Beth Gibbons' "Out of Season"--bad recording?

[i_eat_bread]

I was wondering if track 3, "Show", was a bad recording on the actual CD. If it isn't, then insta-purchase

. Thanks in advance!

 

[bowraboy]

What don't you like about it?

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

are u referring to the hiss?

 

[Hermitt]

I just gave this album a close listen with my ms-pros /daredmp5. It sounds very 'close' mic'ed to capture her voice. Very clear and you can tell that the gain is turned up a bit. I really enjoy this album, altho it is kinda dark and melencholy. Portishead does tend to make their recordings sound more vintage or analog and I like that quality. This album sounds very up close and personal.

Here are some great reviews on amazon -> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cus...ustomerReviews

 

[i_eat_bread]

yes, particularly if 'the hiss' is there. but it seems Hermitt has no problems with the entire album in terms of hiss.

i'll agree, a great album... and certainly a haunting voice.

 

[Hermitt]

I didn't notice any objectional hiss and my ms-pros are pretty sensitive to highs. The very first track, Mysteries, appears to be noisy, but if you listen very closely, it is raining. You can actually hear the sound of louder water droplets as they splash. At the very end, you can even hear a couple cows.

On Romance, you can hear the drummer sliding/dragging his brushes around on the drum skins in addition to his usual playing.

Sand River there is a little bit of hiss at the beginning.. could be tape bias? Like when using Dolby noise reduction. I don't know how this was mastered, but it doesn't seen enough to distract from the listener's experience. Beth's voice is like right there in your face. (too bad she smells like an ashtray

)

Spider Monkey is a great track. At about 1:20, you are so immersed in her voice, straining to break a whisper, then there is a guitar that starts playing faintly, causing you to look over your right shoulder

Again during the very quiet passages, you can hear what appears to be very faint tape bias.

Resolve, I can detect some more tape hiss. And some more misc noises at the very end as someone moves with their instrument.

Drake, brushes on the cymbals cover up any detectable hiss. A few sound effects also in this track.

Funny Time Of Year, this track has a pretty silent noise floor. Like I mentioned earlier, they must have the gain set rather high to get any kind of decent volume out of the softer/lower amplitude that they are playing most of the instruments and Beth's singing.

I guess that's enough for now...

All in all... I really enjoy this recording