Customer Reviews

Funky Nassau: The Compass Point Story (Import)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Alex Sadkin is one of my favorite producers so I was excited to get this CD. Thought it sounded weird, looked at the audio in an audio editor and - like so many CDs these days - it's been subject to what engineers call "smashtering." The audio is hugely compressed and some tracks even have digital clipping (distortion) in addition to the compression. I compared My Jamaican Guy on this to the original 1982 Island CD and the difference is shocking. If you care anything about how Alex Sadkin actually wanted these productions to sound, avoid this compilation.

I also found this CD to be badly mastered. I too have checked the levels using audio editing software (on both Audacity and ProTools) and found there appears to be some clipping and the levels are very high. I have some of these tracks on original vinyl and some earlier CD issues - both sound way better than this compilation. It is a shame, as the original recordings were spectacular (engineering wise) for their time. Another victim of the idiotic race to the bottom called the "Loudness Wars".

I recently picked up this cd and decided to buy it, not sure what to expect. I got a collection of early eighties disco tunes recorded on the Bahamas by a superstar producer from the 70 - 80ies named: Alex Sadkin. Everyone who was someone in the early eighties: Grace Jones, Talking Heads, Robert Palmer, the Tom Tom club recorded a tune on this album. Its good fun!

We purchased this CD a while ago from an terrestrial outlet, and was (pleasantly) surprised to see Amazon.com was carrying it. The compilation provides a solid representation of the label and the music from the underground club scene, particularly in New York city from approximately 1982-1988.

We were disappointed the compilation excluded the full 12" version of Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love" -- instead the album version gets included here -- but were overjoyed to get a crisp edition of the very rare "Spasticus Autisticus" by Ian Drury. In fact, it was this track that led to our purchase. Veterans of New York City's Paradise Garage, the Loft, and similar clubs will revel in the memories.

We experienced absolutely no sound problems with this CD. In fact, its sound is considerably crisper and fuller than that provided by most American-made compact discs. The sound is equally good with a pair of throwaway earbuds as it is with a pair of professional AKG K series or Bose headphones and avoids the common contemporary mastering problem of too much signal. We recommend this disc, along with anything else from the now-defunct Strut UK label.