SSQ / Jon St. James

[swerve]

Don't know... listen to the clips to see if you can tell... released via F1 which was Jon St. James ( according to Wiki he sold F1 to Thump Records ).

Perhaps he was involved since "The Girl Who Seduced The World" is included.

I remember getting the master on a DAT from him and talking to him on the phone concerning the DAT when I worked for SPG Music with respect to "Jet Town" appearing on Hardest Hits Volume 5.

[Thefxc2]

Cool, but is this an actual re-mastered copy of the album, or just a vinyl rip? A friend of mine who's on this board actually takes the train with Stacey on the way to work, and he specifically asked her if there was any plans to re-mastered and properly release her album, and she didn't mention anything about this, which leads me to believe that this is just a vinyl rip, which I already own. Would love to see a full CD release with liner notes, photos, etc...in fact, a double CD release with the SSQ and Jon St. James albums together would be awesome!

http://www.amazon.com/Playback-Ssq/dp/B00LPXAGV4/ref=cm_cr-mr-img

At least going from the Spotify version, it doesn't sound like a vinyl rip. It's not the original record in any case (the track listing is different) and without being able to look at credits I don't know if the remixes of 'Clockwork' and 'Playback' are 80s remixes or modern remixes. I've seen one customer review that said the entire thing's a remix; I'm not sure if that's the case. Maybe it's because I'm hearing it for the first time in a form that's not a scratchy record or mp3, but the mastering seems awfully clear, so much that I wouldn't be surprised if some instrumental parts were redone. (I know there's a debate about whether some of the SSQ tracks on the Thump! Stacey Q's GH CDs are note-for-note remakes or not; there will be a similar question here.) It's a fishy reissue. And I wish someone would do it on CD.

[Thefxc2]

And now having listed to it in detail, there's definitely some sort of sweetening going on beyond just remastering. Some tracks are close to the original ('Anonymous') but there seems to be some George Lucas-style editing going on in others (most notably 'Walkman On' and 'Screaming in my Pillow'). The vocal tracks seem to be from the original. It's a 'Do Not Buy'.

[Fred Taghon]

I'm listening to samples on iTunes and comparing them to my own carefully digitized vinyl from 1983. I'm not entirely sure what to make of this. I want to be excited because "Playback" is one of my holy grails when it comes to albums I want re-issued on CD. These are some of my track by track observations:

SYNTHICIDE:
I am 99% certain "Synthicide" is the original Enigma LP version (the EMI LP version contained the 7" remix). The sample sounds exactly like my vinyl version, albeit much more crystal clear - it really sounds quite spectacular.

JET TOWN:
Besides having "Jet Town" on the "Playback" vinyl LP, I also have it from the Enigma "Hardest Hits" CD compilation. The sample on iTunes sounds exactly like the vinyl LP and CD version - though the track time on iTunes has it at 3:40 while the "Hardest Hits" CD track is 3:45 (the sound doesn't completely fade out til 3:44 - though it's not a really smooth fade during those last 2 seconds and you can hear some tape hiss, so maybe for the new remaster they opted to just fade it a few seconds sooner?). The iTunes sample sounds very good overall.

BIG ELECTRONIC BEAT:
The iTunes sample of this sounds exactly like my vinyl LP. Sound is extremely crisp and clear, but maybe just a bit overly compressed. Track time for iTunes is 3:32 while my LP rip is 3:40. The LP version has a long fade-in, so I am curious if the iTunes version trims some of that?

THE GIRL WHO SEDUCED THE WORLD:
I am not familiar with this track - it was not on the original album. I assume it's Jon St. James on vocals.

SCREAMING IN MY PILLOW:
This is definitely NOT the version from the "Playback" vinyl LP. It sounds like it may be the same version that was on the Thump "Greatest Hits" CD which I always felt was a nice mix regardless, though I'm not entirely sure of it's origins (was it an unreleased mix from 1983 or was it tweaked a bit in 1995 for the "Greatest Hits" release?).

THE MODEL:
This was not on the original "Playback" LP. It sounds to be the same version from the Thump "Greatest Hits" CD and is the same length. I do not have the original version by Q so I can't say if this is in fact the original mix or if the "Greatest Hits" version was remixed or re-performed. It sounds to be of the early 80's sonic palette though and actually fits in well with the "Playback" tracks.

ANONYMOUS:
The iTunes sample sounds like my LP and the length is the same. Sounds very crip, but again, maybe just a bit overly compressed. The high-end frequencies of the hi-hats are a tad "hot".

WALKMAN ON:
This is definitely not the version from the "Playback" LP, though the lead vocal is definitely the original. Again, like "Screaming..." it sounds like it could have been an unreleased mix rather than a new "update", but it's hard to be certain. Whatever the case, it's still a great song and it's very good version - but the purist in me would prefer the original LP version.

N'IMPORTE QUOI:
This sounds like the original LP version. On the vinyl, this was the innermost track of Side 2 which means the high end frequencies had a lot of distortion (noticeable mostly in hi-hats and the "S-es" of the vocals). So listening to the iTunes sample, it is so clear and clean compared to my LP that there is absolutely no way it could have been recorded from vinyl - so I assume all of these tracks are indeed from some kind of master tape. Especially given that this album on the whole is fairly minimalistic in instrumentation - pops, crackles and surface noise would stick out like a sore thumb (as it does on my LP).

PLAYBACK:
This song was not on the original LP despite sharing it's title. It was originally from an earlier EP release (and it's own 7" single) when SSQ went by the name Q. I do not have the original release so can not confirm whether this is the same version, but according to the info on discogs.com, the original is 3:22 while the iTunes version here is 3:52. I actually LOVE the version on the Thump "Greatest Hits" CD which MIGHT be the mix from the 1987 CD "Enigma Variations"?? But the iTunes version still sounds pretty darn cool. Great song - why it was left off the original album in any mix is unfortunate.

TONIGHT (WE'LL MAKE LOVE UNTIL WE DIE):
I have this from the "Return Of The Living Dead" CD - it was not on the original "Playback" LP. The iTunes tracks appears to be the same version, though it is significantly shorter in length (3:15 as opposed to the original 3:38). I personally never cared much for this song.

CLOCKWORK:
While this essentially does sound like the version on the original LP, some of the vocal bits and some of the music is most definitely different. So again, is it an unreleased mix or has it been tweaked for this re-issue? And yet, again, it still sounds pretty cool, though the original would have been preferred.

SYNTH SAMURAI:
I don't have this - It's kind of an instrumental of "Synthicide". It was on the cassette version of "Playback" and I can't say if it's the same as that version or not. It's pretty cool though! The clarity of the "bell-like" synths and the tom toms leads me to believe, again, that this is definitely from a master tape and not just recorded from a cassette.

TONIGHT (Alternate Mix):
While I don't really like this song much, I have to say, I think I prefer this mix over the original.


So overall, all the tracks really do sound very good if not great for a 1983 indie synth album. The only tracks I know for certain are different versions that the original LP are "Screaming In My Pillow", "Walkman On" and "Clockwork" and while that's a bummer, the versions here are still really very good and by no means are drastic departures from the originals. But I would LOVE to know if these versions are from 1983 or if they were embellished more recently. They certainly do sound vintage and "of 1983".

Big question is will this be available on CD at all? And is there more to come from the SSQ vaults????