[khouri]

This remaster is divine. It really is like we've been listening to this thing with earplugs in for the last 20 years.

Stray observations:

- Sounds like echoes and reverb and so forth are far, far more clear in the mix than before. Vocal refrains I thought I'd effectively imprinted on my brain matter itself now sound brand new. See Dirty Epic for the best demonstration of this. The most epic Underworld track is even more epic-y.

- The "don't put your hand..." section of Spoonman has been improved considerably. That vocal track was always too low in the mix and was very difficult to turn up and jam to in the car and whatnot. Now it's loud and clear. I could chop it out and use it in a DJ mix now.

- I wonder if it's not too remastered in some parts. I can hear artifacts of some kind in Cowgirl's "everything everything" sample that I've never noticed before. I think it may be part of the original sample that was previously muffled because of mastering limitations. Mind you, this is an extreme nitpick and likely not something I would even notice or mention if I hadn't been listening to this for 20 years. Someone hearing this for the first time would fall in love with the song like we all have.

- In the pre-order download, Cowgirl has a very audible fuck up at exactly 3:01. A sound is WAY up in the mix and distorted. I hope that's an mp3 encoding issue and not present on the CD version.

- All the percussion and bass sounds are pristine and sound like they were created today. The whole thing just sounds vibrant and massive like it never has before. It is just so astonishing to me that this remaster has rendered the 1994 release as obsolete as it has. Even Surfboy, which I regarded as Dubnobass' one filler track, has emerged from this project with new value. I've heard it a million times but now it sings to me, the synth sounds especially.

- River of Bass is another that has been given brilliant new life. I always liked this tune but it struck me as quite sonically muddy. I thought that was intentional or at least effective in establishing the mood we all love about the song, but the remaster has revealed it to be an impeccably structured, deeply layered piece that I can now see as a precursor to other Underworld "ballads" like Best Mamgu and Stagger. I can hear every piece of it now, stuff I never noticed before -- vocal effects, percussion patterns, bass vibrations, etc. The only downside is that it's so dynamic that I might have to take it out of some of my more ambient playlists, because there's just too much going on. A good problem to have.

- Mother Earth is another song I always considered more on the chill side that the remaster has proven is more lively than I thought. If I didn't know better I'd say it was recorded by a live band. Nothing drastic here, though, just a good cobweb clearing. I really hope Rick plays the piano parts live on the Dubnobass tour. They're so organic in this song, I think they need the human touch live.

- The non-vocodor "It's a beautiful destination... for what it's worth" bit at the end of ME is definitely not in the original mix. I suppose only Rick can say if this was a mistake or not. In any case, it's so subtle that only nerds like us would notice it.