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Author Topic: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.  (Read 19385 times)

Offline mikel

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Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« on: September 21, 2009, 10:26:08 PM »
i like the Lp (played on the Rockport/Lyra Olympos/Allnic H3000). i am gaga over the tape. this is compelling music. maybe 'funk' is not everyone's cup of tea....it's not my favorite genre. but this particular music and recording with 'The Tape Project's' magic added is unresistable. i've played the tape all the way thru twice. i want to play it again. the music propells you along and you just hang on.

this tape is alive! it literally bursts with energy. the bass lines are big, bold, and bloomy with seemingly unlimited dynamic range. reminds me of some of Bob Marley's best reggae bass tracks. if you have a full range system (or headphones) you will thank the lord.

the Lp is very good, and until you hear the tape it's hard to imagine it getting much better. but the tape takes things to another level in most every way. the bass is much more dynamically alive, quicker, more textured, and decays more fully. the vocals on the Lp seem a slight bit veiled compared to the tape. it's much easier to hear each background singer individually on the tape, each voice is more distinctive. the Lp has a good sense of space. with the tape they are in my room playing and the tape energizes every molecule of air in the room.

this is an example where you have a perfectly good Lp of really fun music; then the tape comes along and shows you what is possible in reproduced music.

i played 'Respect Yourself' and 'I'll Take You There' on the Lp. very nice; i've heard them a thousand times. then the tape. like normal TV (not HD) to Blue Ray. no easy way to explain it; ya gotta see it for yourself to appreciate the difference. (i played the start of 'I'll Take You There' 5 times it was sooo tasty!!!).

and play this loud.....the louder the better. this recording holds together at warp 9.

congrats to the crew for this choice, and for such a wonderful job on this tape! you have set the bar very, very high for the rest of Series 2.


Mike Lavigne

Offline docb

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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2009, 11:47:23 PM »
Thanks for the kinds words Mike. I'll suggest that this isn't something one would categorize as a funk album of the Parliament/Funkadelic ilk, even though the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section certainly had the funk groove down to a science. It's more a definitive soul album, by gospel giants, with a massive funk (and yeah, reggae in some places) groove. To pull that all together in one album is what makes this one so special. 
Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
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Offline xcortes

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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2009, 07:29:49 AM »
That was fast Mike. Thanks!
Xavier Cortes

Offline mikel

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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2009, 08:32:54 AM »
Thanks for the kinds words Mike. I'll suggest that this isn't something one would categorize as a funk album of the Parliament/Funkadelic ilk, even though the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section certainly had the funk groove down to a science. It's more a definitive soul album, by gospel giants, with a massive funk (and yeah, reggae in some places) groove. To pull that all together in one album is what makes this one so special. 
thanks for the correction; i guess i was caught up in the music and wasn't thinking straight. i love gospel/soul and listen to it often, and guess i was just having a senior moment. however you catagorize it; it's great music and sounds superb.

mikel
Mike Lavigne

Offline docb

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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2009, 09:00:31 AM »
I hear you about this one catching you up in the music. We did some fairly major room adjustments yesterday in preparation for Sunday. We got a lot better overall definition and after a year and a half of struggling we seem to have found a pretty good spot for the speakers, where the bass is finally coming in with some control and not so much flab. I'll Take You There was one of the evaluation tracks and every time we played it I got goosebumps.
Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President for Life, Bottlehead Corp.
Managing Director - retired, The Tape Project

Offline ironbut

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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #5 on: September 22, 2009, 05:37:16 PM »
Number 12 found it's way to my door at 3 and by 4 the volume was at 2!

Great description Mike! And the clarity on "I'll Take You There" really shows how keeping things nice and clean lets all the subtle stuff like depth and width come through. I can tell this is going to be a huge favorite for demos (it'll give Blackjack David a break for a while at least). I'm so glad I got the Flux head all dialed in before this one got here because, as already indicated, this one really thumps. The vocals have incredible presence and you can really get inside of the harmonies to see what's going on in there.

I think that it would be a pretty rare individual that wouldn't have the head-bop thing going on the very first cut. And by the end of tape one, just about every cell will have found the groove! A good selection for removing those unwanted pounds whether you need it or not!

This one came out during my last couple of years in Atlanta and "rockin soul" dominated the airwaves. I've noticed a few clues here and there lately that gospel based vocal stylists are on the rise and I couldn't be happier about it.

Just a great, great selection guys!
Thanks
steve koto
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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2009, 04:28:16 PM »
I just wanted to say several things here.  First of all, another great review by MikeL.  I like the way Mike describes what he hears and how the tape compares to the LP.  The second thing is, it is obvious this is one groovin' tape.  The Staple Singers is one of those bands that I have none of their music and never had any plans to buy any.  After reading the reviews of the tape, it makes me want to hear it.

Mark

Offline astrotoy

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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2009, 06:46:48 PM »
Got mine this afternoon and I've already played through both tapes. I think this is the first gospel type of album that I have in my collection. One thing I have found is that the TP has broadened my musical exposure, just as collecting classical records has broadened my forays into 20th century music.  THe album was a lot of fun - it is infectiously toe tapping and the rhythm section is really fine.  Only one question. On the sheet it lists "Beatitudes" from Matthew as the last cut. I don't have that on my tape.   Thanks, Larry
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Offline ironbut

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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2009, 07:16:24 PM »
Hey Larry,
It looks like you're as good a biblical scholar as I am. After a check of the wiki;

the Beatitudes (from Latin beatus, meaning "blessed" or "happy"[1]) are blessings from Jesus recorded in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew and the Sermon on the Plain in Luke. The blessings in Luke refer to external situations while those in Matthew refer more to spiritual or moral qualities.

Thus the reference to the book of Matthew (simply showing where the title comes from rather than a song title).
See, ya just never know where this magnetic tape path will lead us!
« Last Edit: September 25, 2009, 07:17:57 PM by ironbut »
steve koto
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Offline astrotoy

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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2009, 10:16:34 PM »
Thanks, Steve.  I now remember the Beatitudes -
like "Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the earth."
  "Blessed are analogue lovers, for they shall reach audio enlightenment"

Larry
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Offline JoeG

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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #10 on: September 30, 2009, 07:51:54 PM »
My tape was at the door today when I got home from work. Just finished the A reel, and really can't add anything that Mike didn't already say. While the Staples are not normally part of my heavy rotation of listening, I just got sucked into the vortex created by the bass. That is some of the most infectious funk playing I've heard. The space, air and width in and around the voice and instruments of "I'll Take You There" was mesmerizing, as was the lyrical content of "Respect Yourself". I don't have LP versions to compare it too though.
Joe Galbraith
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Offline TomR

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Re: Be Altitude; Respect Yourself--first impressions.
« Reply #11 on: October 06, 2009, 10:26:01 PM »
OK, guys......you got me on this one! At first, I was respectful but wondering if I would ever play this more than once, and also wondering why we couldn't have had the Temptations or Marvin Gaye - but then "I"ll Take You There" started, and I was transported. High, high energy, and a classic slice of African-American music - funk, gospel and blues all rolled up into one package. Did you like Sly and The Family Stone? Aretha Franklin? If so, you'll like this!

Thomas Ream

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