Wolfgang Voigt's GAS Project: the Poll

The Nah und Fern version is hurt by the track changes, IMO. The original track 3 in particular is totally cosmic and sublime, whereas the replacement tracks are pretty standard Gas stuff.

i love the first album

I do too. I'm still hoping to get a lot of gas for Christmas in the form of this box set, but it's kind of o_O that they had a second chance to do it right - defined by me as simply releasing all of the music, on vinyl, at full length - and still managed to leave everyone with the feeling that they're not really getting all of the primary gas albums. Sigh

i was pretty satisfied by the nah und fern tbh, that's a lot of GAS in one box and it was very cheap iirc

i mean the packaging and everything was not great but it was cool to have them in one place especially after being out of print for so long. i remember looking for GAS albums in 2006 or something before the rerelease and they were listed at like $200 each on amazon/ebay. i think i ended up buying mp3s from kompakt's site but had to decipher the german

Grrrrr I had no idea the Fern version of the first LP was different. I have no idea why he's screwing with this stuff so much, I wonder if there's an interview about it somewhere.

The logic of including Oktember is a little weird too as isn't half of that a track that was also on Königsforst?

that's true, i'm wondering if the inclusion of oktember points towards konigsforst having its original tracklisting - missing a1 (which was a-side of oktember) and including two other tracks (a1 and d1 on the original 2lp configuration).

the 3lp for all of them also makes me wonder if they're going to have longer edits (like some of the original lps vs cds)

The selling point for this box is that they're the longer edits, I believe.

jfc what a mess

i am not rly someone who can jedi mind trick myself into feeling justified in buying Expensive Vinyl Objects but i listen to gas every day & srch ebay for gas vinyl every sometimes & so want this. it seems closer to $130 thru kompakt. what is w 'KÖNIGSFORST 2016' #???

I am with you! I haven't gotten a box set in forever but this immediately jumped out as something that I need.

so are these albums impossible to find individually, in a cd format?

nevermind. stupid question

I am running out of room for records in general and box sets in particular, but I could never have forgiven myself if I missed out on this set. it took a couple of tries for Gas to click with me, but once Pop got its hooks into me it never let go. I love the comment upthread comparing it to Basinski's Disintegration Loops - IMO that is a very accurate comparison, and there aren't many musical projects that don't get completely dominated by The Disintegration Loops by comparison.

long story short: on October 28th, I will be blasting a bunch of Gas as loudly as my neighbors will allow.

The Nah und Fern CDs also included longer edits of some tracks than the original CDs, I wonder if it's the same ones used here? And if Königsforst still has the same weird remastering that marred the last couple of tracks, or will it use the original, superior master?

regarding the first album, are there tracks on the LP that aren't on the CD?

i have the kompakt cd boxset from a few years back.
no idea what that means re the versions,
but it matters not, as its all rather gorgeous.
i had no idea there was so much variation dependent on the version you have.

it "matters" because the missing first track from the self-titled album is amazing
and the (presumably) missing first track from the konigforst vinyl is amazing

the disappearance of the moderne ep in GAS lore is rather sad as well

just for posterity here's the differences between the albums. the nah und fern versions all have some different mastering/mixes/edits/mucking around with the sound (some kind of shoddy sounding remastering on the nah und fern box). but in terms of actual tracks, there's only 2 that are missing from the original version (gas 1 and 3)

Gas

1996 - CD
1996 - 3LP - Longer edits (each track close to 20 minutes long rather than ˜12)
2008 - Nah Und Fern - Replaces track 1 and 3 with new tracks (track 3 weirdly being a different version of track 2 and 4 from Konigsforst)

Zauberberg

1997 - CD
1997 - 2LP - Same as CD
2008 - Same tracks as original CD but track 7 is quite a bit longer - 11 minutes instead of 7

Konigsforst

1998 - CD
1998 - LP - Missing track 1 (as it is the also the a-side to the Oktember 12"). Adds two otherwise-unreleased tracks (a1 and d1)
2008 - Nah Und Fern - Same tracks as original CD

Pop

2000 - CD
2000 - LP - Slightly longer edits of CD tracks
2008 - Nah Und Fern Same Tracks as original CD

THANK YOU for taking the time to do that. Very helpful

Voigt is weird. Why would you save the longer edits for the LP? It doesn't make sense.

But it also helps to make sense of the decision to leave the first album off of the new box set that apparently, otherwise, gets everything right. Like, of course it doesn't make sense. Otherwise it would make sense and therefore be incompatible with a gas release

tracklisting up at forced exposure - http://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/gas-box-10lp-box-4cd/KOM.370LP.html

it seems that the boxset are all generally (but not always!) longer edits than nah und fern and the original CDs. konigsforst includes the two vinyl-only tracks.

oktember is the original b-side (a-side is already on konigsforst) and tal '90 from pop ambient 2002.

cds are just the same tracks (yep, only 2 on oktember)

schlump, "kongisforst 2016" is just the name of the artbook i think

will be good to nab decent digital copies of oktember and the two vinyl-only konigsforst tracks though. would've been nice to have some of the compilation tracks with oktember and tal '90 - what's the difference between a 10 LP and a 12?. nah und fern, oktav and nach 1912 are all great and even fit in with the post-zauberbeg-sound-only policy (ie. no gas, modern and the four compilation tracks from that period).

xpost: karl malone, it's mainly just the self-titled gas 3lp which has the substantially longer edits. reason being, i guess, is it being a 3lp and too long to fit on one cd.

so that could give some credence to the "as they were meant to be heard" thing. maybe they were all pegged to be 3lps like the first one. tbh a few extra minutes of loop-based 10-minute-plus tracks isn't really going to make a big difference to the listening experience though.

thanks, linee!

longer edits on the LPs is maybe a carry-over from techno (long tracks for singles, not-quite-as-long tracks for albums).. plus spreading across multiple discs (with 1 or 2 tracks per side) sort of invites extending them out. but yeah that doesn't really track with ambient music so much..

xxp he probably just doesn't think it's as good + didn't want to make/find new cover art that would fit with the other three

(wrote that last post b4 linee's last two posts)

Oh I want that new boxset will it be insanely expensive though?

I'm not sure if I really want them in vinyl as I mostly play them to fall asleep on long bus trips or aeroplanes... they're brilliant zoning out albums - in the good way.

Gas

1996 - CD
1996 - 3LP - Longer edits (each track close to 20 minutes long rather than ˜12)
2008 - Nah Und Fern - Replaces track 1 and 3 with new tracks (track 3 weirdly being a different version of track 2 and 4 from Konigsforst)

Zauberberg

1997 - CD
1997 - 2LP - Same as CD
2008 - Same tracks as original CD but track 7 is quite a bit longer - 11 minutes instead of 7

Konigsforst

1998 - CD
1998 - LP - Missing track 1 (as it is the also the a-side to the Oktember 12"). Adds two otherwise-unreleased tracks (a1 and d1)
2008 - Nah Und Fern - Same tracks as original CD

Pop

2000 - CD
2000 - LP - Slightly longer edits of CD tracks
2008 - Nah Und Fern Same Tracks as original CD

There are a few of other tracks on Nah und Fern that are a bit longer than on the original tracks, the last two tracks of Gas and last track of Pop, at least. But in those cases they are only 30 seconds or so longer, so it's really just cosmetic.

I still feel the weirdest and most pointless change Nah und Fern did was the thing that was discussed in length upthread, the sound compression of Zauberberg caused by the remastering. So if this new box is done from the Jörg Burger remasters rather than the original masters (which I assume is the case), I strongly urge everyone to get the original Zauberberg too. The difference between the two is noticable even to people like me, who don't possess "golden ears" or anything like that.

Just when I'd decided I could maybe justify the £70 for the complete Disintegration Loops boxset, this comes along...

Though, to be honest, I can't actually remember which Gas I've got. Certainly Zaub and Konig on CD, Pop somewhere perhaps. Definitely originals. Not the debut, and not the Modern EP from '95 (have we mentioned that?). So this is mostly redundant, I think.

"Have we mentioned that?" Duh, this was a poll.

Just dug out Zaub... and it skips on the last track. It's been looping a tiny fragment of the fade-out for the last five minutes. So that's nice :/

this all made me listen to s/t which is great which sucks

Königsforst is pure magic, I completely forget myself when it is on at loud volume.

After careful consideration I've decided to treat myself... to the WAV downloads of Nah Und Fern from Bleep for £12. I just can't justify that box.

(I've still got my skippy Zaub CD if I want the original sound balance, can't find Konig anywhere and figure I never actually owned Pop).

if you get a cd polished in a game store, does that cure skips or will that fuck it up further?

It should help - but it is literally just the fade out on the last track. I almost kinda like it.

i've had bad luck with those things, been burned the only couple of times i've used them (and it was in a work context w/ a dvd, have never used them on my own stuff) and would avoid them personally

I may even be able to rip it and burn it anew to CD-R. In which case, I can make my own little 5-CD boxset: Nah Und Fern plus Zaub (orig). In real paper sleeves, dead classy.

I can forget the box set when there's the Robyn remix. Just wish it would get a physical release.

I don't know what's going on exactly, but these are the track lengths of the original, 2008 and 2016 cds:

title - orig. - 2008 - 2016
gas 1 - 10:20 - 06:27 - n/a
gas 2 - 13:47 - 14:08 - n/a
gas 3 - 14:33 - 08:20 - n/a
gas 4 - 11:15 - 11:50 - n/a
gas 5 - 13:38 - 13:56 - n/a
gas 6 - 13:31 - 13:51 - n/a
zau 1 - 07:50 - 07:46 - 11:44
zau 2 - 14:13 - 14:09 - 14:14
zau 3 - 12:50 - 12:47 - 14:31
zau 4 - 06:01 - 05:59 - 05:55
zau 5 - 08:05 - 08:01 - 07:59
zau 6 - 07:23 - 11:04 - 11:02
zau 7 - 09:32 - 09:11 - 11:58
kon 1 - 09:39 - 09:49 - 09:40
kon 2 - 13:57 - 13:56 - 13:58
kon 3 - 08:58 - 09:01 - 08:59
kon 4 - 06:31 - 06:32 - 06:32
kon 5 - 15:13 - 15:19 - 15:14
kon 6 - 10:22 - 10:20 - 10:20
kon 7 - n/a - n/a - 06:20
kon 8 - n/a - n/a - 07:11
okt 1 - 09:38 - n/a - 11:47
okt 2 - 15:10 - n/a - 15:13
pop 1 - 05:13 - 05:30 - 05:13
pop 2 - 08:38 - 08:36 - 08:35
pop 3 - 07:27 - 07:26 - 11:03
pop 4 - 09:31 - 09:28 - 09:53
pop 5 - 10:52 - 10:51 - 10:49
pop 6 - 09:24 - 09:18 - 09:20
pop 7 - 14:37 - 15:02 - 14:36

god dammit, the box is sold out everywhere; my Amazon order got delayed until mid-December (despite being placed like two months ago), which I assume means it's probably not going to get filled.

my good friends at m-theory music in san diego have one, if you don't mind paying shipping

lol i remember pre-ordering the nah und fern vinyl from amazon thinking "there's no way this is actually going to ship". sure enough, come release day it was placed on back-order with no foreseeable ship date. bastards.

god dammit, the box is sold out everywhere

was just coming here to whine about this

be quick:
Kompakt Records at Kompakt Records.
3 hrs ·
A few limited copies of the GAS Box just arrived and are available in our Cologne shop and online mailorder: http://www.kompakt.fm/releases/box

gas more like (_!_)==33

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU for the heads up; I was able to snag one and cancel my Amazon order, which is an immense relief since they never gave me a ship date (and it actually ended up being cheaper to just get it via Kompakt somehow) and I couldn't find a shop in town which didn't sell out immediately.

The photo book included in the box is the cheapest default photoshop filter bullsht ever. Completely pointless and actually cheapens the whole concept. Music sounds great though.

yeah there are some scary Discogs reviews re: fingerprints/dirt on new records, etc. and everybody hates the photobook