It’s hard to believe that 2025 is already half-over. It’s been the busiest 6 months yet and since there hasn’t been much time to sit back and relax, it’s going by SUPER fast.
As usual, there is a nice mix of new releases, reissues, and things that can’t be mentioned yet but first, I wanted to start with a more unusual note.
I came out of bass player retirement to play on the inaugural Little Steven’s Underground Garage Cruise in early May. I had never been on a cruise, never planned on going on a cruise, and also thought I may never play live music again. Playing live music is what got me into the world of audio engineering and ultimately into mastering but starting in the mid-2000s I made an intentional choice to play less live music so I can be in the studio more. I never really enjoyed touring anyway and as I got older, even late nights and long weekends were less appealing so I just stopped playing live music for the most part.
However, I did still play some bass here and there for certain projects after 2005 but in a very limited capacity. Sometime around 2015 I ended up filling in on bass for some shows with Tommy Stinson which led to the reformation of his band Bash & Pop and I slowly got back into doing some moderate touring when the “Anything Could Happen” album came out. I had to stop in mid-2017 because I couldn’t keep up with the touring schedule but the band continued to do a few more runs before Tommy transitioned into doing more acoustic duo type shows as Cowboys In The Campfire, and under his own name again.
Anyway, Bash & Pop was asked to reunite and play Little Steven’s Underground Garage Cruise and we all said yes so I practiced up some bass, flew to Miami for a couple days of rehearsal and then got on the ship. I didn’t know what to expect but it was actually quite enjoyable and a lot of fun. It was also great to see bandmates Steve Selvidge and Joe Sirois again.
There were a ton of great bands on the cruise and I got to meet legendary producer Ed Stasium (Ramones, Talking Heads, Living Colour, and lots more) which was cool in general, but extra cool because we had worked together on The Replacements “Tim (Let It Bleed Edition)” a few years ago. Ed remixed the album which really needed it, many fans had been asking for it, and then I mastered the entire collection.
We’ll see if this leads to doing more shows in the future but it was good to get outside my comfort zone a bit and also get some fresh air and sunshine after a busy start to 2025 in the studio.
I also took a trip to Palm Springs, CA in late May as more of a vacation type trip with my wife, but we did manage to have dinner with Steve Malk in San Diego the night before flying home. Steve is a well-known literary agent, and also released The Obsoletes “Is This Progress” album in the early 2000s which is essentially the last band I was in before attempting to retire from live music.
Steve has connected me with a lot of great people over the years including Dr. Frank from The Mr. T Experience who I still work with today. He was also very supportive when I officially launched Mystery Room Mastering in 2009 and I am forever thankful for that. I don’t think initially launching the studio would have been possible without Steve’s help.
Despite being gone just as much I was home in May, there are still a great number of projects to discuss from the last 3 months.
In early April, Interscope Records announced a 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of the absolute classic “Figure 8” album by Elliott Smith. When they first contacted me about the project, I knew that it had to be the absolute best version of this album because for the most part, the Discogs reviews for this release are not favorable. For various reasons, this album has never seen a super awesome sounding version on vinyl.
The album originally came out at an awkward time when vinyl sales were near an all-time low, CD loudness was at an all-time high, streaming music wasn’t a thing yet, and it’s a longer and more delicate album. All that combined made previous vinyl issues of this album fairly subpar as conditions were just not optimal for it to translate well to vinyl and the target audience for it was fairly small as well.
I understood the assignment and aside from doing my absolute best work to remaster the main album, and tie it together with the bonus tracks that make up the Deluxe Version, I also suggested that we have Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound in Nashville cut the lacquers which is a crucial part in the vinyl manufacturing process that can make or break the sound quality. I’m a fan of Ryan’s cuts so I was thrilled to learn that it would be possible for him to cut the lacquers. As a bonus, we determined that it could be cut at 45 RPM for even better sound quality than 33 1/3 RPM (usually).
As I type this, it’s been officially released for a couple weeks now and so far the Discogs reviews and Hoffman Forum reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, with many people calling it the definitive version of the album which is a great feeling. Mission accomplished.
Another super fun and rewarding project was remastering the “Ape Escape” original video game soundtrack featuring the music of Soichi Terada. I’ve been working on number of releases for Cartridge Thunder who does a great of reissuing classic video game soundtracks on vinyl. “Ape Escape Originape Soundtracks in a Box” is a beautiful 4xLP boxed set that was meticulously put together and is also getting really great reviews on Discogs. It’s currently sold out but should be back in stock soon. You can find it HERE.
North Mississippi Allstars released their new album “Still Shakin'” via New West Records. “Still Shakin’ is a celebration of their life-changing first album Shake Hands with Shorty, released 25 years ago. They dipped into the North Mississippi repertoire and experience of the ‘90s, touring with RL Burnside, recording Otha Turner, hanging at Junior’s Juke, filtering new interpretations through their current instincts. The well never runs dry and the cast of characters never fails.
They recorded their 2nd generation friends Duwayne Burnside and Robert Kimbrough at Duwayne’s Juke Joint in Holly Springs. The Sacred Steel Guitar of bandmates Ray Ray Hollowman and Kashiah Hunter blessed the music alongside the vocals and rhythm of Joey Williams, from the Blind Boys of Alabama.
It was produced by Luther Dickinson and his brother Cody Dickinson, mixed by Luther, and mastered here. The cover artwork features an amazing photo by the aforementioned Steve Selvidge.
Longtime friend and client Graham Hunt released a new album called “Timeless World Forever” and it’s out now via Run For Cover Records. Available on CD, vinyl, and streaming HERE. It was recently featured as “Album Of The Week” over on Stereogum.
Interscope Records announced a reissue of “We Don’t Need To Whisper” by Angels & Airwaves that was remastered here. Initial Discogs reviews for this one are pretty good as well.
Some other notable releases from the last 3 months include “Celebrities” by Collections Of Colonies Of Bees, “Shattered Pieces Of The True Cross” by The Pine Hill Haints, “Play + Record” by Spitalfield, “Metalhorse” by Billy Nomates, and “Cordelia” by Ethan Daniel Davidson.
As always, the best place to follow along for new releases and other news is over on Instagram.
Thanks to everybody who is keeping me busy with great mastering and remastering projects. Despite being busy as ever, I’m never too busy for your project. Big or small, you can always submit your project HERE.
Here’s me & Ed Stasium on a cruise ship:
