold, whether or not you¹re a fan of Sylvian's lyrics and delivery. It might however have become something else, had there been a little less reverence and a little more of the emphatic manipulation and shredding which Fennesz applies to his own guitar.

Even so, it's certainly a courageous decision to host a single vocal track within an otherwise instrumental album - encountering that signature voice immediately redefines the memory and experience of the tracks which precede it and thus the whole album. It's a compliment to the power of Fennesz's music that the more the album is heard, the more "Transit" settles in alongside its instrumental peers and Venice recovers its equilibrium like a boat initially in danger of capsizing.

The cover bears five photographs by Jon Wozencroft, each of which deals with water, surfaces and light. The images are reminiscent of cropped postcards, their colours rich but their arrangement lacking a defining subject to draw the eye and resolve the composition.

A similar interpretation may be applied to Fennesz's music, where shimmering layers of noise either obscure the subject or accumulate to become the subject themselves. The reference to postcards also finds an analogue in the relative brevity of the majority of the pieces here: it's as though they're synopses posted from other places and states of being.

post-109554-0-12942100-1439212397_thumb.

  • Like 2

Posted

Played both of these Biosphere albums today - Patashnik from 1994 & Substrata from 1997.

 

Absolute classics  :thumb:

 

 

post-146611-0-40392500-1439302578_thumb.post-146611-0-76611400-1439302585_thumb.

 

  • Like 3
Posted

Ott has just released his new album via Bandcamp. CD and LP versions available soon...

 

http://ottsonic.bandcamp.com/album/fairchildren

 

Cheers,

Leigh

 

Nice one. I haven't heard any of his since Blumenkraft which is with the rest of my CDs in storage. I'm having a listen now to Fairchildren - there's that distinctive sound. Which album/s would you recommend after Blumenkraft?

Posted

Nice one. I haven't heard any of his since Blumenkraft which is with the rest of my CDs in storage. I'm having a listen now to Fairchildren - there's that distinctive sound. Which album/s would you recommend after Blumenkraft?

I really like the second album, Skylon. Perhaps even more than Blumenkraft.

 

Mir is good, but I think the first two are much better.

 

Cheers,

Leigh

  • Like 1
Posted

Thanks Leigh. I have Skylon in that pile of CDs as well from memory. It's been ages since I went through them. I'll hook up the server and check my ripped CDs shortly.

 

Cheers!

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