I know I'm VERY late to the party but I just purchased the 4 x double-CD sets that came out last year and I have to say I'm really disappointed with the contents of the bonus discs. Is there a reason why there's so little on them?
I'm currently trying out the Ex:El bonus disc and am astonished that there's no Raagman mix of "Leo Leo" (from the original "In Yer Face" single, a track I played to death when it came out) nor the 7" mix of "Lift" that was inexplicably left off the "808:88:98" compilation over a decade ago too and appears to have been airbrushed out of history.
Similarly, I'd have thought the 12" only "Ancodia (Taters Deep Nit Funky Beat Mix)" would have been a dead cert for the "90" bonus disc but nope, not on there. In fact, "90" didn't even need to be a double-disc as the contents of both would fit easily on one CD...
Wasted opportunities, especially as there's so much space left on the discs...
I think there are very few bands as comprehensive in their archiving as 808 State.
The idea of the bonus discs was not as a comprehensive archive ,but more of a wider view of work from the periods of the albums.
I would also like to point out that in the time periods of making these albums we had no idea that you would need all this "Extra"
90 was for instancecosisted of everything we had recorded at the time ,hence a lighter bonus disc, And I wanted to keep the album structure of the originals intact.
We used to map out albums as A& B sides , and to us they told a story or had a flow. that was still our culture back in 1989.
The context for all this "extra" would either be filling out a 12 inch single or B sides ,which doesnt always translate well back into a new album context.
In choosing the material we decided that their should nt be too many multiple mixes . And that a listening experience was still to the front on the choices.
I would also like to point out that the choices were informed by debate on this very forum and so unlike many other bands we do have direct input from
the listeners, but as usual its a matter of taste.
I can see a day when a total archive is available from this very site,and people will have full choice.
No worries Graham, thanks a lot for the personal response, it's much appreciated.
Can I ask, did you guys also have a say in compiling the "808:88:98" album back in 1998? At the time, I was really disappointed that the punchier 7" versions of "The Only Rhyme That Bites" and "Lift" weren't included on it...
Yes we did the compiling on 808 88 98.
And the compiling on Blueprint to make sure it was nt just the same as 808 88 98.
so lots of swerving about there.
It would be nice to have all the versions on a data base some where for comparison.
I cant hold it all in my head , Lift 7 inch ? Id have to dig that out.
cant see why it would be punchier as its probably an edit , but I ll check that out now you mention it.
I know for a fact that the re mastering aspect of the new cds means they all sound "punchier" as I was at the cut
and we did A /B tests , Early 90s CDs were under mastered and seem rather quite .
But worse than that are some of the You Tube uploads of our tracks ,
In an earlier post we also discussed that there is a japanese version of 808 88 98 which is on HQCD
that apparently has more accurate bit reading- I cant honestly tell , but I might have a crap CD player.
Yes and you will be disappointed with the MC Tunes deluxe reissue as the 7 inch mix is not on there either.
Theres a new mix of ORTB by the Ugly ,and an instrumental mix. And the original album mix.
But the bonus disc is rather good and its all squeezed onto one disc with that one , it was a short album.
Plus the remastering really shines up the original recording .
graham wrote:Lift 7 inch ? Id have to dig that out. cant see why it would be punchier as its probably an edit , but I ll check that out now you mention it.
The "Lift" single that I got back in the day was a completely different mix, not an edit. Here's the video on YouTube..
As an avid fan its easy to be disappointed, we want as much as possible. Its great news that they are planning to sell their archives online, and this means we all get the tunes we want. If the free downloads on this site so far are any indication of quality, there's a lot to look forward to. Some of my faves are Fajita, Nylon, Big Sponge, Minton and Graham Massey's excellent moody acid tune Store St.
Which leads me to the question... Graham, are you planning on releasing some of your solo archives as well as the 808 archives?
I always thought 808 State's Utd State 90 LP on Tommy Boy had a nice warm sound to it on wax. Now everthing is supposed to sound super loud. It be funny if a dance or techno artist mastered their music like an old classical record where it gets quiet half the time and you have to listen real closely but it never gets really loud.
