Chic - first five albums streaming in Dolby Atmos! (Steven Wilson mixes)

[MrSmithers]

Man, where does SW get the time to do all these mixes

I know, I was just thinking that... I'm on my second listening of The Hurting after a refresh of Sister Sledge. Not got around to trying Suede yet... I sure hope there's more to come... Brilliant! And we already have Ultravox, ABC and The Who available shortly...

 

[privateuniverse]

And we already have Ultravox, ABC and The Who available shortly...

Don't forget XTC!!!

 

[MrSmithers]

Don't forget XTC!!!

Of course!! I heard The Big Express on a preview event in London and it sounds amazing!

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Don't forget XTC!!!

and, The Cars; OML let the good times roll!

 

[Cheezmo]

Man, where does SW get the time to do all these mixes

Given that it can take a couple of years after a mix is done for it to get released, I would imagine he had lots of time during the pandemic when he wasn't touring, etc. and we are seeing the result of that output now.

 

[Ick]

One more has been released!

 

[Blackwood]

One more has been released!

Talk about an Atmos box set begging to happen... my goodness! Especially if they keep going with the other albums.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

One more has been released!

Is it still a good mix (Steven Wilson) like the others?

 

[sjcorne]

Is it still a good mix (Steven Wilson) like the others?

Yes!

 

[Freedesignfan]

I also posted this in the Chic thread but one more album has just dropped.

Good news. I hope this album has better songs than Real People. What a milk dud that was. I think Sister Sledge album was their best body of work collectively. Chic-ism album has some great songs. Maybe Nile will be able to work on getting that one to Atmos.

 

[steelydave]

Good news. I hope this album has better songs than Real People. What a milk dud that was. I think Sister Sledge album was their best body of work collectively. Chic-ism album has some great songs. Maybe Nile will be able to work on getting that one to Atmos.

Nile Rodgers writes about this period (Chic from 1980 onward) pretty candidly in his autobiography - the "disco sucks" backlash left them unsure about where to go stylistically, combined with prodigious cocaine habits that had totally sapped both his and Bernard Edwards collective songwriting muse.

I remember listening to the Chic discography in sequential order and being almost shocked at how the quality of the songwriting fell off a cliff starting in 1980. The first three Chic albums are some of the best of what disco had to offer, but the legendary hooks - the hallmark of the Chic sound - seemed all but absent on those subsequent albums. Maybe these new mixes will reveal some previously-buried quality that was overlooked originally, though I don't know how night-and-day it's going to be.

The one anomaly in Chic's late-career slide was the title track to the soundtrack to the box-office flop Soup for One - this song really points the way for the direction they should've taken in the '80s, combining some of their classic sound with polyphonic synths and less of an emphasis on four-on-the-floor rhythms. If they could've captured this kind of lightning in a bottle more regularly at this time maybe they wouldn't have broken up.

 

[The Bright Side]

Man, I wish the Sister Sledge and the recent 2 Chic releases came to Tidal. I guess there's no info on that happening?

 

[privateuniverse]

Steven just posted on Facebook:

The spatialised catalogue of Chic and Nile Rodgers has now officially launched in association with Apple Music at events in Los Angeles, New York and London and I’m honoured to have been entrusted by Nile with the job of remixing these legendary records. There are 5 Chic albums - Chic (1977), C’est Chic (1978), Risqué (1979), Real People (1980) and Take It Off (1981), plus Sister Sledge’s We Are Family (1979) available to listen to in Atmos / spatial audio.

 

[Blackwood]

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been impressed that there have been a number of events like this to tout Atmos/spacial audio albums.

Perhaps I’m over-thinking it, but it seems to contribute to the legitimacy of what’s happening in music for those who aren’t into it as much as we are.

I hope events like this lead to us getting more and more albums... and maybe some on disc, too.

 

[surroundophile]

So when are the physical Blurays coming out ?? :>)

 

[J. PUPSTER]

So when are the physical Blurays coming out ?? :>)

Unfortunately, the days of BD's are starting to fade into the sunset; IINM even Steven Wilson said more of his Atmos mixes will only be relegated to streaming

 

[DuncanS]

I'm going to Fairport Convention's Cropredy Festival in August, where Chic are one of the headliners (looking forward to that) so a lot of the bands do a meet and sign at the Merchandise tent, may be if Nile Rogers does, I'll go and ask about Atmos BDAs

 

[sjcorne]

Unfortunately, the days of BD's are starting to fade into the sunset; IINM even Steven Wilson said more of his Atmos mixes will only be relegated to streaming

I do wonder if there's some kind of exclusivity agreement in play, at least with the Chic stuff - Apple seems to be going out of their way to promote these.

 

[Cheezmo]

I do wonder if there's some kind of exclusivity agreement in play, at least with the Chic stuff - Apple seems to be going out of their way to promote these.

I mean, SDE is doing runs of 5000 or so Blu-rays (and apparently making money God bless them) but in the world of streaming that is a drop in the bucket. At least for the labels, not so much for the artists.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

For some reason I was a little surprised when I found out SW had mixed all those Chic albums. But then if you’ve seen his massive record collection, it’s obvious he is as eclectic as anyone. So I’m now expecting even more surprises with what projects he’ll have worked on. I’m hoping for more 70’s rock and also some funk artists. And really curious how his own upcoming album is going to sound like.