Backwards tracks, CD to DAT, and Sheila Chandra

[IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu]

  Sorry, folks, personal messages from A. Marvick, who
couldn't get through directly to his party:

From: IED0DXM

Hi, Joe.

It's great to hear from someone who's actually
listening, for a change! About the "Watching You Without Me"
backwards track: the only way I've ever been able
to listen to it was by making a tape of the record
being played backwards by hand on a turntable -- terribly
unstable pitch-wise. I think you're right that it sounds
like forwards words when played backwards -- certainly
the "We see you here" part is straightforward backwards recording.
But then, as you say, if it's that simple, then where is the
"Don't"??? I've had very long phone discussions with a fan in
Missouri about this problem, and he thinks it's got to be
mixed up -- spliced in the middle or something.

Anyway, I greatly appreciate your offer to send me a tape of
the track. Could you send me your mailing address? I'll get
a blank cassette and a SASE off to you right away if you would.
Thanks very very much. Maybe it'll really help. Maybe you could
put your "W. Heights" cover on it, too.

Could you please explain in more detail what you meant about
your having done the backwards track from "Leave It Open" yourself
and its having "sounded right"? Of course, I know these messages of
hers are not a sign of greatness in themselves. It's just the
aesthetic -- the IDEA of the thing -- that gets me: adding mystery,
depth and secret, hidden riddles to the music.

To Jon:
About the "X4" mystery track, I'm still not sure how that
passage has been "phased". I think you're right that there's
been some left-to-right channel-switching, but there's
more to it than that, namely (I think) some weird "sss"
sounds here and there, that don't seem to be related to
the main spoken message. Do you have the same sentence that
I hear? Mine is: "I bet my mum's gonna give me a little toy."

Any questions, give me a ring at (213) 474-5208. My address
is: 10499 Wilkins Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024.

Take care.

-- Andy

>From: "ROSSI J.A." <rossi@nusc>
>Subject: Switch to CD only?
>customers who have non-digital systems.  On the other hand, after getting
>a personal demo from Sony of their 48KHz sampling digital cassette deck
>(read that again 48KHz, not CD 41KHz) which will have full 12 bit samples,
>and cost under $1500, I would not rule out a more important NEW standard,
>based on digital tape (for which production costs should not be much different
>than analog tape as far as duplication, manufacturing and all the other
>things that make CD's expensive).  Think of it, digital recordings at
>normal cassette prices, eventually.

Before that happens, there'll certainly be plenty of
black market black boxes that'll defeat any spoiler chips
and reconcile the difference in Hz rates so that any private
DAT machine owner who wants to can make his own digital-to-digital
copies ad infinitum. That's the only happy thing about this Valenti
asshole's infernal anti-DAT campaign: the fact that joe blow
will always be able to outsmart him.

To Sue:

IED listened to Monsoon for a long time. Got all their
twelve-inches and the Third Eye LP, and the early EP.
Also the "Ganges" instrumental hand-painted twelve-inch.
Then he got "On My Own" and "Quiet", the first two of
Sheila C.'s FOUR solo LPs. They show some musical growth
and especially in that she began to write a bit of her
own stuff. I never got the third or fourth LPs, though,
and she hasn't released anything in a long time, now. She
was only sixteen or so when stardom hit, and there was
talk that she was going to quit in order to finish her
o-levels.

-- Andrew Marvick