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Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Court (Fripp Speaks)

From: Mike Dickson <mike.dickson@gmail.com>
Date: 2009-10-19

He went on to say that the original mix was an old fashioned 'all hands on the desk' affair and that replicating it was not possible. My response would be that a different ∗mix∗ is one thing, but a glaring omission like that is niot a mix decision at all - it's a bloody awful edit. You wont get the original mix spot-on of course, but you could at least try. Does anyone remember the 'definitive' Islands release that missed out the Prelude tune-up? Fripp admitted that a lack of supervision caused that. (Even though his name was on it) So why is one wrong and the other not wrong?

In some ways this echoes (in a much lesser way) the fuck ups that happened when the Beach Boys' masterpiece Pet Sounds was being given the boxed set treatment. That (and their previous boxed set) have so many car crashes on it that I lost count. Again, this was given as 'remix' decisions. They were certainly not; they were fuck ups.  

Robert's parting shot was to tell me that there was 'always the original' which sounds awfully like 'please don't bother me', which is something of a mantra of his. Hey ho.

As for his writing style, he has always e-mailed me in that style. I have about 30 e-mails from him here and in the 10 or so that comprise more than 2 sentences, none are capitalised at all.  


2009/10/19 Rick Blechta <rick@rickblechta.com>
 


On Oct 19, 2009, at 1:19 PM, Mike Dickson wrote:

For everyone's information, I asked Robert about the 'oddities' on Epitaph and got this in reply:


"the album was re-mixed. that's the answer. the original mix was the template, but it's not possible to exactly match the original. so, in the details, there may be changes."

So there you are.

So he seems to be saying that they couldn't match the original. Did they even try? I have to say that I am let down by what I've heard from your two samples. Omitting that high note in the resolution of the chorus into the verse was not a wise move in my opinion. Whatever their intention, it sounds like a note was left out, and I really can't see any concrete musical reason for it. To my mind, it was one of the most elegant moments on the whole album. But in thinking about it, if you've heard any of the live versions of this song by KC, the high note was not included (for obvious reasons: only one mellotron on stage) -- and maybe that's coloured Fripp's thinking. Only he can say. I think it is a huge omission.

As for the climax before the instrumental interlude, that was obviously a complex thing to construct (and why it was so effective). They've just done a new take on what was there. That is their prerogative. However, the new mix would never have caused me to say, "I don't know what that thing is, but I want one!" which was my initial reaction -- like so many others'.

Rick

Has Robert actually stopped using capital letters at the beginning of sentences on all his communications? How 20-years-old of him!




--
Mike Dickson, Edinburgh