Just ten days to go until it is released and a German site called Highresaudio and describing itself as "the first commercial music download service for audiophiles worldwide offering only high-resolution 24-bit albums and songs at sampling rates from 88.2kHz up to 384kHz", has published 30 second clips of all songs from Sunken Condos.
As a "bonus" we also for the first time get the length of each track, all clocking in at between 4:15 and 5:35. No extended jams this time around.
SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER !
THE CLIPS WILL START PLAYING IMMEDIATELY - at least on your average PC and an Asus Eee Pad Transformer. Haven't checked it on a phone.
Thanks to Dan Belcher over on the dandom.com Bluebook who spotted the clips!
UPDATE OCTOBER 6:
A few European fans report - and we can confirm this - that the album is available to purchase as a download from the site after registering. As far as we can see what you get for for €21 = $27 = £17 = ¥2 153 are FLAC files in 24 bit 88.2 kHz quality. Sounding great but they may pose some difficulties playing if you're not ready to play around a bit with additional music players and settings.
A few European fans report - and we can confirm this - that the album is available to purchase as a download from the site after registering. As far as we can see what you get for for €21 = $27 = £17 = ¥2 153 are FLAC files in 24 bit 88.2 kHz quality. Sounding great but they may pose some difficulties playing if you're not ready to play around a bit with additional music players and settings.
12 comments:
About time the soundclips showed up, though I've already heard the album so nothing new to me. It's pretty cool that they're offering high-quality audio, superior to standard CD format. Those files will inevitably be larger than wav/flac so you'll need a player or plug-in to handle them.
I can't believe it, you can really BUY the album and download it now. :).
With 21 EUR for a download it is absurdly overpriced but I can't wait until friday when it's released in Germany.
@Michael: Have to agree with everything you've written here (and on the Blue) about SC. A great album!
@Matze: As the sitegoes for audiophiles prepared to pay premium prices we're not that surprised. Maybe also because here in Sweden we're paying €17 for a CD these days. And it's actually cheaper than it used to be.
At any rate the album is just around the corner. Adn of course we'll get the CD as well as the vinyl once it is available.
No problem playing it with Winamp and the standard FLAC-Encoder. Using Winamp's disc-writer plugin for output, I could convert the album to WAV to burn it on CD and to create MP3 for my Iphone.
I mean decoder, not encoder, of course.
It's interesting that they're using a modified FLAC format. This is no doubt in order to keep the memory as low as possible without compromising the sound quality.
Now I know that SC is just being rolled out but let's hope that whatever Don decides to do in the future doesn't take 4-5 years to come to fruition. I'll gladly take a new album over a new tour.
Couldn't agree more. Let's hope the next album from Donald/Walter/Steely Dan will be here before 2016!
As far as FLAC goes Walter's Circus Money was available - and still is - to buy online in mp3 or FLAC versions via his site. And if the physical record is going the way of the dinosaurs we're happy that there are lossless choices around.
I sure hope that physicals don't disappear anytime soon. There's nothing like owning a tangible product. The second music becomes 100% digital distribution, the labels will strangualte the market, further marginalizing the independent artists, and they'll alter the wording of any service agreement to claim that people are only buying a 'temporary license' to the music (as opposed to actually owning it). How do I know? Bceause they've tried it before and other industries, such as the video game industry, are already moving towards that goal.
From the sound clips the albums sounds great, but the cover of Out Of The Ghetto sounds terribly out of place, I hope it grows on me.
@stippidoo: Yes, we were a bit worried but found the cover working out well with the other tracks on the whole album from start to finish. It's not Isaac Hayes, it's Donald Fagen with a groove and some surprise twists and turns along the way.
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