Massive Attack vs Burial - Four Walls / Paradise Circus Full Album

Staggeringly gorgeous music, beautiful sleeve, but TERRIBLE pressing. Buy the wavs.

Daft price as well. What is the matter with you people?

I first heard this on YouTube and I have to say it was one of the most incredible pieces of relaxing music I have heard. You have to be in the right state to really appreciate the quality of both of these songs. I went and purchased the 12" and I do not regret owning it other than the fact I constantly worry about maintaining its condition. Small sacrifice.

Nah you’re alright. Buy a good dub lp for the same price

I cannot understand such releases anymore, this all seems to be a matrix error.

Finally got round to getting the official version only to find the two annoying screeches in Four Walls are still there! I had heard they were anti copyright sirens! Pleased I didn’t spend £££ on the vinyl. I can’t actually believe they allowed this to be released. The sound is to relaxation what dropping a toaster in would be to a nice bath.

Given Burial's well known love for video game samples, you ever think the "screeches" might actually be... intentional?

incredible! I had always wondered that myself. So strange that they are still in there.

How much did you spend ? This comment needs more words

Absolute masterpiece, every time I listen to it it gets better and better. Probably the most expensive record I have ever bought but after long deliberation I thought it was worth it... and I think it is. Still a shame though that this one wasn't pressed in bigger quantities so more people could enjoy it.

Tbh I don't care about the fancy stuff, a white label and i'd be happy.

It needs a repress for goodness sake. Everyone needs to have a copy because it's a fantastic combination of two of the most influential artists in music from past to present.

I am very sad to report this pressing sounds really bad..I'm not very picky but if had to compare the sound I would have to say the re press of Ok Computer by Radiohead sound just as bad....I'm still happy to own a copy but just wanted to let people know.

I really sad that i missed to buy this Record when it was released.After the incredible high prices here i'm really thinking about producing an Mastercut/Dubplate out of the Digital Release for private purpose only and just for my collection . That would be by far more limited and i would own #1 of 1 and would probably sound far better;)

Massive Attack and Burial...i hope they collaborate again because this EP is an unbelievable cerebral masterpiece.as far as the highly desired vinyl...until this gets a FIXED reissue, just buy the WAV version available from Massive Attack's store. sounds fantastic!i was fortunate to receive a vinyl rip WAV...horrible distortion beyond the expected Burial trademark sound. Hope's vocals clearly show the pressing to be unacceptable. i then bought the official WAV from Massive Attack. perfect sound! there's no way i would pay the $100-500+ asking price for the vinyl. if you want the best sounding copy of this EP spend $5 here: http://store.massiveattack.com/view-all/massive-attack-v-burial-digital.htmlnow, go spend some time in another world!

I noticed its disappearance too when I checked the MA official store for an official LOSSLESS download of Ritual Spirit EP. The vinyl is all I see as well as mp3s and AACs on Amazon and iTunes. I had messaged the store and MA about making lossless downloads available for new and old stuff a couple months ago...no response. Doesn't make sense to me why MA doesn't offer downloads like I've seen many other bands and labels do whether it's from their own online store or a site like Bandcamp.

Crikey, I had a couple of copies of the crappy vinyl version (TVF sent me extras after my complaining exactly as DCOM explained below) and didn't know it had been released as an official WAV. It seems to have been taken down now though so does anyone know where it may still be available as an official WAV?

Trips me out with each listen. I'll never get tired of it. Very well mastered. As you said...clean and spacious.

thank you 1000x for this. I wasn't aware of the DL option. It sounds perfectly clean and spacious in wav. I'm speechless...

One of the best record of our early 21st century. "Dark spirit lives in there"

Well said.

This needs a fucking reissue. Holy shit!

Give it another 6 years. You'll probably get your copy then.

*** Info on copies with AP ****This is an email from Leighton at The Vinyl Factory confirming UN-numbered copies which instead have AP hand-written on them. I can confirm that there are some AP copies out there. 20x of these were made, most of which were for those involved in the manufacture of the discs, eg the band, printers etc.There were also a small amount of these that were available at the Massive Attack show we held in London. Your actually very, very lucky to have one of those ones!

My copy plays great with no distortion.

i have to say that the people at the vinyl factory are the worst to deal with. such a shame for a company trying to bring on the revival of records. i had ordered two copies of this ( one for a friend). shot them an email a few weeks after i had paid. there response for the next month was that shipments are taking a while, just wait. eventually nothing showed up. emailed again, there response was that they had never received the order and that it was now sold out. if they had been able to answer emails correctly day one, i could of simply ordered two more copies. but their arrogance was great.i had ordered several other products in the past from them, their defect rate is quite high.they command top dollar for their releases and if massive attack and uncle had never worked with them, they would probably be nothing.no kind words to say about them and beware of bad pressings

Hello All,(tl;dr - vinyl has distorted sound, buy digital and save your money.)the sound quality of the vinyl has been questioned, and now that a lossless, official digital version has been released I'm finally able to come to a definitive personal conclusion in this matter.I was one of the lucky to get an order in for the vinyl before it was sold out, and after a while I received my copy (718/1000). I had heard Paradise Circus from a recording of Hobbs' XFM broadcast (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N701JYnjaMs ), and although the recording is not of the highest quality, the track sounds good.When I first listened to my copy I was puzzled, as Four Walls sounded a bit distorted/saturated, but still tolerable; then I got to Paradise Circus, which was completely distorted/saturated from the very beginning, all high frequencies were missing and the vocals were totally broken by crackling distortion; this vinyl rip sounds similar to my copy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o01fUwIX3PA .My home DJing/listening equipment consists of two Technics SL-1200MK5s with quality stylii, an analogue Ecler NUO 4.0 mixer, an analogue NAD amplifier and two pairs of decent speakers; I've been a vinyl-only DJ for over 20 years, and I think I'm at least somewhat qualified and able to judge how vinyl sounds.I opened a dialogue with The Vinyl Factory on this issue, claiming that I had received a defective copy. After some back-and-forth email exchange TVF sent me two extra copies of the vinyl, described as "picked randonly from the small quantity of extra copies" they still had. The subsequent extra copies I received sounded exactly like the original first one: unplayable/unlistenable.I suggested to TVF I make a lossless recording of my original vinyl for comparison; they declined. I asked for quality verification from the mastering studio and the pressing plant; they declined. TVF adamantly claimed that the vinyl sounds as good as it should, there are no problems with the mastering or the pressing and that the final product had been approved by both Massive Attack and Burial. (I have the email exchange stored for reference/evidence.)Someone commented below that Burial's sound has deliberate noise and distortion; I agree, those two things make Burial's sound unique and easily recognizable, but at the same time I think that both Massive Attack's and Burial's production values are so ridiculously high that the abysmal quality of the vinyl sound is a travesty neither of the artists would underwrite.I have now listened to the lossles WAVs of the tracks side-by-side with all three copies of the vinyl I have, and there is a huge disparity between the sound quality of the digital and vinyl versions. The digital files sound crisp, clear and beautiful; the vinyls distorted/saturated, noisy and lacking higher frequencies. It doesn't take an audio professional/expert to make this judgement upon hearing the difference.Based on this evidence, in my personal and not-so-humble opinion, it is possible that all the vinyl copies of this release are defective as described. Of course three copies are not a statistically large enough sample, but if the ones I have are indeed a random selection from the complete batch, there is a good probability that the whole pressing is of the same quality.(Full disclosure: I was fully reimbursed for the record and p&p, and got to keep all three copies TVF sent me.)If all the copies are like mine, the prices people are asking and paying for the vinyl are absolutely ridiculous, and I belive some buyers have been gravely disappointed after purchasing a possibly defective copy. If you're looking to buy a copy of this record on vinyl, please take into account that you may receive a record that is a limited edition and relatively rare, but of questionable value due to bad sound quality. I wholeheartedly suggest purchasing the official digital version instead - the price is a pittance and the product is of high quality.Cheers, Nuutti.P.S. I have purchased vinyls from The Vinyl Factory after this incident, and the copies I have received are quality pressings, sound great and I'm happy to have them. My intent is not to disparage The Vinyl Factory, I'm sure they do their best to produce and offer the highest quality products possible, but from my point of view, the story of this release is unfortunate.(Edit: fixed typos and grammatical errors, added release serial number, tl;dr and P.S.)

Thank you for the honest review regarding the vinyl limited edition version, I have only listened to the ripped from vinyl wav, and it has sounded horribly distorted and I always wondered if the expensive limited edition vinyl sounded just as bad. That is embarrassing for all parties involved that such an "exclusive" vinyl release was so defective sounding! Now we can all listen to a better quality digital version after waiting 2+ years!

Very deep, slow & epic. Musthave.

I saved up to buy this vinyl for 6 months, and now it's all gone? Is there not a single copy for sale on Discogs anymore?

Digital version just released (after two years): http://store.massiveattack.com/landing-page/massive-attack-v-burial-digital.html

Here's the article if you want to add it:http://www.discogs.com/Massive-Attack-vs-Burial-Four-Walls-Paradise-Circus/release/5033206

lmao someone bought this for $550

Pretty annoyed that this was such a limited edition and that the music is so good. I only found out about it a month or so after release by which time it had already sold out. Shame that this release was so limited as it only encouraged so many people to go profit hunting off the back of it. It combines the best musical elements of both. Hopefully one day the price will come down so I can bag a copy.

There was 1000 copies, not a particularly small press for underground music. The prices it's going for on here have nothing to do with rarity, but everything to do with the attitude that some people have towards vinyl.

It is ment to be distorted, thats what Burial does...... I remember when the Kindred EP came out, everyone thought it had been pressed wrong because of the crackles and drop outs... :/

People bitching about the distortion/noise I'll take your copy off your hands and will be fine with it.

Putting aside the cost of a second-hand copy, can anyone confirm whether or not there actually are pressings of this without the distortion? I know it doesn't seem to exist in the YouTube clip of the radio broadcast. But everyone else seems to have a distorted version. Intentional or not? Remember when some people thought their Portishead CD's sounded "scratchy"? Reminds me of this.I emailed Vinyl Factory about it but they declined to answer. Nice.

What distortion?

Thanks for your response. I'm glad to hear the TVF responded to you and confirmed that it was intentional. The radio clip I am referring to is the Mary Ann Hobbs broadcast clip found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N701JYnjaMsThe female vocals don't seem to have the degree of distortion that I hear on my vinyl copy but who knows. The DJ does describe the vinyl jacket so I am assuming she is playing the same record we all have.

I spoke to TVF when I got mine in the post way back when it came out. They officially responded to my query by stating that the sound is entirely intentional and both parties representatives were pleased with the sound. They didn't comment on the price the records sell for now though, heh. The radio versions (is it the MAH rip you're referring to?) will be digital pre-pressing promo versions sent out to play over radio, to DJ etc. Of course they will sound different to the pressing we have.

Hummm, odd. Wonder if they were cleaned up? I remeber Burial saying in an interview that the tracks were mastered from the raw mixes with some errors present, almost as works in progress. I guess its an open book.

Thanks for your response. I tend to agree with you. The only confounding bit is that the distortion doesn't seem to be present in the YouTube clip (radio broadcast). Otherwise I probably never would have questioned it.

Don't know if anyone has replied elsewhere, but its likely that these "distortions" are intentional, or at least, were present in the original productions. If you listen to "NYC" or "Stolen Dog" (can't remmeber which one...) you will hear the same drop outs and ill fitting washes of sound. I for one think it adds to the buried/lost asthetic of Burials music. However, seeing as the noises don't sit well in the mix like most deliberate effects of this kind, I can totally understand why people have mistaken it for a fault, especially on a vinyl release.

If people have ended up paying lots of money for what some suggest is a poor pressing, I feel for those people. That's not fair play. The artwork might be amazing but when people put the slab of wax on the turntable it needs to please the ears. Burial is for me like the Banksy of the music world...who knows, maybe it's one and the same guy?

Always been a big MA fan and love my music, however prices like these only encourage file sharing! There's a copy on ebay now starting at £150 which has no bids...... writing on the wall me thinks!!

While I get the small controversy, it's a really beautiful and atmospheric release. Though I have the copy where the 2nd track sounds a bit disorted, it doesn't ruin anything in my opinion. Too expensive? Yea. Should have had a broader release? Defaintly. But for what it is, it's two amazing tracks, that makes the asking price well worth it.

I don't know why people are trying to sell this record for so much since the mastering quality is so poor. There's no way to tell whether you got one of the distorted copies, and there have been so many people complaining about such problems. Is it really worth it paying £200-600 for a record you wouldn't be able to play? maybe for those that just want to hang it up on the wall anyway.

Wow 14 for sale at the marketplace all of them unplayed!!!!! ....and I thought this release was going to be hard to get lol...oh and should I buy the 30/1000 copy or a higher hand! numbed copy, what would be a smarter investment ? Hurry, now, quick, limited, while $upplie$ last, offer, fear.

Fortunately, some generous souls have placed this out in the file sharing universe in FLAC format gratis. Let folks stuck in trip-hop reminisce (or just trying to make a buck) pay top dollar for it and be stuck with slabs of vinyl that will never fetch the asking price until there is a death in the group. [When Michael Jackson died, within hours his Thriller was selling for hundreds whereas only a few hours before you could buy it for 99 cents. I was a bit late and only got $25 for my copy...] As for the tracks, they are really nice. Nothing new, nothing revelatory, just what you would expect. This is a good thing but not a great thing. So I'm quite content to bask in the afterglow of Massive Attack's golden years at 320.

Yeah I didn't get emailed about this one either? I think the vinyl factory is crossing a bit too far over the art music border - most stuff is far too expensive for ltd vinyl - its the artwork which is ramping the prices up if you ask me.I guess £25 is quite reasonable for a ltd print if it's something you like - or as an investment. Bit much for 2 songs though - I am rapidly going off it all nowadays though - the £100 unkle ones are just a step too far!!!! My humble pennies worth :)

Dear Massive Attack, thanks for fucking over the people who have supported you so much over the years. This has only been around a couple of weeks and already out of print with the cheapest "used" copy a bargain £150. Oh and Dear Vinyl Factory, thanks for not emailing me about this one, you email me when Brian Fucking Ferry or The Pet Fucking Shop Boys have some crappy release that no one wants, it would have been nice if you tipped off the customers who have supported you.

nice rant :) but don't take it personally what you call support they call money.This limited release shit is just groveling to the rich. The music is really beautiful I don't get why they have to turn it into an elitist, materialistic thing. Ruined the buzz!

/

No big deal, too much hype for a piece of plastic... The track, however, might be worth a listen... just get a decent mp3 rip if you're still curious, end of story.

Well, I guess there are many idiotic buyers out there, after all... Shame!

Did you check the sales history? 'Cause I did, and there have been four sales ranging from 149$-283$.

I see many of the comments are based on the super inflated prices and rightly so. Welcome to the ways of the world! Get over it. Now for the review itself. Well, it's Burial.....with a smattering of Massive Attack. I personally really like this release. It's a great listen at home, work or in the car (if you're alone or with someone who doesn't mind this type of sound). The Burial ethos is here in great form and predictable. Not a bad thing if this is what you're looking for. The Massive Attack part seems to be more in the way of vocals and less garage over tones. I've had this on repeat for the last two days and it has really grown on me. There are the parts of the songs where there are rhythm sections and ambient parts. I think both sides are brilliant. There's something about Burial's productions that I just don't tire of but will say I have to be in the mood to listen to and I think that's the part people will either love or hate about this. There are plenty of streams on for both sides at this point so a google search will surely find the songs for you to listen to and decide for yourself. The reason I like this release is it takes both of my favorite genres (slow lumbering beats and ambient) and fuses them successfully. The packaging of the vinyl is the other part I will discuss as some of the comments here are saying that Vinyl Factory should re-release this as a regular white label of sorts. No artwork, etc. This is my first purchase of a Vinyl Factory release and I believe it to be a stellar piece of packaging. As someone who has a hard time keeping pace financially with being a music collector I'm glad to see my money was not wasted. If you bought the "limited edition" of an album and you only received an extra track that was left off for a reason I think you would understand. Anyway, I am enjoying both tracks so find the streams (look right ----->) and come to your own conclusions. "Let Love Fly"

Burial is already dated and stale - nothing original from him since his debut, and yes I have every release but after the last EP Street Halo, I'm done. And Massive Attack? Meh. I have their last release with the original tracks found here. How is that album selling these days? Greed sucks! There is no market for this vinyl at these prices - they will correct themselves soon, check back in 6 months...

absolutely yes!

LOL @ Clippd! Have you seen some of the inflated prices that these so called 'collectors' are 'selling' their precious 'new/mint/unopened' records at? Wake up son! Releases of this nature encourage this despicable activity! And just for the record, it's nothing to do with hating. Me... I'm a music lover, but yeah, I do hate it when people use it to take the piss out of each other in this way.

So much hating on this release. I think you're all acting quite childish and jealous that you didn't grab the pre-order in time.To everyone saying that they should have released it in greater numbers; it's a collectors item. Quote from Vinyl Factory: "crafted by The Vinyl Factory, and is sure to become a highly coveted collectors item." It wouldn't be a collectors item if everyone could get one. It's nice to see high quality exclusive vinyl for hard-core collectors.To everyone saying that it wasn't Burials/Massive Attacks idea to release it so limitedly; they had major input in it's production. Quote from the Vinyl Factory: "gold glitter screen-printed sleeve designed by Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja (3D)" and "Burial has completely rebuilt both tracks in his own unique style providing a masterclass in production." The artists know exactly the type of people who would buy this release.Stop throwing tantrums about not owning this exclusive item, get off your arses, and maybe go digging for your own treasure.

It should certainly read serious "re-sellers" rather than serious collectors?

oh my... what kind if immature teenager are you? your comments and replys are week. totaly week. Sounds like a 16 years old that tries to get self-esteem by buying limited edition vinyls to impress people. don't you think we would be here if we would be happy with a mp3? we want to hold avinyl record in our hand. that's our consensus.

  freakie129 I wouldn't say I'm a hardcore collector, but I don't get your attitude to people who simply saw it was coming out at a certain time, and made sure they were around to buy it. I didn't get a copy of Haunted/Anti-War Dub, but I wouldn't go round slating people who were around to get one.

Haha. So the general consensus is that "music is for everyone *sniff*"? Then just download the EP and stop crying. Leave the vinyl collecting to the pro's and keep filling your iTunes playlist.

Ha ha) what u talking about?) it's not childish to have a wish to want a repress of these tunes, because i even didn't know that it had been a pre-sale action on the website, i had a letter saying that release would be on 17 of october. 1000 for a whole world - it's not a hard-core collection. For example if Nirvana would be alive today and make a single for a 1000 copies - it would be funny and silly. Burial and Massive attack have millions of fans too..and we all want to pay money and have the copy of the vinyl. Shoenes_wetter is right saying that Music is for everybody.

i don't think it's childish from our side. saying it's childish to complain because we are not "hard-core collectors" is childish from your side because just children get things and don't want to share it with the world. fuck the vinyl factory and their collectors items. music is for everybody.

I don't generally condone this sort of thing but I hope some actually makes a vinyl bootleg of this if it isn't reissued. Limiting a release to this number when you could sell tenfold is completely counterproductive. Aren't we supposed to saving the industry by maybe y'know....selling vinyl to everyone that wants it at a reasonable price and not making them covert some arts and crafts commodity that costs £25?

Don't know about the hype but one thing's for sure ; if like me you still give a go to music genre you don't know there's 10% chance this will make you crave more downtempo . This is 25mn of solid boredom altough Four Walls atmosphear could be re-used to give a sense of existence and depth to the rather nice pipes / flutes and pads.

Beautiful music, like nothing else. But this is silly. The artist doesn't make any more money from making these tracks exclusive. What can possibly be the motivation behind such a stupid fucking idea? I mean - come on - 25 quid for a 12" single ltd to 1,000! It's just wrong on so many levels. Nobody supports it. Underground my arse! You can't contrive 'underground' by making something exclusive! Sorry - just trying to understand the folly... Hey Burial, this is beautiful music but you're excluding your supporters & alienating your true listeners. Now, do the decent thing, fuck the glittery cover off & get a re-press sorted for the usual 2 track 12" price of £5-8.

I doubt it was Burial's decision man, that would be the decision of the label.

£500?! Ha ha ha ha ha good luck with that one!

SERIOUS HYPE surrounding Burial + this one. clever stuff (Money making) on their part, well its worked if people are actually willing to part with 500 quid! lol

A run of a 1000 copies and these prices? I love both artists, but just don't get this.

Labels know how many people potentially will buy a releases.Why this shitty operations?

Actually, the artists themselves should be well aware of their own allure, cachet and, let's face it, the prices that their records fetch. The BurialFour TetThom Yorke feeding frenzy was similar to this, although if you remember Text kept repressing until the resell value went from £75 down to, what, a tenner. That was a properly handled PR move to both build interest and buzz, but then ultimately to satisfy all fans of the 3 artists involved by making sure they got to own those tracks on wax - which is what all the fans want at the end of the day. Currently, with this release, the fans feel penalised for being fans. Massive Attack, Burial and The Vinyl Factory should do the decent thing and re-press un-numbered copies of this release for the same price. They know they could sell probably another 5000 at £25 each, and in these financial times I'm pretty sure they could do with the cash. I did buy this record to sell and I'm going to make sure I get the highest price I possibly can for it, because I'm a trader and, where there's an opportunity (given to me by a record label like The Vinyl Factory), I'll look to make money - it's how I pay for the hundreds of other records I keep for myself every year. People have been doing similar things (obviously with different products) for hundreds of years and it's why Discogs itself has a marketplace. So, the people best placed to 'un-p*ss the fans off' are the aforementioned Massive Attack, Burial and The Vinyl Factory. I suggest, if you feel the need, that you all petition them strongly and direct the energy to getting a re-press. Peace.

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Agree with every single word!

4 days after the releas there is no 12" left to buy. damn.

It sold out in about an hour....!