HiRez Poll Soord, Bruce - BRUCE SOORD [FLAC Download]

[JonUrban]

Please post your thoughts and comments on this Limited Edition HiRes 5.1 FLAC Download from Bruce Soord. Originally available for those who pre-ordered the CD release of the album, there may be a chance that it will again become available.
48-khz/24-bit lossless 5.1 FLAC files can be purchased at Immersive Audio Album.

PRE-RELEASE DISCUSSION THREAD: Bruce Soord - Bruce Soord cd with 5.1 FLAC

 

[Manmc]

really enjoyable listen without being demo material .

Love 'The Odds' !

~M~

 

[edisonbaggins]

This album didn't grab me on first listen, so I'm gonna listen deeper and note what I like, TrakxTrak

Black Smoke - sparse, moody, contemplative
Buried Here - down tempo beat, a bit thicker, heavier; twangy lead; I like how vocal effects trail to rears
The Odds - upbeat, thumping, vocal riff doubles acoustic, octave vocals; funky electrics
A Thousand Daggers - thick, lush 'luctrucs, understated snare; haunting melodies; nice 'coustik janglies
Willow Tree - 'coustik pickin', cool horn-type-thing, whistful lyric; nostalgia? regret?; oo, nice change a pace, idk if I'm hearing the Salvation Army Band or I'm in a Spaghetti Western, but it koo
Born in Delusion - koo 'coustik riff, like Fleetwood Mac kinda, koo beat, kinda scared Baggy; oos and ahs always welcome; koo echo blips; kinda Musey or SoaDy lyric; always room in my life for some strange kind of love
Field Day pt 1 - more pickin', koo ringing notes, stop-timey always koo; bass has been well-defined throughout, btw; backbeat drums, nice harmonies; album is pretty crankable, btw, and sounds good loud
Field Day pt 2 - this reminds me a little of no-man, not sure if he's connected to that projeck? Baggy like some no-man.
Familiar Patterns - weird sounds in the rears comin' and going, not sure I likey dat, koo perkushun, dreamy; this one is brooding; lots of different moods on this 'ere reckurd, though most songs feel "moody" variety of moodiness, koo 'luctruc shreddin' there for a sec
Leaves Leave Me - kinda Simon & Garfunkley, break up song? There's more fish in the sea bro; congas! Quad congas! Nice choir-like sound, cool digerydo-type-buzzy-thing; not sure what this about now... Kiddies in the background

Overall, the vox tend to be a little diffused for my taste, but this is a koo, relaxkin reckurd - I like how vox effects trail to rears, I'll have to research how to do that

Overall, a 9! Well done. Get this!

 

[von kulper]

I think part of my new year's resolution this year is going to be to vote in more polls, mainly, in some of the less popular/lesser known releases, starting with Bruce Soord's first solo...

I gotta agree with edison's sentiments - this didn't grab me at first. In fact, that doesn't even sum up my initial feelings: Completely underwhelmed; bored (with the exception of "Black Smoke" which I thought was wonderful). But, it's amazing how a piece of music can completely transform into something else entirely given the opportunity and given time. It makes me wonder, "How did I not hear this before?" That's very much how I feel about this release.

Let me preface this by saying that I've been listening to The Pineapple Thief for the better part of ten years now, and am quite familiar with Mr. Soord's catalog of music, including the excellent "Wisdom of Crowds" (which I'm hopeful that we'll see a 5.1 release of in the future).

As I mentioned before - initially, my first few listens left me quite cold. But, something kept pulling me back to it, and slowly, over a number of weeks, track by track, everything started to come together for me. It's a much quieter -maybe simpler - album than most TPT. There's no big distorted riffs, and the songs tend to be shorter and more focused - there's no "Remember Us," or "Different World" here. Mostly acoustic guitars, atmospherics, keyboards, some electronic drum-machine type percussion, and elegant electric guitar leads (okay, really, not too far of from his TPT work, but there's definitely some variances), all underneath some very catchy vocal melodies, and sometimes dense harmonies. It's all very beautiful, and often rather contemplative and laid back.

The surround mix is very complementary to the music. Nothing too crazy going on, but a full and active soundfield, with plenty of discrete instrumentation. There's been a bit of controversy on these forums concerning Soord's mixing choices on the Opeth and Tesseract releases; but, I don't think there's any denying that Soord certainly has an ear for surround with regards to his own material (check out Katatonia's Sanctitude and Anathema's A Sort of Homecoming - both excellent live surround mixes). Instruments are judiciously placed throughout the soundfield, and, as edison had mentioned, some very neat vocal effects bouncing around in the rears.

Sound quality is, for the most part, very good. This one does seem to be a bit "loud" with regards to the mastering; I can only crank this about 10 notches below most SW mixes. I do hope this is something Soord will address in future releases, but given the nature of this release, the music certainly doesn't suffer because of it.

It's my understanding that this is not available for download if you missed out on the pre-order ( maybe this has changed?), which is just unfortunate and very short-sighted of all of those involved. This is an excellent surround release; one that has grown on me considerably. I'm really looking forward to more surround releases from Mr. Soord (I can't wait for Variations on a Dream). I'm going to go with an 8.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

Most people here know already that I play tested this release, but I should point out that besides being a long term fan/friend of Bruce/The Pineapple Thief I have no vested interests and always try to review objectively.

This album has grown to be my favourite release of 2015, by quite a margin. But it wasn't like that from the outset! Like a couple of the other people have commented I started by being slightly under-whelmed. Okay, I admit it - quite a bit underwhelmed! I was also listening to a very early two channel mix to start with, which didn't help and, although I could hear several songs/earworms that I thought would grow it didn't fit my preconceived expectations and certainly didn't gel as an album.

But I needn't have worried. A few more plays (not to mention improvements in the mix in later versions) and it all started to slot into place. And it probably took six to eight plays before I realised just how exceptional an album this is, and it's masterful! A valid question that often comes up is why "solo" Bruce Soord and not "Pineapple Thief" being as Bruce writes most of the Pineapple Thief material anyway? The answer is that writing songs as a solo artist removes the self-imposed constraints that are put in place in order to write and arrange material that's suitable for a band, for example instrumentation and expectations. "Bruce Soord" solo is un-fettered and is hence more experimental and, crucially, much more personal than Pineapple Thief material. This really comes through in the songs. They're very poignant, heart-felt and emotional and the lyrics are some of the best I've ever heard from Bruce.

The arrangements are largely simple and un-cluttered, with some superb guitar work, both acoustic, electric riffage and soaring solos, together with soul wrenching multi-part harmonies that use the surround field extremely effectively. Bruce has also developed a "trade mark" way of moving reverb tails from solo guitar and vocal around in the surround field, which gives subtle movement and depth without being overwhelming. Instrumentation is discretely positioned in a way that augments the impact of the songs making the listen a very enjoyable experience.

The best accolade I can give the album is this: No matter how good an album is, I've normally had quite enough of it by the end of a play test. In the case of this album I just carried on listening to it, both non-surround and multi-channel, for sheer enjoyment. It's easily my most played album of 2015 and as I said earlier, my favourite too.

An easy 10 for me.

 

[ji eff]

I wasn't familiar with Bruce Soord's music before I heard he was releasing an album in surround, but now I am really glad to have had the chance to discover him through this crazy addiction of mine that makes me try all sorts of things that would pass me by otherwise... When listening to this the first thing that came to mind is how it somehow feels like a crossover between Beck's Sea Change album, and Radiohead's OK Computer.. And I think it really is, and sounds good! Well written, well performed, and well produced... Doesn't this sound like a winning combitation? Well...

The only thing that tickles me a bit, is the simplicity and repetitiveness of the music in the first track.. not bad for a first timer ! It is a meditative and relaxed album that doesn't bore me one bit, the type of music that I find to be perfect playing when seducing the love of my life. Now I sound corny!

Content: 8.5
Mix: 9

Overall: 8.75 (rounded up to 9 for the poll)

I hope he does put it back up for sale for those who missed the pre-order combo including the surround download... It's the best presentation to introduce someone to his music. Highly recommended !

 

[SMS]

I have a few Pineapple Thief albums, so I have known about Bruce Soord for quite a few years, but was never an enormous fan. After hearing the youtube clips of his solo album, and hearing that 5.1 flac was going to be released as a "bonus", I was intrigued enough to pre-order the album. Man... I am so happy I did! This album is very good. As ji eff posted above, I hear Beck and Radiohead influences. Overall, the album is quite mellow, but there are a couple more upbeat tracks mixed in. The album is very well produced, and it sounds excellent in both 5.1 and stereo. The 5.1 mix is very well done. Lots of discrete elements, but not gimmicky or distracting.

I gave it a 9. I hope we get to hear more solo work from Bruce. Next time I hope the 5.1 mix gets an "official" release.

 

[peterzach]

This is a very enjoyable album to listen to.
When I first got it listened a few times right away and I liked the album right aways as it has a very nice flow from song to song.
The use of surround is very well done as well.
With all the other surround releases that came out around the same time I put this one aside but this week pulled it out again and have been giving it a few more listens and really enjoying it.
Giving this a solid 9.

peter

 

[Robert van Diggele]

Still a great album. Excellent songs and mixing. Love the vocals in the sub on Born In Delusion. Odd choice perhaps but works very well.

 

[GOS]

I'm honestly shocked that only 9 QQ members have voted on this. Does that mean that most didn't purchase it? Listening now, and it's so haunting and great.

 

[edisonbaggins]

It is great, but I think the way the MC was rolled out kinda killed interest for many.

 

[Robert van Diggele]

The new solo album could have been an opportunity to include this one as well.

 

[edisonbaggins]

Speaking of which, I haven't voted lol. I'm torn in other directions, right now, but maybe I should put it on my calendar...

 

[OdysseyMusik]

How could i get the 5.1 Flac ?

It would makes sense to try it out on surroundmusic.one!
But Bruce Soord isn't on Bandcamp so the question is whether a record label is clamping down on a digital release?!
I find it strange when all music can be listen to for free on Spotify/Youtube; Why not give fans the opportunity to buy hirez versions (where the artists gets 85%)?

 

[sjcorne]

I've been listening to this a lot lately and can't help but give it the full "10". I'd actually rate it higher than All This Will Be Yours for content, surround mix, and fidelity. Though it is a bit loud compared to some of Bruce Soord's other 5.1 mixes, the EQ and dynamics are spot-on for me. "The Odds", "A Thousand Daggers", and "Willow Tree" (be sure to check out the awesome acoustic version on The Soord Sessions) are among my favorite Soord compositions to date. The only track that doesn't really do it for me is the opener, "Black Smoke".

I hope more people were able to hear this 5.1 mix since it became available on IAA a few months ago, I think it was Soord's first(?) but it's still really good even in comparison to his more recent work. The center-isolated vocals in particular are really well-done on this album, they stand out really nicely yet also sound integrated with the overall presentation. I also really like how the drums aren't mixed solely to the front speakers, it almost sounds like the kick is inside-your-head during "Born In Delusion".

As mentioned upthread, the stereo vocal delays in the rears during "Buried Here" sound incredibly cool. The dueling electric guitars in the rears throughout "The Odds" are also a lot of fun, as is hearing a different conga part in each corner during "Leaves Leave Me". All that being said, the best surround moment on the album for me would have to be the guitar solo midway through "Familiar Patterns" - they are different mono delays in each rear speaker (similar to the treatment of Miles Davis' trumpet in the Bitches Brew '70s quad mix), causing the guitar to bounce around the listener's head.

 

[PaulBM]

Firstly, thank you sjcorne for posting this review of the Bruce Soord solo album 5.1 mix. It spurred me on to try again to get the files burned to a DVD so that I could hear it.

With some searching and careful downloading of Audiomuxer, ffdcaenc and ImgBurn I have just listened to the 5.1 mix for the first time. And, wow it is amazing, like so much of Bruce's and The Pineapple Thief's work.

Now it's time to work on The Pineapple Thief Live 2014 FLAC files that have been collecting dust on my hard disk for ages.

Thanks again!