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Devo - Smooth Noodle Maps 2CD / 2LP Remaster

PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 1:52 am
by BigManRestless
Futurismo have started trailing this on social media - this will be available to order in January and they say it will include previously unreleased tracks.

I've always thought the original CD sounded just fine, but I'm excited about more unreleased content.

http://www.clubdevo.com/2018/12/18/smoo ... e-reissue/

Re: Devo - Smooth Noodle Maps 2CD / 2LP Remaster

PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2018 8:37 am
by postpunkmonk
This was DEVO's nadir to me. Not certain I could ever buy another copy of it! But I respect other's right to do so!

Re: Devo - Smooth Noodle Maps 2CD / 2LP Remaster

PostPosted: Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:47 am
by BigManRestless
It has quite a few of my favourite Devo tracks on it; Stuck In A Loop, Jimmy, Devo Has Feelings Too. The only track I don't like much is Spin The Wheel. It reminds me of Freedom of Choice in some ways - just short sharp synth songs. Total Devo is a bit bloated in comparison.

Re: Devo - Smooth Noodle Maps 2CD / 2LP Remaster

PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:32 am
by BigManRestless
Tracklist

Disc 1
Stuck In A Loop
Post Post-Modern Man
When We Do It
Spin The Wheel
Morning Dew
A Change Is Gonna Cum
The Big Picture
Pink Jazz Trancers
Jimmy
Devo Has Feelings Too
Dawghaus

Disc 2
Stuck In A Loop (7 Inch Version)
Stuck In A Loop (Club Mix)
Stuck In A Loop (Electro Mix)
Stuck In A Loop (Loop Mix)
Post Post-Modern Man (Neo Post Post-Modern Mix)
Post Post-Modern Man (Post Post Post-Modern Instrumental)
Post Post-Modern Man (Ultra Post Post-Modern Mix)
Previously Unreleased Tracks
Post Post-Modern Man (Demo)
Pink Jazz Trancers (Demo)
Listen, Little Man! (Instrumental Demo)
Morning Dew (Demo)
Devo Has Feelings too (Instrumental Demo)
When We Do It (Demo)
On The Road With Hercules (Instrumental Demo)

Re: Devo - Smooth Noodle Maps 2CD / 2LP Remaster

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 4:57 am
by ABOATES
Yeh. I mean similar to Total Devo, I would think that just about anyone even remotely interested in this would already own it. You get it on eBay or Discogs for a $1.00! So many more interesting lost New Wave gems to be unearthing, I think Futurismo should hop off of the Devo train for a while and find some more interesting choices.

Re: Devo - Smooth Noodle Maps 2CD / 2LP Remaster

PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:12 am
by Rubellan
In all honesty, it's just getting harder and harder to license albums for reissue. Futurismo a lot of the times works directly with artists who own their material, which can makes certain aspects much easier. I'm aware of several labels, myself included, who have been trying to get albums owned by Universal but nothing is coming of any of it. I'm talking just the first step. There is one man who is essentially the gatekeeper at Universal and he rarely responds to any sort of message. He is the one who puts together the initial quote and then sends it through to legal for clearance. But if he's not providing clients those initial quotes, nothing happens. And even though Cherry Red have a lot of reissues, most are Sony titles with a scattering of Warner titles. Never very many Universal titles. I was just looking at Wounded Bird's 2018 releases and they seem to only be working with Warners and an indie label. They used to license from Sony all the time. The labels are not making it easy for us reissue types to get a hold of material. They either don't care or we're just a very small bit of revenue and they are focusing on other areas. But I personally would prefer they just state they are not going to license out anymore if they aren't even going to provide the courtesy of a response.

It's sad to say that the only confirmed upcoming release I have is my Danielle Dax reissue in the next couple of months. Universal have quite a few requests I've made over 2018 and I'm not getting any sort of response to inquiries. Neither are others that I'm aware of. I have been corresponding with an indie label regarding a catalog they own that I would like to do so that may be my only hope for another 2019 release because Warners has informed me catalogs that are owned by overseas offices are on hold until they figure out the new process that is being set up. I feel like I'm trying to beat the clock with all of those "physical media is dead" stories, and if I can't get much else going this year then I'm probably going to close up shop. It takes too much effort and a lot of frustration to get some of these things going through the major labels, and even after having paid them 5 figures, it hasn't seemed to escalate me to any sort of "good client" status.

And then you have to wonder about stock backing up. While some of my releases continue to sell well, others I suspect will be with me for a good while. Universal required an order of 1500 for the Trees release. I love the album and was happy to be able to do it, but I've moved only about 300 units so far, and have lowered the price, so that towering stack of 1200 units just taunts me each time I go in the basement. And though I only got 1000 units of the Krisma CD, I expect the stock will be around for some time. My other 4 releases seem to have a steady outflow. But it's a chance you take when you choose releases that are of personal interest, so I don't regret them. I just may have to come up with some sort of alternate use (modern sculpture??) for the CD's that don't move in years to come.

Re: Devo - Smooth Noodle Maps 2CD / 2LP Remaster

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 7:58 am
by swerve
Scott --- It would be rather unfortunate that "one man" stops you from moving forward. I would think this guy has a boss. It sounds to me you only have one option and that is to contact his boss. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before but escalation to a higher level in the company seems to be the route to go. Have you already done this ? Also, did you ever send any of your releases to Classic Pop magazine for review ? It's not uncommon these days for people who would buy your releases to not find out until months / years later that they came out as CD reissues so your stock will move but it could take quite a bit of time to do so.

Re: Devo - Smooth Noodle Maps 2CD / 2LP Remaster

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 9:32 am
by Rubellan
swerve wrote:Scott --- It would be rather unfortunate that "one man" stops you from moving forward. I would think this guy has a boss. It sounds to me you only have one option and that is to contact his boss. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before but escalation to a higher level in the company seems to be the route to go. Have you already done this ? Also, did you ever send any of your releases to Classic Pop magazine for review ? It's not uncommon these days for people who would buy your releases to not find out until months / years later that they came out as CD reissues so your stock will move but it could take quite a bit of time to do so.


This man is a VP and has been with Universal for over a decade. I don't know what his deal is but I had a contact at another label tell me none of his clients ever get anywhere with Universal, mainly because of this guy, and was shocked I achieved the releases I have. I don't know if he does a ton of different jobs and prioritizes catalog requests very low. But I've even tried to help. I've requested a couple of other Visage releases and the only one that got initial feedback was that timings for the release were not listed in their database and they have to have it pulled, timed and entered in the system. This was back in October. I offered a flat transfer of the vinyl as a reference, and even provided them the listing for the master tapes from their own database. Nothing, no response in any manner.

As far as going above his head, I don't know who his superior is. Back when I was still trying to get Trees done, after progress over a few months, he just stopped responding. I sent several messages either very kindly or sternly and nothing happened until I contacted someone in finance and asked if he was even still working there since he had gone missing. They replied, copying him, confirming he was still there. And it was only a short time after being copied on that message did he respond and I was able to move it along. He really isn't needed for much of the process, he calculates the cost and submits the deal memo for me to sign. Once I do that then it is out of his hands and into legal and licensing before production begins. The production side is very friendly and responsive, and I get my titles done very quickly at that level but if that initial deal memo never comes then nothing happens.

But taking it to another level doesn't always result in positive results. I'm not sure if you recall when I was dealing with Sony that I eventually did go to the VP of sales. He and I had a good phone conversation and he seemed like a really nice and concerned man. He was very irritated about the lack of communication but said it's not the first time he had heard that about the Sales Director. But he also seemed intimidated by her and said if she found out I had complained to him I would get even less communication. So he took it to the awful Sales Associate I was also dealing with. The resolution they came up with was that I could pick 3 of my requests to be fully cleared by the end of March 2018. As the months went by, communication was still poor and inquiries on the status of my titles as the deadline was approaching proved futile. The date came and none of the 3 had been cleared, so it didn't matter. I managed to get the one secondary title cleared and into production but by that time a snotty message from the Sales Associate encouraged me to copy all 3 of them on a final email that I wanted my account closed due to the unprofessional and rude conduct. But as we see with Universal, it's not much different. This one man holds the keys to the kingdom and can't be bothered by third parties. It's a shame but it should be a crime considering how much catalog he is denying proven paying clients from accessing.

Regarding Classic Pop, yes, I sent them 4 of my CD's around the holidays. They did receive them but the person (the editor) that has them hasn't commented on them either way. I've had several people suggested getting some of my titles into the hands of Classic Pop, and now that I've done that I can only hope they say something about it. There seems to be little support for my venture regarding advertising. Recently, Paul from Super Deluxe Edition responded to a post I made on one of his blog entries and said he'd be interested in supporting my future endeavors on his site, and I should get in touch. I promptly sent him a message but didn't receive a reply. I contacted Slicing Up Eyeballs some time back and they asked if they could be added to my distribution list regarding upcoming releases. I've done that but they've never mentioned anything about my label or releases. So even the areas you would think may be a little supportive have yet to lend the slightest helping hand. There's been a lot of hard work involved in this label venture but there has to come a time when the frustration outweighs the value. 2019 will decide that.

Re: Devo - Smooth Noodle Maps 2CD / 2LP Remaster

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 12:25 pm
by Thefxc2
The most disappointing part of all of this is the lack of support from Slicing Up Eyeballs and SDE. Paul covers vinyl reissues of second-tier albums from Bananarama or Dead or Alive but can't find space to write up some genuinely interesting reissues? And it really seems like Eyeballs is going on hiatus again; it seems more interested in plugging its darkwave show and news posts have become pretty sporadic. I hold out hope that Classic Pop will review Rubellan's CDs.

Wounded Bird is really perplexing these days...they seem to have a recent pipeline to old Enigma Records albums (Dickies, Wipers, Agent Orange)--does Warners own that catalog? But they don't seem to be releasing much overall, and they're doing even less than the little promotion they used to do, and their website remains a mess–until yesterday when I looked at their site for the first time in awhile, I didn't know they reissued Guadalcanal Diary's 2X4 last year. A shame; they've done good stuff (I strongly recommend their Until December reissue). They do seem to eventually sell out of many of their titles, so there's hope that Rubellan's basement will clear out over time. Or try to get a Trees song on Stranger Things or something... :|