[Rachael B]

A TALE OF TWO SACD COVERS

I just opened, haven't listened yet, to Tania Maria's COME WITH ME SACD. It comes in a reg-lar jewell case and has one of those moroic, degenerate, trite, silly plastic outer sleeves like Sony won't quit doing. Yuck-a-tossis! The only redeeming thing thing about (Concord) Universal's sleeve is that it sez "MULTICHANNEL" in big letters vertically and "SUPER AUDIO CD" across the bottom in even bigger letters.

I don't know about ya'all but I like's them thar improved jewell cases, super...???

Now, the award for strangest SACD packaging ever goes to....the envelope please...and the winner is A SONG FOR YOU KAREN by Jeremy Monteiro Trio. The disc packagings looks more like a mini-box of chocolates or something than an audio disc! Is the cover pink or pale red, you be the judge. The false cover is secured on the spine and otherwise loose with book style flaps that fold around the cover... Well, the packaging is book style. I'll tell you about the inside in a moment....

The front flap has a rose and a heart in opposite corners, each with a cardholder slit. There's a little, err, petite card that sez "A Song For You Karen" in gold letters. The card is removable and inside it it sez, "Dear Karen", and then the words to the album's first song Leon Russell'a A SONG FOR YOU are reproduced. Then it's signed "Winston & Jeremy".

I put this album in when I started this post. Track 3 is coming now. Jacintha is the quest vocalist, BTW. The album is dedicated to The Carpenters' Karen. Several Carpenter tracks are mixed amongst the others... Anyway, the booklet opens up to cardboard pages with track info, lyrics, and other stuff. There's an LP type sleeve and inside it is an LP type innersleeve that's white paper on one side, the disc side down, and clear plastic for the label side. So, there's no spindle to break.

I like this novelty packaging. I'd like it if multiple disc sets came like this. Then, I've never liked multidisc Jewell or digipacks of any style much, so far. I could live with this style for SACD packaging in general sans the flaps and card. It's sort'a like the Boz Scaggs' DVD-A/CD booklet from a couple of years ago, except the disc is easy to get in and out and has it's own inner sleeve. The Boz pack was a good idea except for the super tight disc sleeves on each inside cover wall. It's a lttle thinner and compact though. It fits in a reg-lar CD slot.

First Impressions Music gets an 'A' for original very kool packaging from me!
If ever there was a CD that made a pretty gift, unwrapped no-less, this is it.

Univesal get's a double 'D' for copying Sony on the Tania Maria album. Double D = DUMB & even DUMBER for copying Sony, "...Doubla la dee..." ! Atleast the disc is a hybrid multichannel, it goes on next, BTW.

***edit*** > The Jeremy Montero cover is about a centimeter too wide to fit into a standard CD slot. It's not too tall just a smidgeon too wide.....

[Lee Scoggins]

I have always been impressed with First Impressions. They do recordings of both artistic and audiophile value.

The Jacintha discs are some of my favorites.

[Rachael B]

Lee, Jacintha's reg-lar albums are on Groove Note, is it associated with First Impressions? She has a new album due out in a week or two, BTW. She vocalizes on 4 tracks of Jeremy M.'s album. The vocalist of Two For Brasil, Paulinho Garcia, sings on one track. So, 8 of the 13 tracks are instrumental.

Jeremy's album is sort'a misnamed. Maybe it should of been called TWO SONGS FOR LEON AND ONE FOR KAREN TOO? Half of Jacintha's songs are the nearly 9 minute version of A SONG FOR YOU and THIS MASQUERADE both by Leon, of course.

It seems like a well recorded album. I've only listened to it on the upstairs system via the 775 so far. It'll work it's way downstairs in a day or two for a spin on the 777. I got 6 SACD's this week. I'm breaking some new and intresting ones in. Chesky finally got Livingston Taylor's INK out for me. Best wishes!

[Rachael B]

update: The Tania Maria plastic, outer case is so big that the jewell case slides out of it like it was a teflon ski slope. Universal can't even do outer cases right. Atleast with Sony you have to wrestle or sometimes tear the bleeding things off.

[Michael_T]

I have 4 Concord released SACDs, and nowhere on the package does it indicate that "Universal" has anything to do with those releases.

I thought that Concord records is an independent concern?

The great thing about the Concord SACDs is that even though they are hybrid, they are all pressed by Sonopress - so no spindle hub cracking.

[Rachael B]

Michael, Universal controls, distributes, or owns beaucoups of labels. I imagine Concord proably was once an independent company? I know it's not now. Universal labels that I know of: Universal, Uni, A & M, Blue Note, and Concord are the ones I know off the top of my head. There's proably 20 or more...? Best wishes!