Dance & Ambient music on SACD/DVDA? (1 Viewer)

[John Berggren]

I was browsing Best Buy's selection of DVDA and SACD. I'm particularly looking for Ambient and Dance music. By Dance music I mean remixed songs and or songs made with a solid beat, something that you'd see on a DJ collection.

I only saw a release called 24/7, which I don't recognize anything from.

Does anyone here have any recommendations for ambient and dance music on next generation audio?

Also, how can you tell if a release is multichannel or 2 channel only? Some are clearly marked multichannel, while others don't have any indication.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Not sure if this fits perfectly (though many of the tracks certainly do), but I'd definitely recommend all three of the Groove Armada import SACDs, and particularly "Vertigo". These are all multichannel/stereo, hybrid SACD/CDs (Vertigo, Lovebox, Hello Country/Goodbye Nightclub). Sound quality is surprisingly good for this sorta music, and the multichannel remixes are excellent and inventive without being even the slightest bit gimmicky.

On DVD-A, there's Tipper's "Surrounded", which would also fit the bill. Check the review at HFR and do a search here (I posted my own review somewhere). Briefly, it's a wildly inventive multichannel mix with astonishing imaging all around, but (for me) the music is much less impressive than the mix. Not sure I'd recommend this one, unless you're willing to take a chance and won't be too disappointed if it only rises to the level of good multichannel demo material.

 

[John Berggren]

I'll have to search out Groove Armada. The CDs appear on Amazon.com but not SACDs. BestBuy.com is down. Where do you normally get imports?

I had read the positive review of Surrounded in DVD ETC, and was considerring getting it, but your tepid review has me questioning. I may pick it up regardless when I get my first Best Buy reward coupon.

 

[Stephen_Opipari]

That 24/7 is a Global Undergroun mix by Danny Howells (good album BTW). In fact they seem to be starting it as a new series since there is one with Lee Burridge at the helm coming out soon as well...

BUT, if you look on the back, it is just a CD and not a DVD-A.

 

[John Berggren]

That's really odd. Best Buy is marketting it in the DVD-A area. What a rip!

So far I've only found the Groove Armada stuff at Play.com where it appears that all but Lovebox is out of print, or at least not available.

I'll check Best Buy tonight too, just in case.

 

[Rich Malloy]

I'll have to search out Groove Armada. The CDs appear on Amazon.com but not SACDs. BestBuy.com is down. Where do you normally get imports?

I usually get the Euro imports from amazon.fr because they tend to be cheaper than amazon.uk or amazon.de, but try to buy two or more at a time to cut down on shipping costs.

Do a froogle/google/yahoo search, too, as you can pick up alot of the smaller places (eil.com euphoricsounds, etc.). Also, Red Trumpet, Music Direct, Elusive Disc, and the like often sell imports, but I've usually found better deals elsewhere (lately, at amazon.fr).

 

[LanceJ]

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[LanceJ]

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[Doug_WSmith]

The Tipper is definitely dissapointing, especially when you consider his normal output. What i expect from Dave Tipper is hard-edge breakbeats with an experimental feel. Definitely one of the great Nu-Skool breaks producers. Unfortunately with Surrounded he seems to have lost his talent for drum programming, and there isn't a original sound anywhere. Some fun surround work, though. Hopefully this DVD-A will be the first of many from a genre that really could benefit from the multi-channel treatment, but this one doesn't make the greatest impression.
There is one great unreleased set of music by Ritchie Hawtin that was created for Dolby Digital. A friend of mine has a copy, and it's very cool, but i've never heard anything about it being released. It's really too bad, since that is exactly the type of thing that could give a big boost to the format.

 

[Rich Malloy]

John, for the Groove Armada SACDs, I urge you to look around for the best deals, but let me warn you that in my experience these discs don't stay in stock for very long. I picked up "Vertigo" and "Lovebox" early last summer, but then it took me 3 months to find "Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub)" in stock anywhere.

Eil.com claims to have "Vertigo" and "Goodbye Country" in stock. See here: http://eil.com/shop/artistlist.asp?a...=groove-armada

Euphoric Sounds claims to have "Lovebox" and "Vertigo" in stock. Go here and search on "groove armada": http://www.euphoricsounds.com/store/erol.html#1x0&&

It's kinda sad, but I guess this is the only "real" (or at least "really good") house music available on SACD. I happen to think this music works really well in surround, and the added resolution of SACD really is noticeable over the Red Book layer. That's not to say these are reference "audiophile" discs, but I listen to "Vertigo" about a million times more often than my SACD of "Jazz at the Pawnshop". If you like this type of music at all, I really couldn't recommend these discs more to you.

 

[John Berggren]

I'll keep looking for euphoricsounds to come up. Update : It just came up, but the prices are markedly better at eil (who don't have one of the CDs).

I agree that SACD multichannel seems perfect for dance/house/ambient music. It's bizarre that they just don't seem to be available.

I'd love to get Bjork's Homogenic on SACD multichannel, and several of her remixes.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Eil.com has the better price, but it appears they only have Vertigo and Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub). Likewise, Euphoric Sounds only has two titles, in their case Vertigo and Lovebox.

But I checked amazon.co.uk, and they have all three! Vertigo and Lovebox go for GBP 15.99 (better deals than the other two places), and Goodbye Country is GBP 17.83 (about the same as eil.com). And you can get all three!

 

[John Berggren]

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