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LaLaLand

I just got an e-mail from La La Land Records saying Caprica was up, with autographed copies.

I was just at Bear McCreary's site, where there's a link to an Amazon pre-order of the Season 4 BSG soundtrack, complete with the new cover art.

Who else has been hitting F5 on [url]http://www.lalalandrecords.com[/url] all day?

HAHA! I just went there as of writing the above, and their site is down with a note saying it will be back up at 12 PST.

Comments

  • And now it's back up. In for one Caprica and one Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

    No S4 though.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Well, I got my copy a week ago from the signing event some two weeks ago now. Enjoyment ensued.
  • Squeee!
  • David of MacDavid of Mac Elite Ranger Ca
    Now, why'd you have to go and do that? I've been downright paranoid about missing my chance for a signed season 4 (especially since I found out that they managed to exhaust their supply of the first pressing of CDs [i]without actually putting them up on sale anywhere),[/i] and I ran to check again to see, no, no preorder, no autographs, just the same taunting countdown clock.
  • You're looking for the wrong thing.
  • David of MacDavid of Mac Elite Ranger Ca
    Okay, one, ethics, two, this is one of the only things where I'm an absolute audio quality snob, three, my ISP blocks it and by the time I'd have access to a suitable internet connection, I'll already have the CD in hand.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Regardless of alternative modes of acquisition, I will buy [B]anything[/B] musical generated by Bear McCreary without even a second thought... He has garnered so much respect that I would go out of my way to buy it from the route offering him the most profit. He earned my love and devotion by making some of the best music in decades, and I fully intend to support him with my wallet.

    Is it up yet?! Is it?! AHHH!
  • HuntSmackerHuntSmacker Firstones Ambassador to Starcraftia
    I will be going to UK next month, I'll probably buy them then. I'd hate to have them shipped here..
  • Of course I'm buying it. McCreary didn't autograph the MP3s, now did he?
  • David of MacDavid of Mac Elite Ranger Ca
    All right, anyone who was waiting for season 4 to go on sale from La La Land to get an autographed copy... [url=http://www.lalalandrecords.com/BattleStarGalactica4.html]go![/url]
  • RubberEagleRubberEagle What's a rubber eagle used for, anyway?
    my order went out exactly 59 minutes ago ;)
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    My order was in at 3:01 EST due to them using the same naming convention for URLs as the old seasons ;) purchased four copies for redistribution within my own friends-circle. We'll see how it goes.
  • David of MacDavid of Mac Elite Ranger Ca
    Wait, they used a different naming convention for each season. I always thought it was a little weird. GalacticaSeasonOne, Battlestar_Galactica_Season_2, BattlestarGalacticaS3, and BattleStarGalactica4. (Yes, I tried that trick before. More than once.)
  • Has anyone gotten theirs yet?
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Mr. Mac, the concept was still the same. I was able to deduce a URL with relatively little effort given how simple their past variations were. What threw me off this time were the caps. :P The basic convention was still the same, though. Battlestar Galactica . Figure out the variation and its easy-peasy.
  • Sure, reply to the week-old comment instead.
  • RubberEagleRubberEagle What's a rubber eagle used for, anyway?
    The one thing that was very frustrating was that the countdown used my local time, so I actually got the "It's arrived" message about 8 hours before i actually could order.. (funnily enough, at work it was 3 hours closer to actual 12:00 PST)
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    Just got mine. Happy. Yay.
  • RubberEagleRubberEagle What's a rubber eagle used for, anyway?
    That means i should have mine in about.... 3 weeks...
  • RubberEagleRubberEagle What's a rubber eagle used for, anyway?
    Or, Today. That works for me too...
  • Falcon1Falcon1 Elite Ranger
    So it finally arrived...

    My copy of BSG season 4 soundtrack arrived yesterday, not bad going all the way from US (pre-ordered from Amazon.com just 2 days b4 official release).

    As expected its simply brilliant. Out of this world in fact. The detail, the layers, the complexity and the raw emotion is just simply stunning. Bear has taken it to a new level, again!

    My favorites so far (in order of preference, but not strict as I keep changing my mind ;)):

    1. The Line - I clearly remember this from Adama's speech and found it brilliant. Think I even commented on here about how cool it sounded. And I wasn't wrong. Uplifting, rousing, dramatic... makes me wanna kick some Toasters!
    2. Gaeta's Lament - a master piece imo. Really emotional, powerful tune. Every time I listen to it I just want to sing along at the top of my voice.
    3. The Signal - I find this one really sums up S4, the ethnic sounds, the vocals, the drums and the rapid pace. Brilliant stuff.
    4. The Alliance - beautiful track, mellow with great drums. A rather contemplative track I feel.
    5. Blood on the Scales - I love this one, have been listening to it on repeat a lot, picking out the details. The different styles make it sound a bit strange, not in bad way but in a funny way. Not what you expect really. The finish with the rapid drums is simply excellent.
    6. So much life - this brought back all the emotion of the final episode. Don't need to say any more really.

    The only negative I found was Assault on the Colony. Don't get me wrong its good, but its no Prelude to War. Shame really.

    The other nice touch are the comments in the booklet. Really really nice idea. Michael Hogan's has to be the best imo :D

    Have to say this release is a fitting final chapter to the story. Its been a great journey. Can't wait to hear where he takes us with Caprica.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    I'm inclined to agree regarding Assault on the Colony. It just doesn't have the impact I was hoping it would. There's just so much going on over such a long stretch that it loses so much of the impact made by previous tracks. It's less buildup, more consistent action.

    Picks:
    Gaeta's Lament
    Baltar's Sermon
    Resurrection Hub
    Dreilde Thrace Sonata No. 1
    The Line
    Kara Remembers
    So Much Life
    The Alliance
    The Cult of Baltar
    Kara's Coordinates

    Order isn't particularly strong, but higher may have more weighting.


    BSG S4, however, isn't the only McCreary album racking up playcounts in my list. I've also been actively listening to the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles soundtrack. While the thematic range is more limited than BSG, the music itself remains consistently strong and exceptionally well-composed. I'll have to flesh out my specific reasons later.

    My favorites:
    1. Samson and Delilah: Shirley Manson adds an unbelievable vocal strength to a McCreary backed piece which, in the episode, carried so much story with not even the smallest bit of dialog. The standalone track is just beautiful.
    10. Motorcycle Robot Chase: Starting off organic, orchestral, this track quickly descends into a chaotic collection of mechanical breaks and beats. The strings leading into the synthetics and metals, with the two merging as the action begins. The styles overlap, fight for focus, breaking in and out almost to the point of being unpleasant--but never quite getting there. At the last minute, the primary melody recovers, now stronger than ever.
    11. The Hand of God
    17. Ellison Spared
    22. Highway Battle
    23. Perfect Creatures


    Regardless of album of origin, McCreary's tracks have one consistent aspect: They sound like [B]complete shit[/B] in anything but a lossless audio format. Too much of the high and low ends are lost in the translation to something smaller, leaving the tracks sounding dead, hollow. With the Season Four OST, I ran a double-blind test between FLAC and MP3 at 320kbps. Out of 34 tracks tested back to back between FLAC and MP3, I correctly identified [B]thirty-three[/B] as being of their respective formats. If anyone here is listening to a compressed version of these soundtracks, I feel terribly sorry for your ears.
  • RubberEagleRubberEagle What's a rubber eagle used for, anyway?
    Perfect Creatures has to be my favourite track of all of bear's CDs i own.

    I think Assault on the Colony is actually too long. At the end of the track i've forgotten how it started! Maybe if it was cut in two pieces it would have more impact...
    [QUOTE=Sanfam;183491]
    Regardless of album of origin, McCreary's tracks have one consistent aspect: They sound like [B]complete shit[/B] in anything but a lossless audio format. Too much of the high and low ends are lost in the translation to something smaller, leaving the tracks sounding dead, hollow. With the Season Four OST, I ran a double-blind test between FLAC and MP3 at 320kbps. Out of 34 tracks tested back to back between FLAC and MP3, I correctly identified [B]thirty-three[/B] as being of their respective formats. If anyone here is listening to a compressed version of these soundtracks, I feel terribly sorry for your ears.[/QUOTE]

    Interesting.... now i wish my mp3-player would play somekind of lossless format...
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    The big issue is the trimming of the highs and lows. Nearly every lossy format on the market is designed to benefit vocals and more traditional instrumentation, and even those in limited quantities. The problem with McCreary's composition is that he layers [B]so many[/B] different textures for the codecs to make soundly weighted reduction. This is made worse by the use of extreme highs and lows at the same time. So what happens? They're just lopped off to preserve the bitrate on what is deemed more important. The same goes for some of the more complex arrangements within the tracks themselves. If instrumentation becomes too dense, sounds just tend to vanish or break down into substantially less complex base sounds. The tone of each track can be so dramatically altered by these changes, with some of the best examples being BSG S2's Prelude to War, and S3's Storming New Caprica. Any track containing two or more themes tends to be heavily impacted.

    If you ever do get the opportunity, give the compressed tracks a run, and then pop in the CD. It is, without question, worth a try.
  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    Here's a little extra, you can download When Will the Work be Done from Brendon Band's website. It's the song that was played in the bar scenes on Caprica in the finale.

    [URL="http://www.brendansband.net/wwwd/"]Link[/URL]

    Worf
  • David of MacDavid of Mac Elite Ranger Ca
    [QUOTE=Sanfam;183501]
    If you ever do get the opportunity, give the compressed tracks a run, and then pop in the CD. It is, without question, worth a try.[/QUOTE]

    Well, I'll be damned. I always had noticed things got a little funny in the crescendos (especially at the ends of "Storming New Caprica" and "An Easterly View"), but I'd credited that to the TV sound editors pumping up the bagpipes for the on-screen mix. It's definitely sweeter on the CD, though I import at a high enough quality that the difference is subtle. I don't think I'd have caught it if I didn't already know it was there.

    Luckily, at some point, iTunes began recognizing stuff you already had, and gives you the option to reimport the files while keeping your playcounts and custom metadata (album artwork and lyrics and such). Someday, when disk space is at less of premium for me (moreso on my portable players, though my lappy is a little bloated, too), I'll have to reimport these tracks losslessly.
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    I've never regretted re-ripping my entire music collection in FLAC. It makes a huge difference for so much of my music.
  • SanfamSanfam I like clocks.
    The more you listen to the tracks, the more you will find that you have not heard before. It's quite nice.
  • HuntSmackerHuntSmacker Firstones Ambassador to Starcraftia
    Having graced the shores of the UK for the past week, I have my copy of the soundtrack. ;)
  • WORFWORF The Burninator
    Where abouts in the UK?

    Worf
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