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Holy Ghost! - Dynamics (2013) [24 bit FLAC] vinyl

Genre: Electronic, Pop/Rock
Styles: Synthpop, New Wave
Source: vinyl
Codec: FLAC
Bit Rate: ~ 2,900 kbps
Bit Depth: 24
Sampling Rate: 96,000 Hz

01 Okay
02 Dumb Disco Ideas
03 Changing of the Guard
04 Dance a Little Closer
05 It Must Be the Weather
06 For Edgar
07 I Wanna Be Your Hand
08 Bridge and Tunnel
09 Don't Look Down
10 In the Red
11 Cheap Shots

Rip Info: (Not my rip)

"This is a rip of the 2LP release of the second Holy Ghost! album, "Dynamics" (DFA2391), on pink vinyl.

Equipment used: Rega Planar 2 with the GrooveTracer subplatter and a modified RB300 tonearm that incorporates better cables (and a ground wire). I used a Denon DL-110 cartridge. The sound is routed through a Musical Fidelity X-LPS phono stage to an E-Mu 0202 USB ADC, and then to my laptop via USB.

24/96 was captured in Audacity and output as a single 24-bit WAV file.

Manual de-clicking was handled in Izotope RX Advanced.

I imported the 24-bit WAV file from RX Advanced back into Audacity, where I normalized the file (Remove any DC offset checked and normalize maximum amplitude to -0.1 dB), split the tracks and output the resulting files as 24/96 FLAC. I then cleaned up the tags in foobar2000."

Album Review

Dynamics could be considered the first proper album from Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser, whose self-titled debut as Holy Ghost! -- part singles compilation, part standard album -- was made incrementally over several years. It's undoubtedly steadier and unified, built for beginning-to-end listening. Nothing is quite as momentous as earlier A-sides like "Hold On" or "I Will Come Back," but the songs are more finely detailed and developed. It also sounds more like the work of a band than a production duo, due in part to more involvement from collaborators, such as Nancy Whang, who played the role of Shay Jones on the duo's 2011 cover of Ministry's "I Wanted to Tell Her"; she adds background vocals to half of the songs. Just as notably, Millhiser's choppy post-punk guitar is more prominent.

Two of the album's best songs are also the slowest, placed in the middle of the sequence. "It Must Be the Weather" confronts stunted adulthood pensively yet optimistically; even as an instrumental, it's among the most well-crafted modern synth pop, constantly shifting in shape throughout six frosty and entrancing minutes. "I Wanna Be Your Hand," another highlight, is dreamier and more spaced-out than anything on the debut, and it has a drifting soft rock quality -- like America gone moody new wave -- that recalls Usher's "Looking 4 Myself." (An Empire of the Sun coincidence/connection between the songs is too complex to explain here.) The duo's more energetic side shines, too. On "Bridge and Tunnel," they're joined by a string section that features viola from Kelly Polar, and it's the closest the album gets to an "I Will Come Back," with percolating electronics and wistful lyrics about New York City clubbing. "Cheap Shots" closes the album on a sonically rippling, lyrically zinging note, like they're ready to leave early adulthood -- but not their New Order records -- to the past.