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Thread: Mellow Candle - Any Fans?

  1. #26
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    This may be a long shot, but has anyone heard the Mellow Candle vinyl box put up by Rise Above Records? It seems to contain pretty much all that was recorded by MC.

  2. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Rael View Post
    This may be a long shot, but has anyone heard the Mellow Candle vinyl box put up by Rise Above Records? It seems to contain pretty much all that was recorded by MC.
    I've heard it.

    Very cool packaging but nothing more to it. All the stuff is taken from the same old digital sources.

  3. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    Comus, Spirogyra, Jan Dukes De Grey

    just for starters, but there are others
    None of these can match MC for overall quality, IMO.

    I really like Comus and Jan Dukes, but rating those higher than MC is simply putting the unusual above well executed, melodic songwriting. It's also not really a good comparison. It'd be like saying that Gentle Giant are better than Fairport Convention.

  4. #29
    False Number 9 Pr33t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JeffCarney View Post
    I've heard it.

    Very cool packaging but nothing more to it. All the stuff is taken from the same old digital sources.
    What do you think of the Acme or Si-Wan pressings? I picked up the Tapestry before I knew better, and could desperately use an upgrade.

  5. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Pr33t View Post
    What do you think of the Acme or Si-Wan pressings? I picked up the Tapestry before I knew better, and could desperately use an upgrade.
    The Acme and the Si-Wan are the same as the Tapestry bootleg, as all are sourced from the same old CD mastering that was first issued in Japan in 1991.

    More details in the last paragraphs of my review here:

    http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=182794

  6. #31
    False Number 9 Pr33t's Avatar
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    Thanks. Guess I'll have to start saving up for a Dream pressing I don't mind a digital source (when done right), but that Tapestry sounds like there's a layer of cardboard in front of my speakers. I know I'm conditioned to the juiced See for Miles cd, but this still seems particularly lifeless to me.
    Last edited by Pr33t; 03-22-2013 at 03:59 PM.

  7. #32
    Member Septober Energy's Avatar
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    ^ Nice review, Jeff. I think you captured what it is that makes this album unique. The vocal harmonies are what it's all about.

    For what it's worth, my copy of this is an LP on the Zen label with a non-gatefold cover. I assume it's a pirate/bootleg kind of thing. I've never heard of Zen anywhere else. I am not impressed with the sound.
    "Incredibly dismal, pathetic chord sequence..."
    http://discogs.com/seller/septober_energy

  8. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by Septober Energy View Post
    ^ Nice review, Jeff. I think you captured what it is that makes this album unique. The vocal harmonies are what it's all about.

    For what it's worth, my copy of this is an LP on the Zen label with a non-gatefold cover. I assume it's a pirate/bootleg kind of thing. I've never heard of Zen anywhere else. I am not impressed with the sound.
    Yes, that is a bootleg, of course, but it actually sounds better than any official reissue.

    It was issued in the 80s so a 1st or 2nd LP pressing would have been used as a source. As I recall it's a bit scratchy, like they didn't have a very clean copy of the LP for a source and then you have to add that they would probably have had to record that LP to tape and then use that tape for the LP pressing, so you have a couple of extra steps in there.

    The 70s repressing sounds pretty great. I've never been willing to put out the cash for an original.

  9. #34
    Member Septober Energy's Avatar
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    Interesting. I'll have to take a listen to this LP again tonight. I haven't listened to it lately.
    "Incredibly dismal, pathetic chord sequence..."
    http://discogs.com/seller/septober_energy

  10. #35
    Quote Originally Posted by Septober Energy View Post
    Interesting. I'll have to take a listen to this LP again tonight. I haven't listened to it lately.
    One interesting trick that you can try is to swap the channels.

    The 70s Deram (2nd press) has the opposite L/R channels from the CD version, and I have a friend who feels that the stereo image sounds better when it's like the CD, so it's possible the 2nd press Deram swapped channels unintentionally from the master and the CD got it correct.

    Or not. But one of them has to be "wrong."

    Just a theory. I've never heard the original Deram and it might be the same as the 2nd press and that channel orientation could be correct for all I know. But the Zen bootleg mirrors the Deram 2nd press in this respect.

  11. #36
    Member Septober Energy's Avatar
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    I'm a little confused as to how swapping the channels could sound any better or worse. Unless you mean that one of the channels is out of phase, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're saying.
    "Incredibly dismal, pathetic chord sequence..."
    http://discogs.com/seller/septober_energy

  12. #37
    Quote Originally Posted by Septober Energy View Post
    I'm a little confused as to how swapping the channels could sound any better or worse. Unless you mean that one of the channels is out of phase, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're saying.
    I haven't had time to really try it yet, but I sent my friend a needle drop of my 2nd press LP and we agreed it beats all the CDs. Then he noted that if you switch the channels on the LP version it sounds more "correct." Like the balance of everything was meant to be that way and it might have been something the person who played back for the CD got right.

    I realize just swapping channels shouldn't typically be a big deal, but I suppose if the stereo "picture," if you will, was intended to have certain parts in certain places for an overall sound, then having the channels swapped could have a negative (albeit minor) impact.

    Obviously I don't know which is "correct" as I've never heard the master tape.

  13. #38
    Quote Originally Posted by Rael View Post
    This may be a long shot, but has anyone heard the Mellow Candle vinyl box put up by Rise Above Records? It seems to contain pretty much all that was recorded by MC.
    I own it but I also kept the Edison (Japan) CD release from the early 90s of Swaddling Songs, because it sounds better. Didn't care that much for the sound on Kissind Spell's demos CDs Virgin Prophet (the 2nd LP of the box) but I kept that one as well, as they don't exactly overlap.
    Macht das ohr auf!

    COSMIC EYE RECORDS

  14. #39
    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    Is the Esoteric somehow inferior? I always thought it had excellent sound quality.

  15. #40
    the comus-first uttereance is nice stuff but imo a little over rated, their are 3 or 4 songs that are pretty unique/killer but imo compared to mellow candle( of whcih i thought all of it was pretty killer) the candle blows them away .

  16. #41
    Member TheH's Avatar
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    I don't think that Comus and Mellow Candel are compareable in any way. So both are doing proggy Folk but it's the weird against the beautifull.

    Somehow overlooked:



    Vashti Bunyan

  17. #42
    False Number 9 Pr33t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheH View Post
    Somehow overlooked:

    Vashti Bunyan
    I don't necessarily think 'prog' when I think of Vashti, but great suggestion. Two stunningly beautiful albums.

  18. #43
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    I listened to this CD (Esoteric label) again the other night after reading all the comments. I really like all the low-key, quieter tracks, but I only like about half of the upbeat, loud tracks. To me, those louder tracks seem like a cross between Fairport and Curved Air, more prog than Fairport and more folky than Curved Air. Some of those tracks work better than others. All in all, a great album with only three tracks that I don't like much.

  19. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rael View Post
    This may be a long shot, but has anyone heard the Mellow Candle vinyl box put up by Rise Above Records? It seems to contain pretty much all that was recorded by MC.
    Holy Crappage:

    http://tinyurl.com/chpum8t

    (Yes, the tin yurl contains an anagram of the word "chump.")

  20. #45
    Yellow Autumn ~ Keeper of Fantasy

  21. #46
    Progga mogrooves's Avatar
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    Clodagh Simonds channeling Nico. Very nice:





    Evidently, Fripp & Eno are on this album....
    Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes

  22. #47
    Quote Originally Posted by mogrooves View Post
    Clodagh Simonds channeling Nico. Very nice
    Yeah, FOVEA HEX is a great project!
    Macht das ohr auf!

    COSMIC EYE RECORDS

  23. #48
    Member Dok's Avatar
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    https://blog.discogs.com/en/top-30-m...newsletter1705

    An original pressing sold for $3477!?!

  24. #49
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    "What in the world would possess somebody to shell out that kind of money for a bunch of jigs and reels?"

    Especially when you can buy it on CD!

  25. #50
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    It's long been one of the most valuable, commercially-released (as opposed to a limited vanity pressing) albums of the era.

    A few others to make your eyes water:

    https://www.discogs.com/Leaf-Hound-G...elease/2625594
    https://www.discogs.com/Billy-Nichol...elease/2240692
    Last edited by JJ88; 05-26-2017 at 02:53 AM.

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