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The Afterword #107: Remix/Remaster

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Twang, Tiggerlion, FentonSteve and Dai blow the cobwebs out of the pod and convene to discuss remixes and remasters. Fenton talks for approximately 3 hours about Sadie and dynamic range compression, inevitably the Fabs sets come up and Twang crowbars in the Tull series of reissues. We consider the frilly bits put around old and beloved albums to get us to rebuy things we already have multiple times, and the team tip their favourites and some clunkers to avoid.

H*ffman readers will be relieved to know this pod was mastered at -16db LUFS.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/theafterwordpodcast/Remix_pod_master.mp3

Section Kase – “Cretinous Behaviour”

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02/09/2023

What we need at this point in the steady decline of our country after 13 years of terrible government is a loud, noisy punk album screaming abuse at all and sundry. Happily Section Kase have come along with “Cretinous Behaviour”, 29 minutes and 10 tracks of foul mouthed frustration and rant. It’s a proper punk album of short songs, fast tempos and teenage bad attitude. Full disclosure requires that I reveal that the guitarist is one Twang Jr and two mates – hear the voice of generation Covid after 3 years of being pushed about by an uncaring leadership. Spoiler – they’re not happy.

It’s great fun too – lots of dark humour and bitterly ironic sneering. There are echoes of past punk bands of course, but also fellow travellers such as Motorhead. All good noisy fun.

Grab a copy here and support the good work on Bandcamp

Or stream on all platforms…

Enjoy!

Emma Rawicz “Chroma”

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What does it sound like?:

I first saw Emma Rawicz at my local jazz club in September 2021 in that fleeting moment where lockdown seemed to be easing and seeing live music was such a treat. She had been shortlisted for Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year by Jazz FM and the breathless news was that she had only been playing tenor sax (or any sax for that matter) since she was 15 and we were watching her at the advanced age of 19… Whatever, she was really good, and I saw her a year later and she was even better.

After a period of intensive study at Chetham’s school in Manchester she went to the Royal Academy (where she still is…) then spent lockdown with her head down practicing and investigating the classic jazz repertoire to fill in her knowledge – growing up in North Devon she’d never really heard jazz until a touring big band visited and she was hooked. Needless to say, all that wood shedding paid off and she sounds like a veteran with high multiples of years under her belt.

I bought her first album, “Incantation”, off Bandcamp where she announced she had 100 CDs » Continue Reading.

ATM – photo organisation

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I have probably over a thousand photos, vaguely organised, but there are lots of duplicates and short of looking at every one (which wouldn’t work anyway as you can’t remember them all) I can’t get them into more than vague organisation. Anyone know any easy ways of deduplicating and tagging them so they are a bit more manageable?

Mojo John Lennon Special

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I have a copy of the Mojo John Lennon Special which my Mum had saved in mint condition. Anyone who would like it PM me and I’ll pop it in the post. I don’t want anything for it, going to a fellow AWer but by all means stick the postage cost in a charity box near you!

Ad free YouTube, anyone?

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The adverts seem to be getting more frequent on YouTube, and given the data they must have on my interests I’m mystified why they are so consistently irrelevant but nonetheless they are incredibly irritating. I do use YT a lot and I’m coming round to paying for it – the fact that they create none of the content feels wrong but I guess it’s a good platform. Anyone taken the plunge?

ATM Lisbon

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Mrs. T and I are sloping off to Lisbon for 5 days in mid February to celebrate my move to what the government delicately calls economic inactivity. Bring it on. Recommendations of everything good from views to cafes to restaurants, bars, galleries, venues and more very welcome. I want it all! TIA!

Great guitar instrumentals

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I idly put a playlist together of great guitar instrumentals. As we have to have rules for these things they are:

1. Must be melodic

2. Meaningless shredding is not allowed

3. Only one piece per artist

4. All genres positively encouraged

However I have quickly realised I have major artists missing (no Bert, no John Mc, no RT) and no recent entries – are instrumentals even a thing any more?

Pitch in and I will add (if I like it…)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5NcIuc5NwObbguM9TWsYlB?si=03353bee202148af

Streaming telly

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Discussion of films, telly etc makes me wonder how you all stream content to the TV? We have an aging smart TV but a more flexible Amazon Fire Box which is starting to suffer from missing apps (BFI, though you can get it via Prime). If I’m in bed ill or on hols I might download stuff to the tablet. You?

Matt Deighton

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Venue:

The Place, Bedford

Date: 24/11/2022

I approached this gig with slight reluctance after a superb evening watching Jeffrey Foucault at the Water Rats the previous night and Jason Isbell the previous week. It was cold and miserable and I had a distinct “why did I book this” vibe, especially after Mrs. T lit the fire. Nonetheless I sallied out to Bedford, surely the town Google Maps was invented for – does anyone know how to get around the concentric one way systems?

The Place is clearly an old industrial unit with pitted carpark and depthless puddles into which to plunge your desert boot. However things picked up immediately on entry, with the entirely volunteer staffed team providing a warm welcome and the bright, well stocked bar a restorative glass. The room is clearly a generic live space which can accommodate the local Cubs, a Christmas panto or, it turns out, a sterling evening of acoustic music.

Support is provided by Samantha Whates singing lovely songs from her “Waiting Rooms” CD which was recorded in a series of venues where people are in transit to somewhere else – station, prisons…and they are lovely. Old pal » Continue Reading.

New EBTG album!

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Ben Watt announced on Twitter that there will be a new Everything but the Girl album next spring!

Happy days. I love EBTG in all their manifestations but probably my favourite is their late period pre-dance phase. Here’s the opening track from probably my favourite album, though they are all excellent.

The Guitar Circle

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Author:Robert Fripp

Perhaps it is easier to start with what this book is not. It does not provide tips or tricks to improve your guitar playing other than at a metaphysical level (more of this later). It does not teach you to play like Robert Fripp, nor does it teach any theory, scales or tasty Crimson tinged licks. It doesn’t consider the benefits of a .7mm plectrum vs a 1mm (believe me, there are books which do), nor does it debate effects pedals or how to play D. In fact for long periods it doesn’t talk about guitars at all. What, you may be wondering, is it about then?

Having read it once cover to cover then skimmed through it a second time, I’m struggling to articulate what it is about really. Probably the easiest way to explain it is to say it is a detailed exploration of Fripp’s personal philosophy of guitar playing (the eponymous Guitar Craft), some of which is quite specific (how to strike the string, when to move fingers, how to sit on a chair) and large sections are letters to his Guitar Craft students or responses to their queries. It stresses the student’s need for » Continue Reading.

Nicky Hopkins

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Twang on Nicky Hopkins

FROM THE COLLEGE OF ROCK N ROLL KNOWLEDGE FACEBOOK PAGE.

Nicky Hopkins is probably the most famous musician that many of you have never heard of. We are remembering him today as it was on Sept. 6, 1994 that we lost him.

Nicky Hopkins was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins recorded and performed on many notable British and American pop and rock music releases from the 1960’s through the 1990’s.

He suffered from Crohn’s disease from his youth. Poor health and ongoing surgery made it difficult for him to tour. His frail health led him to concentrate on working as a session musician instead of joining bands, although he left his mark performing with a wide variety of famous bands, including the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.

He quickly became one of London’s most in-demand session pianists and performed on many hit recordings from this period including albums and singles by the Easybeats, The Kinks, the Pretty Things, The Move and The Who.

In 1967 he joined the Jeff Beck Group, playing on the LPs “Truth” and “Beck-Ola.”

The following year, he recorded “Beggars Banquet” with The Rolling Stones, having previously worked for them on » Continue Reading.

Judith Durham

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Gone to the great gig in the sky who have gained a terrific singer with amazing presence considering all she ever did really was stand still and sing, with the occasional smile. The carnival is over.

ATM – PC screen

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Apologies, incredibly boring. I want a new screen for my PC – having got used to the nice big screen work gave me which lives on the dining room table, the poxy old one in the office looks way too small so I want to spring for a new one. Just a decent size, decent res, not needed for gaming or anything demanding. Any recommendations? It’s an old Dell Inspiration 3847 tower PC if that matters. Is screen compatibility a thing? Graphics card b*llx etc? Anyone still awake, advice welcome.

Remix!

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Just listening to Joni’s “Hejira” it strikes me that “Furry sings the blues” would be immeasurably improved by the terrible harmonica playing being dropped out. In the remix, this is gone.

What other bits do you wish weren’t there?

Happy anniversary “Argus”

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Happy anniversary “Argus”, 50 today. A thrilling mixture of rock, folk and a tinge of prog it was compulsory listening in our 6th form common room. It still still stands up remarkably well, especially when played loud. My crackling vinyl will be spinning with the evening gin and tonic.

“The Elephants of Mars” – Joe Satriani

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What does it sound like?:

Joe Satriani achieved a career high and simultaneous own goal with his second album, 1987’s “Surfing with the alien” which both set the template and closed the book on high energy / high technique risk guitar instrumental music. Others tried to play faster, heavier, etc but the original, much imitated, is still the greatest. Joe gave early indications that, whilst he was perfectly capable of high octane widdleage, he was smarter and broader than that. The follow-up, “Flying in a blue dream”, revealed his singing, wailing blues harp and even banjo guitar. Not just a shredder then. He filled in on lead guitar with Deep Purple for one tour, and also with Mick Jagger on a solo outing.

The other thing which sets him apart is his love for a good melody. Like Jeff Beck, he is as happy with a weeping, melodramatic instrumental ballad as the rockier stuff and his grasp of more sophisticated musical theory pushes some of these tracks into fusion territory.

The album sounds terrific given it was recorded during lockdown with most of the contributions added remotely rather than in a room, but where many home grown efforts from » Continue Reading.

“Limited Edition of One”

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Author:Steven Wilson

It’s a funny one, this. You could summarise it as part autobiography, part SW’s philosophy on life and music as he explains in some detail that until quite recently his life was pretty much all about music until he married an old flame with children and settled into domestic bliss in his early 50s.

The first half of the book covers his early life, how he fell in love with recording and making music and sound and the path to his first commercial offerings with Porcupine Tree, initially a solo tongue in cheek effort which gained momentum and ending up playing decent sized stadiums before SW felt the need to move on from the constraints of a band into a rightly feted solo career much appreciated in our little corner of the internet. Frustratingly he doesn’t actually explain how the band got together – how come there’s a proper pop star previously with Japan on board? How did a jazz based Aussie bass player come along? Where are the on-tour anecdotes?

The second half of the book is an odd mix of lists – favourite tracks, films, singles, his own work – all with SW’s take on why » Continue Reading.

Howard Dumble RIP

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Guitar players will today be raising a glass to Howard Dumble, designer and builder of the amplifier which carried his name for decades whose passing has been announced. You may not have heard of him, but you will have heard the luscious sounds his invention created. Based on a souped up version of 60s Fender amps, he went way beyond a sound which was already pretty darn good. Customers such as Carlos Santana, Lowell George, Eric Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robben Ford (whose Fender was the original inspiration for the amp), David Lindley, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt et al would wait months for their amp – there were a few different designs and each one was built by hand to the specific requirements of the player. Mr. D didn’t supply shops – allegedly people applied and he decided who got one. Second hand ones very rarely appear and go for 5 or 6 figures depending on their history. I’ve never even laid eyes on one, but luckily everyone can appreciate the tremendous sound they created.

For the curious, here’s some amp porn presented by the suitably reverent editor of Guitarist mag.

No Time to Die (No spoilers in the review at least…)

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Year: 2021 Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Mmmm. I went to the new Bond with high hopes after a few friends had warmly recommended it, especially after its predecessor, Spectre, which I thought was a damp squib. I’ve found Daniel Craig to be a good Bond, tough and convincing if a little humourless. Incidentally I’m a book Bond fan and that Bond isn’t remotely humorous. Roger Moore was maybe too daft at times, but in a 2 hour film a bit of humour is a nice lightener. Anyway, to this film. Being careful to avoid spoliers, I can say that I didn’t really enjoy it. It’s very long, big, impressive, loud, complicated…but like an ELP triple album, not in a good way. Possibly an overdue correction, possibly a reflection of Craig’s age, but lothario Bond is gone, along with his wise cracking jokey twin. There is one dry quip and a pretty good visual gag. This is grim, resolute Bond. As does the audience need to be. Maybe I was in the wrong mood but I was waiting for it to end and felt a distinct lift as I realised we were in the final 5 minutes.

It has call backs » Continue Reading.

Bubblegum Minty Kiss – Ayres

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What does it sound like?:

A buoyant and tuneful pop album! For those unfamiliar with Ayres, well I won’t blow his cover but he is a regular here and frequently espouses affection for the Beatles and all manner of similar poptastic acts. The opener, “I’m in love with my producer” is redolent with open eyed vintage rhymes, harmonies and a classic 60s pop vibe. “Garrick Bay” has a darker slightly folky vibe which is a nice contrast, showing off Ayres’ really rather good voice. “Little Jesus” sounds like the mood has shifted to the 70s with some accomplished lead guitar. This would have gone down well at the Hope and Anchor back in the day. Similarly, “Chickadee” has a tougher rock edge. “Timeless Wonder” has a great vibe, sounding urgent and hooky in the chorus. “Everything I want you to be” is a Badfinger tinged ballad straight out of 1968 with a deep reverby snare drum to add to the effect. “Theme from Mike Channel” is an instrumental, back to the early 60s with a fairground vibe bringing back the smell of the oil on the dodgers and freshly popped corn.

On a critical note, this album suffers from » Continue Reading.