I use the
VLC player to listen
to the multitude of mp3 (along with flac and wav) files that I have on my computer.
I've often noticed that an image appears in the player that seems to be
connected to the file that is currently playing. Sometimes it is the correct
picture, sometimes the picture belongs to some other track by the same artist,
sometimes there is no connection between the picture and the song and sometimes there is no image.
This irks me sufficiently that I had to learn how to attach the correct file
to the file. It transpires that the instructions that I read were 90% correct,
or rather, they were correct as far as they went but they missed the final
step.
In order to add a picture to the file that is being played, one goes to the
Tools option on the menu bar, then chooses Media Information from the menu
that appears. A dialog is displayed with four tabs, but one only needs the
first tab, 'General'. At the bottom right of this dialog appears the file's
image (probably the default picture). Right clicking on this will bring up a
'choose file' dialog from which one can choose the image. But this image is not saved and there seems to be no way of saving the
data!
I discovered today that one has to enter some new data in one of the
fields on the left (I chose 'encoded by') - once there is a new value then a
'save metadata' button appears. Pressing this will of course save the image to
the file.
Strangely, the 'encoded by' value seems not to be saved, even though it
appears in the picture to the left. If I reopen this dialog, the picture will
be displayed but the 'encoded by' value will not.
As the screen shots show, I am listening to The Unthanks' newest disc, "In
winter". This is actually a double cd, made up of wintry and Christmassy
songs. At the moment, "Gower Wassail" is playing - this bears almost no
resemblance to the version by Steeleye Span from way back in 1971 (and which I
used to sing). There is a version of 'Come all ye faithful' played in 68 time, making it both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. I remember being an 11 year old chorister and belting this out at school. The final verse had a counter-melody sung by the sopranos (of which I was one) that I didn't know at first but quickly learnt. The Unthanks don't sing this harmony line. I should point out that I quite enjoyed singing carols but I never sang the word 'Christ', as this means 'messiah', and as my religious friends would inform me, the Messiah has yet to come.
Obtaining this album was quite difficult; being on their mailing list, I was informed over a month ago of its impending release. When I tried to order it from their site, although there was an option to have it sent to Israel, their carrier lacked the capability to send it. After a few emails back and forward (including one signed by Rachel - could this be Rachel Unthank?), they finally got their act together, allowing me to order the disc (the postage costs more than the disc). Unfortunately, it is currently out of stock, so I don't know when I'll get my physical copy. But they give links that enabled me (and all other purchasers) to download mp3 files, so I can listen to the album and won't have to bother about ripping the discs when they eventually come.
I note that I haven't written about the Unthanks for the past 13 years, but I do listen on and off to their music and thoroughly enjoy their early albums. That said, some of their material, such as the Molly Drake album, doesn't particularly enthuse me.
