Global Communication – 76:14

it is said that "9:25" was originally a remix of a Sun Electric track that skewed too far from the original and was "rejected" by the band, and so was released in its own right. Interesting. Anyone knows more ?

A lot has been written about this exemplary piece of 90s ambient, which gathers more than 2 decades of ambient electronica into a long cd, but I just wanted to highlight how much I like the "dated" parts of it, "9:39" and "7:39", the first one sounding like a lot of Middleton Cosmos touches with the funky guitars, the second one sounding a lot more like Pritchard with Middleton embellishments. Accidentally I used to listen to the album with 9:25 and 9:39 swapped, and its flow benefits quite a lot from that and it feels more like the Reload album where rhythm moody pieces were put between harsh idm and dark ambient ones. Why Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton always skip them in their live shows, I will never know.

Surprised at the high praise this receives, much of which is probably down to the fame of the producers.

Pretty basic, largely uninteresting synth sounds meander along too long with the bare minimum of change, not in a hypnotic, trance inducing kind of way, but in a 'is this going to do anything interesting?' kind of way. Doesn't really evoke any strong feelings, other than boredom. Sounds like half conceived ideas that should have been left on the shelf.

Best tracks are 9:39, though it takes too long to get going and 4:14, which sounds like a track from a spooky forest in a Japanese RPG.

I have to say, the 2 copies I received of this release are noisy as all hell.
Both copies have been cleaned with an ultrasonic (3 and 4 times, respectively), but the noise is ruining the listening experience (more on that later).
Both prints are the white vinyl, BTW.
I also received the new 36 & Zake https://discogs.sitiodesbloquea.com/36-2-zak%C3%A8-Stasis-Sounds-For-Long-Distance-Space-Travel/master/1674900 on the same day, and it's incredible!

Now, onto the serious stuff, this version sounds pretty bad!
I have the original release from 94, a re-release from an American label a few years back, the Discotheque release (CD & vinyl), and a few CD releases from over the years.
Do not let anyone fool you, this version is not up to any of those others I have.
I don't know who is ultimately responsible for the re-mastering, but this version is all over the place.
Levels of certain instruments on some tracks sound so quiet, you have to really stress to hear them; a good example is 1st track on side 2 - there's musical detail in there you have to really focus on to hear them, and then the main drum track comes thundering in.
Also, where's the bass on the tone drops of track 2 - I LOVED those, and now all you can hear is the initial tone/note, and no bass as it falls - even the original CD had all of these elements in full effect.

I have to say, I was really looking forward to this, and the reviews here were setting this up to be something really special, but man, what a letdown..
I cannot figure out why people are saying this release is so good, when it's hard to even get past all the crackles throughout both discs.

The packaging is indeed top notch, and if only MOV had got their shit together and printed a really nice pressing - this could have been SO damned good.

I'm still waiting for the black vinyls to arrive, so who knows, but going on what I have so far, I know Mark & Tom will hit their re-release out of the park later this year.
It is crap that MOV/Sony went ahead on this on their own, and I for one, completely understand why Global Communication were really pissed of at them for putting this out - if you're gonna do it, do it right!
I know they will..

Save your money, don't shell out for the unauthorized MOV repress. GC themselves have stated that only they have the masters, thus the MOV repress would've been mastered from a CD copy.
They've also said that they're currently putting the finishing touches on an official repress of their own (with bonus material!), which will be announced soon and released in 2020. the artists, not Sony.

Certain records, are wonderful to be played with Vinyl. But particularly with ambient music from the 90ies onwards, digital is the better choice imo. Not standing at a mixer fooling around with the music, but instead sitting in the sweet spot and sucking it in!!! Than sonics can be clean, crystal clear at all time and specialy don't like to get up and flip the record! No need for a trophy on wall, But that's just I, sometimes.

repress this please ! ! ! ! ! ! !

This Masterpiece of Electronica is without a doubt one of my most treasured musical escape hatches
I put this on and i drift and I yearn. In fact; when listening to these frequencies i it seems that i feel the whole gamut of Emotion, human or otherwise.
Global Communication is right! Melancholy and the Infinite Goodness!
Favourite track - 9:25

Please repress this on vinyl guys!

Mark Pritchard and Tom Middleton should get the Polar Music Prize! They are true innovators in the field of electronic dance music, ambient, and a plethora of interesting strands, tangents, and back-alleys of the hardcore continuum.

This is a sublime piece of art. As someone else said in the comments, a lot of so-called "intelligent dance music" was little more than pretentious, overloaded, over-intellectualised equilibrism. Alongside other, perhaps more well-recognised artists such as Aphex and Autechre, this is the opposite of posey affectation. An overlooked classic, similar to Gas 0095 in its approachability, humility, and emotional lustre.

I'm just curious if there are plans for the repress of this album?