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Chris Lawrence · 07.02.2019, 02:21 AM

A couple of notes on the vinyl edition:

I pushed Steve for a while that the Flexi should be re-manufactured as a real flexi again for the LP version. The first time I mentioned it he got a very frightened look on his face like ‘Oh, man you may be right and now I have to find who can still make those.’ But once we started figuring out the side breaks, our options were pretty much to do the Flexi as a Flexi and cram everything else onto 3 LP’s, with an overall loss of fidelity, or include the interview on the vinyl sequence and have everything sound better. So we chose fidelity over novelty.

Committing to a 4-LP set gave us more flexibility on the vinyl sequence. As this was the first album the band made thinking more about CD format than vinyl, the vinyl edition had always somewhat suffered. The first side is a couple of minutes longer than the optimal LP side length. This means quieter program on the record, more surface noise, and lower-fidelity. Especially towards the end of ‘Mote’, the skull-warping is less effective because the bandwidth has become so narrow. So for this edition, the album proper was spread across three sides for true hi-fi. The side breaks are different, which is a bit weird. But it’s kind of cool to rethink that too… ‘Mote’ as a side 2 opener? Wild. ‘Mildred Pierce’ as a side 2 closer? Seems natural. And then you have a whole ‘nother side. Starting with ‘Cinderella’s Big Score.’ Wow.

So, that was the process. From hunting down the best possible source of every song, to compiling a dope track list, to ensuring that the mastering, the side breaks, and the artwork were all done right, we worked to present the album as best we could with the advantages of technology and perspective that 15 years time had brought. When I got my test pressing of the new LP’s the first thing I did was to compare ‘Mote’ on the old pressing and the new. The improvement is not subtle. After a couple years working on this project, it was very satisfying. We hope you enjoy the results as much as we do.

Aaron Mullan/Echo Canyon

07.02.2019, 02:21 AM	#5
Chris Lawrence Moderator Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: southwest canada Posts: 1,884	A couple of notes on the vinyl edition: I pushed Steve for a while that the Flexi should be re-manufactured as a real flexi again for the LP version. The first time I mentioned it he got a very frightened look on his face like ‘Oh, man you may be right and now I have to find who can still make those.’ But once we started figuring out the side breaks, our options were pretty much to do the Flexi as a Flexi and cram everything else onto 3 LP’s, with an overall loss of fidelity, or include the interview on the vinyl sequence and have everything sound better. So we chose fidelity over novelty. Committing to a 4-LP set gave us more flexibility on the vinyl sequence. As this was the first album the band made thinking more about CD format than vinyl, the vinyl edition had always somewhat suffered. The first side is a couple of minutes longer than the optimal LP side length. This means quieter program on the record, more surface noise, and lower-fidelity. Especially towards the end of ‘Mote’, the skull-warping is less effective because the bandwidth has become so narrow. So for this edition, the album proper was spread across three sides for true hi-fi. The side breaks are different, which is a bit weird. But it’s kind of cool to rethink that too… ‘Mote’ as a side 2 opener? Wild. ‘Mildred Pierce’ as a side 2 closer? Seems natural. And then you have a whole ‘nother side. Starting with ‘Cinderella’s Big Score.’ Wow. So, that was the process. From hunting down the best possible source of every song, to compiling a dope track list, to ensuring that the mastering, the side breaks, and the artwork were all done right, we worked to present the album as best we could with the advantages of technology and perspective that 15 years time had brought. When I got my test pressing of the new LP’s the first thing I did was to compare ‘Mote’ on the old pressing and the new. The improvement is not subtle. After a couple years working on this project, it was very satisfying. We hope you enjoy the results as much as we do. Aaron Mullan/Echo Canyon __________________ http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang // original folk blues ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i'm the boy that can enjoy invisibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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