Okay, yes, I am going to order all three new releases (In the Glow and the expanded reissues of Shifting City and The Pleasures of Electricity), even though I'm still unemployed. But I'd really hoped there would be more previously unreleased material. The only new track on Shifting City is a demo of Shadow Man. There are two new songs on Pleasures of Electricity. And that's it. In the Glow and disc 2 of Shifting City are basically an expanded reissue of the Golden Section Tour/Omnidelic Exotour double CD from 2003.

I am curious about The Pleasures of Electricity, though... if the original version is being included as part of disc 2, that would seem to suggest that the remixing is fairly radical.

I'm very happy that we had four new albums earlier this year, but we must ask ourselves, is that really enough new material? Can we really just be satisfied with the treasure trove that is My Lost City, the beautifully icy soundscapes of A Secret Life, the moving and melodic Mirrorball, and the haunting experience that is The Quiet Man?

Perhaps there isn't any??

Sure we can.

Well I shall not be buying any of these, I don't think. I can see that reissuing 'Shifting City' and 'PoE' is good for those who couldn't get hold of them and the live album will appeal to a few.

But I am a bit annoyed that the Impossible and 'ANKOM' albums are being reissued when they were originally sold as limited editions. It seems like the 'limited edition' tag is bandied around willy-nilly these days, presumably to wring out a few extra sales from the eBay crowd. Integrity, it would seem, is a malleable commodity.

Yippeeeee! I'm finally going to get my grubby little mits on a copy of Shifting City

I've waited a long time for this, and I know I am not alone.

I'm very excited about getting TPOE Special Edition, due to the '2009' remixes, (and great to see the original mixes remaining with the issue and on a second disc) but I'm very disappointed to see that Shifting City Special Edition has not been presented in a similar vein, and contains no '2009' remixes.

Why not? I thought that was the whole point of re-releasing it, giving those of us who were lucky enough to have the original something new in perspective, and also completing the picture for those who missed out on John's unexpected musical re-appearance with the initial work

Halloway - I cant find any reference to the re-issue of the Impossible CD? (am I looking in the wrong place)

It's mentioned on the myspace blog. It'd be a nice gesture if the remix of "A Million Cars" could be provided by Townsend as a free mp3 for those of us who bought the original "limited edition" version of the album.

With TPOE you get a complete remix along with the original album. Great! But has Shifting City been remastered? Because Townsend don't seem to say that it has, and that's the one that needed it more.

I also have to agree that the Shifting City bonus disc is a disappointment. Though on the plus side it's good to see Townsend doing both these double disc packages and Into The Glow for a very reasonable £8.99.

I didn't notice if it's a preorder price or a buying in bulk deal, but the price Townsend actually charged me for the three CDs was £7.65 each.

Core Memory,

here's the link to the info about Impossible:

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=39729489&blogId=509527637

I don't know for certain but I think Shifting City will have been remastered rather than remixed. The remastering should fix the oft-reported problem of it simply being too quiet (although I thought that's what your volume knob is for!)

Do we know if the forthcoming TPOE remix album includes the version of "Cities of Light 5" that is on Glimmer?

Totally agree with you Steve. I am also struggling to see any difference in the artwork for the new edition of NKOM, although one of the buttons on the suit does seem to have three holes in it rather than the four that where on the buttons on the limited edition suit.

TPOE is my favourite Foxx album. It wasn't broken, so why try and fix it? I didn't feel the new version of Cities of Light on Glimmer was worth bothering with. But that's only one track, and because it is an album I absolutely love, I am curious to hear how a remixed version will sound. Most of all I'm excited about two unreleased tracks. I just hope these won't be instrumental, that would be disappointing.

So while I'm going to go for the new TPOE (especially if it has expanded artwork), I'm less bothered about Shifting City. If anything, that was the album which needed some remixing, as well as remastering. And I have to say I'm not interested in having the Omnidelic Exotour tracks again, even if there are minor differences. I was rather hoping for some unreleased tracks from the time. I'm not bothered about demos and find they have a very limited appeal.

In the Glow sounds good although, being from an era of that I'm not too interested in, I'll probably save that one for a rainy day, Or Christmas, at least!

It's funny to note the remixing of "A Million Cars". I'm assuming the backing vocal referred to is the samples wailing female vocal. I would have just taken it out completely!!

There really is no pleasing us, is there? Whatever tracks are on the reissues, people will always complain that there aren't enough unreleased tracks.

I suppose it just goes to show what a dedicated bunch of fans we are, so in some ways it's a compliment.

I'm not too fussed about the Shifting City reissue but I think I'll buy TPOE. I do hope the remixes add something new, but the word "remix" is open to many interpretations. Are they remixes in that the songs have been radically reworked with new sounds, rhythms and melody lines, or have the mixes simply been "rebalanced" so that the volume, panning and effects used on the individual sounds has been slightly altered?

As for unrleased tracks, I think TPOE and "Crash And Burn" were recorded at the same time with the more aggressive tracks going on C&B and the more laid back ones going on TPOE. Hence there've already been 25 songs released from those sessions so I'd be surprised if there was a great deal more unrleaed material from that era.

I remember talking to John the first time I met him and he said that many of the tracks on C&B were leftover from the TPOE sessions. So that figures - at least there are two new ones to look forward to.

I'm hoping that the tracks on the new versions are not remixes per say, but more like revisited with new parts added and improved where it was perhaps weak in places.

I guess we'll see!

In the very least it'll be great to see these two brilliant albums back on the shelves.

So how many albums will John have released this year? 7? 8?? I'm losing count now!

7 new ones (perhaps I've left one out ) plus 2 forthcoming albums DNA and the one with Paul Daley. That will make it 9 in 09!

All high quality stuff.

Once again special thanks to the artist, management and support team. You're all amazing!

Chris

And the one with Bilge. Barge. Benge. Whatever his name is!

I shall now begin agitating for 10 in '10. Who's with me?

So how many albums are we waiting for now?

Paul Daley collaboration
DNA
Benge collaboration
Vincent Gallo collaboration
Harold Budd collaboration
Architectural Music

Wasn't there talk of something with Bill Nelson? Not to mention Metamatica, Urban Motets, Metadelic, and Metatronic, which were first mentioned how many years ago?

Martin - Yes, here is the info from Rob:

Which makes it a 2008 remix, not a 2009 remix...

A funny thing (remix 2009) is on myspace

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=39729489

Sounds good. I think I will buy TPOE.

I agree with you all about Shifting City Bonus material. I hoped there were some unreleased tracks from that sessions too.
But at least it will be worth to buy it only for the remastered sound , 'cause this album needed it . I'm really curios of the result...

T. P. O. E. - great news of two new tracks included and the full album remixed . Would be a similar experience as with The Golden Section which Inc. one new track and a lot of different versions ( which I like a lot).

And in the Glow - It is great to have a full concert of that tour on CD now. In brilliant Quality!!!


The (double) CD's are not expensive for my opinion.

I order all 3 CD's!!

Yes, the prices are very good. Great value.

Agree with you on that sounds great!

That just sounds like the original version - presumably remastered. Probably not the 09 remix.

Except for the extra word in the title... :p

From myspace :

Only four?! Pff! What a disappointment. They'd better be good!!

I doubt we'll be disappointed!

I rather fear we may be. For me TPOE is a reasonable if not great JF album but has suffered from one or two drawbacks that I'd hoped the new remixes would have rectified.

Namely that
1. The instrumental backing gets a bit samey after a bit and a lot of the tracks don't really develop as they should.
2. John's vocals sound a bit lacklustre at times and some of the choruses are a bit weak, consisting of little more than John repeating the song title through a vocoder.
3. Some of the songs are too long and could do with a bit of editing down - Nightlife and Camera in particular.

So perhaps had John rerecorded some of the vocals, added some new synth parts and maybe changed some of the sounds (all fairly easy to do with a computer based set up like the one John and Louis use), I would be looking forward far more to this release. I appreciate not everyone will agree, but if you don't like the new versions you can always go back to playing the old ones!

Interestingly the listing at Townsend has now changed.

http://www.townsend-records.co.uk/product.php?pId=10003500&pType=1

I'm sure that last time I looked all the tracks on CD1 were shown as "2009 remix" but now just the four tracks listed above are shown as "alternative mix" while the others are not shown as being any different from the original versions. Which rather begs the question why it needs to be a 2CD set when 7 of the songs appear to be duplicated on both discs?

Yeah, I found that annoying and disappointing.

This release simply ought to have been one disc - the remastered version with the four remixed track, plus the two unreleased tracks as bonus material.

Although it's still superb value for money, did it really need to be a two disc set? It just seems a bit silly.

I hope the artwork is expanded.

Phew, I’ve become increasingly more confused about last weeks TPOE 2009 reissue announcement, and also since listening to the ‘version’ of A Funny Thing on myspace.

I’ve been longing to experience TPOE afresh, and not played any of it in a long time having been very impressed by the version of Cities Of Light on last years Giimmer, I wanted to wait for the “complete” remix of an album that now I must have only imagined was happening.

I just don’t understand why the 7 tracks that have not been remixed would therefore equal out to why any of the album needed to be remastered/re-issued in the first place. From my (uninformed) point of view I never had any ‘technical’ problem with its quality, just rather more the art or intention behind the manner of some of the compositions.

TPOE as an album is one of those affairs that I really want to fall in love with completely, and Its hard not to be responsive to the promise it contains, but I always used to stumble over one or two little things. Don’t get me wrong here, as an album its concept works beautifully and it has some undeniably atmospheric and romantic tracks: When It Rains, Quiet City, and Camera (to name a few), but some of the vocal parts throughout in places grate a little for me (though its surprising how quickly I stopped noticing that) and I would still welcome an overall ‘revisiting’ of the work.

When I listened to A Funny Thing on myspace last week, and this was before reading the announcement that there were only four remixed tracks, I genuinely thought that this particular track had actually been remixed, it sounded fantastic, so much better than I remembered, certainly more poignant and less maudlin (as I may have said in a post last year). It just goes to show how things can ‘mature’ more positively on the mind over the passage of time, or maybe listening to it through earphones brought out more subtleties, and an intimacy in the song for me that I’d failed to notice, (previously I would have been listening to it from across the other side of a room).

So, why should I now be excited at the 2009 reissue? has anything at all been done to the other 7 tracks, no compositional changes obviously, but has a vocal part been brought forward or pushed back even slightly, does that constitute as a ‘remix’ or just a plain old 'remaster'. Why am I buying TPOE for only 4 reworked tracks, plus an extra disc to duplicate and make redundant the one I already have? also, surely John might have at least wanted to consider taking the opportunity to remix the music to Invisible Women

It used to be an album of two halves for me, the first few, being the weaker, outshined by such emotive and cinematic pieces such as "When It Rains" or "Quiet City".

But over time the whole thing grew on me, and I gradually started to love the nostalgia of "Camera" and the urban romanticism of "Uptown/Downtown".

"A Funny Thing" still makes me wonder... a thought provoking track of which the story behind it still intrigues me. Likewise, but in a totally different mood for "The Falling Room". One day I'll ask John just what on Earth this track is about!

"A Funny Thing" and "Uptown/Downtown" are two tracks that I always felt lacked substance to my ears - but they're not the ones that have been given the remix treatment! it will be interesting to hear any difference in the general remastered tracks and obviously see just how different the remixed ones are - by the sound of it. some just have the odd bleep added, while others might be significantly different.

"Nightlife" puzzles me. I thought the original version was fine. Then along came the LFAR version with the lovely second half. Will this just be a new "studio" version of that, or something different entirely?

I guess we'll see. Above all, it's still my favourite John Foxx album and I look forward to falling in love with it all over again.

Hopefully.

It'll be interesting to see (or hear), whether hearing a new version works for me in the way the original did. LIke many fans, I've had that album since it came out, so a "new" version (sorry, partially new), might receive a lukewarm reception at first!

I really should read this thread/the myspace blog more clearly, all these reissues have blinded my vision and I failed to notice that 'Invisible Women' is indeed one of those 4 remixed tracks.

Poor old Automobile, I love the original, hope Johns not going to 'Pimp My Ride' with this one, I'd hate to see a fantasy airbrush paint job, embroidered seats, and fluffy dice hanging from the windscreen!

LOL! I bet it's got those tacky blue lights from underneath too!!

But I agree - the original was superb. It was its simplicity that made it work so well I felt.

The two remasters and In The Glow are all £1 cheaper on Play.com and have free delivery!

Certainly not complaining, but I wonder how some sites manage to do this with a product that's already a very reasonable price.

I've bought off them in the past - the CDs are shipped from Jersey or Guernsey or somewhere like that and so I think that's how they avoid VAT or something. I bought some books which were shipped from New Zealand .....

Blimey! I naff off for a week and all hell breaks loose! Typical!

Will definiteley pick up the re-issues of Shifting City and TPOE, and I'm really looking forward to hearing In The Glow...but...

Impossible re-issue??? Why? Just to tweak a track? That sounds insane? I can't believe that's a reason to reissue an entire album. 'Popular demand' sure but revisionism? And then there's the whole ANKOM debacle - wha? I thought Sideways was getting re-issued as a single disc too - has that come out?

I have to take a deep breath and realise that...Townsend aren't stupid...which leads me to think that there must be demand for these reissues...which makes me wonder "who's creating demand for these reissues?"

Obviously us forum members are just a small percentage of Foxx's fanbase and judging by comments not many of us are fussed about the re-pressing of Impossible, ANKOM and Sideways.

So for Townsend to repress these (a minimum of 1000 each I guess?) there must be demand - is the fanbase expanding that much? So much so that two albums issued within the last year or so (ANKOM / Impossible) can be repressed already?

That's odd because the tracks on TPOE all sit well together and the ones on C&B don't sound anything like the ones on TPOE. I can't imagine them as being "leftover".

Did we establish whether TPOE 2009 has expanded artwork? That would be another reason to invest - I'm not too bothered about the remixing/remastering, but I would be gracious enough to consider the radical versions as a remix EP. And we get two bonus tracks!

Someone mentioned DNA earlier - did we establish whether this is going to be a CD of John solo or is it "merely" the CD of the DVD (of the films from the exhibition) which I believe is also in the pipeline.

I don't recall anything about expanded artwork anywhere although that's usually been a 'surprise' with previous deluxe editions.

Info on DNA is still almost non existent. We wait...

Memory, could, of course, be failing me...
But I'm pretty sure that's what he said - although he didn't call them "leftovers"!

Maybe its the same loose definition, in the way that some of the tracks on TPOE were 'left over' from the Nation 12 sessions, and Sideways/From Trash and The Garden/Systems etc etc

The ideas/songs were conceived at the time of the previous album (or even earlier), but felt not to 'fit' when it came to final track selection.
They were then completely re-worked next time round and sound nothing like they first did.

Thus "Like A Miracle" was 'left over' from Metamatic.

John Foxx has always recorded more tracks for an album than actually get used, so to have some 'left over' is nothing new. Its just the wrong term - makes the tracks sound second best somehow...?

I see the release date for the re-issues & In The Glow has been put back a fortnight to 19th October.

Aw

No surprises there

Peter

Maybe it's been put back because John & Louis have bowed to forum pressure and have decided to spend a fortnight doing radically reworked 2009 remixes of all the other tracks off TPOE?

Actually, inspired by the Beatles box sets, one of the discs will now be in mono, the other in stereo.

John in the left ear, Louis in the right!

so has anyone heard the new TPOE yet, are the four remixes radical and what are the 2 extra tracks like? i decided not to order this at the moment, but maybe i have to get it later...

No, the release date got pushed back to the 19th.

a couple of weeks ago I decided to pre-order TPOE from another supplier other than Townsend as it was cheaper, just recieved this email:

"Foxx, John & Louis Gordon - Pleasures Of Electricity, The
Format: 2 Piece CD.
Status: CANCELLED - Not available from distributor.
After repeated attempts we have been unable to source this item and have been advised by the distributor the item is not available. Your order has been automatically cancelled, and any payment has been refunded"


a lame supplier? or can we be running out of copies already!

Would be interested to know who that supplier is core!

with not wishing to infer anything about their effectiveness, it is Powerplaydirect. I looked through my old emails before posting this and found that I've only had one order with them before, in early January I ordered a CD (No, not John! and again, listed as cheaper than other competitors).
4 times they kept re-ordering it, until I got really fed up waiting and decided to cancel it myself at the end of Feburary.
I was able to obtain the CD a week later from another supplier

Ok thanks.

I pre-ordered TPOE for £7.79 from Amazon. It was a similar price on Play.com too I think.

yes, I too have now rushed down the Jungle route!


I’m still a bit disappointed about the Shifting City release not being in the same vein as the TPOE ‘Plus’, and I don’t have any enthusiasm to purchase it (other than if I’d never already owned the '98 edition), is it unfair of me to say this? that I am disappointed...

Do we have any right to expect that John might have offered us something more with the original album, along the lines of a revision (maybe too strong a word), after all, what reason should he have to go back over a completed work. Am I now just expecting that he might have done so because I’ve been a bit ‘spoiled’, well, he started the ball rolling with all of his tinkering in releases over the last few years, and I’ve certainly got a huge amount from that (thanks John ), but perhaps he’s just eager to move on to other things now.

We're all free to feel how we want - elated, disappointed, frustrated or satisfied!

And yes, we have been spoiled!!

But to be quite honest, I had pretty much lost interest in John's output earlier this year.

Whilst I enjoyed My Lost City, I found it had limited appeal. I was extremely disappointed and frustrated at all with A Secret Life, and Mirrorball held no interest for me whatsoever.

I haven't even got round to The Quiet Man yet. Somehow, the spark went out, and that's quite a frustrating and somewhat unexpected state to be in, as somebody so usually passionate about John's music.

"Do we have the right...?"

Of course we do!

Whenever talk of a reissue comes along, I guess there is always hope that it will offer something new, in addition to encourage us to buy it again, if it's an album we already owned. The main thing with Shifting City though, was the fact that a lot of fans haven't been able to get the album, having perhaps missed it at the time of release, and there's this glaring hole in their collection, where an important album fits. That gap will at last be filled!

As I rarely play my Shifting City CD, I don't feel the need to re-buy it. I have it on my iPod/iTunes and with a volume boost, and it sounds just great. I can understand the frustration of having nothing "new" on the Shifting City remaster, but I would guess that there probably wasn't anything previously unheard, or worth including at least. In one sense, a remaster only has to be just that... anything else is a bonus.

And as we've all said, TPOE didn't "need" remastering, but as my favourite Foxx/Gordon album, I am very keen to hear the differences, and for me what makes it all the more worthwhile, is the inclusion of two unreleased tracks.

I get the feeling that maybe there were some tracks on TPOE that maybe John was never fully satisfied with, and has taken this opportunity to refine those, and I can understand that. I guess it's just a bit odd as a listener, when you've been used to an album for almost a decade, to suddenly have parts of it changed. But like I said, I'm looking forward to it, regardless, and it will no doubt re-invigourate my interest in John's music.

Plus, it does sound like there is some new, more electronic-based music on the horizon. It's been a while since Sideways and I think I've been having withdrawl symptoms!

And what do they say if you play it backwards?

Got all three CD's today. Firstly In The Glow Dominion gig sounds fantastic. A lovely smooth mix considering its age. Its good to have proper recordings of all the tracks.

TPOE twilight room should of been on the original and would of been my second fav track after quiet city. Not so keen on screenplay yet but it's not bad. The remix 09 album is brighter and sounds better for it. I was lucky enough to go to LA2 gig in 2001 and buy the pre release of TPOE from the gig. I live in Welton near Hull and played the album all the way back. It was a great atmospheric soundtrack for the long journey home.

Shifting City was the least exciting for me as I have the originals. However, again the sound is much brighter and this will be the version I now play. Shadow Man mono mix sounds like it came from Underpass or Like a Miracle (early version) era. Again I really like this version ( shame it's only mono). The Omnidelic Exotour is also cleaner and louder. Whoever has remixed/mastered them has done a great job, cheers.

So I am really happy with all three releases. The only small thing I didnt like was the new gatefold cd trays. I dont think they will last long as these cds will get some serious use. If you didn't intend getting these re issues I can highly recommend them. You wouldn't be dissapointed.

One for my fellow chin strokers

Like Pleasures, Shifting City has four alternate versions on the new 2 x CD re-issue (although the sleeve notes make no mention of it):

The Noise (Alternate Version)
Shadow Man (Alternate Version)
Through My Sleeping (Alternate Version)
Shifting City (Alternate Version)

Louis added additional sounds and tweaked the mixes for these tracks in 2007 (as he did with the four on Pleasures).

All the tracks on the album have had extra reverb added to them to beef them up, (even the ones that have not been remixed) and the mastering has indeed brought the sound into sharper focus (well done Dallas).

If I have one reservation about the extra reverb, that would be on "Forgotten Years" which had a sublimely claustrophobic atmosphere created by the dry anechoic original mix. This is purely subjective but I do find the reverb has taken away the intimacy of the vocal. I wouldn't ordinarily be too fussed but I do rate this track as possibly John's finest vocal performance to date. I wish he would croon some more to be honest

The second disc of Omnidelics is the same as the previous Edsel re-issue, which also contained "alternate versions" but the two bonus tracks on disc one are remastered from the original versions from '97.

Chin now thoroughly stroked, I'm off to wax my moustache

I'm hoping the postal strike next week doesn't delay things too much!

Johnnyh, and Vox Humana, now you’ve got me thinking that I may need to do a 360’ as regards my stance on Shifting City 09.
It’s always been my least fav’ of the John & Louis albums, but it does have some tracks I really like, and I’m very intrigued by what you’ve said, and the “brighter”, “Louis tweaking”, and “extra reverb” comments.
Thanks both for posting these reviews, and I'm most definitely stroking my chin now

I'm confused - aside from the Shadow Man demo, are these other 'alternate' versions you are referring to, the 'live' Exotour versions on the 2nd CD?

The new artwork for "A New Kind Of Man" is now just a 4 page insert instead of the original 8 page and the printing itself seems very slighty softened (not sure if this is intentional), giving the greys a very small lighter shade. Almost impossible to detect unless you hold it next to the original.

Interestingly the web address www.officialcathedraloceans.com printed on the back page of the original 'ANKOM' insert has been replaced with www.thequietman.co.uk on the reissue.

Given that both 'ANKOM' and 'Impossible' use the same bar code, catalogue number and exterior artwork, its impossible to work out which is old and which is new if you see them for sale in the original cellophane.

Shadow man is in fact 19 seconds longer due the introduction of a very very very slow fade on the final note

Hi Alex, just to clarify, both albums, Shifting and Pleasures have four altered album tracks each.

The four album tracks are those I mentioned above. It hasn't been mentioned in the Shifting City sleeve notes that's all.

The second disc of Omnidelic tracks are the same as the Edsel two disc issue of the Golden Section/Omnidelic Exotour from a few years back which contained altered versions of the following tracks, (which were differ from the original 1997 Omnidelic Exotour CD's).

These tracks are:

Hiroshima Mon Amour
Just For A Moment
The Quiet Men
Through My Sleeping
The Noise
Shifting City
Endlessly

* Note: This is why the Omnidelic version of "The Quiet Men" appears twice. One is the original remastered and the other on disc 2 is the remix.

I hope that makes sense?

To summarise; if you have the old G-Section/Omnidelic disc, you may, (or may not) be aware that 7 of the tracks on it were remixed.

If you haven't you get four remixed album tracks and 7 remixed live rehearsal tracks on the new Shifting City CD... bargain!

Perhaps it would have been helpful to have mentioned this on the tracklisting. Some of us already knew there were going to be altered versions but it may have stopped some from buying it thinking it was yet more replication.

If anyone reading this now decides to buy Shifting City because of this extra info then all well and good. More revenue = more potential new releases after all

Oh... OK!

I might have to add Shifting City to my Xmas list then!

Does the booklet/artwork differ from the original?

I'm not sure Alex. My original CD isn't with me. I compared the tracks using my FLAC backup on my hard drive.

Anyone?

So am I right in thinking that ALL FIVE albums are now released?

Impossible
ANKOM
In the Glow
Shifting City
TPOE

That must be some kind of record...?

No, they're all on compact disc...

Boom Boom! :rolleyes:

Try the steak and don't forget to tip your waitress.

Thanks for your notes on the new CDs, and I agree with you on this point also.

It feeds into my comments elsewhere that trying even to simply list John's output is a challenge because in recent years different versions of the same track have been released quite frequently, and very few of them have any quantifying 'version notes'...

It's a nice problem to have though

Thank you for peoples opinions about the new remasters. I ordered mine from Play.com and was advised they were posted today. So I'm hoping there'll be here by Wednesday latest otherwise I may be in for a RECORD wait .

Peter

I think this thread needs to be retitled.

Let it henceforth be known as:
Five CDs, 30 new tracks

Shifting City - SIX
(four remixes from the original album and two remixes from the Omnidelic Exotour)
The Pleasures of Electricity - SIX
(four remixes from the original album and two new tracks)
In The Glow - SEVENTEEN
live recordings available for the first time
Impossible - ONE ("Repurposed Remote Shout Method Reversed")

It is indeed A Golden Time....


(someone will doubtless prove I've got this wrong...)

Not wrong as such but it needs a little correcting

Shifting City = 4 album track remixes (NEW) plus 7 (not 2) Omnidelic rehearsal remixes (previously on the Edsel Omnidelic double CD), plus 2 remasters of the original versions of the Omnidelic "Quiet Men" and "Just For A Moment" and one mono demo of Shadow Man (NEW)

Total 5 new tracks.

All the rest, bang on...

However, "In The Glow" might as well be considered as 26 NEW tracks as they are fresh mixes, (of a FAR higher standard than the previous Edsel abridged release).

The old Golden Section compared to In The Glow reveals that the previously released tapes of the same show sound rather poor in comparison to the new mixes.

They did a fine job this time

Exotour question: First, there was Subterranean Omnidelic Exotour EP, then Subterranean Omnidelic Exotour (I missed both of those, alas), then The Omnidelic Exotour packaged with The Golden Section Tour, and now the Shifting City bonus disc. Are there any versions/mixes on the two early and rare releases that aren't on either of the newer releases?

Yes, there are some subtle differences.

I'll look them up later and post back

Due to a mix up on my part I have managed to get duplicate copies of the re-releases of 'A New Kind of Man' and 'Impossible'. Just so I am not totally out of pocket I am willing to sell both together for total cost of £11 inc UK p&p. If anyone is interested please send me a PM. Payment would be by PayPal.

Hmmm... Fair point, butI don't think they count as NEW though, because nothing was ADDED during the remastering stage. I have 'decided' not to classify any remastered tracks as NEW versions, unless there is clearly some NEW bits added (or taken away...!)

Help me, I'm too, too sad...

True but these live tracks have been remixed not remastered.

The two are often confused so forgive me if explain the difference. You may well know already but I have no way of knowing this.

Remastering is where the stereo master tapes are given a good scrub up to make them louder, punchier and more vivid.

Remixing is a term used for two different types of process, (more confusion).

A traditional remix is where we go back to the multi-track tapes (which contain all the individual instruments isolated) and feed them back through a mixing desk and create a brand new stereo mix. In doing so, it allows much more creative control as each instrument can be modified in terms of level, brightness and depth (using effects to create artificial space... reverb etc.).

The results can often sound radically different as no two engineers, or indeed studio set-ups will create the same result. Use a better engineer and or more sophisticated studio and a superior final stereo mix can be created.

This is exactly what has happened with In the Glow. A double album of fresh new mixes which are "remixed".

The other kind of remix is not actually a remix as such, in fact a more accurate description would be a re-make, (version).

This is where "remixers" take a small part of an original recording from the multi-track, (just a vocal and a few key sounds) and create what is effectively a new song entirely themselves using their own instruments and sounds but laying the familiar elements of the material they were asked to "remix" over the top.

I hope that makes sense and doesn't serve to cloud the issue further

I've just seen TPOE and Shifting City looking rather smart in HMV. £12 though! They're making quite a mark up.

In the meantime, my copy has been dispatched!

Alex - you beat me to it!

I have just picked these up from HMV in Southampton.
They also had Impossible, but I'm not going to buy a new edition of that.

No sign of In The Glow...?

Still on sale too - double disc copies of all five Virgin era albums and Mirrorball

HMV in SHeffield also had Glimmer, Metamatic and Mirrorball - not bad, considering the last time I checked, the "John Foxx" section only consisted of a plastic label!

I noticed staples in the Shifting City and TPOE booklets, which was a reassuring sign

Shifting City once again on the racks in HMV,

its like coming full circle

Yeah! That means there'll be an Exotour soon!

Both Shifting City and The Pleasures of Electricity include full lyrics...

Rob

Good!

this time I may get to hear about it in advance, (and not learn of it years later )

I thought there would be more excitement and maybe reviews/opinions on these releases... it's gone down like a bad soufflé!

I've not ordered mine yet due to the postal strikes - there's already a huge backlog of post and I didn't want my CDs to end up in it - I'd rather pay a slightly higher price at HMV/Sister Ray and get them at the weekend than risk losing them in the post.

I reckon that's probably the same story for others here too.

I've got mine but been so busy with work I've not had time to post.

I'm still digesting it all.

Shifting City I like a lot on first listening.
Very electro grungy in places.

I'll post more soon.

Agree. I set up a thread for In The Glow anticipating a flood of responses

http://www.metamatic.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=000523

But nothing yet.
Historically, we are bad at this though...

I'm hoping it will be more surprising, like a Baked Alaska

TPOE arrived today, but I've not opened it yet, I'm saving it, um, not quite sure why...

Moved to another thread!

Thanks Alex - interesting thoughts.

But given our earlier discussion - shouldn't this be in a new TPOE 2009 thread??

Oh yeah!!!

I cant make my mind up if I should buy TPOE II or not.

Well done Martin. This forum lacks a proper moderation, making sure everything is the in the right place so you don't waste time looking for stuff..

Blimey, there's an Amazon advert on page 93 of the new issue of Record Collector for all 3 CDs! Each has the bit of PR blurb with it.

Sorry for breaking the rules! :rolleyes:

Thanks, but that isn't quite what I meant.

As a self-moderating forum, this place works really well, and I don't think that's necessarily a problem.
I was more referring to the fact that 'we' tend to post in the announcement thread etc, and take a fairly lazy approach to creating new threads.

It's not lack of moderation thats the issue, and its really not that musch of a problem.

I've often thought it would be good to have a thread for every TRACK and gather comments and feedback that way, but hey - I recently moved to Utopia.
Absolutely nothing happens there...

yes well I suppose I'm in akind of Utopia too where we have a thread for each album and so you don't 'miss' things or waste time looking for 'em! :rolleyes:

But now we are OT ..

Or just OTT?

excuse me
(quiet voice, almost a whisper),
...but can someone tell me where this place is? I'd like to visit there

Got the three CDs today but haven't had time to listen to everything yet. What I have heard sounds pretty good, though.

May post to the individual album topics when I actually have something to say...

remebertheeighties are running a draw to win all three ...

Where?

Didn't he do well! http://twitpic.com/n2v10