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On listening several times to the preview clips I started praying that one of two possibilities was the case. The instrument recording and arrangement sounded fantastic, but the vocal although sung beautifully seemed to sit like 'dry topping' on the lush spacious orchestral arrangement, with none of the sense of room and size created by the orchestra. I prayed first that I was listing to early mixes and that the vocal had yet to be 'bedded down' into the tracks, and then I realized that was not the case. Then I prayed that the low quality format of the podcast was responsible. It may well be that subtlety in the vocal production has been lost in this format and that what Peter describes as intimacy in the podcast isn't just a dry vocal that doesn't sit well in the mix. Please please let the podcast be wrong.

Love this preview, can't wait to get my hands on the album. I'm practically a cover version fetishist, I've got hundreds (of various artists doing various artists) and this little teaser leaves me hungry for more. LOVE the vocal/orchestral arrangement, just been playing it very, very loud and it's like having a velvet glove stroke my eardrums! Not what I'd call dry topping, but each to their own.

The sensation is that Peet is singing right on your ears to me.

Thanks to FMC for the preview. I think it sounds fantastic. From what I have heard (many times over now : ) this will be a raw and intimate experience with PG. I am a bit surprised about Baggindoo's reaction. I have been playing the clip through some nice speakers as well as some nice headphones. AKG K240s. and the nuances exposed in the vocals is a blessing to my ears. The dynamic range of the orchestra is quite grand. Górecki came to mind. Mirrorball is the tops. I can't wait. PG's vocals are dead on. The mixes sound amazing. GIVE US MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm playing the clips through active studio monitors,so I'm not worried about not getting a fair representation through the system. I so think it could be the quality of the podcast, you can loose ambiance in lower quality formats. I have the cd on pre order and hope its available in higher quality formats than 44.1 as well. I've booked for the live show too. Just an opinion on the mixing purely based on the podcast.

Cool! I'm glad you are checking it through a good system. I'm sure the full length will deliver. Enjoy the show! I can't wait to get the studio version, see the live performance, and eventually get my ears on some sort of live version soon enough. or I should say. not soon enough. Happy listening.

It's been a little while since I saw a full orchestra, so I'm very excited by that, have you seen the youtube clip of Gabriel opening his Womad set this year with the boy in the bubble? I think we can expect a lot of film placement for these tracks. Also. I wonder if they made a'making of" film when they were at Air Lindhurst, I would be very interesgted to see the process.

. . . I always thought that PG's Book of Love vocals sound strange in places - eg around 1:10 the moment between in and fact sounds wrong ("In fact that's where music comes from"), it sounds like different takes or some kind of processing have been used.

I think it sounds great. The vocal is placed fantastically . as if Peter is sat right in front of you and the orchestra are off in the hall. Wonderful arrangements and Peter's best vocal performances in years!

Yeh there is an odd little glitch in the book of love where you said Mr Beef, also a tiny bit of PG vocal in the background too, almost like its an edit?

Thanks Baggindoo - I was beginning to think it was only me you could hear it! Given PG's alleged perfectionism, I found it a surprising flaw in the recording. Still, it's still a great version of a great song (I would recommend Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs to anyone)