Just heard the commercial release of Ex. Machine.
Very disturbing.
I am baffled, or perhaps scared, by comments here.
The new version is an almost textbook example of a "forced" sounding performance. Accents are screwed up. Where the original version swings, the new version sounds stiff. Rhythmically it's so bad I can't listen to it, it's basically ruined my Christmas thinking about how someone can take a swinging song and try to force it to a straight beat! Not to mention removing the unique things about it that made it so immediately fresh sounding. More challenging than the standard MTV/Clear Channel fodder, but still catchy and memorable.
Oddball things abound: sounds are gated off that once had a great vibe to them, melodies are glued on, things absent that were originally very novel and memorable. The characteristic calliope/circus thing people complain about - yeah, it sounds different, so what? It's truely great. In place it sounds like things are tracked in that are meant to be quirky and novel, but aren't. There's a difference, Brion knows that difference, I'm sorry but I don't think Elizondo does. I don't blame him, he was probably charged with trying to make it different enough to avoid Brion's legal angle, but this is so sad.
The Brion version had such charm, and her vocal performance sat in the groove perfectly, and most importantly ergonomically. The new version sounds like someone edited her voice out and stuck it over some off the shelf loops! Where the original breathed structurally the new one sounds spastic, like they thought they absolutely had to put in MTV-esque drama where it wasn't needed. No subtlety, just wal-mart rococco.
Devoid of charm and character. Eviscerated of true performance.
I hate, hate , hate this, because I see this as a triumph of the know-nothings over the talented. It is beyond me how anyone can listen to the new version and think it's good, much less better than the original! I know of so many people who have been listening to the original for a long time now, who are baffled as to why it wasn't released. People wonder why the industry suffers - it's for things like this. It's so amazing that people fail to see that you can't predict the record buying public's whimsy. Thinking like this would have kept things like Sgt.Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, Pet Sounds, Are You Experienced, distorted guitar and close-miced drums from having been heard. The suits know more about music than the artist or the public!
I'm sorry to rant, but this has almost ruined my Christmas having just heard it last night. Apologies to Elizondo, but I'm sure he made enough from it to not care about anonymous driveby criticism. I don't know how much Brion spent on making the original, but it's wonderful and it's a shame at the same time.