Playlist 9-5-09

* Marais: Pièces de Viole du Second Livre, 1701 (Savall et al.) (Telefunken LP>CDR)
* Marais: Pièces de Viole Vol.2: Quatrième Livre, 1717 (Savall et al.) (Telefunken LP>CDR)
* Corelli: Trio Sonatas (English Concert/Pinnock) (Arkiv Produktion CD)
* Handel: 12 Solo Sonatas, Op.1 (Academy of Ancient Music/Egarr) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suites (Akademie für Alte Musik – Berlin) (Harmonia Mundi 2CD)
* Clemenic Consort: Danses Anciennes de Hongrie (Harmonia Mundi LP>CDR)
* Les Basses Reunies: Prokys Hall, Cesky Krumlov (CZ) 7-12-07 (FM CDR)
* Il Concerto Viennese (Leopold/Dearing): Schloss Eggenberg, Graz 7-27-08 (FM CDR)
* Musica Florea: Schloss Eggenberg, Graz 9-1-08 (FM CDR)
* Holloway/ter Linden/Mortensen: Garrison Church, Copenhagen 4-8-08 (FM 2CDR)
* Miles Davis Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (original soundtrack) (Fontana/Polygram CD)
* Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy: Cornell 1964 (Blue Note 2CD)
* Keith Jarrett: Mysteries: The Impulse Years: 1975-1976 (Impulse! 4CD)
* The Beatles: Rubber Soul (mono) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beatles: Revolver (mono) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (mono) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beatles: Magical Mystery Tour (mono) (Apple/EMI CD)
* The Beatles: The Mono Masters (disc 2) (Apple/EMI CD)
* Bob Dylan: Together Through Life (Columbia 2LP)
* Grateful Dead: Road Trips Vol.2, No.4: “Cal Expo ‘93” (GD 3CD)
* Jerry Garcia Band: Bay Area 1978 (Pure Jerry 2CD)
* Wilco: Wilco (the album) (Nonesuch CD)
* Wilco: Kicking Television (Nonesuch 2CD)
* Yo La Tengo: Ride the Tiger (City Slang CD)
* Robert Pollard: Crickets: Best of the Fading Captain Series 1999-2007 (FCS 2CD)
* Robert Pollard: The Crawling Distance (GBV, Inc. CD)
* Robert Pollard: Elephant Jokes (GBV, Inc. LP)
* Swell Maps: A Trip to Marineville (Munster 2LP + 7”)
* Boredoms: Pop Tatari (Reprise CD)
* Sonic Youth: The Eternal (Matador 2LP)

Commentary:

I was shocked – shocked, I tell you! – to find The Beatles In Mono box set in my mailbox this afternoon. It is not even “officially” available until Wednesday (9-9-09) and, given its “limited edition” status, I was unsure if my order from Music Direct would even be filled. I never even received an email confirmation! I eagerly opened it up and immediately put on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which is a very different album in mono and is, like the other albums in this collection, the edition the Beatles themselves assembled and approved. Listening to it was a revelation, even though I have heard “needle-drop” CDR transcriptions of the original mono LP. Suitably impressed, I proceeded to listen to a bunch of other albums, which had Lizzy and I both dancing around the house. The Beatles catalog has needed remastering for a long, long time, and the mono mixes have been out of print since the nineteen-sixties. (NB: The U.S. versions of the Beatles catalog up through Rubber Soul in mono and stereo are available on The Capitol Albums Vol.1 & 2, but these editions are famously “butchered.) Better late than never, EMI has finally done a suitably magnificent job with these CDs. Manufactured in Japan, the mono set meticulously replicates the original LP jackets, inner sleeves, and inserts and each is wrapped in a clear, re-sealable mylar bag. The discs themselves, which reproduce the original labels, are contained in round-bottomed rice paper sleeves, typical of first-class Japanese fastidiousness. Nice! Needless to say, The Beatles will be big part of the soundtrack this Labor Day Weekend. At some point, I will need to obtain the stereo box, which contains Let It Be and Abbey Road, neither of which were mixed to mono, stereophonic reproduction having become the norm by 1969. Incidentally, the mono box contains the original 1965 stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul since the stereo box inexplicably utilizes George Martin’s 1987 remixes. Confusing? Yes. But I am grateful to have them. Due to the surprisingly high demand, EMI is apparently preparing a second pressing of The Beatles in Mono, so if you’re interested, do not hesitate; this is the Beatles as they were meant to be heard and I am certain that these mixes will again slip out of print in the near future.