4 out of 5
Label: Hungarian
Produced by: ?
A remastered compilation of LB’s sophomore album In Real Time and their final original release, the As If By Remote EP, apparently sold on tour with Trans Am. Original contents reviewed in those links; here I’m more reviewing the worthwhileness of the compilation as compared to owning / listening to the originals.
The remastering on this is going to be the subjective piece, and I’m leaving wiggle room on that with the rating. I’m of two minds: I think the deepened drums and giving the guitars more weight (there was kind of a “toy” sound to them on Real Time, and a lack of definition on Remote) brings these albums more in line with the band’s sound on their debut, makes them easier to sit side-by-side on a single disc, and overall more clearly slots the band into post-rock / math-rock territory.
However, arguably – y’know, subjectively – In Real Time’s “toy” sound, which maybe feels underproduced, or cheap, balances out that album’s streamlining of the LB sound, like the group was still playing around with how to fit into the scene while not fitting into it at all. So it sounds good here, but I do dig the kinda chintzy vibes of the guitar on the original version of Laddio’s money. And on As If By Remote, that whole EP is about being murky and undefinable, hence (in my mind) the original production style, even if I’m not fully sold on that EP either way. Just pointing out that both pre-remastered takes possibly had their purpose.
…But, as suggested above, the argument on the other side is that the purpose here is to listen to them as one album, which adds credence to sequencing the EP before the full release, even though chronologically they’d otherwise be swapped. Because the EP totally feels like a lead-in to something that never arrived, doing the flip-flop for this compilation was super smart.
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