Mazzy Star on vinyl

[Homeostasis]

Thank you Hermesacat and Vanessa for the the vinyl rip. I had no chance of finding the vinyl on Record Store Day, so your rip/dl was the only chance I had of finding "Things" anywhere. I really hope they release the single digitally somewhere. I'd ideally want to contribute to the band directly but, as it is, I've had to buy the vinyl from some guy on eBay (for about €25/$35, including P+P). Situations like this seem such a waste. You're spending stupid amounts of money to buy two tracks from some random guy on eBay, but if we all gave that $35 directly to Hope/David, they'd probably have enough money to release a 7" vinyl every 3 months. It almost feels like I'm denying them their deserved wage. Oh well... capitalism, I guess.

"Things" sounds like a more recent Hope recording.

Are you sure about that? It might just be the rip, but Hope's vocal sounds very high-pitched to be a recent thing. Her voice almost seems very She Hangs Brightly/possibly-Going Home-era. But that might just be the rip.*

* I hope Vanessa doesn't take this as me bitching about her rip, by the way. I know how hard vinyl-ripping can be sometimes. I purchased some vinyl's by The Cardigans on eBay a few years back. They were random demo's the band recorded back before they made it big. I bought these vinyl's on eBay, spent over €300 on professional vinyl-ripping equipment (as well as over €300 on the actual vinyl's), and everyone on their message board was bitching about the sound quality of my rips, because the vocals seemed too-high pitched. But Nina Persson's vocals were genuinely that high-pitched on the actual vinyl's. It might be a similar sort of situation with "Things" (Unrelated rant over... )

[Monikerbird]

Thank you Hermesacat and Vanessa for the the vinyl rip. I had no chance of finding the vinyl on Record Store Day, so your rip/dl was the only chance I had of finding "Things" anywhere. I really hope they release the single digitally somewhere. I'd ideally want to contribute to the band directly but, as it is, I've had to buy the vinyl from some guy on eBay (for about €25/$35, including P+P). Situations like this seem such a waste. You're spending stupid amounts of money to buy two tracks from some random guy on eBay, but if we all gave that $35 directly to Hope/David, they'd probably have enough money to release a 7" vinyl every 3 months. It almost feels like I'm denying them their deserved wage. Oh well... capitalism, I guess.

Vanessa here - I completely agree. It's always my preference to purchase directly from the band or record label. I could be wrong but a handful of months ago when they released the 7" Rough Trade exclusive "Seasons Of Your Day / Sparrow", there wasn't this many 3rd party sellers (charging ridiculous prices). There were only 300 copies made of that particular record. It's a shame. I have no problem sharing music with people who I know would if they could, or will eventually buy the music to support the band. It harshes my mellow when people upload the full records on youtube or SC. Talk about directly impacting the band's profit.

* I hope Vanessa doesn't take this as me bitching about her rip, by the way. I know how hard vinyl-ripping can be sometimes. I purchased some vinyl's by The Cardigans on eBay a few years back. They were random demo's the band recorded back before they made it big. I bought these vinyl's on eBay, spent over €300 on professional vinyl-ripping equipment (as well as over €300 on the actual vinyl's), and everyone on their message board was bitching about the sound quality of my rips, because the vocals seemed too-high pitched. But Nina Persson's vocals were genuinely that high-pitched on the actual vinyl's. It might be a similar sort of situation with "Things" (Unrelated rant over... )

I don't take it as bitching at all. Full disclosure: I checked my vinyl settings 3 or 4 times to make sure that I wasn't on a different speed setting. Same setting for both sides and "I'm Less Here" sounds exactly like what Mazzy uploaded to YouTube. Personally, "Things" reminds me a lot of "Satellite" from "Through The Devil Softly" record.

[Hermesacat]

Hope's voice does sound a bit unusual on "Things" which Homeostasis describes as "high pitched."
I still think it sounds like Hope singing in her later, post-1990s style. Despite the high pitched aspect (which I too hear), my ears seem to hear elements of her later, slighter deeper voice lurking under the surface. At first, I wondered if Vanessa's turntable might play at slightly too fast a speed as an explanation for why Hope's voice sounds the way it does on that song. But since Vanessa says "I'm Less Here" on her vinyl copy sounds just like the recording found on the official video, there must be another explanation. Perhaps it has to do with how they recorded & mixed Hope's voice on "Things." "Satellite," which Vanessa compares to "Things," has Hope's voice sounding different than it does on other songs on that "Through the Devil Softly" album. Evidently, 'cause her voice was recorded differently on "Satellite." Maybe the same applies to "Things." I enjoy Hope's singing on "Things."

Re. people upping entire Mazzy Star & other albums to you tube. Yes, it would definitely be better for band profits if it wasn't so easy for people to listen to albums for free, & had to buy albums instead. But at least copyright holders receive ad revenue from youtubers viewing those album uploads nowadays. Whereas with torrent & other file sharing of albums (or live boots), the bands earn nothing. On yt, they receive ad revenue, at least. Mazzy Star earns ad revenue from the (mostly live) recordings I've upped to yt. When ever I upload something now, the first thing that happens is youtube's computers scan contents & ascertain who copyright holders are & I get a message saying "matched third party content," & am shown who the copyright holders are. Then ads I have no control over, or stake in, appear in most of my uploads, & the revenues go to the copyright holders (plus a cut to Google/Youtube).

Copyright holders can also easily block (with the help of yt's computers) uploads of recordings they don't want shared on yt. But most, including Mazzy Star & their companies, choose instead to tolerate uploads & enjoy ad revenue from them. It may not be a perfect system, but it seems somewhat fairer for both bands & fans now than it used to be back in the early days of yt when bands saw no remuneration from yt uploads of their music.

[Hermesacat]

Today I learned Mazzy Star, as of yesterday, May 20, has official digital DL versions for sale of "I'm Less Here" & "Things." Good. I was wondering if they were going to release digital versions at all. I bought the two songs from itunes. Amazon MP3 sales has them too.

The official digital version of "Things" sounds different from the vinyl rip Vanessa kindly shared we've been enjoying for some weeks. The official one sounds slowed down compared to her's suggesting her turntable may have been playing at slightly too fast a speed, which may help explain why Hope's voice sounded different than usual. On the official one, Hope's voice sounds more like I'd expect it to sound. Also, the fade out at the end is cut a bit short on Vanessa's, not that it makes a whole lot of difference to the song. The itunes one is 14 seconds longer.

As planned, since there's now an official download for sale of "Things," I'll delete the DL links to Vanessa's file.

[Homeostasis]

Today I learned Mazzy Star, as of yesterday, May 20, has official digital DL versions for sale of "I'm Less Here" & "Things." Good. I was wondering if they were going to release digital versions at all. I bought the two songs from itunes. Amazon MP3 sales has them too.

The official digital version of "Things" sounds different from the vinyl rip Vanessa kindly shared we've been enjoying for some weeks. The official one sounds slowed down compared to her's suggesting her turntable may have been playing at slightly too fast a speed, which may help explain why Hope's voice sounded different than usual. On the official one, Hope's voice sounds more like I'd expect it to sound. Also, the fade out at the end is cut a bit short on Vanessa's, not that it makes a whole lot of difference to the song. The itunes one is 14 seconds longer.

As planned, since there's now an official download for sale of "Things," I'll delete the DL links to Vanessa's file.

Vanessa's rip sounds pretty spot-on compared to the official DL, IMO. The only difference really is the longer fade-out, but that's understandable. When you rip from vinyl, you tend to get a lot of irritating hissing/static on a quiet outro - so you're much better off cutting as much of the hissing out as possible, and adding a few seconds of silence and gently fading-out yourself.

The download is also available on 7digital:
http://ie.7digital.com/artist/mazzy-sta ... -less-here
If it's quality you're after, I'd suggest buying it there. They have the best bit-rate (320kbps), and once you buy it, you can download it in both MP3 and M4A (iTunes format).

Something else to keep an eye out for:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/MAZZY-STAR-IN-TH ... 2a3c85bc26
I stumbled across this promo of the radio edit of In The Kingdom. The sticker on the outer wrapping says the song is out next Monday (26/05/2014). Might be worthwhile to keep checking their Amazon or iTunes pages. I doubt it, but there might be a new b-side on the way.

[minuet]

Here's an additional upload of "Things," this one in FLAC format:
[Later Update: The link's been retired/removed as Mazzy Star is now selling, as of May 20, official digital DL versions of both songs of the single]
This one seems to be slightly better audio quality than the MP3 version upped earlier although I didn't realize it till now. Vanessa's original 320kbps MP3 stream I recorded in lossless WAV, then coverted to lossless FLAC, which is what the new upload here is.

Hi, sorry for pulling this up - do you still have that old version of Things? Some post below says that the released one is a stripped down version and I would love to get my ears around all variations of this song since I love it so much.

[Emma]

Hi, sorry for pulling this up - do you still have that old version of Things? Some post below says that the released one is a stripped down version and I would love to get my ears around all variations of this song since I love it so much.

Hi minuet,
There was no difference between the vinyl version of Things that was ripped by Vanessa (RSD edition) and the digital version that was made commercially available a few weeks later (official release). It was exactly the same song. When I used the term "stripped down" in a previous post of this thread, I was referring to the limited instrumentation of the song (just a tambourine and an electric guitar), not to a special/rare variation of Things. Sorry for confusing you. As a non-native English speaker, I might have not chosen the proper word to describe the song.

[Emma]

Some of Hope's words on "Things" I find hard to discern. Has anyone figured out the lyrics yet?

I came across this transcript of the Things lyrics on YouTube. As a non native speaker, I can't tell if it is accurate but I hope this can help you.

The way you so that's what you need
Picking up all the things that you see
You should make sure you find
Everything that's clear this time
Get up from the past
Along the way from your surest grasp
These things can try

You know things, always someone
That you betray nevermind pieces held
You pick your plan then you go
Never quite knowing which way to show
And you up and left
And you walked away

You can't all ask for the rain
With all the things upon us coming back
Look across when all them things you know
Sure enough you found that's the way, you know
That's the way
That's the way, you know

Get up from your world fast asleep
Let it be, that is the prize that you keep