Budget comps with skimpy annotation

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GoogaMooga
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Budget comps with skimpy annotation

Postby GoogaMooga » 15 Sep 2021, 23:28

NOW DEBATING... whether to keep a Danish comp of Edmundo Ros, released in 1999 on the budget Elap label. It sounds fantastic and has 12 killer tracks in all, incl. many popular Latin standards. If you want "Spanish Flea", "Peanut Vendor", and "Tico Tico" all in one place, look no further!

The downside is the skimpy annotation, no recording details other than who the songwriters were. The two pages of "liner notes" are just a superficial, wiki-like entry giving an overview of Edmundo Ros' career.

I've gotten rid of many such skimpily annotated comps; basically I think they are a rip-off. But I might make an exception here, due to the good sound and the track selection. Two out of three ain't bad...

So, how do you feel about skimpy annotation? Would you buy such CDs?

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"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Hag-man
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Re: Budget comps with skimpy annotation

Postby Hag-man » 19 Sep 2021, 09:16

Depends solely on the material there-in - if it's quality and you like/want it, what's the prob? It's what it says on the tin - "budget" - and that applies to the production as well as the retail price. You get what you pay for. Plenty of other avenues these days to get the extended info, if required.

As you say, it sounds fantastic and has killer tracks. And it's cheap. What's not to like?

What's not to like are the zillions of knock-off compilations that are hawked around the internet/online stores with shithouse covers, crappy production and rotten selections. Just put "Elvis" and/or a pair of sweaty breasts of either sex on the cover and you'll recoup your costs. At least these days there is no excuse for good sound. Taste, however, is a different country.
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GoogaMooga
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Re: Budget comps with skimpy annotation

Postby GoogaMooga » 19 Sep 2021, 13:10

Hag-man wrote:Depends solely on the material there-in - if it's quality and you like/want it, what's the prob? It's what it says on the tin - "budget" - and that applies to the production as well as the retail price. You get what you pay for. Plenty of other avenues these days to get the extended info, if required.

As you say, it sounds fantastic and has killer tracks. And it's cheap. What's not to like?

What's not to like are the zillions of knock-off compilations that are hawked around the internet/online stores with shithouse covers, crappy production and rotten selections. Just put "Elvis" and/or a pair of sweaty breasts of either sex on the cover and you'll recoup your costs. At least these days there is no excuse for good sound. Taste, however, is a different country.


Well said. That's why I am making an exception here and keeping it. Just wondering if extended recording info, dates, that sort of thing, would add much to the retail price. I guess it must be expensive to do a little research. How about when they license the material, can't they get some info there? Or are the licensors/owners as clueless?
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Hag-man
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Re: Budget comps with skimpy annotation

Postby Hag-man » 19 Sep 2021, 13:15

Suspect they don’t care. Google is pretty cheap…
Avant-garde? It's French for 'bullshit' - J. Lennon, 1965.

Chunky wrote: I'm a country member. I don't need to remember; I'm constantly reminded.

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GoogaMooga
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Re: Budget comps with skimpy annotation

Postby GoogaMooga » 19 Sep 2021, 13:19

Hag-man wrote:Suspect they don’t care. Google is pretty cheap…


But is all that info really online? I doubt it, but of course, I don't stream music, so I wouldn't know.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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GoogaMooga
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Re: Budget comps with skimpy annotation

Postby GoogaMooga » 19 Sep 2021, 13:20

double post
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Hag-man
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Re: Budget comps with skimpy annotation

Postby Hag-man » 19 Sep 2021, 13:37

Pretty much. There is a tremendous amount of information out there - more than you or I can imagine…
Avant-garde? It's French for 'bullshit' - J. Lennon, 1965.

Chunky wrote: I'm a country member. I don't need to remember; I'm constantly reminded.

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Hag-man
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Re: Budget comps with skimpy annotation

Postby Hag-man » 20 Sep 2021, 08:19

GoogaMooga wrote:Just wondering if extended recording info, dates, that sort of thing, would add much to the retail price. I guess it must be expensive to do a little research. How about when they license the material, can't they get some info there? Or are the licensors/owners as clueless?


Reckon it would be a couple of hours work for a savvy work-experience kid, or junior clerk, if such a position exists in the budget re-issue houses, as opposed to the serious ones like Rhino etc. I'd imagine the licensors wouldn't have full disco-graphical info for all their material - they're really only concerned with turning a dollar.

And despite all the "Remastered" and "DDD" labelling on a lot of these products, there is little or no work done technically on the music, and especially not from master tapes or master files. Getting one with great sound is a bonus and a lot of luck. Sounds like you cracked a good'un here.
Avant-garde? It's French for 'bullshit' - J. Lennon, 1965.

Chunky wrote: I'm a country member. I don't need to remember; I'm constantly reminded.

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GoogaMooga
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Re: Budget comps with skimpy annotation

Postby GoogaMooga » 20 Sep 2021, 08:42

Hag-man wrote:Getting one with great sound is a bonus and a lot of luck. Sounds like you cracked a good'un here.


Yeah, I even like the cover art, simple as it is.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck


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