In a brazen act of self-preservation, Walt Meadornack and His All-Stars have decided to take all material recorded up until now and remaster them for the digital age. Yes, that means they will be available in mass quantities on CDs. Don't worry--while it sounds like we're glossing over the rough aspects of classic analog low fidelity, it doesn't come through on the CDs. The tape clicks and hums are all still there for your satisfaction and to prove the music's humble origins. We are not ones to pretend we are something we're not, and we're NOT a big money music studio pumping out stale and germ-free recordings.

The only changes that we're making to the tapes are--boosting the sound level on some tapes and changing the sequential order of the songs. No last-minute touch-ups of a Charles Lift solo or a Jimmy Schwayder sax solo. It's all the way it was the first time around, which is that way we've always done things. The first take is the only true take, says Cecil B. Demented, and we're here to tell you that he wasn't the first. Walt Meadornack has always made sure that if the first take wasn't good enough for you, your standards were too high. Better to enlighten you than pander to your bad taste. Hence the inclusion of a few extra takes on some of the new CD versions of these things.

Please don't assume that we are doing this out of reverence for any of WMAS works. We don't consider any of these albums "Greats" or "Classics." To us, they're no better than our most recent work. And in most cases, they aren't. But one thing they are is essential. To all of us. So Walt's greatest fear--that any of these albums would be lost forever--is now in the process of being absolved. Once all works have been produced, we will lock the tapes into a moisture-free case and only open it every ten years.

As a subset of this project, a brand new sampler has been compiled, making up for the huge amount of work that the last sampler, Cream of the Crop, was lacking in. Two and a half years since its production, a lot has changed about WMAS and their approaches to recording. The new sampler is a double CD and includes a revamped selection of older material and new stuff from 1999 to present, representing the increasing fragmentation of the All-Stars and the new niches they've created with upcoming players and the first generation of Pure Denizens. Of course, there are a few pieces where it's WMAS in their original form--New Year's 2000/2001, Major Problems in American History, Donnie's Funeral--but there's also a heavy focus on the new players in works like Hall of Broken Mirrors, Napoleonic Protractor Repair Men, and Boston Marathon. The change is not abrupt--Meadornack values are under the skin of everyone involved--yet they are evident in varying uses of technology and lyricism.

What does this all mean to the All-Stars and their fans? We're telling you right now not to be afraid of a sudden shift in WMAS expectations and quality. Just because we're going to be on CDs now is no reason to give up on us. We are not selling out. Rather, we are putting ourselves in the hole, big time. There is nothing at all to gain from this endeavor. We're seriously losing money.

Not that we feel righteous about it. It is simply out of duty that we produce these quaint immortalities.


CONVERTED NOW
Meadornack Sampler (double CD)
The Noise Tape
The Golden Ticket Tape
Chew Chew the Flesh-Eating Robot
Donnie's Funeral
What to Do with an Associate's Degree
Star Ball Contribution
Boston Marathon
Bounced Checks
Delphopression: New Year's Eve 2000-2001
My Interest Knows No Bounds
The Packard: New Year's Eve 1998-1999
Disruptors
Napoleonic Protractor Repair Men
Supertots
May Day
Memo from the Administration
Hall of Broken Mirrors
Perturbation of My Blister
Oppenheimer Lullaby
Sweetness
Faster Than a Bastard Maniac
Monstro
Comparable Document
Creature Feature
Mayor Zach Berger's Tattoed Fetish Girls Club Band
Calling Up the Captain
Walt's Collection of Short Songs
WORK #54
The Sound Museum Sessions