Huge, incredible sounding records.

[leigh]

If you are into Tchad Blake, I think that record is by far the best thing he's done.

Better, in your opinion, than Tchad's work on Tom Waits' "Bone Machine"? I haven't heard the Sheryl Crow record myself, but Bone Machine is my favorite record ever for texture. Of course, since texture is certainly subject to taste, we could just start a pissing contest about this, but you'd probably win since my headache tells me I'm dehydrated and low on liquids.

Leigh

[Flight Feathers]

Has anyone heard Buddy Guy "Sweet Tea"?

holy shit! i just checked out the album, it is NASTY! it makes me want to take off my clothes, turn up the heat and get down and dirty. luckily none of you know what i look like, so you can't picture the nastiness in your heads. dave, thanks for introducing me to an instant classic. if i can rock it as hard as buddy at ANY age i'll be happy.


that American Football record sounds great, the drum sound on Neaver Meant has been one of my benchmarks for some time. i love how it sounds so big and open and mellow and powerfull all at the same time. it don't hurt that he is a sick drummer.


ayan

[soundguy]

As much of a Bill Botrill fan as I am, I think that really it was Tchad Blake that made sheryl crow a superstar. That second record really put her on the map. the record that followed was great, but the last one, with its succint combination of auto tune on a singer who definitely DID NOT need it and the shit mastering job Bob Ludwig did on it really canned any attention I had left for her.

I have particular loathe for Phil Spector. If you listen to what is on the tapes for all things must pass, the recordings are totally solid, but the job that guy did mixing the record is nothing short of shameful. That record has some of the greatest jams on it, and with all the reverb and other nonsense spector threw on there, the record has absolutly no definition and is just a wash of mess. Its really a travesty. I was hoping when it got rereleased they would take that bullshit off of there, but instead of remixing it, there was some line from george in the notes discussing how it seemed cool for the time or some nonsense like that. If anything, I would describe that record as a very small sounding thing, the reverb on EVERYTHING just sucks all the life out of it. There is a special spot in hell reserved for Phil Spector for his work on that record and one beatles record, but I guess he's got bigger things to worry about right now.

as for The who, no doubt the performances are amazing, but that record doesnt strike me as any bigger sounding than anything else done by John's contemporaries at the time. Great record, but IMO, the guitars on live at leeds are about 100 times as big.

ZZTop rhythmeen is a cool sounding record, but unlike The Sweet Tea or the Sheryl Crow LP, I think it just sounds that big because of the mastering job done it, the record doenst have all that much texture to it, once you've heard two songs, youve heard the whole thing. Mastering huge, in this day and age especially, isnt anything to be proud of, comparing that top record with the last Rage Against The Machine, last Sheryl crow, last two chili Peppers, Audio slave, last Queens of the Stone Age, they all sound the same, they all have no headroom, they all are shroud in distortion, they all hurt my ears and I think are mastered for shit.

Sweet Tea and Sheryl Crow are huge because of what was put on a tape, not from what was pumped off a tape in the mastering process. both those records are insanely huge, and you can crank them LOUD, try that with any of the new school of mastering stuff. painful.

dave

[Flight Feathers]

Sweet Tea and Sheryl Crow are huge because of what was put on a tape, not from what was pumped off a tape in the mastering process. both those records are insanely huge, and you can crank them LOUD, try that with any of the new school of mastering stuff. painful.

dave

speaking of stupid mastering, check out this article. it very accurately describes the problem of modern LOUD mastering.
www.prorec.com


ayan

[black ark]

that leon redbone album: on the track.

loved that since i was a kid, really open and loose. the live stuff is almost indistinguishable from the studio stuff and joe venuti on the violin is the shit!

there are a couple of phoebe snow tracks which i can't remember the names of... "jump all over your yard..."

whoever recorded that really captured her voice soooo well. god, sometimes i can almost curl up and go to sleep in her vibrato.. really, really mellow...

and....

i don't give a shit what anyone says...

"big lizard in my backyard" by the dead milkmen was the best sounding punk rock album EVER

-paul m.

[I'm Painting Again]

I'm happy you mentioned the Dead Milkmen..Still play the Big liz12"..yea!..

[@?,*???&?]

Tchad Blake has a very sophisticated low/middle mix perception. He thrived with the rack Sansamp unit in the early 90's. That 'punch' knob was killer for snare drums. Mitchell Froom pushed him into new sonic territory. The genius of 'Bone Machine' lies more in the tracking of ambient spaces- listen to the Latin Playboys discs or Los Lobos 'Kiko' for real mix magic. I always assumed Tchad was an API mix guy too. That great 200hz and 400hz thing he had going in his mixes could have been directly arrived at with an API 550 EQ. Then I worked with him on an SSL and he admitted he didn't have a clue about SSL consoles and he didn't work much on API's either. Turns out, vintage Neves are his one and only true love.

[soundguy]

man, a class A neve, you get that tchad blake low end just by turning the thing on... I think a lot of people mixing on neve's probably take great care to remove the bottom end pile up that tchad blake puts under the microscope.

One of the big mysteries I have about rock music is why people love mixing it so much on SSL consoles. Ive never worked on one, and perhaps thats why its a mystery to me, but Im just not so sure that I get it. I would think the idea of 500 pounds of transformers in an old neve or an api would be way more appealing than the 500 pounds of VCAs that comprise an SSL. Maybe I just need to work on one, I really dig the quad compressor, so who knows.

Is it just the recall and automation?

dave

[markpar]

man, a class A neve, you get that tchad blake low end just by turning the thing on... I think a lot of people mixing on neve's probably take great care to remove the bottom end pile up that tchad blake puts under the microscope.

Yeah, Pearl Jam's Binarual definitely has that sound. It sounds fantastic on vinyl, too!

-mark

[oxfist]

i can't believe that no one has mentioned Slowdive's Souvlaki! you all must be punsihed! that has to be one of the hugest sounding records of all time! grand canyon-like if i must. christian sevill's new band, Monster Movie, has pretty huge sounding records, too, with a lot less reverb.

[foley]

Tchad Blake made Joseph Arthur's last album sound huge, and fantastic. I also agree with Sheryl Crow's second album - easily her best. Her voice sounds incredible. Hum? That was done at Pogo studios - just down the street. Yeah!

The Beta Band - 3 eps, Edith Frost's Wonder Wonder, and Soft Bulletin - huge records!

mf

[soundguy]

man, some indie dude has a band called Monster Movie?

what, have they never heard of Can? That is so fucking lame. how hard is it for people to think of something that hasnt been used before, I mean, really...

Anyone want to start a band with me, we can call it Tago Mago, thats a pretty cool name, right?

ugh.

dave

[oxfist]

mr. soundguy... you don't have to be able to remember the first transistor ever made to know who Can is. Monster Movie took their name from the Can album of the same name. so, there's no irony there. i'm just glad they didn't call themselves Ege Bamyasi. that's just plain ridiculous.

[black mariah]

Telepathic Last Words by Course of Empire. Biggest, baddest, hugest drum sound EVER.

[Rick Hunter]

If its not too late to throw one in....I think Weezers Pinkerton is a such loud bitchin' album. It kicks my ass every time. Also I think somebody allready said the microphones "the glow part 2." good stuff. I cant get over the 3rd song.



Jstn