Two Things I learned from the 2009 Sgt. Pepper's Liner Notes

1. I always wondered why some of the songs featured vocals that sounded higher pitched than usual. The first thing I assumed was that the entire track was sped up, but that would knock all of the instruments out of key, which they aren't. Turns out they recorded the vocals for several tracks at a much slower speed, that way when you play it back the vocals have a higher pitch but maintain the correct key. Ah, the joys of analog.

2. The end of A Day In The Life caught me off guard when it kept
playing after the end of the song with a bunch of garbled noisy stuff at the end , al la the "hidden track" trend of the early to mid 90s.

Turns out this was part of the original vinyl release & subsequent UK CD release but removed from the American pressings in the late 80's. Back in the day, if you had a turntable without an auto-return feature it would replay the last groove on the record until you got up and changed the track. The Beatles thought they would have a little fun at the expense of these folks. Ah, the joys of analog.

- Coop

Polvo & Beatles

Polvo - In Prism

What was I hoping for when I heard that Polvo was recording again? In Prism was pretty damn close. I couldn't be more satisfied with this one, they definitely got back together for a reason. DLB was right, there's lots of Cor-Crane Secret mixed in with some Exploded Drawing. I love the overall heavier sound, hoping for more before too long.



The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album) Re-Master


People slap the label "re-mastered" on a lot of things these days. Most of the time it means somebody added compression and jacked the levels up to 11. Not this time around. Pitchfork has a great article on how/why these were mastered the right way as opposed to continuing the "loudness war".

If you're on the fence about grabbing these, trust me you won't be disappointed. Watch any crappy VHS copy of your favorite movie, then watch the DVD. That's what I'm talking about. These disks sounds about as good as you're ever going to hear em, and I swear I can hear little details that I never noticed before. Well worth the bucks, picking up some more as soon as I can.

- Coop