…and another Stragglers “makeover” in need of final polish ready for album release… which incidentally is due May 20th 
uh oh, the 20th is fast approaching. the mix is sounding good and the chorus is catchy enough. the song is a bit short, so the breakdown section could maybe slip a lead in there to make it longer.
Hi Ian,
this is a very strong song, and I’m sure my memory doesn’t fail me this time
and that I’ve said that before too. 
I think it might be too fast? I’d like to savour it with a more
in-a-groove tempo. Maybe it’s the “live” experience that has pushed this one up??
Anyway, that’s just a personal thing.
The stream sounds very rough. Each word “little”, especially from Chorus #2,
has a lot of brittleness to it, and after the middle halt the track sounds a bit crushed/distorted to me.
In terms of arrangement, everything works well I think except for that
drum finish right at the break in the middle. It sounds somehow under-done.
It’s rather crushed I would say, to the point where it sounds distorted. The drums sound small and don’t ‘breath’ at all.
Sorry Ian 
My early, pre-Stragglers original was slower but I much prefer it faster. At this tempo I feel it better suits the ‘uplifting’ message. The slower original really feels quite dreary to me in comparison. I think live it is even faster than this! 
We probably get through it in 2:15 
In terms of arrangement, everything works well I think except for that
drum finish right at the break in the middle. It sounds somehow under-done
Yeah, I’m gonna tweak that.
I don’t believe its ‘crushed’ - not by todays commercial standards! BUT it is a tad louder than I would normally go (by 1dB. i.e. RMS = -11dB) I did this to better match the level and character of those pro recordings I did late last year. I suspect any ‘unpleasantness’ in the stream is once again a Bandcamp issue. The .WAV sounds nice and crisp here. 
I’ll check the drums compression in the mix over one more time, though I know they’re processed they way I usually process them in the other tracks…
I really should remember to post these on Soundcloud or Soundclick! Its just a pain having to maintain multiple OMD’s .
Cheers guys. 
Listening again this morning.
Where the affect of the compression/limiting, distortion aside, is most easily heard is at the start. At the start the sound is open, punchy and loud but when the whole band comes in the sound becomes more closed and smaller. It sounds like someone pulls a curtain across in front of them or turned them down.
The song and arrangement are fine.
Cheers
Ok, fair enuff Dave… I gave it another tweak. I think a wayward limiter may have been the culprit… ?
Sounds good, but I do agree with others that once the drums come in it sounds a little mushy and distorted, although I guess that is what you were after.
Hello Ian,
This is the best version yet! It’s a really good song, the tempo pushes the song to the excitement required. ‘YEah’, liked that touch, it’s all the little things, they add up.
Take Care,
John
Hi Ian
The stream sounds pretty crappy today so it’s hard to be precise but this does sound more open.
I wonder it is that some of you seem to suffer from poor streaming at Bandcamp. 
I wonder it it would be worth while you putting your tunes on your own web space for mix evaluation here rather than on Bandcamp if you have the bandwidth available. You would have control over playback quality and get fairer and more positive feedback IMO. The stream does you a disservice IMO.
Still think there is something awry with this mix.
I still find the limiting very obvious once the drums start.
But something really sounds odd once you get to the
last chorus, right from the word “fun”.
I swear it sounds like there are two mixes ever-so-slightly out of time
running parallel with each other. Just before the end
this apparent delay/doubling ends. I never noticed it before.
Most noticeable on the snare.
Not much space free on my web but I will get it up on Soundclick! Eventually!
I’ve figured out what you’re hearing. There’s a low-level percussive, arppeggiated synth part with a delay bouncing around in the mix. Now that you’ve mentioned it I can hear that it does perhaps sound a bit like a ‘ghost’ mix - particularly on the drums. I’ll tweak the sound or rethink the part altogether perhaps…
Ta.
I shook it up some more…
Yeah, I’m hearing that, too, and it’s a good description of it.
I like the suggestion of posting stuff to one’s own webspace, so you can use a robust bit-rate
I really love the song, and I agree, the faster tempo works fine. But sonically? I’m sure it’s the encoding
But I’ve updated the mix twice since then and definitely dealt to the issue. In fact I removed the whole part that was responsible for creating the illusion of a ‘ghosted’ mix. Replaced it with a piano part instead. The limiter was also removed from the drums two mixes back. - so you must be hallucinating! 
But sonically? I’m sure it’s the encoding
Bandcamp. 