Wish you were here

It sometimes is the case on this blog as is on the other one you get a follow up post sometime afterward and this weeks is no different in that we last touched on it in March 2018.
I've like the Pink Floyd for a very long time, long enough to have had recordings on various formats by them but while some artists recording frequently emerge on newer formats, theirs seldom do.
I mentioned last time the albatross around the neck which is Dark Side of the Moon that did originally come out on Super Audio cd in 2003 but in 2011 it and the follow up were issued very briefly on Super Audio cd in the form of a 'digipak' more like a small hardback book actually.
Recently December 30th last year to be exact, both got re-issued in this form by Analogue Productions of Kansas, U.S.A. which having missed out on Wish You Were Here which is a personal favourite I was keen on getting on sacd as my cd goes back to 1985!

This is the front of Digipak which is neither the UK or North American front cover  which is pretty understated.

 When you go to turn it over, on the inside left pocket you have a full set of postcards originally issued with the lp scaled down included which played on the title "Wish you were here" from the days people would send a postcard home with that phrase on it

 At the rear we have song writing and publishing credits and on the right a tray where the disc normally fits and which thankfully the teeth are tight so it doesn't fall out.

 Here is the actual disc itself made in Germany and one change that has happened since 2011 is the ownership of their recordings has moved from EMI Records to their own lable Pink Floyd Records that are distributed in the UK and Europe by the Parlophone division of Warner Bros and the US by Sony/Columbia.

 This is the rear of the digipak which indicates it has both a regular cd layer for normal cd playing equipment and the higher definition Super Audio layer.
That layer houses both the regular stereo mix and a 5.1 multichannel mix  where the lp and tape had a quadraphonic mix originally issued in limited numbers.
Much of this album thematically looks at the life of a rock group part influenced by the damage to band originator Syd Barratt, also at the corporate music business on how it stifles and controls art mocking record company executives in Have a Cigar who say how great they are but ask "And which one's Pink?" showing their ignorance that there's no performer called Pink in this band before trying to get them to change material to the latest fashion so they can sell more even if it's not what the band was formed for. 
Really all that matters to them is the profit not the idea of artistic and musical integrity and maximizing that is really what meeting the band was about.
Personally I feel this new version on the stereo Super Audio cd layer remastered by James Guthrie has more depth and springs forth from ones loudspeakers  more than any other version and so while it was expensive is nontheless worth getting.

Previous Pink Floyd on sacd entry:
The Dark Side of the Moon 

The Dark Side Of The Moon

For some of us the Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon was one of those pivotal albums that as we went beyond more simplistic pop tunes usually in the form of 45's (aka "Singles") we explored usually with some support by older siblings to more deeper lyrical concerns and musicianship not that I didn't love (and still love) my Mud and Bay City Rollers 45's.

Sooner or later you move from hearing it a few times back then from tape to buying yourself the whole package and this album was such a thing being in a gatefold sleeve with lyrics, two posters and stickers.
The album explores the nature of the human condition specifically loneliness and mental illness using what were start of the art tape and electronic instrument techniques of the early 1970's.
My copy was a Canadian Capitol pressed edition with different posters I learnt several years back that Brits had in their own which to limit wear I taped to cassette for portable use and open reel tape for home use. You're welcome to try lugging such a machine and changing 7" tape reels on the move!

In the ever so fantastic plastic 1970's it wasn't enough to be thinking about sound from two speakers but four so a special four channel "Quadraphonic" mix was made and by some quirky math based science you could get four channels into the two channels of a stereo lp and (paws crossed) get four channels back out to impress the neighbours by surrounding them in  sound! 
They called it SQ standing for Stereo/Quadraphonic.
That lp jacket is of the UK Quad edition Q4 SHVL 804.

Quad had to everywhere like in our car so we had a Q8 eight track four channel tape player that was pretty swell and special four channel tapes were issued that offer better separation between the four channels than the fancy four into two and back as four electronics could manage from lp record and radio.
This is the UK tape, Q8 SHVL 804 that used the actual four channel mix direct as Capitol in making theirs took that funny 4 to 2 processed version for the SQ lp and decoded it before putting that on their tape which was silly as the actual four channel master existed and technically poorer but hey it's Capitol Record USA and they do stupid stuff at times.

Roll on March 31, 2003 and it's the thirtieth birthday of Dark Side of the Moon in an era that has seen the establishment of the compact disc as the pre-eminent sound carrier and the start of attempts to improvement on the sound it's had since the early 1980's.
It was decided to issue it in the Super Audio CD format that I mentioned on "the other blog tm" in the form of one disc with a regular stereo cd layer and a Super Audio cd (sacd) layer for both stereo and an improved form of surround sound called 5.1 often used for movies with a special remix being done for that version.

At the time only a few people had sacd players and because of this few heard that layer of the disc so when so-called audiophiles started debating all the 5 cm disc versions of this album all they heard the slightly compressed when it comes to the loudest and softest sound regular layer which has become a common trend since the mid 1990's and dismissed it.
I bought this sacd at the time and was very much encouraged to ditch it for a much older version by a certain forum but that ignored one thing. The regular cd layer and the super audio cd stereo versions were done separately and actually the stereo sacd layer sounds better than any of the cd only issues when played back on a machine like mine.
That ironically is why a decade on I ended up rebuying this disc and believe me its fantastic with clearer instrument sounds and effects like the heartbeat and chimes in "Time".
One moral of this story is don't let others tell you what to like and buy as they may be wrong.

Nipper has lost his bark!

After last week, she said trying desperately not to come over all smug, it's finally happened, music retailing has moved from the high street.  Poor ol' Nipper.

Well okay, I know that's Birmingham Bull Ring, not Broad Street, but you know what I mean -our town and city centres - with the shock announcement late last night the national music and video retailer HMV was planning on going into administration following poor Christmas sales.
Sounds familiar,eh? And rather like with Jessops they also were being bankrolled by the suppliers who provided much of the January 25% off "Blue Cross" sales stock as did two state owned banks who to put things with my usually matter of factness, want their money back.
Some other similarities include high rents, failure to capitalize on online sales, poor in store stocks (I mean just seven studio albums by the Stones in the branch in a large city branch near me???), uncompetitive online store pricing (Amazon often cheaper).
HMV potentially could of gotten into downloading but after a brief messy store attempt, partnered up with 7Digital who run that for them which would be fine except 7Digital are a big brand in their own right so most would of gone straight to them.
As much as I feel for for all the staff I'm expecting nearly all the branches to go simply because it seems to me you can't run a big chain anymore because of the overheads and also your immediate best sellers, new albums, are stocked by both supermarkets such as ASDA and Tesco cheaply and the likes of Amazon for those who want cds but many more  prefer to download and these can obtained cheaply from the big three Amazon, iTunes and 7Digital.
You can do niche cd selling from a small side street location with an internet presence backed by a warehouse.
Hmv failed also to capitalize on the "Vinyl revival" by stocking few new and re-issue titles that many who like a physical album buy which was the tipping point for me becoming fed  up of having to order run of the mill cd titles only to return later at my expense to collect, getting an account at Amazon  ordering from them. I guess I wasn't alone in that!
I get the nostalgia many are feeling, remembering the first time I visited HMV Oxford Street London and the Manchester store still having those records and the many BritPop vinyl  titles on 7" and 12" lp I bought new that are most collectible.
I just feel by years end the high street will be that much the poorer.

Meddle

I've always had a soft spot for the Pink Floyd but most of my albums went by the late 80's. Recently Todber (Dan) let me have this the Canadian copy (Harvest/Capitol SMAS 832) for free as it needed a bit of a clean and he had 3 other copies of this title ready to sell.
This copy uses American stampers with JAM "Mastered By Capitol" and while not being quite as open as say a good UK pressing, is pretty good actually with impressive bass. Canadian vinyl is very quiet because they use better quality materials compared to that in the States.
I'd play grade the first side VG+ as there are a small number of minor scuff marks that leave the odd 'pop' during One Of These Days while side two is EX (I'm using Goldmine grading)