Minimal Wave Records

From Star Trek II:
“He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking.” (Spock talking about Falck)

I would never try to alter the sound of these recordings in anyway for the same reason I wouldn’t walk into a museum and take out a marker and write Stephen across a Van Gogh painting. The reason being I don’t want to ruin the art. I can not stand how all remastered reissues sound, and that is one of the reasons I don’t buy reissues.

...since young Stephen enjoys that much quoting both the words collectors and Depeche Mode,
here you go…
 

Now please go on and tell me that you also know better than Depeche Mode,lol… 

I would never try to alter the sound of these recordings in anyway for the same reason I wouldn’t walk into a museum and take out a marker and write Stephen across a Van Gogh painting. The reason being I don’t want to ruin the art. I can not stand how all remastered reissues sound, and that is one of the reasons I don’t buy reissues.

...since young Stephen enjoys that much quoting both the words collectors and Depeche Mode,
here you go…
 

Now please go on and tell me that you also know better than Depeche Mode,lol… 

...and i have to assume that some php bug prevents my post from showing up above…

Hence i copy/paste for the 3rd time,hopefully it will show up…finally:

I would never try to alter the sound of these recordings in anyway for the same reason I wouldn’t walk into a museum and take out a marker and write Stephen across a Van Gogh painting. The reason being I don’t want to ruin the art. I can not stand how all remastered reissues sound, and that is one of the reasons I don’t buy reissues.

...since young Stephen enjoys that much quoting both the words collectors and Depeche Mode,
here you go…
 

Now please go on and tell me that you also know better than Depeche Mode…  8)

[quote author=“my-rhythm-miniballs-box”]

...since young Stephen enjoys that much quoting both the words collectors and Depeche Mode,
here you go…
 

Now please go on and tell me that you also know better than Depeche Mode…  8)

ehm, i cannot speak for stephen of course, but i’m pretty sure depeche mode (fans) was not used as a reference to collectors but the exact opposite. So your point makes no sense in the context you refer to.
What i do wonder is, why, when All the madmen - Superior Life on Cry Havoc, Transparent illusion and many many other minimal synth classics have indeed been decently to properly mastered, “unmastered” is some kind of reference in minimal synth music? In fact, i would like to know one item that would be worth more money (= more collectable) were it less mastered. Conversely, I can make a pretty safe assumption that those records with shitty sound quality (Bern balders comes to mind) would be even more sought after if they had received proper mastering a la Transparent Illusion.

Of course the tape scene was a different matter but there are many songs on tape that i think most music fans and collectors alike would have preferred to see on vinyl, with proper sound. It’s not a question of polished versus unpolished, dont get me wrong, but getting the sound translated to the medium with all of it’s characteristics in the most truthful way to it’s original sound and intent. Unmastered isnt the way to realize that.

I do understand however that when you have just tape recordings to work from it’s hard to improve sound but still then skilled mastering engineers professional or not can improve overall sound.
Also, in the case of superior life you can hear sound issues in the start of the song on Do you hear the sirens calling LP, i’m sure there are other recordings (f.i. the cry havoc version) that could have been used instead.

Also, in the case of superior life you can hear sound issues in the start of the song on Do you hear the sirens calling LP, i’m sure there are other recordings (f.i. the cry havoc version) that could have been used instead.

...Spartak,without any offense,what is out of context,
is to complain/question the quality of it,
when you have been already warned from the salesman itself,
numerous times,that he does NOT like remastering.

Per his own words:
“In 2006 ALL THE MADMEN were approached by Obscure Identities…”
Ie.if Stephen wanted to,he had ALL the time in the world,
in order to remaster them properly…he didn’t though,for the reasons he’s described previously.

To put it the other way around,if you expected that
when the…
bloody needle hits the record,you would get your minimal synth collector fix to get you high…
but discovered afterwards that this didn’t happened eventually…then my guess is that there’s not much to do.

....you can’t blame the dealer he hasn’t warned people around!!  :wink:

...my idea is simple,and rational…i want proper reissues,
properly remastered (...else,wtf i’m i paying for?),
and properly distributed.ie.directly:
NO eBay bidding/gambling or any other similar nonsense…

Format: LP,CD,digital downloads,i don’t mind:
whatever suits the label/artist better…
I am not in charge of their…internal economics,
thereby they obviously know better than me,
how many copies will be sold from each one,
and how much every reissue will cost them to publish.
Their labels,and their marketing therefore:
i might suggest/request,but that’s all.

40$ bidding for un-remastered reissue,sorry:
no way i would support this type of “business model”,
and personally,i wouldn’t even call it like that…

[quote author=“my-rhythm-miniballs-box”]

...Spartak,without any offense,what is out of context,
is to complain/question the quality of it,
when you have been already warned from the salesman itself,
numerous times,that he does NOT like remastering.

Per his own words:
“In 2006 ALL THE MADMEN were approached by Obscure Identities…”
Ie.if Stephen wanted to,he had ALL the time in the world,
in order to remaster them properly…he didn’t though,for the reasons he’s described previously.

To put it the other way around,if you expected that
when the…
bloody needle hits the record,you would get your minimal synth collector fix to get you high…
but discovered afterwards that this didn’t happened eventually…then my guess is that there’s not much to do.

....you can’t blame the dealer he hasn’t warned people around!!  :wink:

WTF are you on? I did not buy the album FYI.

I’m questioning his reasoning behind not doing so, as it’s a flawed reasoning that leads to an inferior product at an artificially inflated price that has already been discussed ad infinitum.

WTF are you on? I did not buy the album FYI.

Spartak,i’m deeply sorry if i misunderstood what you wrote,
(english is not my native language),
from your description above regarding the LP’s sound quality,
i was 100% left with the impression that you had bought it…then questioning it’s sound quality.

What i ‘m saying is just that i won’t feel sorry,
for anyone who will complain after buying it about the sound quality…

[quote author=“my-rhythm-miniballs-box”]

WTF are you on? I did not buy the album FYI.

Spartak,i’m deeply sorry if i misunderstood what you wrote,
(english is not my native language),
from your description above regarding the LP’s sound quality,
i was 100% left with the impression that you had bought it…then questioning it’s sound quality.

What i ‘m saying is just that i won’t feel sorry,
for anyone who will complain after buying it about the sound quality…

I can see why you were thinking that but that was not what my argument was about. I dont agree with the notion that lo-fi = pure minimal synth. You need to restore the original sound, not put an aged cassette on a pedestal.

And on a sidenote the ebay listing speaks of fantastic sound quality which is simply not the case, so i dont agree on “you get what was sold to you”.

“100% similar to the original old cassette recording” would be a more truthful description.

Old dusty tape sound transferred to a format that is supposed to inherently sound better. Why not just sell it as a tape?

/rhetorical

“You´re about as useful as a one-legged man at an arse-kicking contest.” (Rowan Atkinson, Blackadder)

“And now young Skywalker, you’re gonna pay the price for your lack of vision.” (Darth Vader, Star Wars trilogy).

This should have been a dead subject by now. It can be debated, and debated,and debated….  But, there is not one thing this guy has said, nor could he, that validates his claims. I have listened to the samples, and personally, wouldn’t give him 10 dollars for the record based on its’ musical aesthetic. But, it’s all about the artist getting what they deserve. This man should be given the humanitarian award for being the first person to discover that putting out a record with no clear set price helps the artist make so much money. It clearly has nothing to do with playing upon the fact that obsessed collectors will buy such a lmtd. record at about any price. So kudos to you Mr. Obscure Identites. Discount my letter based on grammar if you wish. But, that doesn’t make something untrue, or represent the over-all intelligence of the writer. It shows only a weakness in grammar.  I do hope you sell all of your records, and I am pretty sure you will. But, quit trying to fool everyone with your banter, because as you can tell, it isn’t working. 

BioKlastik said:

But, quit trying to fool everyone with your banter, because as you can tell, it isn’t working. 

I haven’t checked the forum in a week, but I thought BioKlastiks statement was pretty funny considering I haven’t written anything in a week, and there was tons of Nogah, Fulck, Spartak, mini-balls banter going on in that interim directly prior to his post.

Did you see how much the All the Madmen LP went for last week BioKlastik?

I am not trying to fool anyone.  I have been extremely clear about the release, and what my intentions are with it, and the record label. 

I have released a great minimal synth record and any collector that wants this record is going to buy it. 

I can see on MyEbay that there are far more people that want the record than there are blue copies of the record.  So with 11 blue copies left I definitely wouldn’t be waiting until copies 18, 19, or 20 to get a blue copy if I was one of those collectors.

Spartak said:

In fact, i would like to know one item that would be worth more money (= more collectable) were it less mastered.

The All the Madmen LP and every forthcoming obscure identities release.

Also, every minimal synth record that was released in the late 70’s early 80’s as opposed to every remastered record released in the last 20 years.

What do you think is worth more money Kris?  The Transparent Illusion LP on Vex Records, or the Remastered Reissue? 

I 100% don’t agree with your opinion.  As I said before to remaster music ruins it. 

Just because something “technically” sounds better does not make it better.  To me when a song is remastered it makes it fake, and foreign, and completely unredeemable in regards to its original intent.  It becomes music that is totally spiritually false.

Do you not go to live shows ever because you are afraid that when the musician plays they might miss a note or lose their voice?  Because you know they always do.  Music is not perfect Kris, and it is not meant to be made perfect.  That is my adamant opinion, and I know you book live shows so you should be able to understand the concept.

Also, in the case of superior life you can hear sound issues in the start of the song on Do you hear the sirens calling LP, i’m sure there are other recordings (f.i. the cry havoc version) that could have been used instead.

The cry havoc version of Superior Life was released on the Cry Havoc comp. If you want that version then you should get the Cry Havoc comp.

The version of Superior Life on the All the Madmen LP is the Demo version and it has absolutely no sound issues.  It is completely amazing exactly as it is.  Also, you really can not comment on what it sounds like because you do not own the record, and have never heard it.

Stephen
obscure identities