Read a lot of Page H. Interviews, I think he once said Wharton Tiers studio was in a very "complicated" block, like they saw ganstahs all the time and sometimes cops would be on that street checking and holding guns and stuff, and a couple of times someone was shot outside.
I'm 90% sure it was a Page H. Interview.
Aftertaste indeed sounds spectacular. And it has some bangers.
Re: Helmet 1989-98
32I personally like Strap it On’s murky sound and would probably be bummed out to hear a remix.
Re: Helmet 1989-98
33Other way round for me; I'd enjoy a remaster at least, the mix is WAY below the level of musicianship.twelvepoint wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2024 12:47 pm I personally like Strap it On’s murky sound and would probably be bummed out to hear a remix.
A big problem these great records face now is their absolutely killer clinical aggression became rote by the end of the 90s. Tricky to hear them as an individual band amongst peers now (ditto Prong). But I'll bat for the first 3 albums as peak form any day. Aftertaste less so. They'd burnt out by then.
The chorus riff in 'Blacktop' is THE riff. Can not be denied.
N.C
Re: Helmet 1989-98
34Cool. Thanks.Gramsci wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2024 12:30 pm @OrthodoxEaster
Ha. Not at all man, you’re posting some really interesting stuff. This is definitely the conversation I was interested in when I put up this poll. One of my big disappointments was I never got much time in NYC, let alone in the midst of the late 80s early 90s no wave / noise scene. I got one shitty night at CBGBs before gentrification ended it. But I guess having used the bathroom there has a certain level of cred
I just listened to Strap It On (vinyl reissue on decent system). It’s slaps as is… it’s way more deranged than the rest of their output.... David Sardy’s production is really great. There’s some fantastic drum sounds. Especially the bits recorded in a tiled bathroom that sound like revolver shots…. Barkmarket, now that’s a band I don’t listen to enough. L Ron rocks.
Only the bathroom at Mars Bar was close.
Of marginal but related interest might be the new retrospective LP, Blindspot, by a short-lived group called A/N. Algis and Norman from Swans plus a succession of drummers, recorded live at CBGB in the mid-'90s. Way more "rock" than Swans, very rough around the edges, and it's cut from the same cloth as a lot of what we're talking about. Contains an evil-sounding but ultimately happy song entitled "Funky Reggae Party" that makes me laugh and laugh.
Sardy also produced the excellent, overlooked self-titled LP by Rat at Rat R from around 1991. He was doing good work.
Re: Helmet 1989-98
35But Strap it on was recorded by Wharton Tiers.Gramsci wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2024 12:30 pm
I just listened to Strap It On (vinyl reissue on decent system). It’s slaps as is… it’s way more deranged than the rest of their output.... David Sardy’s production is really great. There’s some fantastic drum sounds. Especially the bits recorded in a tiled bathroom that sound like revolver shots…. Barkmarket, now that’s a band I don’t listen to enough. L Ron rocks.
Sardy did Aftertaste.
Re: Helmet 1989-98
36I think Fun City was in Gramercy? If so, this wasn't considered a rough neighborhood at all, but there was indeed a well-known sex-worker cruising strip nearby accompanied by its share of vice, drugs, and weirdness. (Not to mention some pretty righteous 24-hour Pakistani eateries aimed at cab drivers.) I'm sure some unpleasant people were known to protect their interests there. Re: the cruising strip, probably not the restaurants. And shit, so much of the city was just like that in those days, bad area or not.Vibracobra wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2024 12:36 pm Read a lot of Page H. Interviews, I think he once said Wharton Tiers studio was in a very "complicated" block, like they saw ganstahs all the time and sometimes cops would be on that street checking and holding guns and stuff, and a couple of times someone was shot outside.
Re: Helmet 1989-98
37Sorry that was a word salad. You’re reading his edit of my quote.Vibracobra wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2024 1:48 pmBut Strap it on was recorded by Wharton Tiers.Gramsci wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2024 12:30 pm
I just listened to Strap It On (vinyl reissue on decent system). It’s slaps as is… it’s way more deranged than the rest of their output.... David Sardy’s production is really great. There’s some fantastic drum sounds. Especially the bits recorded in a tiled bathroom that sound like revolver shots…. Barkmarket, now that’s a band I don’t listen to enough. L Ron rocks.
Sardy did Aftertaste.
clocker bob may 30, 2006 wrote:I think the possibility of interbreeding between an earthly species and an extraterrestrial species is as believable as any other explanation for the existence of George W. Bush.
Re: Helmet 1989-98
38D. Sardy is like the cool version of Andy Wallace, the latter's stuff all sounding Radio Ready for 1992. (waffles for Slayer I guess)
Re: Helmet 1989-98
39Right. Sardy would go from RaRR to NIN in a few short years. This same thing kinda happened to Roli Mosimann's production career a decade earlier.penningtron wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2024 1:53 pm D. Sardy is like the cool version of Andy Wallace, the latter's stuff all sounding Radio Ready for 1992. (waffles for Slayer I guess)
Re: Helmet 1989-98
40Even the shitty radio songs he produced admittedly sound pretty good.OrthodoxEaster wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2024 2:08 pmRight. Sardy would go from RaRR to NIN in a few short years. This same thing kinda happened to Roli Mosimann's production career a decade earlier.penningtron wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2024 1:53 pm D. Sardy is like the cool version of Andy Wallace, the latter's stuff all sounding Radio Ready for 1992. (waffles for Slayer I guess)