New Live Album

General discussion about Mazzy Star

New Live Album

Postby Spoon » Sun May 24, 2015 5:17 am

Just wanted to start a thread as a heads up to let people know, there is a new Mazzy Star live album out.

It's called Ghost Highway and features 13 tracks, some from a 1994 Chicago show and some from a 1994 Los Angeles radio appearance.

Here is a link to an online store that has it available for purchase:
***SPOILER ALERT! Link contains picture of album cover***
https://www.normanrecords.com/records/1 ... st-highway

I was going to post more pics of the case/packaging but didn't want to spoil it for those who were interested and wanted to be surprised. If there is a demand/want for it, I can post more pics I've been able to obtain.

As far as I know, it is also available on iTunes.
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Re: New Live Album

Postby Emma » Sun May 24, 2015 10:00 am

Thanks for the info Spoon! I wasn't expecting a new Mazzy Star release any time soon!

According to this web site, the Ghost Highway album was released on 18 May 2015 by a label called FMIC and is part of a project called "FM in Concert Series".
The album includes five songs from the Kroq-FM radio broadcast (December 1994) and eight songs from the Metro Chicago show (August 1994) (both already available in Hermesacat's bootleg list).

You can view the tracklist and listen to the full album on Deezer.
The album is available on CD and on Itunes/Amazon (UK) in digital format but I couldn't find it on American music platforms. It seems that the release is limited to Europe.

I haven't found a lot of information on FMIC. They published a few compilations in 2014. According to this web site, future releases should feature remastered live performances of other artists such as Devo, The Smashing Pumpkins and Bruce Springsteen. I suppose they acquired the publishing rights to these radio broadcast/live recordings and remastered them to put them on the market.
I may be wrong but I don't think that Mazzy Star was directly involved in this release. It hasn't been announced on their Facebook page or on hopesandoval.com and I you look carefully at the picture of the album cover, you can see that the font they used isn't the one usually found in Mazzy Star's artwork.
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Re: New Live Album

Postby Hermesacat » Sun May 24, 2015 7:03 pm

I saw some info. about this release recently via Google Alerts noticing it was recordings from live radio broadcasts that were already available as FLAC bootlegs. I wondered if the quality would be an improvement over versions already available. When I first saw info online I thought it might be an unauthorized bootleg,
but since Amazon will be selling it new, & Deezer is streaming it, it's most likely legit.

Certainly, in the case of the Paris Black Session 1993-10-26 radio recording, the Sangatte Records CD version Forum member jamband shared turned out to be much better audio quality than the FLAC version findable at dimeadozen.org, & other audio file boot versions I'd been able to find online & include in the Boots thread here.

As Emma says, it's probably unlikely the band gave its approval for the new release since they're not announcing it on their FB page. As far as I know, EMI owns publishing rights to the 1990s Mazzy Star songs that used to belong to Capitol. So, probably the band has no say on a release like this although they should still be receiving artist/songwriter royalties if it's an otherwise legit release.

Unfortunately, Deezer won't let me hear the tracks. It gives me this message: "This track is not available in your country." So, I can't listen to compare audio quality with versions I already have on my computer. Maybe you need to be in Europe.

If others here (Emma? Spoon?) are able to listen to the Deezer streams & compare to other versions, how do they compare? Any improvement?
Last edited by Hermesacat on Mon May 25, 2015 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New Live Album

Postby Spoon » Mon May 25, 2015 5:14 am

I ordered a physical copy of the album and am awaiting its arrival.

When it comes, I will post a proper review here.

Cheers!
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Re: New Live Album

Postby Hermesacat » Mon May 25, 2015 7:28 pm

Good. Thanks. It will be interesting to know how the CD &/or Deezer streamed or iTunes tracks sound compared to the versions already available.
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Re: New Live Album

Postby Emma » Tue May 26, 2015 8:50 pm

Hermesacat wrote:If others here (Emma? Spoon?) are able to listen to the Deezer streams & compare to other versions, how do they compare? Any improvement?


I streamed a few tracks from Deezer and compared them with the flac files. I couldn't hear any major audio improvements to the remastered versions. Both versions are similar to my ears.

edit: I have just realized that the stream provided by Deezer and used for comparison is based on 128 kbps mp3 files. The CD audio quality will certainly be higher.
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Re: New Live Album

Postby Hermesacat » Tue May 26, 2015 9:14 pm

Thanks, Emma, for doing a comparison of new vs. old versions of those live radio recordings, & giving your opinion.
I thought the FLAC ones sounded pretty good already unlike the old Black Session files (now replaced with jamband's rip from his Sangatte CD version) that used to be findable on the Boots list that always sounded second rate.
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Re: New Live Album

Postby Spoon » Wed Jun 10, 2015 2:01 am

Mazzy Star - Ghost Highway is a fantastic live album! The setting gives new life to the songs.

Track listing is as follows:

1 Flowers In December 5:10
2 Ride It On 3:18
3 Into Dust 6:12
4 Give You My Lovin' 4:02
5 Fade Into You 4:39
6 Halah 3:25
7 Ghost Highway 3:30
8 Blue Flower 4:42
9 Flowers In December 5:26
10 Bells Ring 4:21
11 Blue Flower 4:12
12 Halah 3:45
13 So Tonight That I Might See 7:39

Songs 1-8 were recorded at a live show at The Metro in Chicago on November 12, 1994. (Ironically, my first live Mazzy Star show was November 15, 2013, exactly 19 years and 3 days after this show.) Songs 9-13 were recorded at Los Angeles radio station KROQ on December 10, 1994.

Opener Flowers In December sounds phenomenal, the rhythm section amply backing Hope's wonderful vocals. This version gives me an entirely new appreciation of the song, although I've always enjoyed it. Following is Ride It On, featuring a prominent bass line perhaps not quite as noticeable on the studio recording of She Hangs Brightly. Into Dust cools things off a bit, a beautiful version that you can just feel would have been incredible to hear and witness live. Also notable are the subtle musical variations in the guitar work. Solid versions of Give You My Lovin', Fade Into You and Halah lead into the title track, Ghost Highway. This version makes one realize the power and soul of Mazzy Star as a live band, and that they can really rock! Closing the Chicago set is Blue Flower, the Slapp Happy cover we all know and love.

The radio performance features a few songs that are also played at the Metro show (Flowers In December, Blue Flower, Halah) and again the versions here are remarkably good. I'm not sure if this set was performed outdoors at the radio station or in the radio booth, but they are introduced to what sounds like an excited, appreciative crowd. This particular version of Flowers has some beautiful violin work that is not necessarily present on other recordings of the song. I believe it is (now deceased) violinist William Cooper. A nice little Bells Ring leads into another Blue Flower. Personally, I prefer this version to the one from the Chicago show. Also, I would like to ask anyone who has heard it if it is just me or does the end of the track sound like it's skipping? I was playing the album on my stereo earlier and from 3:33 to 3:39 it doesn't sound quite right. It could just be the way they played it, though. I am not sure, which is why I welcome the opinions of others regarding this. After a stunning version of Halah we are treated to the closer, So Tonight That I Might See. This has always been one of my favorites, studio or live, and this is no exception. Simply marvelous.

That about does it for my review. I can't compare the CD to the tracks from Deezer, flac files or anything else like that as I have not listened on those formats. I have only really listened to live Mazzy Star on YouTube, which sounds decent as well. My computer's speakers are not the best, which is why I prefer listening to music through my stereo. I can say, however, that the audio quality of this live CD is excellent and should not be missed! My only qualm is that there aren't any live versions of songs from Seasons of Your Day, but to be fair, the recordings are from 1994, well before SOYD was released and we should be happy that there are songs spanning the first three studio albums. Oh, and it could be longer as well. You can never have too much Mazzy Star! Highly recommended. 4.5/5.
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Re: New Live Album

Postby Emma » Wed Jun 10, 2015 3:18 pm

Thanks for your detailed review Spoon! Good to know that the album sounds great.
Is there any special information or picture of the shows/band on the album cover/leaflet?

Here are 3 one-minute excerpts from the Ghost Highway album. I suppose that anyone can access them, even outside Europe:
Excerpts
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Re: New Live Album

Postby Spoon » Thu Jun 11, 2015 12:47 am

Emma,

Yes, when you open the CD case there is a written foreword from Dick Porter talking about Mazzy Star's performances on the album as well as some insight into the band's career in general.

I did not take these but here are some photos of the album itself that I was able to acquire, for those who are interested:

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hp ... e=55E734B9

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hp ... e=562F3FE8

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hp ... e=56313050
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