CD Report and Mono vs. Stereo

I just wanted to recount some thoughts on CDs and some (rare) issues that have cropped up recently. Remarks on Sugar's recent Copper Blue reissue and The Sonics on the 2003Psycho-Sonic compilation after the jump. Apologies in advance for any moaning. Another tiny item of news is that I've decided to start compiling a discography for music you absolutely have to listen to in mono (vinyl or CD), head-on. The first entry will be Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators. The intial entries are going to be largely Psychedelic and Garage rock, I hope to branch out after that.

My real gripe with the recent Sugar reissue is the eighteenth track of the second disc, a version of Clown Master live at the Chicago Metro has bad frames and won't rip properly on dB Poweramp with accurate rip. When played there are interpolations (sections where the sound cuts out). I'm pretty certain that this problem is widespread--I've been through two copies, returned the first and found an identical fault on the second. that Ah well, it's just a bonus track. I don't feel placed to compare the remaster job to the original mastering. It's certainly louder/ more compressed. At this point I am still relaxed about it.

It is Psycho-Sonic which gets me a bit pissed off. First the good: it comprises pretty much all of The Sonics' golden period on Etiquette Records (where they released Here are the Sonics!!!, and Boom). That, and it is made with some access to earlier generations of tapes than were previously made available so there is a potential gain in fidelity.

Now the Bad: while the Sonics' recorded to two-track tape, this should not be construed as an attempt to craft a stereo sound. Mono is where it's at for The Sonics. Unfortunately many songs are presented with their   two tracks hard panned to either stereo channel rather than mixed to mono. It's interesting in the sense that you can hear more ambience but ultimately unsatisfying. My understanding is that some old Bob Dylan CDs are fairly notorious for this practice, too. Essentially, I disagree with this guy.You can make the argument that you are using more of the CD's data bandwidth, but it doesn't really sound good to me.