spintheblackestcircles.org

Has anyone heard the Holy Basil reissue of Controfase? The only thing I've seen about it so far is one comment on Discogs that the sound and pressing quality were mediocre.

I haven’t received mine yet. Shame if that is the case.

Please post after you've listened to it. I trust your review more than a random Discogs one.

reddye6 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:35 pm Please post after you've listened to it. I trust your review more than a random Discogs one.

Probably will take a couple of months before I get my copy. I assume others here will get it sooner

My copy is out for delivery today.

I think it's only $25 over at dusty groove


edit: it's $28

https://www.dustygroove.com/item/132661 ... Controfase

inksb wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 3:32 pm My copy is out for delivery today.

I think it's only $25 over at dusty groove


edit: it's $28

https://www.dustygroove.com/item/132661 ... Controfase

That’s where I saw it! Was going to pull the trigger but saw the review first.

reddye6 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 3:37 pm

inksb wrote: ↑Fri Feb 03, 2023 3:32 pm My copy is out for delivery today.

I think it's only $25 over at dusty groove


edit: it's $28

https://www.dustygroove.com/item/132661 ... Controfase

That’s where I saw it! Was going to pull the trigger but saw the review first.

Honestly I've had zero issue with the other Holy Basil reissues I've bought so I expect this one to be good. The fact that person cited no reasons makes me think they have no idea what they are talking about.

I'll probably have some time tomorrow to dive in. I'll see if I can find a rip of it somewhere to compare it. The only thing I see easily available right now is a youtube video which isn't a good place to start for comparisons.

Here we go...


I found a vinyl rip of Controfase last night so I set up and A to B test today. I'll start by saying I have no idea what pressing this rip came from, could be an OG or it could be from the 2015 pressing. I only compared the first track.

The new pressing sounds very flat compared to the rip I found. The rip is very dynamic, the string plucks are clear and very forward, the bass hits low and rumbles. The new pressing everything sounds like it's being played at the same level. Now if this was remastered then it may very well be the way they intended to master it, modern mastering tends to swing the other way and push things too far so I appreciate the room that's left everything to breathe but in comparison it feels flat.

Next issue is that one of these two has reversed channels. I don't have an OG and have no idea if the rip is from the OG or not so I can only state that between the two they are different.

Now comes the real problem, baked in static and minor noise. I did an ultrasonic cleaning today on it and the static that was there yesterday is still there today after the cleaning. This makes me wonder if this wasn't sourced from masters but from a vinyl rip. Again I have no way to prove this but it's been known to happen in the past with a handful of these Italian labels. It may just be a bad pressing and I am going to try and reach out to the label to see if they can confirm if there's static on all the pressings.

Thank you very much for this write-up. I’m going to hang on for a little bit to see what you hear back.

Inksb, ever hear back from the label?

I completely spaced on this.

for the peanut gallery... 24-bit flac and 320kbps rips from the archives ... If it sounds buzzy or something it's because my gear is sketchy

https://we.tl/t-fL0pncf6m4

link to self destruct in a few days

Hope it helps in the head to head comparison