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Thread: Cast - Vigesimus (Their 20th Album!)

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Cast - Vigesimus (Their 20th Album!)

    Today, the Mexican band Cast released their 20th album, Vigesimus! Recording quality is about the usual, the music itself sounds quite good. Classic Cast! It was around track #6 that my ears suddenly perked up. I was very distracted before that, but tracks #6 and especially #7 are excellent. Still on my first listen, so these are initial impressions.

    I emailed the band to ask if the CD will be sold on Bandcamp, and if so, when. Congratulations, Cast!


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    I agree it sounds really good. I asked them about the physical cd also and they announced that they are selling them on their website: https://www.castofficial.com/store

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Roth View Post
    I agree it sounds really good. I asked them about the physical cd also and they announced that they are selling them on their website: https://www.castofficial.com/store
    Dan, I see from Facebook that you're a manager at the Strand Book Store! I worked there the Summer of 1984! How long have you been there? Also, how is the store doing? I thought I heard it was closing at one point. I hope not. It's a landmark!

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    Am I the only one surprised that, after all this time, Cast have only released 20 albums? They seem so prolific!
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Dan, I see from Facebook that you're a manager at the Strand Book Store! I worked there the Summer of 1984! How long have you been there? Also, how is the store doing? I thought I heard it was closing at one point. I hope not. It's a landmark!
    Small world. I’ve been there since 2013. Business is challenging right now, as it is in most retail in the city. Foot traffic in NYC - particularly tourists and just people visiting on the weekends - is still a small fraction of what it was a year ago. The owner is a third-generation family and she is determined to keep it going, particularly as things open up again more. We are in our 95th year, so agreed on it being a landmark.

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    Heard the first few songs on Progstreaming and really enjoyed what I was hearing. After having listened to a bunch of their albums over the years, I fell away from this group for a while. This is quite good. Glad I can download it from BC.
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    Nice, I had no idea they had a new one out. Their last album is one of the best of their career IMO.

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    My take: Mexico's version of Glass Hammer - lots of decent records, no great ones.

    They're a band I've wanted to love for a long time...
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    I am looking forward to this release; I disagree with the above comment relative to their comparison to Glass Hammer. Both bands have their share of very good to excellent recordings. Specifically, once Cast reached their Com.Union release in 2007, they took it to another level, in my view. Hope Syn-Phonic gets this one in real soon.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Roth View Post
    Small world. I’ve been there since 2013. Business is challenging right now, as it is in most retail in the city. Foot traffic in NYC - particularly tourists and just people visiting on the weekends - is still a small fraction of what it was a year ago. The owner is a third-generation family and she is determined to keep it going, particularly as things open up again more. We are in our 95th year, so agreed on it being a landmark.
    Did you know a guy named Irwin Kraft who ran shipping? I worked for him.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by miamiscot View Post
    My take: Mexico's version of Glass Hammer - lots of decent records, no great ones.

    They're a band I've wanted to love for a long time...
    Quote Originally Posted by SunRunner2 View Post
    I am looking forward to this release; I disagree with the above comment relative to their comparison to Glass Hammer. Both bands have their share of very good to excellent recordings. Specifically, once Cast reached their Com.Union release in 2007, they took it to another level, in my view. Hope Syn-Phonic gets this one in real soon.
    I haven't spent much time listening what I'd call their "latter-day" releases. So I can't really fairly compare this new album to any specific other Cast albums. But to my ears, this album, even on first listen, had a lot of songs that are just catchier and more "exciting" than most of what I've heard by them. With my admittedly limited knowledge of their last several albums, this album seems like a step up. As I said above, it's sadly not a step up sonically (they really need to address that), but compositionally it is, so I'll definitely get the CD!

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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    I haven't spent much time listening what I'd call their "latter-day" releases. So I can't really fairly compare this new album to any specific other Cast albums. But to my ears, this album, even on first listen, had a lot of songs that are just catchier and more "exciting" than most of what I've heard by them. With my admittedly limited knowledge of their last several albums, this album seems like a step up. As I said above, it's sadly not a step up sonically (they really need to address that), but compositionally it is, so I'll definitely get the CD!
    I recommend that you take two steps before getting the new release:

    1) Purchase the "Power And Outcome" CD.

    2) Put on track 1, "Rules Of The Desert"

    Those 11 plus minutes of sheer sonic beauty will be a perfect review of some of the latter day brilliance of Cast.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Did you know a guy named Irwin Kraft who ran shipping? I worked for him.
    Irwin worked here for most of his life, but he was long retired by the time I started. I never met him.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SunRunner2 View Post
    I recommend that you take two steps before getting the new release:

    1) Purchase the "Power And Outcome" CD.

    2) Put on track 1, "Rules Of The Desert"

    Those 11 plus minutes of sheer sonic beauty will be a perfect review of some of the latter day brilliance of Cast.
    I second that. The "Power And Outcome" CD is excellent and definitely worth picking up.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Roth View Post
    I second that. The "Power And Outcome" CD is excellent and definitely worth picking up.
    I have it, I just haven't listened to it thoroughly. I'll have a good listen to that first track. Thanks, you two!

    I went and ordered the new CD from Cast - with shipping in the US it's only $18.

    BTW, have you listened to the live, symphonic album they did before the new album, and released on Blu-Ray? The audio is on Bandcamp, and it's pretty good. Better sound than on most Cast studio albums too! I think the songs that work the best are the newer ones, probably from Power & Outcome, and they are indeed good compositions!

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    Quote Originally Posted by SunRunner2 View Post
    I recommend that you take two steps before getting the new release:

    1) Purchase the "Power And Outcome" CD.

    2) Put on track 1, "Rules Of The Desert"

    Those 11 plus minutes of sheer sonic beauty will be a perfect review of some of the latter day brilliance of Cast.
    I 3rd it. Amazing music. Seeing them doing it live in Chicago a few years ago was even better.

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    Man of repute progmatist's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    I have it, I just haven't listened to it thoroughly. I'll have a good listen to that first track. Thanks, you two!

    I went and ordered the new CD from Cast - with shipping in the US it's only $18.

    BTW, have you listened to the live, symphonic album they did before the new album, and released on Blu-Ray? The audio is on Bandcamp, and it's pretty good. Better sound than on most Cast studio albums too! I think the songs that work the best are the newer ones, probably from Power & Outcome, and they are indeed good compositions!
    Yes, I bought the Blu-Ray right after it came it. Excellent performance, but I do have one complaint: the audio is only 16/48 PCM stereo. For a Blu-Ray, that's a rather low bit rate, not to mention number of channels.
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    Quote Originally Posted by progmatist View Post
    Yes, I bought the Blu-Ray right after it came it. Excellent performance, but I do have one complaint: the audio is only 16/48 PCM stereo. For a Blu-Ray, that's a rather low bit rate, not to mention number of channels.
    How is the Blu-Ray over all? I accidentally managed to get a free download of it from Bandcamp (accidental social engineering!), so I thought I'd pass on the Blu-Ray, just because I was honest with myself and figured I'd probably watch it once, and I'm probably set with the download. I would have paid for the download.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    I'll take one for the team and be the first to admit I didn't know what Vigesimus meant. I looked it up, it's Latin for Twentieth. Duh!

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    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SunRunner2 View Post
    I recommend that you take two steps before getting the new release:

    1) Purchase the "Power And Outcome" CD.

    2) Put on track 1, "Rules Of The Desert"

    Those 11 plus minutes of sheer sonic beauty will be a perfect review of some of the latter day brilliance of Cast.
    Well, I paid $26 Canadian, with shipping, for this CD. Hope I agree with the brilliance.
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    I'll take one for the team and be the first to admit I didn't know what Vigesimus meant. I looked it up, it's Latin for Twentieth. Duh!
    I didn't know either. I did think it looked Roman, though.

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    Quote Originally Posted by mozo-pg View Post
    Well, I paid $26 Canadian, with shipping, for this CD. Hope I agree with the brilliance.
    Hopefully you listened to it on Bandcamp before ordering? Just because...you can!

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    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Hopefully you listened to it on Bandcamp before ordering? Just because...you can!
    Doh! I should have done that. Believe it or not - I've never used Bandcamp.
    Last edited by mozo-pg; 03-18-2021 at 09:20 PM.
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    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    Listening to Rules of The Desert on YouTube. It sounds really nice!
    What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)

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    Member since March 2004 mozo-pg's Avatar
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    I'm listening further on my home theater. I'm not disappointed to make this purchase, fortunately. As for Rules of the Desert, I'm not sure I'd call it brilliant but it's really fine playing. The instruments blend seamlessly and the spoken words don't interfer with the music at all. Good recommendation, thanks!

    8/10
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