The Levellers are releasing their cult status breaking album in a Box Set with a 5.1 mix on DVD, so probably DD or DTS - the Box is limited edition of 300 - which I've just coughed up for. I suspect it may eventually appear on streaming services in Atmos as its mentioned but its a DVD in the box.
https://www.levellers.co.uk/collect...ng-the-land-2023-remix?variant=42411119640767
The Album
Jon: Levelling The Land was recorded at Ridge Farm studios in Surrey, in July and August of 1991. Al Scott was the producer, we had 24 tracks of analogue tape to work with and we used them all.
Al’s original mixes of the album were perfect but music in the early 1990s was bound by technology. We were told that too much bass would overload people’s tiny TV and car speakers. Subsequently low frequencies were removed from the EQ leaving a slightly disappointing listening experience (compared to modern recordings).
The advances in music mixing technology have given us a ‘wider’ stereo image to listen to these days and, at its most extreme, multi-channel 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos, allowing for more space in the music between instruments and voices.
The idea was to remix the album from the original multitracks so it sounds current, but (really importantly) without losing sight of the album that everyone knows and loves. I called Al Scott. He was immediately up for it and in my opinion has done the perfect job.
Once Al’s new mixes were finished I set about creating surround sound 5.1 mixes, the perfect platform for all those guitar and percussion overdubs. And because Dolby Atmos is the ’new thing’, why not some of those as well…
We planned for a 30th anniversary release, 2021.
Except the global Covid pandemic caused massive backlogs with vinyl pressing plants around the world; there was no chance of getting all this material together in time.
So forget the anniversary, it’s just a number. Far more important is that this definitive collection of material is finally seeing the light of day.
Songs as relevant today as they were in 1991.
Sounding great.
The Remix
Al: I was amazed when I got the multi tracks through from Jon.
To hear the recordings we’d done 30 years ago brought back so many memories - putting speakers around the indoor pool to get reverb, recording guitar parts out in the fields to get that vibe.
It was an album everyone put heart and soul into, and I will always remember that.
Some albums kind of mix themselves. The parts are all there with loads of energy, the songs are great and it’s just a matter of balancing it all up. This was one of those.
It was great to get more bottom end in the remixes as that was something the band and I had felt for ages. In my head it sounds more like the band actually sound like.
I just wish Sell Out started: ‘The year is 2021’. It’s more relevant now than it was 30 years ago.
The Artwork
Jeremy: When I first heard of this new LTL project I knew exactly what I had to do with the artwork. The same way the listener’s enjoyment has been amplified, so I had to expand the visual world.
The triple gatefold format allowed for exactly that: I drew back the curtains a little more from the classic LTL cover scene, so now u can see the suburbs and what’s going on there!
I decided on a black + white lino cut because I wanted to keep the same, iconic LTL image central, but having it look different at the same time; something familiar + yet not.
https://www.levellers.co.uk/collect...ng-the-land-2023-remix?variant=42411119640767
The Album
Jon: Levelling The Land was recorded at Ridge Farm studios in Surrey, in July and August of 1991. Al Scott was the producer, we had 24 tracks of analogue tape to work with and we used them all.
Al’s original mixes of the album were perfect but music in the early 1990s was bound by technology. We were told that too much bass would overload people’s tiny TV and car speakers. Subsequently low frequencies were removed from the EQ leaving a slightly disappointing listening experience (compared to modern recordings).
The advances in music mixing technology have given us a ‘wider’ stereo image to listen to these days and, at its most extreme, multi-channel 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos, allowing for more space in the music between instruments and voices.
The idea was to remix the album from the original multitracks so it sounds current, but (really importantly) without losing sight of the album that everyone knows and loves. I called Al Scott. He was immediately up for it and in my opinion has done the perfect job.
Once Al’s new mixes were finished I set about creating surround sound 5.1 mixes, the perfect platform for all those guitar and percussion overdubs. And because Dolby Atmos is the ’new thing’, why not some of those as well…
We planned for a 30th anniversary release, 2021.
Except the global Covid pandemic caused massive backlogs with vinyl pressing plants around the world; there was no chance of getting all this material together in time.
So forget the anniversary, it’s just a number. Far more important is that this definitive collection of material is finally seeing the light of day.
Songs as relevant today as they were in 1991.
Sounding great.
The Remix
Al: I was amazed when I got the multi tracks through from Jon.
To hear the recordings we’d done 30 years ago brought back so many memories - putting speakers around the indoor pool to get reverb, recording guitar parts out in the fields to get that vibe.
It was an album everyone put heart and soul into, and I will always remember that.
Some albums kind of mix themselves. The parts are all there with loads of energy, the songs are great and it’s just a matter of balancing it all up. This was one of those.
It was great to get more bottom end in the remixes as that was something the band and I had felt for ages. In my head it sounds more like the band actually sound like.
I just wish Sell Out started: ‘The year is 2021’. It’s more relevant now than it was 30 years ago.
The Artwork
Jeremy: When I first heard of this new LTL project I knew exactly what I had to do with the artwork. The same way the listener’s enjoyment has been amplified, so I had to expand the visual world.
The triple gatefold format allowed for exactly that: I drew back the curtains a little more from the classic LTL cover scene, so now u can see the suburbs and what’s going on there!
I decided on a black + white lino cut because I wanted to keep the same, iconic LTL image central, but having it look different at the same time; something familiar + yet not.
