You think? My original vinyl copy sounded stunning. That's one I massively regret losing in The Great Boneheaded Record Cull of 2005.
Ya, English Settlement was just reissued last year and it sounds great. Bottom of my list right now, and dubious double - dipping if there is another version soon.
Yes, I do. I think my original UK LP sounds a little murky and so does my CD version. It's in the mix. I would like it to be drier, less reverb-y.
Yes his remix of Caravan's In The Land of Grey and Pink is only commercially available as lossy Dolby "worse than DTS" Digital (even the stereo remix, which is incredibly stupid) on DVD-V.
Yes. My thing was...I'd only be interested in expanding into surround if I could get ALL bluray, lossless, stuff. I believe that some of SW's 5.1 have been that DD/DTS lossy stuff right ? That's what I was saying. I didn't know that these releases, XTC, had all been done on a bluray/lossless format. So the relevance was in an "unknowing" situation. That's all.
For the most part, I'll buy pretty much any 5.1 release from an artist I have even just a moderate interest. But I rarely buy 5.1 only available in lossy form anymore with blu-ray such an easy delivery mechanism. Yes, I know I'm probably missing out on some good 5.1 music, but it's my contribution to a financial boycott.
This discussion reminded me of watching American Bandstand in my dorm room one Saturday morning. Dick had a couple rate Sgt. Rock. Good beat and they could dance to it. Never heard it on the radio, however. No idea why that song was picked from the album but guess it was released as a single.
I bought Octopus by Gentle Giant, unheard, purely because Wilson remixed it and I know he only remixes stuff he likes. I love prog anyway so I wasn't disappointed. I respect him immensely and have loved his work with XTC as well as his Jethro Tull and Yes remixes. In addition to his 5.1s his stereo mixes are great too, they're respectful to the originals while removing all the unwanted noise and mush. I just wish he was a huge Tubes fan so I could get my dream Wilson remixes.
It was reasonably prominent in the UK. I can remember hearing it on radio and on TV when I was a youngster years before I was ever an XTC fan. We had a few 'big' XTC songs here I can remember from back then. Making Plans for Nigel, Generals & Majors, Sgt Rock and Senses Working Overtime are all tunes I knew well as a boy from radio/TV over here.
OT: also a huge Tubes fan here, and it would be great to get a surround mix of their debut. Al Kooper's production on that album is fantastic, although the mix is a tad mushy because of the time it was released. I always wonder why more prog fans don't go nuts over songs like Up From The Deep. The way that song builds to the end is so awesome IMO.
Up From the Deep in 5.1 would blow my mind. The 'problem' with the Tubes...Up From The Deep is a great prog epic but the rest of the album is rock, mariachi, punk, pop, pastiche and god knows what else with the rest of their 70s career following the same lack of pattern. I love that about them but they're so diverse and 'arch' that it was hard for people to get a grip on how to take them. They were pretty popular in Europe though, we seem to have appreciated the theatrical performance, the satire and the level of musicianship in a way that the rest of the world didn't quick click with, but they are, imo, one of the most under-rated and under-appreciated bands in history. Anyway, sorry for the technical problems, back to our scheduled viewing...XTC.
Unrelated to Black Sea, but I just bought all 4 previous XTC remixes (blu ray version) from Import CDs for the ridiculous price of $16 each. If you haven't got them uet, this is a good time. As an aside - it still shocks me that physical media is still cheaper than down loads.
I hope I didn't imply, or that you just thought, that I didn't think 5.1 mixes should be included with sets. I see you weren't singling me out with your sentiments...and I assure you...I'd love to have a surround system and lossless audio and don't deflect from buying releases for the stereo, myself, that also include surround. It's just that I have gotten the DVD-V and CD sets...and can play the lossless stereo mixes from the DVDs....but have no capability to play the 5.1 lossy or not. I don't think I'll ever fully 'go over' to the surround systems anyway (more financial and excessive collecting)...only listen when I get a chance, as I love stereo and have my investments in that. Meager as they may be.
Not sure if anyone made the connection between XTC & The Tubes, but that's Prairie Prince on drums on Skylarking as well as the music (not vox) which was all recorded at The Tubes studio on Folsom St in San Francisco.
Yeah, Todd's worked with Prairie a couple times, and I just saw the two together on tour. Todd's production on The Tube's Remote Control, which predates Skylarking, is another favorite. But I keep diverting an XTC thread off-topic, so I'll shut up.
Andy claims that the timeline of these releases is dictated by the discovery of multitrack tapes in the EMI vault. But this will make five years in a row that tapes were found in time to release a new title in the autumn. The sequence in which the albums have been reissued is a little odd, but then reissuing them chronologically, or even in order or popularity, would be too obvious. Another possibility is that whoever is digging through the vault finds a set and says "That's it, I'm done looking until next year." I'm only partly joking.
It could be that they are timing the releases to the autumn, but they really are remixing the albums in the order that they're finding the tapes.
Black Sea was my first XTC album. This is fabulous news, and can't wait to add this to the other XTC Blus (though if I'm honest, I'm waiting for Mr Wilson to tackle The Dukes of Stratosphear's entire ouevre).
You might not get that wish. Though I can't find the series of tweets, Andy has said that some of the sounds and instruments were flown in directly onto the final master, so some elements would not be available for remix. Maybe this info was in the series of interviews that were done on the Dukes with Andy and John Leckie. Someone else has posted the youtube links in one of the XTC threads.
Yes, the two (fantastic) podcasts from 2009 (to go with the last reissue) mentioned that the tape loops are long gone. Andy seems a bit of a hoarder though, so you never know.