Talking Heads 5.1 Downmixes

Welcome

In 2007 I utilised various MiniDisc equipment to create new, clearer versions of the Talking Heads albums. The two channel official remasters (released in 2005) sounded to my ears too compressed and 'flat', a symptom of the Loudness War. In 2012 I began sharing these on YouTube and the response was positive. Even Pitchfork made a brief comment about them. In 2022 they were mentioned in a notable podcast, 15 years after I first downmixed Remain in Light. In 2019 in an effort to adhere to copyright law they were removed.

The YouTube videos were heavily compressed so the audio quality was far from ideal and they were therefore considered, by me anyway, as 'samplers'. If you wish to hear the downmixes as intended then you are in luck, because the FLAC files will always be available if you know where to look (or who to ask). For example, there is a torrent file containing the whole 5.1 downmix collection. These FLAC files are not compressed at all and are ready to be burned to CD audio if you still use that format.

Archive page

This page replaces the original one which has more information on the files and how they were created as well as a fair amount of feedback I received over the years. As ever, feel free to share these downmixes but please consider purchasing the albums directly so that the artists can receive some form of royalty.

Acknowledgement

Thank you to everyone who commented on these mixes over the years! I hope you continue to enjoy them. If you would like to contact me, feel free: robin.sharrock@gmail.com.

Note

The cassette tape seen top right was created just for the original YouTube video and does not represent the downmixes in any functional way. Cassette tape was not used in any stage of the process.