It's Getting Better All The Time

It's been almost two months since the newly remastered Beatles albums have come out. Wow. In a word, awesome. If you're a fan, you owe it to yourself to pick up the boxed set. The audio quality is nothing short of amazing. In their previous incarnation, the CDs were fine, but always sounded like distant relics. The new CDs sound crisp, sharp, deep and modern. This isn't just about removing tape hiss. This is about restoring the most important musical body of work in the world.

Vocals are sharp, bass is deep, quality is pure. They now sound like modern albums. I've always thought Abbey Road could stand up against any recent recording and kick its ass. That is never more true.

Being the completest that I am, I purchased both the stereo and mono boxed sets. Why mono? Well, to make a long story short, the mono versions of most Beatles albums are the definitive versions. It was a while until the technology and savviness of stereo caught up. Mono was THE format. The Beatles were present for their mixes and left the stereo to George Martin and crew. George Martin has even said up until Abbey Road the stereo versions were mostly experimental and learning-on-the-fly. So what's the difference? Sgt. Peppers is nothing short of amazing in mono. John's vocals on Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds is much more dreamy, the speed of She's Leaving Home is great, the rooster-to-guitar transition from Good Morning to Sgt Peppers Reprise is more effective and the distracting counting in A Day In The Life is gone and so much more. In some ways it's a different album. The white album also holds some significant differences with a shortened Helter Skelter (sans "I've got blisters on my fingers"), a too fast Don't Pass Me By and more. A casual Beatles fan won't care about these, but a diehard fan will.

The packaging is very well done. While I'm not a big fan of cardboard, Apple & EMI did a nice job. The mono boxed set has all the original liner notes, record sleeves and artwork. The CDs slip into exact replicas of the record sleeves from the 60's. A nice touch. The stereo set isn't quite as fancy but includes mini-documentaries of each album on a DVD which are definitely worth a run-through.

Diehard fans must pick up the stereo and mono boxed sets. Casual fans will want to pick up their favorite albums and revisit the others. It's rare when something meets my expectations. This not only met, but blew them away.

Mono Boxed Set
Stereo Boxed Set
Individual Albums

When Times Go Bad

Ugh! Why do I always find about these things at the last minute!!?? Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs, aka Sid 'n' Susie, are playing tonight in Atlanta at Eddie's Attic. There are two shows, 7:30 & 9:30 with the later show sold out. Enjoy Atlanta.

When I Get To The Bottom I Go Back To The Top

I know, I know. Two Beatles posts in a row. Get over it - it will be brief. If you're the sort that loves the "making of" aspect of things, you'll enjoy this article from Sound and Vision magazine. They go into all the details of how the most important body of musical work was remastered.

Carry on.

I Read The News Today Oh Boy

The Beatles will finally be available digitally beginning next month! But, not in the way you'd expect. No iTunes. No Amazon. No Rhapsody. Nope.

Instead, you'll be able to get all of the Beatles albums on a thumb drive. A $280 thumb drive in an ugly green apple that I hope looks a lot better in person.

This limited edition will have all 13 albums in stereo, liner notes, artwork and mini-documentaries. Music will be in FLAC (file format for lossless audio data compression) as well as MP3 formats.

While the completest in me must have this, I just can't bring myself to plunking down another $280 after spending quite a chunk of change on the stereo and mono boxed sets (which friggin' rule by the way). If you decide to pick one up, definitely let us know how it is.

We Will See The Sun Rise

WPA frontman Glen Phillips is offering 8 free songs for the low low price of your email address.

1. Always Have My Love
2. Blood Pressurize
3. Don't Lose Your Voice
4. Return To Me
5. Thankful
6. Crowing
7. Everything But You
8. The Hole

Previously...

Get to Know the Feeling of Liberation and Release

As I slowly recovered this week from what was likely H1N1, I couldn't stand another minute of the Food Network so I hit the local Redbox and rented Adventureland.

I'll be honest, despite the critical acclaim it received earlier this year upon its release, my expectations were significantly tempered by the overexposure of too-cool-for-me Twilight superstar Kristen Stewart. Perhaps it was the fever haze I was in, but the movie resonated with me. It seemed genuine (excepting the caricatures by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig) and unforced (excepting the distracting overuse of the Mary Jane), reminding me of similar experiences in my younger days while working with peers at a cultural attraction not entirely unlike the amusement park in the flick. I was never as disaffected as these characters, but I do relate to how they lived to a certain soundtrack - and what a soundtrack it was!

I love when movies use great music well. Adventureland's soundtrack was nearly distracting; not because the music was poorly used, but because the music is so good it nearly dominates the scenes. Fortunately the filmmakers found the right balance. With The Replacements, Velvet Underground, and The Cure the cool factor is amped up, and I found myself smirking to Falco's Rock Me Amadeus, swooning to Crowded House's perfect Don't Dream It's Over, and cringing to Animotion's Obsession.

Unfortunately the official soundtrack (below) is a mere 14 tracks long and hardly representative of the film's music. Thankfully, others have come before me to fill in the rest.

via Amazon.com
via iTunes

Oh, I now understand the appeal of Kristen Stewart a bit better. Her performance seemed effortless and real, and despite her rather moody character she lit up every scene she was in.

Every Love I've Ever Known Is Dead

Leave it to the music lovers at NPR to offer a Halloween playlist sans Monster Mash, but seriously, where's the love for Matthew Sweet (Devil with the Green Eyes anyone)?!?

• Devil With The Green Eyes by Matthew Sweet

More Matthew Sweet music on iLike

I Am In Paradise

Peter Gabriel is working on a covers album that evidently features some interesting choices:

01. "Heroes" - David Bowie
02. "Street Spirit" - Radiohead
03. "The Book Of Love" - Magnetic Fields
04. "Flume" - Bon Iver
05. "My Body Is A Cage" - Sara Lov
06. "Listening Wind" - Talking Heads
07. "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" - Randy Newman
08. "Apres Moi"
09. "Waterloo Sunset" - The Kinks
10. "The Boy In The Bubble" - Paul Simon
11. "The Power Of The Heart" - Lou Reed
12. "Philadelphia" - Bruce Springsteen
13. "Mirrorball" - Elbow

It's also being called a "song swap," which the BBC reports may mean that Gabriel's covers album will come out first next year and then the artists covering Gabriel may be released monthly online. The concept is great and the song selection is stellar. I can't wait to hear his "acoustic ... orchestral" covers.

The Band In My Head

U2 live from the Rose Bowl can be viewed in its entirety on YouTube in case you missed the live stream earlier this week. More like this from other bands, please.

Better Better Better Better Better Waaaaa

Ahh, the simplicity of pop music: Hey Jude -> na!

Thanks, @BeatlesTweets!

What Do I See?

Matthew Sweet is back to releasing music through fairly obscure soundtracks. Seriously, did anyone see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past? If you did, shame. Shame.

Well as a surprise to even his hardest-core fans, Matthew's title track slipped by us. It's actually an All Too Much tune featuring Matthew Sweet. It's got a decent retro vibe to it - even a bit reminiscent of early Matthew - but it's mostly forgettable unless you're really into Matthew McConaughey movies or, uh, Matthew Sweet.

All Too Much & Matthew Sweet - Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (via iTunes)

Delicious Beyond Compare

Holy shit.

Thanks to the magic of eBay, you can own a piece of modern music history. Ending soon is bidding on original studio reels of Beatnik Beatch - soon thereafter to be known as Jellyfish - recording the now classic Bellybutton.

These five studio "safety reels" are original tapes from Schnee Studios, Studio 55, Ocean Way Recording. Three of the reels are 1/4" tapes, and the other two are 1/2" tapes. These recordings became the classic Bellybutton album we all know and love!

Wow. This is seriously one of the coolest things I've ever seen on eBay.

Pardon the Intrusion

Matt Pond PA wishes you a happy Halloween with free music. Enjoy.

MP3: Matt Pond PA - Halloween (via aampromo.com)

It's a Most Unholy Sight

Residing somewhere along the spectrum of Beatles <-> Queen <-> Jellyfish <-> Flaming Lips <-> Phoenix is Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears, the sonic equivalent of a funhouse without the stupid clowns. Songs leave you dizzy after taking so many twists and turns and you're left feeling a bit weirded out yet overcome with spastic melodies that stick for a long time.

You can't help feel a bit discombobulated when disembarking from The Flight of the Knife, the last full-length album; but just like a kid vomiting cotton candy after a full day of riding upside-down rollercoasters you definitely want more. To whet our appetite for the next magnum opus, Scary and the Tears have released the Mad Valentines EP and it's definitely more cotton candy and loopty-loops.

Download via iTunes

The band is also on tour with The Black Hollies. Check out TheirSpace for all the dates. What a show that must be!

Maybe Then We'll Last a Million Years or More or More or More

Guster makes it easy to contribute to Reverb, a green non-profit that "educates and engages musicians and their fans to take action toward a more sustainable future." Guster has contributed virtually priceless items like an autographed guitar, autographed alternate album art, and VIP tickets and backstage passes for you to bid on. Guster offers this all through Charity Folks. Guster wishes you luck in your bidding.

Me gusta Guster.

And in the Middle of the Celebrations I Break Down

Abbey Road will be the first full album download available for Beatles Rockband. How freakin' cool would the side two medley be to play?! Lord knows how many times I've air-drummed and air-guitared it.

Here are the details. It's all a bit more complicated than "The album will cost $##.##" so read it for yourself.