Listening to in Dolby Atmos Streaming, via Tidal/Apple/Amazon

[J. PUPSTER]

From Tidal:

John Coltrane - 1965 - A Love Supreme (Atmos)
Encoded date: 2021-11-01
Immersive Mix Engineer: Steve Genewick

OK, 1965 Jazz from Impulse! (Typically poor Quad mixes BTW) with Drums, Bass, Piano & Sax; - what does the Atmos mix sound like?

 

[humprof]

OK, 1965 Jazz from Impulse! (Typically poor Quad mixes BTW) with Drums, Bass, Piano & Sax; - what does the Atmos mix sound like?

It's Genewick, so...same model he used for Kind of Blue and other old Blue Notes: 3-channel stereo across the fronts and "live" reverbs (from carefully positioned playback speakers) in the rears and overheads, meant to recreate the sound of the original studio.

 

[AYanguas]

OK, 1965 Jazz from Impulse! (Typically poor Quad mixes BTW) with Drums, Bass, Piano & Sax; - what does the Atmos mix sound like?

This Genewick Atmos mix is a kind of extended stereo with echoes/reverbs to all 9.1.6 speakers without any discrete effects. But this is not a bad thing.

It achieves quite impressive sound clarity and presence. The sound is frontal, but it gives the impression that you are in the room with the musicians. It has a “being there” sound quality that reminds me of the “Jazz at the Pawnshop” reference.

In comparison, Tidal's stereo version seems much duller and has an isolated presence that doesn't seem as real. The stereo version with upmix (DSU or Auromatic) perhaps gets even worse.

This Atmos version, although it is not at all discrete, achieves a “reality” sound “as if you were there” that is really quite impressive when you compare it with the stereo version.

 

[himey]

Anyone mention the new Falco Ultimate Hits EP? Mix sounds really good.

 

[fredblue]

Anyone mention the new Falco Ultimate Hits EP? Mix sounds really good.

 

[haikubass]

Mixed by Mischa Janisch - gut gemacht, junger Bursch!
Wish he would have mixed Alphaville... This is his Dolby Atmos curriculum vitae:

 

[himey]

Mixed by Mischa Janisch - gut gemacht, junge Bursch!
Wish he would have mixed Alphaville... This is his Dolby Atmos curriculum vitae:

Even a late night, low volume first listen sounded really good. Will definitely open up a couple tracks before the big game today.

 

[Franck]

And Bob, paddling like an animal, escaped by a hair, from the crocodiles!

 

[scooob]

Upcoming Bryan Ferry album has Atmos mix by Bob Clearmountain, per SDE - just wait for it.

This album (well, the one preview song) is only in stereo for me in the U.S. - do others have it in Atmos?

 

[humprof]

K - L:
Almost halfway through the alphabet, I'm getting more and more blasé. I can live without most of the Atmos offerings in this segment--and there are a lot of them--not least because so many of the mixes themselves are so disposable. But most of the music is middling, too, IMO. Kacey Musgraves, Deeper Well: her songcraft is more than capable, but it's just not that deep. Kali Uchis, Orchideas parte 2: lightweight, poppy electro-R&B. Kaytranada, Timeless: not quite so insubstantial, but equally forgettable. (The Atmos mix has a little more to it than most of this bunch, but it's hardly one for the ages, either.) Kelly Lee Owens, Dreamstate: astral EDM, if you like that sort of thing; me, not so much. (Again, though, the Atmos mix has a bit more going for it.) Kendrick Lamar, GNX: Grammys notwithstanding, neither the lyrics nor the music on this one stand up to his previous three albums. Khruangbin, A La Sala: chillout music with an occasional Afro-Cuban flair. Klô Pelgag, Abracadabra: stately Francophone electro-artpop that’s not quite my jam. The Last Dinner Party, Prelude to Ecstasy: neo-baroque pop that's also not my jam. Laura Marling, Patterns In Repeat: a little too precious. Loe Shimmy, Zombieland 2: one of the legion of interchangeable processed-vocals rappers chanting melismatically-but-tunelessly over the same skittery-cicada drum samples and the same languid two-chord R&B vamps. Might as well have been written by AI. (Shall I tell you how I really feel about that one? And did I say "blasé" at the head of this paragraph? Maybe I meant cranky.)

So: will I be coming back to anything here? Well . . .

Kamasi Washington, Fearless Movement: I thought I was over Kamasi, figuring I'd clocked his West Coast Get Down number and heard enough already. But this album has almost as much funk, soul, hip-hop, and fusion as it does next-gen “spiritual" jazz. Plus, it sports a great guest list and a decent Atmos mix.

Laurie Anderson, Amelia: because anything she wants to do is okay by me. Tells a compelling story with an immersive mix worthy of a radio drama.

Lava La Rue, Starface: they cover a whole bunch of styles, including some ear candy for fans of funky, neo-retro, Macy Gray-style R&B. Only about half the album got me humming, though. And sadly, the Atmos mix uses the overheads sparely.

LL Cool J, The Force: not quite as fresh as I hoped, but not nearly as stale as I'd feared, either. “Black Code Suite” is a standout, both music-wise and mix-wise.

Keepers from the stereo column: Kim Deal (Pixies), Nobody Loves You More; Kronos Quartet, Outer Spaceways Incorporated: Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra; La Luz, News of the Universe (spunky "surf noir" girl band); Leilehua Lanzilotti, Longleash, & So Percussion, the sky in our hands, our hands in the sky (uber-minimalism); Lo Carmen & The Great Beyond, Transatlantic Light (rough-edged, country-tinged singer-songwriter); Lollise, I Hit the Water (Botswanan Afro-Futurism).

M - N:
Kinda quiet here; I can fill the silence. But I'll shift the emphasis and start with the good (Atmos) stuff this time: a cool half-dozen titles, often more notable for the music than the mix. (I think GroupBuilder maxes out at five "Media" links for one post, though?)

Megan Moroney, Am I Okay?: above-average pop-country-Americana with a matching above-average Atmos mix.

Meshell Ndegeocello, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin: the Blue Note Atmos house style really disserves this musically adventurous album. Still an important statement from a quietly influential artist.

Nadine Shah, Filthy Underneath: A little PJ Harvey, a little Eno-era Roxy, and a suitably thoughtful Atmos mix.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wild God: long respected him; never particularly liked him; this lovely album won me over. (The light-on-top mix is effectively 5.1, but a good 5.1.)

Nilufer Yanya, My Method Actor: jazzy and soulful, with occasional hints of Joan Armatrading. And one of the best (= firing on all channels) Atmos mixes in this bunch.

Nubya Garcia, Odyssey: grand, expansive, spiritual jazz—with a beat. (Check out “The Seer.”) Strangely little going on in the overheads, though, considering she took enough pride in the Atmos mix to show it off in a fancy London listening session at an exhibition devoted to the making of the album.
https://music.apple.com/us/album/odyssey/1747390562

An equal number of Atmos titles in this batch that I'd consign to the Non-Notable Mix and/or Music Department (or sometimes the Non-Notable Mix and “Not For Me” Department), some of them by artists I otherwise like or at least respect. But I won’t subject you to fuller articulations of my various yawns and hmms and disses. Anyway: maybe you'll be more impressed with Madi Diaz, Weird Faith; The Marias, Submarine; Mdou Moctar, Funeral for Justice; The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis, [self-titled]; Michael Kiwanuka, Small Changes; and/or Mustafa, Dunya than I was.

As for the Solid Stereos: M – N turns out to be a big tranche of the alphabet, with almost too many worthy albums to mention. But mention I will, albeit quickly: Mach Hommy, #RICHAXXHAITIAN (underground rap with crate-digger samples); Mannequin Pussy, I Got Heaven (punk with Pixies); Marcos Valle, Tunel Acustico (feel-good octogenarian tropicalia); Mary Timony, Untame the Tiger (Liz Phair meets Linda Thompson); McCoy Tyner & Joe Henderson, Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs (elemental archival post-bop); Melissa Aldana, Echoes of the Inner Prophet (a maturing powerhouse on tenor); MJ Lenderman, Manning Fireworks (the new Sam Amidon? Jeff Tweedy? Gram Parsons?); Mo Dotti, opaque (tuneful power-rock with Heart, Pretenders, and Stereolab in its DNA); Nia Archives, Silence Is Loud (smart, uptempo EDM); Nonpareils, Rhetoric & Terror (dark, nerdy indie-pop); Norma Winstone and Kit Downes, Outpost of Dreams (a spare, stately recital by a jazz vocal master).

And then there are the Stereo Standouts, all of them more than worthy candidates for Atmos:

• Mabe Fratti, Sentir que no sabes (cross-genre cello-centric music & song);
• Magdalena Bey, Imaginal Disk (little-girl vocals and dance-forward beats that belie a quirky sensibility and proggy song structures);
• Mary Ocher, Your Guide to Revolution (cool like Julia Holter, but even weirder);
• Maya Beiser, Maya Beiser x Terry Riley: In C (“C” as in cello—overdubbed, with percussion);
• Meridian Brothers, Mi Latinoamerica Suite (a little bit Forro In The Dark, a little bit Chicano Batman, but mostly their own quirky thing);
• Nala Sinephro, Endlessless (mesmerizing spaced-out electro-jazz).

 

[MrSmithers]

Many thanks for these fantastic retrospectives @humprof . They’re really interesting and informative…

Nubya Garcia, Odyssey: grand, expansive, spiritual jazz—with a beat. (Check out “The Seer.”) Strangely little going on in the overheads, though, considering she took enough pride in the Atmos mix to show it off in a fancy London listening session at an exhibition devoted to the making of the album.

I went to that fancy listening event, it was pretty cool… But I went into it thinking it might not be a super duper mix as it’s coming from the Concord label and it pretty much matched my expectations, despite being a great album. While the mix has some nice moments towards the end, it defo could’ve utilised more in regards to surround. Don’t know why peeps can’t let off the handbrake when doing these things?!

It was interesting because they were playing a Blu-Ray for that event, so I made a point of (politely) writing down the irony in there being no commercial release for the Atmos mix in the ‘notes to the artist’ book at the end. I’m probably on some watchlist now… Thankfully we got a copy of the LP so all is good…