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gustavojobim
Cool Member
Age: 30
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 149
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 Posted:
Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:07 pm TD 1997-2011 |
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OK!
From this period the only CDs I had were Goblins' Club, Oasis and Mars Polaris. Their quality vary, but they are at least average. I first heard TD in 1999, about the time Mars Polaris was released, but I always heard only the past releases. Nothing that I heard with the date equal or greater than 2000 seemed to have the same appeal, but sometimes I heard a glimpse of genius here and there. So I largely ignored contemporary TD.
Then I decided to fix this. I tried all different albums, singles, 'cupdisks', everything except remixes or releases of old material. I spent an entire week listening to some 40 different titles released between 1997 and 2011. These are my thoughts:
There are great things, terrible things and boring things. Almost every album is about 30% good stuff and 70% filler.
I selected the better tracks. They sum up to between 10 and 15 hours of good music (I don't have everything here to do the accurate calculation) - which means, if TD had released only ONE album of new music per year, all of them would have been pretty good at least. It seems they saved the best for the EPs and singles. These are concentrated slices of TD without filler.
Some of the highlights for me were:
Jeanne D'Arc - smooth, emotional, sense of purpose, that's the top TD album of the decade 2000-2010
Metaphor - pointing towards new and interesting directions I hardly ever heard elsewhere
Purple Diluvial - some very interesting music here. Should it been released as a regular 60-80 minute album, it could have been a classic
Das Romantische Opfer, Bells of Accra, Fallen Angels - these singles are alternatively exciting or interesting. Only the middle track of Fallen Angels didn't do much for me
Springtime in Nagasaki - experimental and ambient like Metaphor, could have been better perhaps, but still interesting and begging for more listens
Summer in Nagasaki - lots of great moments, only some uninteresting sections - namely Presentiment if I remember correctly.
Island of the Fay - one of the better releases since 2005, warm and bright, 4 tracks have strong melodic motifs, a feature that has been lacking. the others tend to be classified as filler for being too long and saying too little, like a spoon of butter spread over 2 square meters of bread.
honorable mentions:
Flame - has some of the tracks I most enjoyed from this period, but they are only 3: Lord Nelson, Synth Affection and Morning Star. the others are or uninteresting (just for being remixes) or filler material.
Chandra - a darker album, echoes from the early to mid 70s, which is promising, but the album is marred by lots of uninteresting filler. three tracks stand out: the moondog connection, the unknown is the truth, and the dance without dancers.
I've noticed a kind of trend in the last few years: Edgar's producing tons of tracks in the 9-10 minute mark, even if there's not much to say or what's been said is said again, and again, and again. I see the 9:40 duration all the time. What's the point? Filling a CD with 81 minutes? He has always done this kind of thing (see Ages), but now that TD seems to mostly be Edgar solo, it's too much. I prefer a tight 50 minute album than a rambling 80 minute one.
Which brings me to conclusions:
1. Edgar usually needs one or two creative minds by his side to produce the magic we expect from the name that has given us "Ricochet". When he's solo he seems to release everything he records, be it really great or really bad, no restrictions or editing. When he's not alone, even if there's not a collaboration and two or three musicians are sharing the space of a TD album with solo tracks, then the group should select only the better tracks, and the probability of good things happening is bigger. (this paragraph has just been edited for a more clear and less ambiguous exposition of my point).
2. There's a really good TD buried in what? 60, 70 albums? released between 1997 and 2011, a TD that (shock!) continues what they stopped doing around 1977, believe it or not. It's totally different from the group that brought us "Rockoon" and "Turn of the Tides", except for the eternal, almost omnipresent, harpsichord THRONNG!.
It seems to me that there's financial reasons behind all this. It's a pity that Edgar needs to release so many albums of varying quality instead of giving us only his best efforts.
I'm going to compile my 10-15 hour selection as a bunch of albums and see how much these separate tracks would cost from TD's online store. It's a shame they don't sell FLAC.
Last edited by gustavojobim on Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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sparrow
One of the Coolest Member
Age: 49
Joined: 15 Apr 2007
Posts: 2729
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Posted:
Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:13 pm (No subject) |
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Nice post and you made a lot of good points..
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Feb Birthed
One of the Coolest Member
Age: 45
Joined: 09 Feb 2011
Posts: 535
Location: michigan
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Posted:
Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:35 pm (No subject) |
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I've heard some intersting bits here and here but overall I haven't heard much worth buying. For me it's about %5 good parts to %95 that didn't nothing for me.
I'd rather give my ear to other artists who I find much more interesting. I'm not going to want to eat a mean that's only a faction good.
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You can call me Dave
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gustavojobim
Cool Member
Age: 30
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 149
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Posted:
Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:45 pm (No subject) |
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Feb Birthed, that's the problem. the vast majority of releases from this period is only a fraction good. I also avoid buying records because of just a few minutes of good music.
have you tried the 2005 album Jeanne D'Arc? that seems to be the only one really worth buying .
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gustavojobim
Cool Member
Age: 30
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 149
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Posted:
Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:47 pm (No subject) |
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when I finish doing my selection and compilations of what I considered good, I'll post the lists here.
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gustavojobim
Cool Member
Age: 30
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 149
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Posted:
Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:51 pm (No subject) |
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an interesting thing. I myself wrote "I prefer a tight 50 minute album than a rambling 80 minute one. "
I actually did that with EF's Ages; shortened some tracks, removed others, reduced the album from 83 to 53 minutes. it's a completely new album, totally different from the hard to swallow double behemoth that is the original Ages. It was an exercise on audio editing for me. I tried to see if a single-LP Ages would have been possible. the answer is a big YES. now it's much more to the point and exciting and beautiful and never rambling.
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Pertou
One of the Coolest Member
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 1459
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Posted:
Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:05 pm (No subject) |
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Great thread! I can follow most of your opinions, especially your album recommendations. Strong material there.
TD for me is like when I listen to later albums from Mike Oldfield or Phil Collins even. I like the distinctive sound. Sometimes I just buy the albums to get a fix of that sound! And honestly, the compositions aren't always the best.
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Feb Birthed
One of the Coolest Member
Age: 45
Joined: 09 Feb 2011
Posts: 535
Location: michigan
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Posted:
Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:35 pm (No subject) |
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« gustavojobim » wrote:
Feb Birthed, that's the problem. the vast majority of releases from this period is only a fraction good. I also avoid buying records because of just a few minutes of good music.
have you tried the 2005 album Jeanne D'Arc? that seems to be the only one really worth buying .
Yep. Especially these days when you were forced to buy a whole album for 1 or 2 decent songs. You put out something with only a couple good ones you will "persude" people to just go download the 1,2 or whatever number songs.
Luckily for groups like TD, there's a small group of people who will "collect" everything or there abouts.
It also doesn't help that I lost respect for TD decades ago. Sorry but i don't care for music makers who pump out "product" with seemingly little attention to creativity.
Seriously, alot of that period TD is laughable. Smooth jazzy garbage or sad attempts at any sort of "modern" sound.
I listened to it (Jeane..) but I'll go download it and give er another spin.
update* Just listened to parts of Jeanne D'Arc and thought I heard Kenny G on sax? :-/
Last edited by Feb Birthed on Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:16 am; edited 2 times in total
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Feb Birthed
One of the Coolest Member
Age: 45
Joined: 09 Feb 2011
Posts: 535
Location: michigan
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Posted:
Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:38 pm (No subject) |
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« gustavojobim » wrote:
an interesting thing. I myself wrote "I prefer a tight 50 minute album than a rambling 80 minute one. "
I actually did that with EF's Ages; shortened some tracks, removed others, reduced the album from 83 to 53 minutes. it's a completely new album, totally different from the hard to swallow double behemoth that is the original Ages. It was an exercise on audio editing for me. I tried to see if a single-LP Ages would have been possible. the answer is a big YES. now it's much more to the point and exciting and beautiful and never rambling.
I could probably make a cool 2xcdr sized mix of Edgar's early stuff. A more "ambient" one and a more "upbeat" one. That's if I was proficient at audio editing, mixing, etc. 
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jmkoons
Member
Joined: 02 Apr 2008
Posts: 11
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
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Posted:
Thu Apr 21, 2011 12:41 am (No subject) |
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Gustavo, thank you for these notes. With the staggering amount of output from the later period TD, this summary and opinion helps.
I'm firmly in the camp expressed by Feb Birthed. After hearing bits of Jeanne D'Arc, my feelings regarding the last 25+ years of output from them/Froese hasn't changed at all. At least I can say I've not been missing essential material (IMHO, of course). I tried, but can't get anything out of their/his post-Virgin territory, with the exception of some live material up to about '87-'88. I'd even been to their '92 tour in NYC (220 Volt period), but remember being disappointed a good deal. What I was most impressed with was Andy Summers deft Fripp-esque guitar soundscapes as part of the supporting act.
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Feb Birthed
One of the Coolest Member
Age: 45
Joined: 09 Feb 2011
Posts: 535
Location: michigan
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Posted:
Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:04 am (No subject) |
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« jmkoons » wrote:
Gustavo, thank you for these notes. With the staggering amount of output from the later period TD, this summary and opinion helps.
I'm firmly in the camp expressed by Feb Birthed. After hearing bits of Jeanne D'Arc, my feelings regarding the last 25+ years of output from them/Froese hasn't changed at all. At least I can say I've not been missing essential material (IMHO, of course). I tried, but can't get anything out of their/his post-Virgin territory, with the exception of some live material up to about '87-'88. I'd even been to their '92 tour in NYC (220 Volt period), but remember being disappointed a good deal. What I was most impressed with was Andy Summers deft Fripp-esque guitar soundscapes as part of the supporting act.
And some wonder why TD hasn't garnered mucch attention by anyone (media, music fans, etc) other than in small circles. Many of those just seem to be amassing a large/complete TD for some sort of "need".
Its not that everyone doesn't like "EM" or whatever or not understand it. It's because of poor quality music or music that sounds like it was made for "old people". (imho)
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jmkoons
Member
Joined: 02 Apr 2008
Posts: 11
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
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Posted:
Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:31 am (No subject) |
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Correction on my recollection - that must have been the '88-'89 Optical Race tour with Mr. Summers, which I picked up as an LP then, and had mixed feelings about. Incidentally, this discussion has renewed my interest in the Mysterious Barricades release, which made up much of Summers' act. There's a mini-LP remaster that's tempting me.
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gustavojobim
Cool Member
Age: 30
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 149
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Posted:
Fri Apr 22, 2011 3:37 am Vol.01: PRIME TIME |
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So,
What if TD's discography between 1996 and 2001 had been simply
1996 Goblins' Club
1997 Oasis
1999 Mars Polaris
2001 Prime Time (TDI/Eastgate Years Vol.01 - 1997-2001)
Tracklist:
01 Mobocaster (TimeSquare 1997)
02 Chingan Night (Transsiberia 1998)
03 The Red Blood Connection (The Seven Letters From Tibet 2000)
04 The South Gate Knights (Great Wall of China 2000)
05 Cradle of Prodigies (Great Wall of China 2000)
06 The Indigo Clouds (The Seven Letters From Tibet 2000)
07 Pixel Pirates (TimeSquare 1997)
08 Campera de Mon Glyan (Ambient Monkeys 1997)
09 The Golden Heart (The Seven Letters From Tibet 2000)
10 The Golden Horn (Transsiberia 1998)
11 Prime Time (DM3 2001)
12 Ça Va - Ça Marche - Ça Ira Encore (1998)
Playing time: 75:36
Looks good or what?
Now tell me: did I miss anything?
Next post: TDI/Eastgate Years Vol.02
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phaedra2008
One of the Coolest Member
Joined: 09 Aug 2009
Posts: 2723
Location: Western Oz
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Posted:
Fri Apr 22, 2011 4:36 am (No subject) |
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Andy Summers-Mysterious Barricades
Quote:
There's a mini-LP remaster that's tempting me.
I can vouch for this one, I do have both the original and Japanese version.
The Japanese reissue sounds excellent and is beautifully presented.
Selected Private Music releases have been reissued in Japan as mini LP' s in 2009, grab them while you can.
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Imagination is more important than knowledge
Albert Einstein
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johnsculpture
Cool Member
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
Posts: 58
Location: Reading
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Posted:
Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:00 pm (No subject) |
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