Re: (idm) 4 x CD Players /Gescom

From Upaka
Sent Wed, May 6th 1998, 23:57

In a message dated 5/6/98 4:45:36 PM, you wrote:

>Well, it could be worse. If you like the Flaming Lips you might be
>bullied into buying another 3, seeing as their new LP comes on 4 CDs
>which are intended to all be played at the same time (or not, if you're
>feeling rebellious). What the point of it? Don't ask me. It could be
>that they were just too lazy to mix it, or that they want to sell 1 CDs
>for the price of four, or it could be just a load of gimmicky nonsense.
>but as Irene points out, who but the luxuriously rich would have 4 CD
>players to do this on.

I think this could be interesting if each of the cds had a different mix of
the record, i.e. the vocals on one track panned differently on each disc. Then
when you played all four together it would seem like the vocals were bouncing
around the room. However, I don't think that the Flaming Lips went to so much
trouble. And I completely agree that most people would be unable to use this.

On a related note, I wonder why Gescom have chosen to release their new
recording in minidisc only form. Forget about the whole compression problem,
what about the fact that minidisc players are prohibitively expensive? I'm not
going to go out and buy a minidisc player to listen to what will certainly be
the only minidisc-exclusive release. It just seems rather mean to release
something in a format that almost no one can listen to. It's like saying: "I
bet you'd like to listen to this wouldn't you? Oh, well, too bad you don't
have a minidisc player, isn't it?"