What's your favorite "poorly"-recorded LP or track

[MichaelAlan]

Paul Simon - Graceland
Again with the drums. It takes gated reverb to a whole new level.

I'll agree that it sounds gated, but damn, it's a wonderfully recorded record. Basically the definition of slick.

Ya I would have never put it on the "bably recorded" record list, but you can only take so much of that friggin snare. Then again, I rock "you can call me al" all the time...And I picture Chevy Chase with a trumpet!



Mike

[Jeff White]

Good to see some props to that Kelly Stoltz 'Antique Glow' record (even though I personally wouldn't consider it poorly recorded). I love that recording and it has seen MUCH airplay around here. I have been a little dissapointed with the recordings he has done since. Not that I don't enjoy them and concur that there are some good tunes...it's just that he really hasn't been able to match that vibe and get those textures and flow of the Antique Glow record...IMHO.

I love the way it is recorded, but it is lo-fi, and to a lot of folks it is bedroom quality. It is brilliant, and it gets put on a lot over here as well. Definitely not knocking Kelley. He's the man in my book.

Also, here is another great bedroom recording in lovely 4-track lo-fi

http://www.comfortstand.com/catalog/027/index.html/

It is a freebie from Edith Frost that I've been playing for years now. Love it.

Jeff

[mfghost]

jerky boys

[centurymantra]

Good to see some props to that Kelly Stoltz 'Antique Glow' record (even though I personally wouldn't consider it poorly recorded). I love that recording and it has seen MUCH airplay around here. I have been a little dissapointed with the recordings he has done since. Not that I don't enjoy them and concur that there are some good tunes...it's just that he really hasn't been able to match that vibe and get those textures and flow of the Antique Glow record...IMHO.

I love the way it is recorded, but it is lo-fi, and to a lot of folks it is bedroom quality. It is brilliant, and it gets put on a lot over here as well. Definitely not knocking Kelley. He's the man in my book.

Also, here is another great bedroom recording in lovely 4-track lo-fi

http://www.comfortstand.com/catalog/027/index.html/

It is a freebie from Edith Frost that I've been playing for years now. Love it.

Jeff

I guess you're prob. correct about the lo-fi status of 'Antique Glow', though I don't consider it lo-fi in a bad way in that there is so much texture in the record. The lo-fi stuff that is just thin and anemic with that flat, lifeless 2-D quality is the kind of stuff that bums me out. I guess that's where we would start to discuss the idea that lo-fi, if it perfectly suits the music, is actually well recorded. Not that Kelly wouldn't benefit by holing up in a great studio with a sympathetic engineering crew in the right time and place. The Iron & Wine dude certainly has done well by that. (*imagines Kelly Stoltz hooking up with Brian Deck for a project and smiles*).

Thanks for that Edith Frost link BTW...you just name dropped another one of my fav musicians. I seriously love that woman's music. I think I want to marry her. 'Calling Over Time' was revered in this household like very few other records. The next couple recs were equally great in their own way as well.

[MT]

Chainsaw Kittens Violent Religion

[kdarr]

The Wipers rock...no doubt about it, but I can't listen to 'em...it's just depressing. It's like trying to have a picnic on an overcast day with light rain and a cold front moving in. Don't matter how good the food is on the table, the shivering, wet clothes and depressing ambiance just take over.

Well, they were from Portland, so I guess that's actually pretty appropriate.

*enjoying the unseasonably clear weather in Seattle this week*

[<|>]

[littlepokey]

I don't know if vintage jazz is fair game or not here, but had to chime in. I am well aware that at the time, recording technology was sketchy at best, yet some of my all time favorite albums were done during this period. It's funny that Rudy Van Gelder gets the mysterious, voodoo rap that he does regarding recordings, because although he really did make some stunningly beautiful albums, I would consider him the most inconsistent engineer of all time. Some really sounded like shit. Some, however, were surprisingly beautiful and ahead of their time. On the shit side...

Sonny Rollins With the Modern Jazz Quartet (1953)

Legend has it that this was actually a Miles session, but he didn't show up. Supposedly, RVG asked Sonny to just take the date as a bandleader as he (RVG) had already set mics etc... A completely amazing record, but it sounds like shit. It is surprising to hear Sonny blow with such a mature voice for his first record.

58 Sessions Featuring Stella by Starlight (1958)

Technically, this is a Miles record. Now, I may be wrong, but I think this is the first big recording date that Cannonball Adderly had, and it features Coltrane and Miles. Half Studio, half live album, it all sounds like shit but is truly a stunning fucking album. In all fairness, I should point out that this was a Columbia recording and RVG was not involved.

On the positive side, however, there are some completely remarkable records that sound great (recording-wise) that are pretty old.

Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus (1962)

This is a Vince Guaraldi album(most famous for his Charlie Brown Chistmas music). The album sounds great for the time, with some amazing work by Vince, bassist Monty Budwig (one of my heroes), and drummer Colin Bailey. Excellent musicianship, some truly magical moments captured, and the introduction of many to-be famous songs into the American songbook.

Sahib Shihab Conversations (1963)

This record was recorded live in the Netherlands with soon to be famous 17-year old bassist Niels Henning Orsted Pederson, is amazingly recorded and stands up to many modern recordings not to mention the scary fucking playing that takes place. NHOP is truly a MONSTER player and he was only 17 when this record was made! You know, you will always get your ass kicked around on a gig by some young dude with monster chops, but this guy was just SICK. The funny thing about this record is that you can hear the "crowd" which sound like about 5 drunk people in a small room. And I thought the Europeans loved the jazz. Maybe it was just an off night. Recording quality was top notch though. Why many studio records of this same vintage couldn't stand up to this level of recording quality is a mystery.

Somethin' Else by Cannonball Adderly (1958)

Possibly the most famous jazz album of all time (with the possible exception of Kind of Blue by Miles). This is a masterpiece on all levels. Musical as well as an amazing recording. This is a great recording not only "for the time" but just in general and really set the standard (in my humble opnion) as to what a jazz record should sound like.

Finally (in a seeming non-sequitur) , I just gotta say, that I have recently had a few discussions with people who feel that Tom Waits records are poorly recorded. I would have to respectfully disagree. I strongly feel that every one of his recordings is top shelf. In my opinion, there is a big difference between conscious artistic decision and poorly recorded records. His records have such a crazy/romantic quality that is perfectly captured by a certain lo-fi/sonic-insanity type approach in terms of the style of recording.

Anyway, sorry for the rants and the bla bla bla, I'm going to bed now.

[creature.of.habit]

Finally (in a seeming non-sequitur) , I just gotta say, that I have recently had a few discussions with people who feel that Tom Waits records are poorly recorded. I would have to respectfully disagree. I strongly feel that every one of his recordings is top shelf. .

i'm with you. what an incredibly ignorant thing to say.

probably the same ppl that think using anything but a millenia pre and a schoeps mic to record an acoustic guitar is heresy. fuck 'em all.

[lysander]

For me, Marshall Crenshaw's "Field Day" album falls into this category. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, whose work I admire greatly, but whose style (especially drums) just tried to swallow up Crenshaw's writing.

I believe Mitch Easter did a remix of one of the songs off that album to try to rescue it.

Killer album, by the way.

[hautacam]

not very tape op but Wu Tang Forever is the only album that comes to mind when I think of a poorly recorded album that I love. I have some poorly recorded albums that I listen to but the bad recording sometimes actually makes the record. But jesus christ there are some really painfully bad moments on that record. The songs are amazing for what they are but the sibilance on some of the tracks is unbearable.

I might go as far to say that it might be the most "poorly" recorded album to reach #1 in the last ten years that I can think of.

[swelle]

*NEWFLASH* The debut Moby Grape album was remastered and reissued by Sundaze last fall - but that prick Katz has already had them pulled. He's really one of the biggest knobs in rock history... I wonder if the remastering made the difference?
http://strawberry-flats.blogspot.com/20 ... -blue.html

[Gebo]

I think the first Wipers record sounds good, its really over the edge that bugs me. I still love that record, but the recording is baaaad.

[giuseppe_fl]

Finally (in a seeming non-sequitur) , I just gotta say, that I have recently had a few discussions with people who feel that Tom Waits records are poorly recorded. I would have to respectfully disagree. I strongly feel that every one of his recordings is top shelf. .

i'm with you. what an incredibly ignorant thing to say.

probably the same ppl that think using anything but a millenia pre and a schoeps mic to record an acoustic guitar is heresy. fuck 'em all.

Me three, yo. Tom Waits's records all sound amazing. They're really <i>well</i>-recorded; the stark opposite of "poorly" recorded.

[themagicmanmdt]

hey, giuseppe-ers! it's me. yes, me. you know me.

man, to me, the velvet underground and nico is a pretty horrible recording. it works great *creatively* for the group, and gets you in this great 'zone', but it's by any means a pretty bad recording.

'what a klon!'

the early recordings by phil elverum and the microphones (not sure if you heard them, guys?) are very lo fi, many times just pushing mics and compressors and things to limits, but it created a wonderful feeling. like neutral milk hotel in a way, but even more out there. the album 'it was hot, we stayed in the water' specifically.

[thieves]

hey, giuseppe-ers! it's me. yes, me. you know me.

man, to me, the velvet underground and nico is a pretty horrible recording. it works great *creatively* for the group, and gets you in this great 'zone', but it's by any means a pretty bad recording.

'what a klon!'

the early recordings by phil elverum and the microphones (not sure if you heard them, guys?) are very lo fi, many times just pushing mics and compressors and things to limits, but it created a wonderful feeling. like neutral milk hotel in a way, but even more out there. the album 'it was hot, we stayed in the water' specifically.

the microphones are my favorite band of this decade, that type of recording is what keeps me in my attic and out of a 'real' studio. is that a bad thing?