Entertainment For Lively Minds
Ben Folds and the Loudness Wars
Just spotted this on Ben Folds' web site... who would have thought - an album that isn't compressed to shit and is sequenced so that it builds. What a novel thought - it's a shame he didn't have the courage to release this as the official record, but I'll be interested to hear it... although I'm debating whether to spend the £30 for the pleasure!
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We're giving away a new 2 disk set to all current members of my fan club, The People's Front Of Judea and to anyone who joins the fan club before Feb 15th.
As you may have noticed, records have been getting louder and more compressed over the last ten years or so. Many like a loud record, many do not. The official version of "Way To Normal" is very loud and this was the intention. Loud records sound good on car stereos, iPods and on the radio. Quieter records are more dynamic and while they don't compete so well on a mix tape, they often sound better on good audio equipment.
Many of my fans are audiophiles and there have been requests for an alternate less compressed version of Way To Normal to be made available.
Although I stand behind the official version of this album and have the utmost respect for the producer and engineers involved, I'm a populist at heart and saw no reason not to provide a slightly different approach for those who prefer more old fashioned dynamics along with a sequence that builds.
And so we have "Way To Normal: Stems and Seeds" - two disks. One disk is a remix, remaster, re-sequence of "Way To Normal" along with the now legendary (in our own minds) 'fake' tracks, the Japanese version of "Hiroshima", the Conan Rehearsal of "You Don't Know Me" and the Piano Orchestra version of "Cologne" - a total of 20 tracks.
The other is a disk of files, called stems, which will pop up in Garageband and allow you to mix the album yourselves. Just click on the file of the song you want to mix and you'll quickly understand how it works.
If you'd like to turn the drums off or down, or if you want to use loops or turn that damn singer off and sing it yourself, its all possible. We've included extra loops with the song "You Don't Know Me" hoping someone could maybe come along and make a hit out of this fucking song.
Yours,
Ben Folds
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that is a marvellous idea
and if any bigwigs from the music industry are reading, take note when you come to re-release Exile on Main St, or Astral Weeks or Revolver.
I remember seeing a documentary about Pet Sounds years ago and it showed Brian Wilson and, i think, George Martin in the studio with the original master tapes and GM was working the faders saying that he might have done things slightly differently, all the while meaning that he loved the original, but it would have been a personal choice. Brian W nodded along. He got the idea.
Maybe it'd only be a novelty, but I'm sure that there are plenty of folks who'd much rather the 'added value' of a reissue to be the chance to remix the album themselves rather than have a load of filler that wasn't good enough to be on the album in the first place. Sure, there's a place for early demos or live tracks, but this idea really tickles my fancy.
I posted a link to a version of Gimme Shelter that you could *kinda* do this with a while back. http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/tonight-matthew-im-going-be-jimmy-... It was less than perfect and yet if memory serves, the response from the Massive was overwhelmingly positive.
Would we pay for it. I think I'd seriously think about it. Or on the other hand, maybe it'd be just a six day wonder...
ben folds -self confessed populist
lucky he is not a self confessed crass populist
"You Don't Know Me"
...Is played almost constantly on 94.7 here in Portland, and it is irritating beyond belief. IMHO.