Books!

Brian Eno multi-tracked

I haven't listened to Brian Eno in years but spotting his name near the tale of the long (long) list of proposals reminded me of a rumour I'd heard about there being some multi-tracks of 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts' available online. A quick search and presto, Brian Eno and David Byrne have made the full multi- tracks for 'A secret life' and 'Help me somebody' available to download (officially no less) here.

What you get are the original audio files, all 24 of them (the album was recorded to 2" 24 track tape) as 24bit, 48kHz wav files (for the un-initiated this is essentially studio quality audio). Better than that though you get them in their original, un-sequenced format, exactly as they were recorded. For me this is the really enlightening aspect of getting hold of these files. It's not just about being able to hear the recorded sounds individually and appreciate them in isolation of the final mix, it also highlights just how much work went into editing and sequencing the recordings to deliver the final mixes. Well worth checking out. 

1 in 471 chance

So the deadline for this round of submissions to the 33 1/3 series was yesterday and the full list of proposals was posted this morning. 471 in total and it makes fascinating reading, particularly as there are quite a few multiple submissions (the eagle eyed amongst you will note someone else has submitted for The Meadowlands. I'm looking on it as a good thing, with luck one of us will get to write about the album).

There are some great albums on the list, I've got my fingers crossed for these in particular;

The Waterboys Fisherman's Blues
The Frames For the Birds
R.E.M. Automatic for the People
King Crimson Discipline
Nirvana Incesticide
Creedence Clearwater Revival Green River
They Might Be Giants Flood
The Mountain Goats All Hail West Texas
Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik (currently spinning on the CD player)
Green Day Dookie
Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine
The Monkees Head
Counting Crows August and Everything After
Husker Du New Day Rising
Booker T and the MGs Green Onions
The Arcade Fire Funeral

I briefly considered Rage Against the Machine, They Might be Giants and Incesticide as possibles when I was in the early stages of putting my proposal together but swiftly came to the conclusion that I really didn't have a clue where to start with them.

Good luck to the team who have to sift through this lot, should be an interesting few weeks reading.