What the...
here's my thing with don cab...
they're fucking *brilliant* musicians. no question. and they write really interesting and original music. and their sound is great.
that's the good stuff, and they've got it in spades.
the bad part, for me, and it's a dealbreaker, is that the drumming, as phenomonal as it is, goes way too far in totally the wrong direction sometimes. too often for me to get past it. the syncopated pinging of the ride, and the fucking free-time snare-kick stutters... UGH! ***editing this now, laying down to go to sleep, i just remembered, the FUCKING COWBELL?!?! dude, that's like, a Phish beat or something*** i mean, that first track off what burns, it's like, "okay dude, you're clearly the center of attention here. oh, you're gonna keep doing the snare/kick freetime stutter for how long? ok, great!" to me, riffs like that should never be played, ever, and fucking *especially* not by a guy with such massive skills! i can't think of a single drummer who couldn't play that riff, and the question for me is, why would anyone want to? why the hell do it?
everybody gets to play what they wanna play, and if i met him i wouldn't say "dude, i know better than you, don't do that" because that would be fucking absurd. the guy is clearly one of the better drummers out there. i remember seeing them at lounge ax a long time ago and thinking they were pretty cool. my thing is, he can do that kinda stuff all day long. it just means i'm that much less likely to be able to stomach the album.
and besides, for that kinda drumming, i'd take herb's performance on frizzle fry over any don cab i've heard, cause herb applied his brilliance a bit more judiciously. or sean rienert from cynic is another guy who comes to mind, who i think could kill any drummer anybody can name for avant power-type drumming, who i also think exhibits much better judgement. and the cynic album is a lot like don cab, for me, in that it's a case of brilliant musicians making music that i want to love the shit out of, but there's a couple dealbreakers in there that i just can't seem to get past. although the cynic album actually impresses me more in terms of musical genius, it's just the vocals that make me hang my head and sob.
generally, i really like stuff to be understated. musically, anyways.
and null, regarding the production quality of your stuff: it sounds very produced. the hihat actually hurts my heart a little, because i love a thin whispy hihat, and it sounds like your drummer's playing a freaking z or something. and it also sounds like there's some kinda digital reverb on the drums or something? to the point where it's detectable. really though, it's kinda hard to tell on laptop speakers.
one thing for sure, the vocals are *way* loud for my taste. but then again, every band i've been in, tons of people make the comment that the vocals should be louder, so...
so hey, you're in melbourne? is the band ninetynine still around?
and man, i can't wait until the EA posters comp comes out and people get a chance to tell me what they think of the production on my track.
:runs and cowers in corner: