92
by 1009 _Archive
tbone wrote:I recall reading this interview back when the reissue came out, and J mentioned that the mix was fine but the mastering was missing low end and it always bothered him as time went on.http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blog ... t-reissue/J Robbins wrote:Originally the idea was just to do a vinyl reissue of Sweetheart. We pressed it to vinyl on Desoto when it first came out ”an eternity ago ”but that was it.When we started talking about that and then the other piece of the puzzle was that I record bands ”that s my work now ”and Bob Weston has mastered a few records I recorded. I really love his work as an engineer, particularly because the stuff I ve sent to him “Wino s record, the new Clutch record ”on both of those there s a real focus on low end. Bob is really good with the low end.In both cases everybody was super happy with the low end. That was pertinent to Sweetheart. Our one misgiving about it ”I mean, that record meant a great deal to all of us in Jawbox ”but you know, when I would listen back to it I would think œWhat s up with the low end on this record? The original version is a really interesting sounding record ”there s this extremely abrasive agitating upper midrange ”but I always thought I d be so psyched if it had a tougher low end, some meat to it. It kind of haunted me. If I could go back and change anything about it would be to give it some oomph. And when we decided to do that, why not just go for it [do it on CD, too]. You know, revisit the record in a way that kind of where we can address this longstanding misgiving. We just listened to the test pressings. We ve just been listening it with headphones and comparing it to old version. Sorry, that s a little esoteric to be fired up about. It s not that the original mastering was anemic sounding ”the original recording, we loved it. But you put the master tapes up, the original just sounds like the mixes. Having this extra heft in the low end feels more like our band felt when we were playing. Mastering has this awesome depth and clarity. It makes me really happy.Thanks for the link, Todd. Jesus, apparently even J thinks Sweetheart is better. He is wrong, of course.