The Friday Morning Listen
Published January 07, 2005
First posted on Mark Is Cranky:
This is the weekend of the "big battle". That'll be Mermaid Avenue on CD vs. Mermaid Avenue on vinyl.
A friend of mine insists that this album provides an example of 'the vinyl is definitely worse than the CD'. I've never run into a situation like this before, though it's certainly possible. Some recordings in the 80's were done very poorly and probably sounded cruddy on both formats. Put the old vinyl up against the modern remastered version and the black circle version would easily lose that fight.
But...I have my reasons to doubt that the Mermaid Avenue vinyl will lose. Firstly, my audio buddy is using an old turntable, one that he so far has refused to perform basic maintenance on such as oiling the spindle. My turntable (a VPI HR-19 Jr., a gift to myself for oh-my-god-i'm-turning-forty) is in much better shape. We'll see. Results will be posted next week.
Oh, if you're unfamiliar with this particular slab of music history, this is Billy Bragg and Wilco taking on the lyrics of Woody Guthrie. The results, to my ear anyway, are spectacular. Woody'd a been proud. The Amazon review begins "A ghost, a band, a troubadour", which is just about perfect.
Mark Saleski is a writer and music obsessive based out of the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. On his best day, he hopes to channel the ghosts of Lester Bangs and Jack Kerouac. He spends the hours of 9:32PM to 1:37AM carving out music reviews and essays for Jazz.com, Blogcritics.org and other publications.
- The Friday Morning Listen
- Published: January 07, 2005
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- Section: Music
- Part of a feature: Friday Morning Listen
- Writer: Mark Saleski
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Comments on this articleComments
when it first came out, i wasn't thrilled with the idea of Bragg doing this with a full band.
i wanted just Bragg-with-guitar.
i was wrong.
that's ok E, you still haven't heard Joe Jackson's Blaze of Glory either.
I almost always like the sound of a full band better, except when I don't
I love this album too, and it took me completely by surprise. I don't know why, either, because I've long loved Wilco's rendition of "California Stars," which they play often in concert. I finally broke down and bought both of the Bragg/Wilco albums this past fall and most of it is simply wonderful (the second falls a little flat and drags a bit, but I don't hold that against the near-perfect first set.)
But, yeah, file me under those who don't believe in the "vinyl sounds better" category. Sorry Mark! The only thing I can imagine is that vinyl sounds "softer" than CDs, but I'll be waiting to read the results either way it turns out . . .
too bad you live out west tom.
i've got a couple of cd vs. lp combinations that i just know you'd hear the difference on.
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very exciting Mark, I look forward to the results. I have to admit I still haven't listened to this yet, although my DAD has it. Shameful