Psychedelic State Turds

[mikael]

"Psychedelic States" - why does this series even exist? Poor sound, poor songs, poor track order (as far as "styles" are concerned)
It has one saving grace, and it's the liner notes on some comps, but other than that, who's the market for these shite comps?

 

[Dave Baldwin]

"Psychedelic States" - why does this series even exist? Poor sound, poor songs, poor track order (as far as "styles" are concerned)
It has one saving grace, and it's the liner notes on some comps, but other than that, who's the market for these shite comps?

I tried to help out on the Maryland volume since I had analog transfers of a couple songs off the master tapes (I was not looking for a payday) and I got stonewalled. The comp would have been a lot stronger with those tracks...it's almost like that guy WANTS to put out bad-sounding product.

 

[Frantic]

total crap cds, sound and packaging and lots of repeats from other famous comps with crappier sound.

 

[Heitkotter77]

I it's almost like that guy WANTS to put out bad-sounding product.

This is the guy who put out a Majic Ship reissue from the master tapes with a skip built in. Thats was the beginning of the Gear Flab legacy.
And ifyou want to hear bad-sounding product, you should hear his own music.
He had a solo album and single of extreme blandness, plus he fronted a band that did possibly the worst cover of Tobacco Road I've ever heard.

 

[Frantic]

This is the guy who put out a Majic Ship reissue from the master tapes with a skip built in. Thats was the beginning of the Gear Flab legacy.
And ifyou want to hear bad-sounding product, you should hear his own music.
He had a solo album and single of extreme blandness, plus he fronted a band that did possibly the worst cover of Tobacco Road I've ever heard.

what was the name of the band?

 

[pfft]

A bit harsh, I think. Sure, some are pretty bad, but many of them sound alright to me. At least he's getting stuff done and making it available.

 

[Heitkotter77]

what was the name of the band?

The Borrowed Times Band. Not entered in Discogs., but here's RYM link.
The Borrowed Times Band Albums: songs, discography, biography, and listening guide - Rate Your Music

 

[chas_kit]

I've enjoyed several of these comps in the past. However, I am completely baffled by the sound quality on some of them: brittle, and occasionally with digital blips or artifacts.

 

[Dave Baldwin]

Tracks mastered on a less-than-optimal computer so they say.

 

[greenfuzz]

As a collector of 1960s music, I have literally thousands of low-fi rehearsal, live or otherwise poorly-recorded songs in my collection. Of course, I’d prefer pristine sound for every recording but as a “want it all” collector, it’s not the most important thing to me. Gear Fab crams 32 songs on every release and offers many songs I’d otherwise never hear, along with informative notes with photos. Why complain? I proudly own every volume and hope there’s many more to come.

 

[tymespan]

Bomp sells most Gear Fab CDs for $10 & if you wait until one of their sales you can get them for $9. Vinyl reissue singles sell for $10 so it's a good value for the money.
But after quality reissues from Sundazed & Big Beat it's a shame we have to put up with Boulders style mastering.

 

[Hallucalation]

Bomp sells most Gear Fab CDs for $10 & if you wait until one of their sales you can get them for $9. Vinyl reissue singles sell for $10 so it's a good value for the money.
But after quality reissues from Sundazed & Big Beat it's a shame we have to put up with Boulders style mastering.

I have a few not so kind words about Sundazed.... especially recent efforts.

 

[Dave Baldwin]

I have a few not so kind words about Sundazed.... especially recent efforts.

Most of their older releases were pretty good (except for that first run of mono Dylan LPS).
Sundazed has been going downhill rapidly since Bob left the fold.

 

[chas_kit]

As a collector of 1960s music, I have literally thousands of low-fi rehearsal, live or otherwise poorly-recorded songs in my collection. Of course, I’d prefer pristine sound for every recording but as a “want it all” collector, it’s not the most important thing to me. Gear Fab crams 32 songs on every release and offers many songs I’d otherwise never hear, along with informative notes with photos. Why complain? I proudly own every volume and hope there’s many more to come.

With a little more effort the releases could have decent sound quality without digital skips & brittle sound. I appreciate what they do, but it's a fair complaint I think.

 

[greenfuzz]

Most of their older releases were pretty good (except for that first run of mono Dylan LPS).
Sundazed has been going downhill rapidly since Bob left the fold.

I wasn’t aware Bob had left Sundazed. How long ago was this?

 

[Dave Baldwin]

I wasn’t aware Bob had left Sundazed. How long ago was this?

I don't know exactly. I think he's in W. Virginia now.

 

[vinyl01]

About a couple months ago.

 

[MopTopMike]

I don't know exactly. I think he's in W. Virginia now.

A friend recently told me that Bob left (or is in the process of leaving) his suburban Nashville homestead.
Bob's daughter had a baby girl, so he and his wife are heading back to the Coxsackie area to be close to their newborn granddaughter.

 

[Hallucalation]

I wasn’t aware Bob had left Sundazed. How long ago was this?

2015 or 2016.

They were going downhill with Bob already. Beefheart, Blue Cheer, Mamas and Papas mono "tape" scams (bad needledrops with stereo fold downs for intro's and outro's of the songs to mask the source and pass it as coming from tape), 1980's and 1990's stereo remixes folded down to mono and passed over as original 60's mono mixes (Byrds "Cancelled Flytes" and VU singles). Not to mention that Big Beat reissues of the same songs/stuff always sounded head above Sundazed sources (We The People, Garage Beat 66 stuff etc.).
But without Bob they completely lost their credentials.
Ace Records are still prime example of how to do reissues correctly.

 

[The Raven]

these discs aren't for die hards, imho GF comps are good for only a handful of niches of 60's teenbeat/psych/lo-fi fandom:

people who are broke (you really can often find Psych States comps for less than $10 and not just from Bomp), these are, imho, the 21st century's answer to the Highs In The Mid 60's series. Dont know about y'all, but around my way throughout the 90's and into the early 2000's you could regularly get a Highs comp for $5 at any given bigger used record shop.

What I love about this stuff is the dorky recurring Psych States art motif, ha, total cheez, not psychedelic or trippy at all. u cud use the same art for a pack of cookies and it'd be just as appropriate

the Psych states comps are also a solid blast for young heads who have grown up acclimated to mp3 glitches/lo-fi ear bud sound; many of them probly hear nothing wrong with the GF mastering flaws

Finally, lo-fi music fans who actually enjoy screwed up recording also probly like these. Yes, believe it or not, there are people who really want to hear digital glitches. there's even an entire style of modern electronic music called 'glitch' which is made up entirely of samples of recording flaws, everything from scratched/skipping c.d.'s & records to digital distortion to out of phase/warbly analogue cassette tape. For some crazy noise music fans, the worse the sound quality is, the more they're gona like something, especially if the recording doesn't even come close to capturing the artist's original intent.