[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead [phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead ¤ milky moon ¤ • View topic - "Have One on Me" Reviewed
For all members of the community, I am in the process of remastering "Have One on Me" in its entirety - if you would like to see a similar effort for "Ys", do let me know.
I will admit your statement that you can make HOOM sound better than Joanna had it sound at release comes off as extremely arrogant. With that said, should you achieve your goal in creating a better sounding HOOM than Joanna, I will bow before your greatness.
for the last couple days, I couldn't shake the fact I knew your name from somewhere
Then while sipping absinthe and watching Joanna on ACL tonight it hit me- you remastered the live London and Paris shows that are circulating as torrents.
So first off, my apologies, as according to my ears- you do have some nice sound production skills. Thanks for those shows!
Secondly, I didn't mean arrogant as much as I meant the lack of understanding of the process that went into the decision to release the album as it sounds. What was it optimized for? On what? What is your source? If not original tracks is it really a re-master? This gets into a sticky area, as someone who loves covers, I hear the "better than the original, it can never be better than the original" arguement often.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing your upgraded sounding HOOM tracks
Last edited by Wanbli on 22 Jan 2012, 22:10, edited 1 time in total.
Wanbli, that is correct. I did indeed master the Epicerie Moderne show (Feyzin, France) as well as two other shows that I don't believe are in circulation anymore. The Paris show took a lot of time to get just right, in case some of you here don't have it, do let me know. I do believe its the best full live set of Joanna's out there from the Have One on Me era.
Remaster in this sense I would suppose refers to an effort to enhance the existing track to bring out its full potential, but without altering the track in any way at its base level. This would mean simple things like enhancing treble or bass on some key notes, or separating channels when both voice and instrumentation sound muffled at times. I performed a similar remaster on "Scarlets Walk" by Tori Amos, and it really sparkled. I use a combination of tools for audio mastering; the final set should be out soon enough to members of this community.
Hmmm. There's a few points, evoked by this review, that I'd like to make (most are nitpicky)...
-I agree that (in particular) Pitchfork's specific love for Good Intentions Paving Company and Does Not Suffice doesn't match with the fan consensus (even if Good Intentions is one of my favourites~), but I do wonder what you find particularly wrong with them. I would generally say that both are equally as 'freeform' as Kingfisher, and Good Intentions in particular seems to break up the record's 'sameness' better than any other song.
-I agree that Have One On Me is much calmer, which is a good way of putting it. Ys feels manic at points, and she sounds emotionally unhinged in half the songs - these moments are still present in HOOM, but are less frequent. She seemed to have toned down her voice somewhat intentionally for the record, regardless of vocal nodes, since her voice is certainly more 'Ys-like' live, and it's probably just to match the instrumentation and songwriting.
-What do you think about the album's use of space, e.g. most notably on Baby Birch and Autumn?
-Kingfisher is actually the second longest song on the record also you quoted my favourite parts.
-I don't think Devendra Banhart has been associated with Joanna since before Ys, even, which makes it strange that you'd protest about him and the whole 'freak folk' thing in relation to this album.
-I don't understand the comparison to Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, really. The kind of songs he writes are just completely different, thematically, lyrically, melodically, stylistically, structurally. The album (like all Devendra albums) feels really frenetic to me whilst HOOM is measured and cohesive. The only similarities I can think of are the way they both play with genres (though different genres) and the kinds of instruments that are used (even if they're used in totally different ways).
-Looking forward to see what the remastering sounds like! Particularly for songs like Go Long, Kingfisher, Have One On Me and In California. I think some of the instrumentation gets lost on them.
The live performances of Have One On Me often make Ys sound sedate, but then, the live performances of Ys often make the album version of Ys sound sedate. A lot of live shows are characterised by the frantic passion of the performances - the title track from HOOM, performed live (e.g. at the Sydney Opera House) is a very different creature to the one performed on the album. The difference is probably most noticeable with Baby Birch and Jackrabbits, which are both very subtle and slow on the album and often very emotional and faster when performed live.
I don't know if the relative sedation of HOOM was a stylistic choice (there are certainly moments that indicate that she could have recorded the songs for the album in the way she performs them live if she'd chosen too - bits of Go Long, for instance) or if it was because she was particularly suffering with her vocal nodes when she recorded it, but either way, I think looking at the album versions to the exclusion of the live versions can compromise a review.
This may be nitpicking, but I think your example of the relative lexical straightforwardness of HOOM falls down a bit when put in context.
"Do you know why my ankles are bound in gauze (sickly dressage: a princess of Kentucky)? In the middle of the woods (which were the probable cause) we danced in the lodge like two panting monkeys."
is written in deliberate contrast to the equivalent, earlier verse:
"I was brought in on a palanquin made of the many bodies of beautiful women. Brought to this place, to be examined, swaying on an elephant: a princess of India."
So there, I think, the 'suburban-ness' of the first verse quoted is exceptional as a counterpoint to the exoticism of the second. That said, I take the point about the lyrics generally being more mundane. I think it's rather overstated in reviews, though: Ys has its mundane lyrics, too; the supposedly Tolkienian or Mediaeval lyrics just stand out among them. Emily contains the verse,
"In due time, we will see the far butte lit by a flare. I've seen your bravery, and I will follow you there"
which I'll be the first to admit is almost evocative of the lighting of the Beacons of Gondor, but it also contains the verse,
"Pa pointed out to me, for the hundredth time tonight, the way the ladle leads to a dirt-red bullet of light."
which is really quite 'surburban', isn't it? There is definitely a change in lyrical style between Ys and HOOM, but I think it's been exaggerated. Shorter sentences, if anything, are the most noticeably different feature of the lyrics of HOOM.
I took issue with the review, but I don't think the parts you've quoted should be objected to such ire. He clearly meant 'sprawling mess' to be descriptive, not derogatory. It's just unfortunate phrasing really. Anyway, the album's length and sparseness are fairly routinely criticised, and the album is fairly inarguably sparse and lengthy, at least compared to other pop records, regardless of how integral we feel that might be to the album's success. Plenty of people, including perhaps the average Amazon browser, just don't have the attention span for it. It's pretty important for any decent review on Amazon to discuss aspects of the product that might not be palatable to everyone, since there's money on the line.
@Jordan the Beacons of Gondor was always the image roused in my mind!
Last edited by Andrew on 23 Jan 2012, 11:51, edited 1 time in total.
I haven't heard the Epicerie Moderne or the London shows but I'd love to have them, is there a link anywhere? Remastering HOOM sounds so good to me to be honest, I don't know what it is about the album but half the songs sound really blended down or too soft something. I still love the album but I'm always a bit sad that the mixing didn't hit the spot for me.
I'm really excited to hear the remaster! I agree that the mixing on a couple of the songs was fairly weak. "Soft As Chalk" comes to mind immediately when I consider songs that could be improved quite a bit. Thanks for taking the time to do this!
I would desire a remaster of the Yarn & Glue version of 'What We Have Known'.
I disagree unequivocally about Good Intentions Paving Company and Kingfisher:
"... this listener found the much praised tracks ("Good Intentions Paving Company", "Does Not Suffice") to be amongst the weaker of the lot."
"... it is her sprawling mess on the title track, and "Kingfisher" that automatically stand out."
I hadn't heard this album in a few years when I took a listen to a few things. I saw the and was thoroughly impressed with the complexity of the music and phrasing. I have yet to read the lyrics, though I am poised to do that. Could it be that my opinion of the song is related to having yet to read the lyrics? I often let years pass, sometime decades before I read lyrics to songs I cherish. The reason is that I'm often disappointed when I read them.
I happened to listen to Kingfisher and actually could not recognize the song! I thought it impossible that I wouldn't be familiar with every song of this work. I didn't like the song when I heard it this recent time.
If the review author meant that this tume "stand[s] out" lyrically, then he should have been specific.
I would not "file [HOOM] next to" anyone or anything.
The thought or "remastering" the work is offensive on its face.
-------------------Edit01--------------------
Here's what I mean about lyrics. From Good Intentions Paving Company:
"I'll get this joy off of my chest, at last.
I thought it was "... my tits and ass" though I never could make out the leading words.
-------------------Edit02--------------------
On the other hand, I thought there was this line in Good Intentions...: