Today I got a nice clean vinyl copy of Mambo Nassau by Lizzy Mercier Descloux, and I'm quite impressed with the sound quality. Actually I first bought it digital via iTunes a few years ago, and the difference is so striking that I think the iTunes version might come from a defective master. It has lots of weird compression artifacts, it sounds like something recorded with, but played back without dbx. Does anyone have experience with different versions of this album?
I, too, downloaded Mambo Nassau (along with Best Off and most of Press Color) from iTunes. Later on, I also got the vinyl reissues of Press, Mambo and Suspense. And yes, there is a massive difference between that digital iTunes version of Mambo and the reissued vinyl. The digital is super compressed, whereas the vinyl sounds much more wide open and live. Thing is, original pressings of her albums (especially Mambo, which AFAIK wasn't even released in the US) are difficult enough to come by, that I can't compare the digital iTunes version to the original vinyl.
Same here ... it takes patience and money. I just looked it up: the album was released in France in 1981, and in Japan in 1982 (with a different cover). And that's it, until 2003, when ZE reissued and remastered the album; I suspect my iTunes version (bought in 2012) is that 2003 remastered. Whoever did that, they surely loved their compressor. Or, they just forgot to switch the noise reduction back on; it really is that obvious.
Yes, the Japanese one. Was a bit expensive, but now I've heard it, I think it's absolutely worth it. Back in the 90s, I bought Press Color and One For The Soul for cheap, from the used bins, but I've never seen a copy of Mambo Nassau before. [edit: no surprise - those albums were actually released in Germany back in the day. Weirdly enough, her only record that was released in the US at all was Press Color.]
That's awesome! No, I only have the recently reissued LP of Mambo, but it's quite good. Sounds like they got the vinyl versions (original and reissues) right, but that particular digital mastering has some issues. I say, if it was 2003, perhaps it was case of being "mastered for ear buds."
Hey merterhenz - great avatar! I was just checking trough my albums the other day and came across The Deviants. Great cover!
I don't think so ... it sounds distinctly ****ty even on laptop speakers or earbuds. I just ab/d it (and also parts of One For The Soul and Lizzy Mercier Descloux ("Gazelles"), and while they're also a bit compressed, it's much worse on Mambo Nassau - it really sounds like it's been mastered from a defective cassette tape. Very strange.
Thanks! I just checked who did the cover shot, and it was a guy called Keith Morris who did lots of album covers that are familiar (e.g. the first two Nick Drake albums, John Cale's Fear....)
