Wim Mertens - Close Cover (1986) {Windham Hill Records WD-1056}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 165 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 85 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 28 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1986 Windham Hill Records | WD-1056
Avant-Garde / Minimalism / Neo-Classical / Contemporary Instrumental
Compiled from Mertens's solo and group projects recorded during the early to mid '80s, this Windham Hill collection offers an overview of his textural, multilayered style of minimalist composition.
Merten's primary identity is as a composer and performer in the 'minimalist' tradition. He plays guitar and piano, and has become fond of the human voice as an instrument as well. Born in Belgium, the 80's were a fertile period for him, laying much of the ground work for his future creativity, which has continued steadily up through today. He is actually iconoclastic for a minimalist, perfectly willing to take the massive textural walls of that genre or leave them for a good melody, moving them from forground to background as well. I think of this as style in service to art, something that is rare in today's music, and much to be admired when found.
Compared to mainstream minimalism (Phillip Glass, John Adams, etc.) Mertens is slower paced and less prone to harsh contrasts. He frequently uses distinct layers of sound that reveal themselves gradually as if one was peeling an onion. In addition, his interest in voice and melody often disguise the underlying minimalism, creating an effect which is only slightly removed from contrapuntal.
One of the challenges I've found with reviewing Wim Mertens' Windham Hill output is that each album is actually a selection from Mertens' 'real' discography, released primarily under his own label. 'Close Cover', for instance, is drawn from three albums 'Struggle for Pleasure' (Tourtour, Struggle for Pleasure, Close Cover, and Gentlemen of Leisure), 'Vergessen' (Circular Breathing), and 'Maximizing the Audience' (Lir). While this provides a perspective of Mertens' work at that time, it mixes compositions is a fashion unintended by the composer.
Is this bad? Not at all. Mertens is one of those classical composers who manage to bridge the gap to 'popular' music without giving accepted canons a not. This makes him of interest to a wide audience and worth hearing no matter how it is served up. If you found yourself intrigued by Glass' music for 'Koyanisqatsi' this is a logical next step to take. One that will provide a great deal of pleasure.
tracklist:
01 - Close Cover
02 - Tourtour
03 - Circular Breathing
04 - Struggle for Pleasure
05 - Gentleman of Leisure
06 - Lir
Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 5 from 4. May 2009
EAC extraction logfile from 5. March 2010, 0:16
Wim Mertens / Close Cover
Used drive : PLEXTOR DVDR PX-810SA Adapter: 3 ID: 2
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Archivos de programa\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%x" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "ALBUM ARTIST=%v" -T "ALBUMARTIST=%v" -T "COMMENT=EAC V0.99 prebeta 5, Secure Mode, Test & Copy, Accurat
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:20.00 | 0 | 14999
2 | 3:20.00 | 2:35.08 | 15000 | 26632
3 | 5:55.08 | 3:51.20 | 26633 | 43977
4 | 9:46.28 | 3:57.50 | 43978 | 61802
5 | 13:44.03 | 4:37.00 | 61803 | 82577
6 | 18:21.03 | 18:09.65 | 82578 | 164317
Track 1
Filename C:\audio-rips\01 - Close Cover.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 59.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 80137ADC
Copy CRC 80137ADC
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [A597A6BA]
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename C:\audio-rips\02 - Tourtour.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:04.42
Peak level 58.2 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 3A797D70
Copy CRC 3A797D70
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [40B968D5]
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename C:\audio-rips\03 - Circular Breathing.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:04.84
Peak level 74.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 0448245F
Copy CRC 0448245F
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [41332471]
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename C:\audio-rips\04 - Struggle for Pleasure.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:03.53
Peak level 67.1 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC D25B7E97
Copy CRC D25B7E97
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [B05F8BC6]
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename C:\audio-rips\05 - Gentleman of Leisure.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:04.86
Peak level 59.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 567BCBE4
Copy CRC 567BCBE4
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [6F764525]
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename C:\audio-rips\06 - Lir.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:03.77
Peak level 74.1 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C2A8FCFF
Copy CRC C2A8FCFF
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [3E2F3070]
Copy OK
All tracks accurately ripped
No errors occurred
End of status report
EAC extraction logfile from 5. March 2010, 0:16
Wim Mertens / Close Cover
Used drive : PLEXTOR DVDR PX-810SA Adapter: 3 ID: 2
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Appended to previous track
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Archivos de programa\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%x" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "ALBUM ARTIST=%v" -T "ALBUMARTIST=%v" -T "COMMENT=EAC V0.99 prebeta 5, Secure Mode, Test & Copy, Accurat
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:20.00 | 0 | 14999
2 | 3:20.00 | 2:35.08 | 15000 | 26632
3 | 5:55.08 | 3:51.20 | 26633 | 43977
4 | 9:46.28 | 3:57.50 | 43978 | 61802
5 | 13:44.03 | 4:37.00 | 61803 | 82577
6 | 18:21.03 | 18:09.65 | 82578 | 164317
Track 1
Filename C:\audio-rips\01 - Close Cover.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 59.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 80137ADC
Copy CRC 80137ADC
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [A597A6BA]
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename C:\audio-rips\02 - Tourtour.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:04.42
Peak level 58.2 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 3A797D70
Copy CRC 3A797D70
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [40B968D5]
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename C:\audio-rips\03 - Circular Breathing.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:04.84
Peak level 74.9 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 0448245F
Copy CRC 0448245F
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [41332471]
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename C:\audio-rips\04 - Struggle for Pleasure.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:03.53
Peak level 67.1 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC D25B7E97
Copy CRC D25B7E97
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [B05F8BC6]
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename C:\audio-rips\05 - Gentleman of Leisure.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:04.86
Peak level 59.8 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 567BCBE4
Copy CRC 567BCBE4
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [6F764525]
Copy OK
Track 6
Filename C:\audio-rips\06 - Lir.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:03.77
Peak level 74.1 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C2A8FCFF
Copy CRC C2A8FCFF
Accurately ripped (confidence 3) [3E2F3070]
Copy OK
All tracks accurately ripped
No errors occurred
End of status report
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