Grapes of Jazz - Dave White

Reflections on the State of the Music Business in 2008

2008-01-28T17:38:00.000-08:00

I thought I would step out of lurker mode and onto my soap box to talk about about a few changes in the music industry that have me worried.

1) The decline of audio fidelity and the acceptance of poor quality recordings.

Digital media is moving away from CDs and the current replacement formats are mp3 and iTunes file downloads. In order to keep downloads to a reasonable size, audio quality has been sacrificed. I can tell the difference between a "high quality" mp3 vs. CD audio. Unfortunately, either most people cannot tell the difference, or, they are willing to put up with it.

I would be willing to put up with paying for mp3 or iTunes files if the price were dramatically reduced (e.g. 25 cents or 10 cents per file instead of 99 cents). If we download a dozen songs and pay 99 cents for each one, then we've paid the same price as a CD for inferior audio quality.

Even if the price of mp3 and iTunes files were reduced, the problem with inferior audio quality remains. We'll need a digital media format that retains the audio quality of CDs but yet has a reasonable download size. Perhaps as the speed of broadband increases download size will not be an issue in the future.

An offshoot problem is that CD audio quality has deteriorated rapidly over the last 10 years. In order to make CDs sound louder, the audio signal has been compressed. Therefore, CDs sound louder but the dynamic range has been greatly reduced. Probably the worst offender of this problem in recent memory is the mastering on Rush's "Vapor Trails". But almost any new CD release suffers from over-compression these days. Unfortunately, louder sounds better to the average listener. When a tune sounds louder on the radio, this results in more sales.

2) File downloads currently signal the death of albums and an emphasis on hit singles.

With the market shifting to single file downloads, there will no longer be a need for artists or groups to record an album's worth of material. Furthermore, everything that is recorded will need to have "hit" potential. Established artists and groups can probably continue to record in the album format, but there will not be an incentive for "underground" artists to record albums. You can even see the death of albums in the latest CD releases.

Has anyone else noticed that albums are no longer being released? Instead, we have tons and tons of "Best of", "The Essential", "An Introduction To", titles. This problem is even affecting jazz, funk, and R&B releases. I recently decided I wanted to purchase the early Earth, Wind, & Fire albums (e.g. "Keep Your Head to the Sky"). Every store I walked into did not have a single "album" by Earth, Wind, & Fire. But they all had "The Best of...", "The Essential...", "An Introduction to...", "Greatest Hits of..." titles. Thankfully, I could still purchase these albums through Amazon, but the days of finding them in a local store seem to be over.

3) DRM (i.e. Digital Rights Management) is preventing music sales.

I personally do not subscribe to iTunes for two reasons: DRM and the inability to use those files outside of the iTunes format. I like Amazon's new mp3 download service because there is no DRM protection, and I can listen to the mp3 files on any device. The music and movie industry has always over-reacted to changing technology. They thought cassette players and DAT recorders would ruin them, and yet the music industry survived. The internet and file-sharing actually increase the exposure of artists who do not have airplay on traditional radio stations.

Currently I discover artists mainly through the internet, not through radio airplay. When I find an artist I like, then I buy CDs. I continue to buy CDs for the audio quality issues I mentioned earlier.

4) 30-second snippets are not enough "preview" time for deciding whether or not to purchase a song or an album.

Amazon, iTunes, and other providers should allow customers to play the *entire* song a limited number of times for free. 30-second snippets are not enough time to hear an artist's work, and they also encourage the short hit single format.

5) The internet is the only place to find music.

For music lovers, these are hard times. There are few stores that are devoted exclusively to music. For jazz and classical music, one local Borders book store has a decent selection. For urban gospel music I have to go to the local Lifeway bookstore, and they don't carry anything except the latest releases. Stores like Best Buy only carry the latest releases of major artists. For older, established artists, only "Best of" titles are carried. No stores carry "underground" artists or progressive rock groups.

Genesis Box Set, 1976-1982

2007-06-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

The first of 3 box sets of (re-)remastered Genesis albums have arrived. This set covers the years 1976 to 1982. I'm always wary of buying CDs that are marked "Definitive Edition" because we all know that a few years later, as technology improves, another remastered "Definitive Edition" will come out.

The question for fans is whether or not this box set is worth the purchase. Before I answer that, everyone should know that once again the United States is getting a raw deal on these releases. Because Warner Brothers does not support the SACD format, we only get CD audio along with the DVD extras. I spent extra money to get the SACD/NTSC-DVD combination and it is money well spent.

How do the remasters sound? For the most part, they sound great, but I have my reservations. The first thing you'll notice is the clarity of mixes is astonishing, and Phil Collins' vocals are up front and center. Nick Davis remixed these albums from the ground up with input from the rest of group (mostly from Tony Banks). Although they are completely remixed, care was taken not to deviate far from the original mixes. The result is that you will hear many things you didn't know were there, or, things that were there but now have been brought to the fore.

Sometimes this is a blessing and at other times I wanted to scream, "Nooooo!". The worst case of "No!" for me came during the chorus of "Blood on the Rooftops". For me, the mellotron on this song is haunting and beautiful. However, on the chorus the mellotron, while present, has taken a back seat to an organ I hadn't previously noticed in the mix. The second bad case is on
the solo of "Entangled" where the lead synth has taken a back seat to the other instruments. At the end of "In That Quiet Earth", the growling guitars shift speakers too much; it's not bad in surround-sound but on the stereo mix it's jarring.

Mostly though, it is exciting to hear percussion, guitar, and keyboard parts that were previously buried (e.g. the piano on "Burning Rope"). Another word of warning: I had to do some heavy EQ'ing to get these remasters to sound warm on my stereo system. The remasters have almost too much clarity (if that's possible), and only through EQ'ing could I take out the "brittle" and "bite" these mixes have and bring in more warmth. Also, these mixes are suffering from too much compression in an effort to make them sound louder. When will dynamic range return to digital audio?

The live albums from the period ("Seconds Out" and "Three Sides Live") are not included. Also glaringly absent is the "Three Sides Live" film. We can only hope a separate DVD release will occur at some point.

The bonus tracks from the period are included as well, which is great because I didn't purchase the 2nd Genesis archive set. Also, some of the tracks that were not included on that set have been restored here (e.g. "Match of the Day"). At least one track is still absent from both sets: "Indians" - a track available on bootlegs from the "Trick of the Tail" sessions.

Soft Machine Remastered Versions Have Arrived

2007-03-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post. I bought all the Soft Machine re-mastered editions. What's the verdict on "Third"? Well, it certainly is the best sounding release of this album, but sadly it is not the "holy grail" we've been looking for. There is definitely more clarity, but there is still quite a bit of distortion and muddy low-end.

My guess is that most of the low-end mud comes from bad mixing and recording. Subsequent Soft Machine albums were not "produced" by Soft Machine and had a good recording engineer. On "Slightly All the Time" the bass is too prominent in the mix, and when Ratledge doubles on the electric piano the rest of the instruments become lost in mud. "Out-Bloody-Rageous" has distorted horns. Nevertheless, if you're a Soft Machine fan, you've got to have it. By the way, the second CD is the "Proms" 30-minute concert from 1970, so nothing new there.

"Fourth" is considerably better than the One-Way Records release several years back. I'd buy it just to hear "Teeth" and "Virtually" with much better clarity.

"Fifth" also sounds good and contains a previously unreleased take of "All White". Listening to it, I can see why the album take was chosen. It's interesting but the album version sounds more together. Well, as much together as is possible with Phil Howard on drums. In my opinion, John Marshall is the better drummer. To me, Howard is noisy and relies far too much on bashing the cymbals. Perhaps he is trying to emulate Tony Williams but he's no where near Tony's technique. Despite the darkness of "Fifth", I've grown to like this album more and more over the years. Elton Dean plays on fire, and Ratledge's comping on the Rhodes is great. "Pigling Bland" is a great ride for Elton. Ratledge's fuzz organ on "Bone Fire" never sounded so ominous and haunting.

"Sixth" is stronger with Marshall behind the kit. The live side is good, and some of the studio cuts - particularly Ratledge's "Chloe and the Pirates". The trouble with "Sixth" and the albums that follow is the departure of Elton Dean and the arrival of Karl Jenkins. The music becomes more conventional. Also, Jenkins' oboe and baritone playing are grating and uninspired. I find myself longing for the sound of a tenor or alto saxophone.

"Seventh" is absent Hugh Hopper (bass) and Mike Ratledge's role is further reduced. Yet, this is probably Soft Machine's best sounding album from an engineering standpoint. Also, the compositions are better. I think the first side of the album is quite good; I remember being knocked out by "Nettle Bed" when I bought a used vinyl copy back in 1988. "Day's Eye" is a direct quote (or ripoff!) of a John McLaughlin composition on "Extrapolation", but Ratledge provides a nice fuzz organ solo. If you already have this album, then you probably don't have to buy this version since the One Way verison sounded good too.

Soft Machine "Third" - Finally Remastered?

2007-01-24T17:38:00.000-08:00

I just got the latest Artist Shop newsletter from Gary Davis who runs a great progressive rock CD business here in Ohio. After years of neglect, it appears that Sony is finally going to remaster Soft Machine's brilliant album "Third" - originally released on LP in 1970. We all know that the term "remastered" can mean anything, therefore I'm trying not to get too excited over this release. Also, I'm told that the original recording quality was not very good which is surprising since the subsequent Soft Machine releases don't sound nearly as muddy.

The CD will also be released with a bonus CD containing a BBC live concert at the Royal Albert Hall. I have no information on whether this concert has been previously released. For $12.99 though this is a great deal, and we could sure use some good news these days.

I hope Sony does properly remaster this fantastic album. The original CBS release of Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew" was similar in that the sound quality was terrible and full of mud. The subsequent remaster cleared-up all the problems.

On the down side, this will be the 4th time I've purchased this album.

First Post - Just a Test

2007-01-21T18:10:00.000-08:00

This is my first blog entry just to test whether or not my setup is working.