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Ra - Earthcall (Suntrip Records) - SUNCD43


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I need to take back my comment on mastering - hearing it now properly & in good quality I like it a lot! At first and coming from other music it does sound a bit muffled and cloudy, i.e. there's no usual excessive amount of top-end here, but instead it is very meaty, wide and expansive (sorry, can't explain it better :) ) with prominent mid-range, i.e. acids, higher resonating bass sounds, the FX. This fits really well with the overall dreamy / ethereal / warm character of the music, while still allows for it to sound edgy in more aggressive segments; and at the same time makes it sound pleasantly both loud (it's not tiring on headphones) and quietly. Really good & balanced work! :wub:

 

Musically, my 1st impression would be that it's good (3-4/5, with "Predator" and "Touch a Star" as standouts), but not as catchy or immediately captivating as recent Mindsphere CD, which on the downside was more aggressively mastered with much "narrower" sound picture...

I must listen to this album. Brutal mastering with overlimiting, piercing top end, no depth in the sound picture is one of the things that put me off enjoying new goa releases.

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Will it be available on spotify as well? I will take a listen to the samples now, very curious to hear what kind of transcendental knowledge the sun disc of Ra is bringing this time to illuminate the path. :)

Well, good question about spotify, normally it is programmed to be released the 5th of october, so in that case you have to wait a bit longer (but i'm not really sure when they put it actually online) :)

 

As for the rest, I also thought the mastering was more balanced this time, about the music, give it time... Ra is the kind of music that needs more listens to go into the magic... :)

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Well, good question about spotify, normally it is programmed to be released the 5th of october, so in that case you have to wait a bit longer (but i'm not really sure when they put it actually online) :)

 

Didn't Squid said he was listening on Spotify?

 

 

As for the rest, I also thought the mastering was more balanced this time.

 

That begs for a question - who makes the call on how the mastering of certain release sounds? Is it the label, the author, or maybe the mastering engineer?

I'm really asking whether this is a sign of further trend in making Suntrip's CDs sound less aggressive, or was it just an exception for this particular release?

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That begs for a question - who makes the call on how the mastering of certain release sounds? Is it the label, the author, or maybe the mastering engineer?

I'm really asking whether this is a sign of further trend in making Suntrip's CDs sound less aggressive, or was it just an exception for this particular release?

Actually the artists decides... Unless we use our veto, when we are REALLY not happy. This only happened a few times so far.

 

As for the future, we'll see, it depends a lot on the music of course!

 

About Spotify: yes, but I think you can upload tracks in your "own" spotify I think, so I'm not sure it is already online...

 

 

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It was already on spotify yesterday. I also find the sound much better than in the recent albums. It's, like antic said, much more meaty in the mids and lows, which I really, really like.

 

As far as it goes musically, I'm on the fence still. Some of the melodies I found pretty dull and almost cheesy (9th had a few cheesy melodies too) and some of the compositions aren't really picking me up, but there's already a few great tracks that will stand the test of time. We'll see, cautious.

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Tastes are sometimes so weird, my favourites are 3-4-5 for sure, and nr 5 was played by me (and others) on Connection festival as well and people went nuts on it (in the morning) :) But then again, I LOVE Yahel - Waves of Sound... So that might explain, good cheese imo... :)

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IMO this is a great album. I've received promos of these tracks for years and I can tell they don't age easily and I still find a lot of pleasure listening ot them.

To me it's useless to try and compare with RA's previous works. The new album is more dancefloor-oriented and more experimental at times.

 

Terra is deep and peaceful and it uses sounds you don't hear often.

Predator Remix is gorgeous, send you to space immediately. A real upgrade ot the original track.

Sacred Sands is pure trip to RA's land, with brain-scratching parts :)

Crossing Planet is a destroyer, total dancefloor killer.

12th Hour works wonders on the dancefloors, it blows your brains. It was the last track made for this album, when Menkalian was involved. But most of the strucutre had been set up a couple of years earlier. The preview was great, the final one is awesome. It's very interesting to see how tracks can evolve...

Touch a Star just forces tears from your eyes...what a progression, what a story, how many emotions ?

Causatum, finally shows RA is still a master at creating downtempo tracks.

 

Naturally you could expect I would be very enthusiastic about a Suntrip album. But we're releasing it because it's great, no more no less :) I'm sure it will become a classic.

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All what I can say is that 7 tracks it's not enough!!! I was waiting for new RA sounds long time. But, if compare to their previous albums this one has less "content" for me, some tracks are too much longer with the same story.

 

My little review: I like the main tune and melody of the 1th track (reminds me 9th album), the lines of the 3rd track @ 7:06 min it's something that I needed to my ears whole my life! the 4th track is too much longer with the same story but I can imagine it on the dancefloor, it's made for it! 6th track reminds me the times when I was listening Ra for the first time (more similar to "To Sirius" album).

 

I would buy this album for sure.

 

I wondering if they have any old tracks that never been released so It would see a light in some release or even another album.

 

Now, your next mission is to convince them to play Live for the crowd again (!!!), they quiet too early.

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  • 2 months later...

So I wanted to thank Oopie for sending me this album and also mention that I have been listening to it, a LOT. I think my first couple listens were met with some mixed feelings. I really liked the album, but it didn't click. Since then I think I have really settled into it much more. There are still some odd moments, and of course I wish it were longer, but there are some freaking amazing ideas on here. Sacred Sands... wow.

 

Circumstances are keeping me from the internet for a while, but when I get the chance I will be writing a review. :)

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