Duke Ellinngton and Past Perfect

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sonofvu
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Duke Ellinngton and Past Perfect

#1 Post by sonofvu » Mon Mar 15, 2004 3:09 pm

I recently purchased a 20 cd compilation/box set Of Duke Ellington from a company called Past Perfect. It cost me a whopping $20. There isn't anything spectacular on there but that is not the problem. I can't find any info about this company. Apparently they are german and they are in league with another german company called The International Music Company AG. the website is www.timcompany.com. By the way, when you go there you will be disappointed because it seems like the site is down. All the traks on this compilation are unusually clean. Little hiss, no pops and the volume level seems to be good. I just feel like there is something missing on these tracks, like certain instruments. Anyone have any experience with these companies? Is this stuff junk?
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#2 Post by Nate Dogg » Mon Mar 15, 2004 4:12 pm

I started a very similar thread a while back.
I thought I saw a thread on this already, but I searched and searched and could not find it.
Anyway, the local Half Price Books just got a bunch of CDs from Past Perfect records. They are pretty cheap, $6 for most CDs and a little more for the multi-disc sets.
The url for the label is http://www.pastperfect.com/
Has anybody bought any Past Perfect records, any recomendations, advice.
Thanks in advance.
Nathan
Turns out another thread exists, which I had forgotten about. Yakov quickly reminded me of it.
I bought one of the Dinah Washington Past Perfect CDs for $5 yesterday, I think it was a good acquisition.

Perhaps, Yakov can alter the the thread title to include the words "Past Perfect." There are lot of inexpensive Past Perfect CDs out there, I am very curious about which ones are good. Should evolve into a pretty useful thread over time.

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SpuzBal
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#3 Post by SpuzBal » Mon Mar 15, 2004 10:13 pm

I like Past Perfect. I have about 36 CDs of theirs, all of which have good sound quality and good liner notes.
"In my opinion, out of the ten great guitarists in the world, Django is five of them!" - Rex Stewart

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sonofvu
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#4 Post by sonofvu » Tue Mar 16, 2004 1:17 pm

SpuzBal wrote:I like Past Perfect. I have about 36 CDs of theirs, all of which have good sound quality and good liner notes.
What bothers me about this outfit is that they are beating the pants off of most imports. How do they keep the proces so low without quality suffering?
Yard work sucks. I would much rather dj.

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#5 Post by Nate Dogg » Tue Mar 16, 2004 1:32 pm

Austin is overflowing with Past Perfect CDs. We have several Half Price Book stores that sell them new for nothing (http://www.halfpricebooks.com).

Now, the used stores are getting pretty good selections from people who re-sold them. A friend of mine picked up the 10 disc Louis Armstrong box for $10.

The two that I have heard sounded good (Dinah Washington's Bye Bye Blues and the Louis Armstrong box discussed above.

If you live in a market where they are hard to come by and need me to pick some up for you, PM me.

Nathan

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#6 Post by sonofvu » Tue Mar 16, 2004 2:30 pm

I was in Half price books the other day and they had several on display. I got the Cab Calloway one but believe me I wanted to purchase more.
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#7 Post by SpuzBal » Tue Mar 16, 2004 2:40 pm

sonofvu wrote:
SpuzBal wrote:I like Past Perfect. I have about 36 CDs of theirs, all of which have good sound quality and good liner notes.
What bothers me about this outfit is that they are beating the pants off of most imports. How do they keep the proces so low without quality suffering?
Maybe because of the different copyright laws in Europe? That's why Proper sets are so cheap. Just a theory, of course.
"In my opinion, out of the ten great guitarists in the world, Django is five of them!" - Rex Stewart

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#8 Post by Nate Dogg » Tue Mar 30, 2004 12:02 pm

Here is what confuses me.

There is a site is for Past Perfect records, this is an English company
http://www.pastperfect.com/
This site lists a bunch of compilations.

However, these CDs are not the bargain artist based CDs that George, myself, and others are coming across. The 10 disc Louis sets, etc...

It appears that Half Price Books are selling the same CDs as this site (discussed in another thread).
http://home.earthlink.net/~copaceticcom ... mania.html

So, I am wondering if there are two distinct Past Perfect labels, the English company and the German one. Most of the Past Perfect finds discussed lately on this Board seem to the discounted German ones (which seem to be getting good reviews for the most part).

Does anybody had a clear understanding of this? The English stuff seems to be totally separate, they look different, they cost more. All they have in common is the style of music and the label name.

Nathan

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sonofvu
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#9 Post by sonofvu » Tue Mar 30, 2004 3:27 pm

Nate Dogg wrote:
Does anybody had a clear understanding of this? The English stuff seems to be totally separate, they look different, they cost more. All they have in common is the style of music and the label name.

Nathan
Yeah, this is totally different. I guess there is nothing stopping a company Germany from having the same name as a company in the UK.
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#10 Post by wheresmygravy » Tue Mar 30, 2004 7:46 pm

Well, to add more confusion to the puzzle. I just purchased two Past Perfect sets at Half-Priced books. The Boxes all say German product. The plastic wrap had a 'Product in England' sticker on them.

I picked up the 5 disc Diana Washington and Lionel Hampton sets. Half price books was having a 20% off sale. So I got the $12.95 sets for ~$10.50 each.

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#11 Post by sonofvu » Thu Apr 01, 2004 9:32 am

I think I'll just take the plunge and buy as many of these sets as I can.
Yard work sucks. I would much rather dj.

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kitkat
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#12 Post by kitkat » Thu Apr 01, 2004 10:39 am

I think perhaps we should start putting particular Past Perfect albums that're good in one of the recommendations thread.

I swear I haven't had any good luck with that brand--I listened to some, and they definitely "had something missing"--they were just...flat. Or not-so-great takes.

There were many I didn't even listen to. The selections for many artists were too early, too late, or hits you can get anywhere. I'll never take a blind chance on a Past Perfect album unless someone here recommends that specific one.

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#13 Post by Nate Dogg » Thu Apr 01, 2004 12:26 pm

kitkat wrote:I think perhaps we should start putting particular Past Perfect albums that're good in one of the recommendations thread.

I swear I haven't had any good luck with that brand--I listened to some, and they definitely "had something missing"--they were just...flat. Or not-so-great takes.

There were many I didn't even listen to. The selections for many artists were too early, too late, or hits you can get anywhere. I'll never take a blind chance on a Past Perfect album unless someone here recommends that specific one.
Exactly, a Past Perfect review thread. We have a lot of Past Perfect chatter. But, since there are so many CDs out there, it would be good to know which ones are worth the $5.99. If somebody does not beat me to it, I will start one once I have a chance to do a decent review of the Dinah Washington one I bought a few weeks back.

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