Loop - RFD

Can anyone give a comparison between these and the original vinyl? People are saying that they sound great (and I'm sure they do), but are they better than the old LPs? Sorry if I've missed such a comparison, but I think I've only seen references to CDs (and I confess to having skimmed). I've read Hampson talking about how the mastering is better, so I'm interested how they compare. And they're going for 9 pounds on Amazon UK

i would be interested to know this as well. why did everything sound so bloody terrible and stuffy back then?

well, I think a lot of things sounded different back then, as I had a very crappy stereo system as a teenager.

I just blasted my Gilded Eternity LP and it sounds great to my ears. Hence my question about whether these CDs sound better. My collector's instinct wants me to buy them, but do I really need them?

I note there are plans for vinyl reissues according to the website (although it's not clear if they will be remastered in any way):

it is planned to do a limited run of 180g pressings, but these will only be repros of the original lps without the bonus material

I never heard the vinyl - I either had original cassettes or vinyl copies on cassette, so I can't properly compare. They are obviously much better sounding than my tapes after all these years.

They're also distinctly better than the high quality vinyl-ripped mp3s I had of the Collision and Black Sun EPs.

So is Wolf Flow basically included on these reissues?

Yeah, it's scattered across them but all nine tracks are there.

I bought a fancy CD player just for the reissues. Loop rules, Spacemen 3 drools. Hippy shit must perish... play standing up or get lap rot.

Why yes, all three versions of "Burning World" on The World In Your Eyes remaster are TOTALLY FUCKING ESSENTIAL.

Whoooo! My brain feels like ooze now.

Hmm now I wish I had all this stuff loaded on the iPhone for instant listening.

Again, I can't stress how GRATE these remasters are. All are essential.

^^^^^^^^ this

If it weren't for the Neil Young Archives and the Beatles reissues, the two that came out this year would've been a lock for my number one reissue. They are wonderful.

I was a little hesitant to pick up the A Gilded Eternity reissue since it was basically the album plus the relevant Wolf Flow Peel tracks but the second disc benefits tremendously from the improved sound. The demos are pretty worthy on their own too - not just underdeveloped versions of the album tracks.

I have one of the worst head colds I can remember - all clogged and foggy - and playing Loop at high volume seems to be the only thing helping. Fighting fire with fire.

These remasters are still the bomb.

Agreed - Very pleased with the 2-disc Loop remasters. They did the dreamsludge psychotrance thing as well as anyone. Between them & Spacemen 3 you can surf the bliss to however many bardos there are.

Thirded. Great remasters. The 3-disc World in Your Eyes collection is really something...

Fourthed(?). So glad I picked all those up last year.

Man... This gets me all uneasy again. I have the entire Loop discog on vinyl and keep getting tempted by these... I don't need them. But they'd be lovely. But I don't need them etc.

Same here. Well, not the entire discog, but a couple of albums and some singles. I didn't think I needed these but I was listening to the 45 of Spinning recently and it slowly dawned on me that the sound quality was fucking awful. Now I'm thinking of picking one or two of these up.

World in Your Eyes is probably a good call if you're only thinking of getting one or two. Spans the whole career and has their three best songs imo - Collision, Arc-Lite, Got To Get It Over.

Yep, I just looked up on Amazon and woah, three disc worth. That's cool. Collision and Arc-Lite are probably my favourite two songs by them. Don't recall Got To Get It Over though. I have a real affection for Heaven's End so that one for sure. Wolf Flow I have on cassette and again, is shitty quality so I've hardly listened to it and sort of decided I don't need it.

I've picked up all of these and they are obviously amazing. I listen very loud when no one's at home...

Just re-listenng to "Gilded Eternity" for the first time in FOREVER and it is way way better than I remember. Fantastic psych-fuzz stuff. I have "Fade Out" on vinyl and could never quite get into it as much - I like it a lot, but the producton (or my pressing?) is really soft and lacks the oomf this stuff needs.

Gilded Eternity kicks nine kinds of ass though. This is great.

A lot of what Kate said. ;-) The legendary/notorious Loop/S3 feud apparently had something to do with the young Mr. Hampson hanging around the Rugby recording studio where Sonic and Spaceman were making their racket and then Robert wanting some of that action himself. Which led Spacemen 3 to cast him into perdition, etc.

As far as I know Loop were from CRoydon South London, at least Hampson was. Others might have been from other parts of London. So this thing about hanging around rugby recording studios is wrong. i think he was the office-boy at the record label which was presumably London based.
I hadn't really been aware of the rivalry or whatever it was until reading an interview with Sonic Boom in Forcedexposure, I think the Diamanda galas covered one.
Also interesting to read them written up as ur-metal or similar. while a lot of stoner bands including Electric wizard would cite influence from them, I think they would have strenuously denied links to actual metal, they certainly denied overt knowledge of Hawkwind who they were getting compared to. They did mention late psych & proto-prog stuff in interviews though. I think a lot of influence came from dub & funk too. Certainly remember John the drummer being aware of Funkadelic pretty well as was Josh.
There have been quite a number of live sets circulated on Dime over the last few years, including 2 videos. Not sure what, if any is still up there. Great hypnotic band

Rereleases:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/165173-loop-reissues-please-see-notes/

I'm glad to see the 2008 remasters finally getting an official North American release.

Yay, one of my favorites! Bang your head! Hair and Skin are excellent too for you young 'uns!

*cough*

Um.

So.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/524777_577270365640243_1452956218_n.jpg

WHAT?!?!

New official FB page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Loop/339763597456?hc_location=stream

Official website to appear at

http://www.soundheads.org/

!

couldnt believe it when Robert posted that on FB. He did seem excited after playing with Godflesh. Yay!

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP

Lineup per Robert on FB:

Mr John Wills (Drums) Mr Neil Mackay (Bass) Mr Scott Dowson (Guitar) and some grey haired old fool who should know better grumbling into a mic

Great news. Hoping for new music. Loved their live shows too!

Headline slot at Supersonic 2013 is my prediction and hope!

yeah Supersonic would make sense in terms of timing/size/audience I guess. would rock out to Loop. in the new issue of Iron Fist magazine the dude who does Roadburn was saying they were a dream booking for him but he knew it would never happen. idk if he was bluffing or what

has next years curator been announced?

I honestly wouldnt be surprised if Robert enjoyed the Godflesh 'Pure' reunion so much he decided it had to happen. He did say he enjoyed playing guitar again. Honestly this really feels it has come right out of the blue.

I heard a very vague rumour about this last year, maybe it's been bubbling away in the pipeline for a while.

I love the idea that he decided it after doing the Fleshloop song onstage. If this now doesn't happen at SSonic I will be gutted. Although I'll get over it.

Killer news!

I sent him a shit-ton of interview questions for the next issue of Burning Ambulance; haven't gotten replies back yet. Wonder if he'll discuss this in any more detail...perhaps I should email him an addendum...

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/loop_zps1e072e8c.jpg

Probably no chance of North American dates, right? Right. Sigh.

nevertheless, the nail will burn

looks like it's for the last ever ATP weekender (until the reformation amirite)

ATP are calling time on their weekender festivals at England's Camber Sands Holiday Park. The British promoters will stage two final residential events there under the banner "End of an Era" this winter: The first takes place November 22-24, where Television will play Marquee Moon in full, along with Chelsea Light Moving, Dinosaur Jr., Dinos Chapman, Les Savy Fav, múm, Oneohtrix Point Never, Hebronix, Mike Watt, Forest Swords, the Haxan Cloak, Demdike Stare, Wolf Eyes, BEAK>, and Eraas. The event is co-curated by the Primavera Sound festival.

The second weekend, November 29-December 1, will feature LOOP (who have reformed to headline and curate), the Pop Group, 23 Skidoo, Fennesz, Edan (DJ set), the KVB, Dirty Beaches, Eaux, Hookworms, and Thought Forms. More bands are still to be announced for both festivals.

tbrr Loop do not strike me as a band who are nearly big enough to get many people down to one of these things on name alone

No, it's an odd one and the other names announced for it aren't exactly helping.

Offical announcement from earlier today

"It was a long time ago... and it didn't really finish that well. I'm not sure anyone of us can really put our fingers on specific reasons, for they are legion, but after many many years of being asked why not play again, I can't seem to find any excuses for why not to anymore.To always pursue a forward motion has been my goal, but what goes around comes around as they say.

It seems that as much as you try to run as far as you can away from it, your past will always haunt you. I have never really slept well over the demise of Loop, it always felt unfinished. If I had a pound coin given to me for every time I get asked to reform Loop, I'd be a very rich man by now. I had always baulked at the idea, especially when I have been asked to perform songs with a pick-up band, something I could never do... ever.

It's not that I am precious, but at the same time, without John and Neil holding down that centre, I'd never be able to wave, it would never be the same.
I'm so proud to say that the line-up of John Wills, Neil Mackay, Scott Dowson and myself have agreed to perform a limited number of shows from late 2013 to mid 2014 at various venues across the world. To perform from all stages of the Loop arc, enjoy it again, hoping that we make plenty of people happy again and maybe give people a chance to see it for the first time... then, we can put it finally to rest with a better feeling of completion and that a chapter is really over. I sincerely hope it maybe refreshing to us and to others. For some, it may simply not be on their radar anymore. Well, it's simple enough for them, don't buy a ticket. It's going to blink and you miss it because it's not going to be around long, I refuse to prolong it and for it to become embarrassing. It'll be sharp and to the point...straight to your heart and then, it's gone.

ATP is the only place this could happen and be done well. Who else would offer the chance not only to play but also curate some of the bands alongside Loop on the day. It's quite special to be able to do this and make it happen. Besides, Barry Hogan has pestered me for so long about this, it would seem rather unfair not to let him have his 5 minutes of fame getting Loop to play again.

RH April 2013"