early b-side errors

[bryantm3]

i'm not referring to mistakes in performances, but mistakes in the mastering. i thought that it was bad mp3s from the old days, but when i went and special ordered the CDs finally, i found that there are errors actually on the cd.

on the pearl's girl EP, i noticed that first of all, puppies (and possibly oich oich) sounds like it is sourced from a cassette tape. however, i kind of like the effect— i don't know if this is on purpose or not but it sounds interesting.

the second thing i noticed is actually an error in oich oich— and it's on both versions that i own, the pearl's girl short CD and the pearl's girl EP, it's at around 7:12. i believe there might be another glitch in there also.

the last thing i noticed is that during thing in a book, there is the same sort of error at 9:05. has anyone ever noticed these, and if so, have remastered versions been issued?

i wouldn't normally be so picky, but i'm going through and re-doing my itunes library in lossless, and i noticed these errors still exist on the CD versions.

it might be interesting, just out of curiosity, to know if any of these songs were recorded on analogue tape originally, and if so, if that means i will need to get vinyl copies. :D


also one last question— i have the 4 track dark & long with 215 miles, and the 6 track EP. is the full length version of 'dark train' on either?

[holden]

Sorry, i hadn't noticed these errors, but something that's always irked me is that my CD versions of "Dubno" and "STITI" are mixed decidedly low. That is, i need to crank up the volume to hear these records. I know that nowadays, everything is pushed way up front and overdriven in the mix, so it's not a meaningful comparison. But for someone who has a lot of CD's from the 90's-00's, these UW albums DO seem to be mastered quite quiet. Anyone else?

[khouri]

I hear what you mean about the casette tape sourcing on Puppies and Oich Oich but the effect is so pronounced that I have to believe it's intentional.

I hear the glitch you mentioned in Oich Oich not only from the Pearls Girl EP, but also on the latest Anthology compilation.

I can't hear any such glitch on my copy of Thing In A Book. I wonder if this is some kind of manufacturing defect and that could account for the disparity?

And yeah, my DUBNO and STITI are very low-volume. I bought those CDs (the TVT versions) back when they came out. It's another reason why I wish Underworld would undertake a comprehensive remastering and repackaging of their back catalogue, so all these things can be updated for digital evermore.

[TheBang]

has anyone ever noticed these, and if so, have remastered versions been issued?
That's interesting. I'd never heard either glitch before, but I can hear both of them where you indicated. There have never been any other versions released of these 2 tracks.

also one last question— i have the 4 track dark & long with 215 miles, and the 6 track EP. is the full length version of 'dark train' on either?
Well, it depends on what you consider the full length version. The D&L single has a 9:52 version. The EP has a 10:28 version, which is the same as the version that appears on some copies of the NUXX single. Those were the only two versions of the song for a long time. But then, on the 1992-2002 anthology, there was a 10:53 version. I haven't compared the 3 to see how/where the edits differ.

[jetpig]

Just noticed my copy of Dark and Long (from dubno TVT 7217-2) has a mastering error around 3:11-3:15. Anyone know if the 2000 reissue has it too?

edit: possibly 5:12 to 5:14 as well? harder to tell if that one's intentional or not.

[TheBang]

I have that same release (TVT 7217-2). I don't hear any errors at 3:11-3:15. I don't hear anything at 5:12-5:14 either, unless you're talking about the electronic beeps dropping out for a second? If that's the case, I think that's a production error (or intentional), since Karl's lyrics are uninterrupted over that span.

[jetpig]

Just checked the hard copy, the 3:11 one sounds like a warbled tape or something to me, but only on the backing instrumentation, not the vocals. The 5 minute one is more of a fade out I think than an error, also only on the instrumentation.

[undarrenworld]

Yes I have Pearl's Girl EP (on cd) and I will check your findings.
Its really interresting point. I will get back to you...

[jOHN rODRIGUEZ]

& I think on burts you have to adjust the bass, but i'm messing with the bass all the time with everything. Very noticable least for me.

[King of Snake]

the last thing i noticed is that during thing in a book, there is the same sort of error at 9:05. has anyone ever noticed these, and if so, have remastered versions been issued?yeah that's definitely on my CD too so I assume it's just part of the original recording. I find these things lend some extra charm to the old stuff :) And I'm sure some of it could easily have been recorded on cassette or other old tape machines. There's quite a bit of background hiss on a lot of things pre-Beacoup Fish but again it's part of the charm.

[bas_I_am]

I wonder if these "artifacts" might simply result from sound generation techniques the guys were using around the time.

On stiti, banstyle and blueski have some definite lo-fi sourced sounds that have then been digitally tweaked for inclusion in the tracks.

[holden]

At times like this, i recall that back in 2000 or so, i was excited to purchase a $20 USD Zip disc, which allowed me to place up to 100 MB of photos on removable storage!!!

Then i regress back to childhood, where a floppy meant you could run a single, simple program.

The average laptop is a heck of a lot more powerful than the first Lunar Lander!

Moon Pies - what a time to be alive! :)


If this sounds glib, it's not. I eagerly await what the UW boys will do to surprise me in the future. If you're disappointed in 2014, chances are that in 2024 you will call it ahead of it's time!