XTC

Just what the name says.
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Crummy Old Label Avatar
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Postby Crummy Old Label Avatar » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:12 pm

Speaking of XTC and speaking of vinyl.....

The original US pressing of the Drums and Wires LP on Virgin/Atlantic (no, not the airline) was a wonder to behold. Hands down the most atrocious pressing I ever owned. Or pressings. I exchanged it three or four times and they were all shit. Recycled vinyl (and floor scrapings) at its finest. Sometimes you could even hear the music break through the surface noise. It skipped. It popped -- often. One copy had an actual crater on side two. As a stylus-destroying dadaist art object it was quite admirable.

Besting even that was the bonus 7" included. It made the LP sound like silk. Any given flexi disc would blow this thing out of the water.

Ah, memories. Shit like THIS was (more often than not) "the golden age of vinyl," particularly if you were buying US pressings. It went like this: exchanging the LP several times in hopes of getting a playable copy, frustration, more frustration, then the hunt for the import pressing.

The abysmal quality of US vinyl (especially anything on Atlantic, Reprise, and RCA) in the 1970s is what really fuelled the import trade. (Well, that and a strong dollar.)

I have no nostalgia for vinyl whatsoever.
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Dob
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Postby Dob » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:37 pm

Crummy Old Label Avatar wrote:Ah, memories. Shit like THIS was (more often than not) "the golden age of vinyl," particularly if you were buying US pressings. It went like this: exchanging the LP several times in hopes of getting a playable copy...

...and hoping you didn't have to deal with the same clerk every time.
...frustration, more frustration, then the hunt for the import pressing. The abysmal quality of US vinyl (especially anything on Atlantic, Reprise, and RCA) in the 1970s is what really fuelled the import trade.

For a number of years I only bought Japan pressings (or other high quality pressings) because I got so fed up with crappy vinyl. In fact, that was the main reason I bought MFSL vinyl, not because of the mastering.
I have no nostalgia for vinyl whatsoever.

Me neither. The Sony D5 Discman gets my vote as the most significant hifi product of my lifetime.
Dob
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"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance" -- HL Mencken

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Postby Rspaight » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:39 pm

The Sony D5 Discman gets my vote as the most significant hifi product of my lifetime.


You too, huh?

Ryan
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J_Partyka
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Postby J_Partyka » Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:37 am

Beatlesfan03 wrote:I've heard only one remaster and that was Black Sea and to be honest, I thought it smoked not only the original CD, but the original UK vinyl as well. It is loud, but not at fatiguing level.


I was pretty surprised to discover, looking through my collection the other night, that the only copy of Black Sea I currently have is the US RSO/Virgin vinyl. It played a bit of it and it sounded fine but not particularly exciting.

I could have sworn I had a British LP, but I guess I don't. In any case, the remaster is currently en route to me, and I am quite eager to hear "Respectable Street" in particular in all its pounding (uncensored) glory.

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Postby TSmithPage » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:38 pm

I fell in love with XTC with Skylarking (still my favorite of the band's records) after hearing a promo copy of the LP while working at a record store. After that, I desperately waited for a CD version to appear, and can verify that the first CD issue came several months after the LP and did indeed substitute "Dear God" for "Mermaid Smiled." I preferred the original track listing and was glad to see MFSL reincorporate the track into its release.

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J_Partyka
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Postby J_Partyka » Thu Mar 03, 2005 8:44 pm

But ... the MFSL includes "Dear God," not "Mermaid Smiled." I presume you mean the more recent remaster?

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Postby TSmithPage » Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:43 pm

Damn, my memory is getting bad. Yes, you're right. What I actually thought at the time was how I was glad to see Mermaid Smile surface on CD on the Rag and Bone Buffet CD (the b-sides collection).

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Beatlesfan03
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Postby Beatlesfan03 » Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:51 pm

BTW, does anyone know if Rag and Bone Buffet came out on vinyl? I've tried seeking it out but the trail ends up cold. I posted this query at sh.tv once before but got no responses.
Craig

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Postby Beatlesfan03 » Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:54 pm

J_Partyka wrote:I was pretty surprised to discover, looking through my collection the other night, that the only copy of Black Sea I currently have is the US RSO/Virgin vinyl. It played a bit of it and it sounded fine but not particularly exciting.

I could have sworn I had a British LP, but I guess I don't. In any case, the remaster is currently en route to me, and I am quite eager to hear "Respectable Street" in particular in all its pounding (uncensored) glory.


Yeah, I dumped my RSO when I got my Virgin LP. Even though it wasn't as great condition as the RSO, it blew it away. At least my pressing of the RSO was very crunched at the end and sounded horrible.

Hope you like the remaster. As said I earlier, it was the only one I heard and I was impressed with it. I guess I'm just easy to please with my originals that I really don't have any need to seek out the other remasters.
Craig

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Postby Ess Ay Cee Dee » Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:59 pm

nt
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J_Partyka
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Postby J_Partyka » Fri Mar 04, 2005 6:31 am

Beatlesfan03 wrote:Hope you like the remaster. As said I earlier, it was the only one I heard and I was impressed with it. I guess I'm just easy to please with my originals that I really don't have any need to seek out the other remasters.


I will say the only one of the remasters I have that still sounds great to me is English Settlement, from roughly the same period ... so I won't be surprised if Black Sea sounds great as well.

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RE: Skylarking

Postby J_Partyka » Sat Mar 05, 2005 5:15 pm

Beatlesfan03 wrote:To me, the MoFi sounds futzed with even though I can't quite put my finger on it. My original Virgin, IMHO, is far better than the MoFi.


I now have a copy of the British Virgin Skylarking CD (thanks!), and I just did a brief comparison with the MoFi, focusing on the cuts "Grass," "Season Cycle" and "Earn Enough for Us."

The main difference to my ears is that the Virgin seems to have a slight treble boost (or else the MoFi is slightly rolled off). This really makes Colin Moulding's backing vocal lines in "Season Cycle," for instance ("summer chased by autumn/autumn chased by winter...") sparkle on the Virgin disc, whereas on the MoFi they just sort of sit there.

At the same time, I felt overall the Virgin sounded leaner than the MoFi, particularly in the low end. "Earn Enough for Us" lacked punch on the Virgin, to my ears, and the bass guitar on all three cuts I heard sounded richer on the MoFi. On the other hand, the batter on the bass-drum head on "Grass" had more impact on the Virgin, whereas on the MoFi it gets somewhat lost in comparison.

I suppose preferring one to the other would really just be a matter of taste, and perhaps what you're used to hearing. In truth, both discs are perfectly enjoyable. I'll probably continue to listen to the MoFi most of the time, as I have for years ... I just like the way Moulding's bass comes across, and it's what I'm used to.

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Re: RE: Skylarking

Postby Beatlesfan03 » Sat Mar 05, 2005 6:20 pm

J_Partyka wrote:
Beatlesfan03 wrote:To me, the MoFi sounds futzed with even though I can't quite put my finger on it. My original Virgin, IMHO, is far better than the MoFi.


I now have a copy of the British Virgin Skylarking CD (thanks!), and I just did a brief comparison with the MoFi, focusing on the cuts "Grass," "Season Cycle" and "Earn Enough for Us."

The main difference to my ears is that the Virgin seems to have a slight treble boost (or else the MoFi is slightly rolled off). This really makes Colin Moulding's backing vocal lines in "Season Cycle," for instance ("summer chased by autumn/autumn chased by winter...") sparkle on the Virgin disc, whereas on the MoFi they just sort of sit there.

At the same time, I felt overall the Virgin sounded leaner than the MoFi, particularly in the low end. "Earn Enough for Us" lacked punch on the Virgin, to my ears, and the bass guitar on all three cuts I heard sounded richer on the MoFi. On the other hand, the batter on the bass-drum head on "Grass" had more impact on the Virgin, whereas on the MoFi it gets somewhat lost in comparison.

I suppose preferring one to the other would really just be a matter of taste, and perhaps what you're used to hearing. In truth, both discs are perfectly enjoyable. I'll probably continue to listen to the MoFi most of the time, as I have for years ... I just like the way Moulding's bass comes across, and it's what I'm used to.


And I now have a copy of the MFSL Skylarking. :)

Funny you should say that you compared Earn Enough For Us as that was one of the tracks I used. I will agree that MFSL seems to have more punch. I also noticed that on Big Day, the bass right before the song kicks in seems to drop out on the Virgin, but flows nicely on the MFSL.

I think the Virgin sounds more detailed on Grass and on Ballad for A Rainy Day. Another Satellite sounded the same between the two (although the MFSL is a tad louder).

One thing I found strange is that Dear God seems a little more detailed than the other tracks on the disc. Could it be possible that MFSL used a different tape for that one song? Maybe it's just me.

Overall, I found the MFSL to be an enjoyable listen (moreso than when I first had it) but I'm still sticking with the Virgin for now. :)
Craig

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Postby Ess Ay Cee Dee » Sat Mar 05, 2005 6:29 pm

nt
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Postby Ron » Sat Mar 12, 2005 7:50 pm

I've got the first three XTC titles on vinyl--the first two are UK while Drums is a US press [with no pressing problems]. I thought the original CDs were OK, so much so that I don't think I played the vinyl again for years. I thought the remasters were a major improvement.

Young Prix started a thread on sh.tv maybe six months ago similar to this one. Since I'd upgraded my phono preamp a couple of years ago, I've *usually* preferred the vinyl to the CD issue and fully expected the XTC vinyl to trounce the remasters [especially as I remember the vinyl sounding so great when I originally bought those titles in the '70s]. Wrong. I was blown away at just how murky those records are and how terrific the remasters sound. At the time I only had a US press of White Music, but tracking down a UK press yielded the same crummy results. In any event, I couldn't tell you if the later remastered titles you're interested in sound as good as the first three or if they sound much better than the original CD issues. But if my experience with the first three is any indication, then it might be worth a shot.
Dr. Ron :mrgreen:TM "Do it 'till you're sick of it. Do it 'till you can't do it no more." Jesse Winchester