Most anything Manfred Eicher and Jan Erik Kongshaug have recorded for ECM, starting with Keith Jarrett's recent Inside Out, Arvo Part's Tabula Rasa, Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble's Officium (soprano saxophone and Gregorian chorus recorded in a cathedral).

WoundedFoot wrote:Personally, I havent heard too many records in which the production is god-awful. Even if the overall audio quality is not "fantastic", most "lo-fi" albums have a nice aesthetic that encourages repeated listenings and isnt painful to sit through.

Here's a couple for ya:

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
This sounds like each & every instrument was recorded with SM-57's with no pop-filter on them.

Any U2 record post-1980's
Can I have some bandwidth & dynamics, please?

These records may have some good songs on them, depending upon your taste, but the aural aesthetic makes me want to gouge my eardrums out with ice-picks.

And not be overly-critical, but I WAS NOT a big fan of the sonic characteristics of any Slint record, even though I ABSOLUTELY LOVED the music itself.

cwiko wrote:

WoundedFoot wrote:Personally, I havent heard too many records in which the production is god-awful. Even if the overall audio quality is not "fantastic", most "lo-fi" albums have a nice aesthetic that encourages repeated listenings and isnt painful to sit through.

Here's a couple for ya:

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
This sounds like each & every instrument was recorded with SM-57's with no pop-filter on them.

Any U2 record post-1980's
Can I have some bandwidth & dynamics, please?

These records may have some good songs on them, depending upon your taste, but the aural aesthetic makes me want to gouge my eardrums out with ice-picks.

And not be overly-critical, but I WAS NOT a big fan of the sonic characteristics of any Slint record, even though I ABSOLUTELY LOVED the music itself.

Here is what 'Scar Tissue' from Californication looks like. Gotta love them dynamics!

OH GOD NO!!! AUDITION!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!




Sorry, felt like I was back at work already.

i know guus who feel proud when they get the master to look like a sausage. really proud.

Hey! If the band wants that ultra-shiny, crushed to shit with compression sound, who am I to argue?

What does the lttle chart mean???

Beach Boys - Friends...mellow record from 1968.
and Love You. weird little record.

good to see Bob Thiele mentioned.
and yes to There's a Riot Goin' On.

I can't really listen to Joni Mitchell too much but a guy made me, and the sound was incredible.

What happened in the 80's?
particularly the drum sound...Everyone sold their snares for cookie tins.

mendoza wrote:What happened in the 80's?
particularly the drum sound...Everyone sold their snares for cookie tins.

There was this trend towards electronic drums. Easier for engineers and producers to work with, but I don't know if the drummers liked it that much. Plus, post-disco electronic dance music was all the rage, and rock bands like the Scorpions made heavy use of regular drums with samplers attached to the heads (ie: the drum sound in "Rock You Like A Hurricane").

Thankfully, the trend faded, and acoustic drums became the rage again.

Here are some examples where I think the production/engineering completely enhances the listening experience and makes an already great record even greater

Beach Boys - Pet Sounds(or anything Brian was commanding)

Swell Maps - Jane from Occupied Europe

any Chrome recording

Palace Brothers - Arise Therefore

Any This Heat recording

Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit

any Lee Hazelwood (reverbalicious)

18th Dye - Tribute to a Bus(Albini) and Done(Iain Burgess) - these guys knew how to choose engineers to compliment their sound

The Ex - Starters and Alternators

Cat Power - The Greatest

US Maple - Long Hair in Three Stages

Neil Young - Dead Man Soundtrack

Fela Kuti w/Ginger Baker Live

Bjork - Vespertine

Shellac - At Action Park (again Iain Burgess is perfectly suited to capturing band's sound)

Galaxie 500 - This is Our Music

Sly and the Family Stone - There's a Riot goin on....I know this was mentioned a few times but it's just such a weird and amazing sounding record

Television - Marquee Moon...this one is an example of how the engineer( I think he did Led Zepplin's records) seemed completely unsuited to the band....but it worked somehow

I know there's more...but these came to mind immediately.

~ian