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Toy Matinee
DTS // DVD Audio
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Toy Matinee? Many are probably wondering, just as I was when I first recieved this album, who the group is. As I love surround sound music, I was willing to take a chance, and ended up very pleased that I did. A collaboration between keyboardist/producer/composer Patrick Leonard and Kevin Gilbert, as well as a backup band, the group produced this 1990 album, which offers solid pop-rock with impressive musical arrangements and very talented playing. Julian Lennon even provides backing vocals on "Things She Said". Nearly every song provided great, catchy melodies and interesting lyrics. It's a shame that the recording apparently never went beyond a cult item, but hopefully the very nicely produced surround-sound effort will gain the release a fresh following.
The DVD
SOUND: "Toy Matinee" features a terrific DTS 5.1 mix courtesy of DTS producer Elliot Scheiner. Although I agree with some complaints that occasionally producers seem to put too much information on these music discs in the surrounds, I believe that there can be a good, appropriate amount of surround information done well without causing distraction to the listener.
Scheiner has generally achieved that here. Surrounds are used throughout for the music, but also take on the background vocals, of which there are quite a few during the various songs, but there's enough going on in the front that the mix felt enveloping rather than purely directional, trying to spin my head around.
Audio quality was consistently fantastic throughout the album. Although DTS CDs always provide nothing less than very good audio quality, some of them are not quite as strong as others. The detail to the music was exceptional; every note played on the guitars was audible and warm, not sharp or uncomfortable. Bass also was very good, although with this material, there wasn't too many chances for anything heavy in that department. The majority of the DTS effort simply did a remarkable job capturing the nuances of the complicated musical compositions. Vocals, whether coming from the front or the surrounds, are clear and easily heard, produced at a good enough volume to be heard crisply among the rest of the music.
DVD-Audio again serves to provide a higher quality audio presentation here, although I still think that the DTS 5.1 edition is certainly quite pleasing. The interesting situation here is that the DVD-Audio version is actually presented at the low 48khz/24bit format, where most titles that I've listened to are actually at the 96khz/24bit format. The differences here between the DTS and DVD-Audio tracks are slighter than usual, but still lightly perceptable. An increase in clarity and detail as well as a crisper, fuller sound are some of the advantages of going with the DVD-Audio track, but this is a case where, although the DVD-Audio presentation is the winner, I certainly would enjoy listening to either version.
Final Thoughts: I'm always happy to take a chance with an artist I've never heard in surround-sound and I found "Toy Matinee" a very enjoyable rock album that's not only been wonderfully recorded, but re-purposed for this DTS CD. Recommended.
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