I wish that Laughing Stock would have also been released on Hybrid SACD, like was done for TCOS and SOE. Of course, it would have cost me another $110 approximately, since I was late on finding out about those 2 Albums being highly praised for the SQ of the SACD Layer, as only learned about those SACDs after joining this Forum. Also, add the Hollis Solo Album to my same wish for a release on the same Hybrid SACD.
Something interesting popped up yesterday. I listened to the new Tears For Fears album on Tidal and when it finished, I noticed Talk Talk was one of the recommended artists and I hadn't explored their catalog on Tidal yet so I clicked it. I noticed the Mirror Man sleeve and figured it was another boring compilation reusing old artwork but it's apparently a 2022 remaster of the single that happened to be released yesterday. I checked the usual digital stores but didn't see it available for purchase yet. What's interesting is that this month happens to be the 40th anniversary of the release of their first single, Mirror Man b/w Strike Up The Band. Hopefully, they'll continue with the rest of the singles. We should know fairly quickly because the first release of the Talk Talk single was in March of 1982. Has anyone seen any announcements of a reissue program? Most of their catalog has been reissued digitally but there's a few alternate extended versions that would be nice to see properly transferred. A nice thing about Tidal is they often show extensive credits for releases and this one shows mastering done by John Webber. I didn't recognize the name but a quick look at Discogs shows he mastered some recent Bowie releases and the latest Duran album so I was a bit nervous. He also mastered the recent Bunnymen Peel Sessions release though and I thought that sounded great so fingers crossed. Mirror Man (2022 Digital Master) / Talk Talk – TIDAL
Cool find! It seems like the fragmentation of albums and the overall musical scene by streaming services will likely (and sadly) extend to masterings too, although this is still quite interesting and possibly exciting. Thanks for the heads-up and the detective work!
Fascinating. I wonder if the whole catalogue has been remastered? And if so, will it get issued on cd/vinyl?
open.spotify.com/album/0pgEbaT2FGTEOeOet4DST7 sounds like these are actual remasters - it's much more bright than the 1998 release - ignore the bitrate for the 2022 releases, these were taken from Spotify at 128khz converted to get these values foobar2000 1.6.7 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1 log date: 2022-02-26 21:02:21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Analyzed: Talk Talk / Mirror Man -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Duration Track -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR9 0.00 dB -10.89 dB 3:21 1-Mirror Man DR8 0.00 dB -9.35 dB 2:43 2-Strike -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of tracks: 2 Official DR value: DR9 Samplerate: 44100 Hz Channels: 2 Bits per sample: 16 Bitrate: blank Codec: PCM 1987 reissue, The Party's Over version foobar2000 1.6.7 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1 log date: 2022-02-26 21:03:43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Statistics for: 07-Mirror Man Number of samples: 8952300 Duration: 3:23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Left Right Peak Value: -1.76 dB --- -1.08 dB Avg RMS: -15.23 dB --- -15.23 dB DR channel: 11.28 dB --- 11.51 dB -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Official DR Value: DR11 Samplerate: 44100 Hz Channels: 2 Bitrate: 320 kbps Codec: MP3 1998 remaster foobar2000 1.6.7 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1 log date: 2022-02-26 21:07:31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Statistics for: 04-Strike Up The Band Number of samples: 7244748 Duration: 2:44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Left Right Peak Value: -0.70 dB --- -0.78 dB Avg RMS: -12.37 dB --- -12.54 dB DR channel: 10.06 dB --- 10.60 dB -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Official DR Value: DR10 Samplerate: 44100 Hz Channels: 2 Bitrate: 320 kbps Codec: MP3
On the remastering, found this on their Facebook page: Today marks the 40th anniversary of Talk Talk's first single. To celebrate, 2022 digital versions of Mirror Man and Strike up the Band are now available to stream here: Talk Talk - Mirror Man . Please follow our official Instagram profile: Login • Instagram
D'aw. I wasn't even searching for this, I actually wanted to look for any more info on the elusive Chameleon Hour, and the facebook page popped up under results.
it will be interesting to see how many singles they put on the market. will they do the 12 inches too? there's quite a few us, uk and some promo mixes too. later -1
Who is "they"? With Hollis gone.. and, ummm, EMI, who is overseeing the legacy of the band's work? Who operates the Facebook page? Etc.
As long as "they" have to pay royalties to Mark's family and the rest of the boys, let's keep TT alive.
They're pretty much all here: You could probably cobble together another disc of additional remixes of the same handful of songs, but you'd be looking at severely diminishing returns.
Yes, I think unless there's a secret vault out there, TT's output has been pretty thoroughly mined. After retirement IIRC, Mark still made music at home for himself, no idea if it was recorded though. If so it would be wonderful to hear, but maybe it was "private", intended for him and his family.
Asides Besides does skip at least two remixes that are actually better than the ones included - the US versions of "Such a Shame" and "It's My Life". @Scott Davies has remastered those on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zurcekgyo5A There's also BBC sessions and of course live material...
One "secret" or at least lesser known Mark Hollis appearance is on this Anja Garbarek track, where he plays bass and melodica. Interestingly, Steven Wilson is also on this track, on guitar.