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baslotto 10 October 2005

I all!

Ok, here is the thing. I'm realizing that I'm not listening to enough "good music". I just got an iPod so i can use my dead moments for listening to well done mixes. Here is the question for everybody:

What is your favourite song/album/engineer? Please consider these characteristics:

- Variety of instruments and their tones
- Dynamic groove of the whole song/mix
- Progression of "hidden" sounds that make the mix being INTERESTING through out the whole development of the mix
- Good individual sounds (i.e. "I like the drums there and the vocals here")

I'd like to have a good list of songs or albums to buy so I can train my brain for interesting mixes.

Anything will be more than welcome, from a classical recording to the most experimental mix (justified by the reason why you like that particular song or engineer), rock, pop, country, folk, etc... The music that you like is not important in this post, it's the way it's been mixed that will make the difference so don't be afraid to say that the last Britney Spears album rocks! :D

Thank you all, I hope this will be interesting for many of you.

Bas.

Comments

anonymous Mon, 10/10/2005 - 23:49

Of course the Grammy winning Nora Jones record. It sounds really really great (2 years ago?).
The Frou Frou- Details record is a work of art. The production, arranging, songwriting and performances are just amazing. Great sound design, great vocal phrasing, the arrangements are just stellar, everything weaves in and out of the spectrum, also in and out rhythmically, the use of timbres and blend of acoustic, electric, and electronic sounds is so seamless. They all just weave together. Just a killer piece of work.
Of course you have to listen to Beatles and Led Zeppelin recordings!
I love the sound of Donny Hathaway recordings (like "a song for you"- rich and creamy sounding, really defines warm to me, heck, could just be the performance).
The AC/DC Back in Black record is just thick!
The foo fighters records usually sound amazing.
The new Green Day record sounds huge!
Steely Dan records always sound great, clean and slick (though I'm not a fan, sorry everyone!).
Janet Jackson records produced by Jam and Lewis and mixed by Steve Hodge I think sound just great. They translate to EVERYTHING well. Those guys rule.
The Destiny's Child stuff sounds amazing (vocals sounds, stacking, tight editing, wow)
If you're into IDM, the Autechre Lipswitch record is amazing and the Richard Devine record Assect Dessect is a great work for sound design inspiration.
Rage Against the Machine- renegades of funk- for the riff rock guitar sounds (not to mention the other instruments).

Well there are some good ones in my book...hope this helps ; )

mckay
bounce inventive audio

anonymous Tue, 10/11/2005 - 06:39

A few favourites of mine ...

The Seeds Of Love - Tears For Fears (epic work)
Hysteria - Def Leppard (for sheer pristine-ness)
Anything by NIckelback (for cutting edge rock sounds)
Metallica - Metallica (they used something like 50 mics on the drums)
Toxic - Britney Spears (an amazingly creative song in this genre)
Genie In A Bottle - Christina (still a way out there instrumental)
Back In Black - AC/DC (Mutt Lange with perfect old school engineering)
Nevermind - Nirvana (reminds us how good a LIVE band can sound)
Blood Sugar Sex Magick - RHCP (amazing drum sounds with amazing playing - apparently the band didn't change amp settings once, and got all sounds using their fingers)
Hey Ya - Outkast (how the hell did they come up with this)
Best Of - Fleetwood Mac (LIndsay Buckingham is one of the most creative producers and songwriters ever)

and of course ...

Revolver - The Beatles (pretty much the beginning of recording history in my opinion)

I love music that, despite (or maybe because of), it's sheer balls and originality, becomes massively successful.

pr0gr4m Tue, 10/11/2005 - 11:33

Check out this thread as well...similar topic

(Dead Link Removed)

M4p and MP3 files are compressed and not really good reference sources for listening to audio. You are likely to loose a lot of the nuances from the recording when converting songs from their original format to one of these compressed formats.

Angstaroo Tue, 10/11/2005 - 16:08

baslotto wrote:
- Variety of instruments and their tones
- Dynamic groove of the whole song/mix
- Progression of "hidden" sounds that make the mix being INTERESTING through out the whole development of the mix
- Good individual sounds (i.e. "I like the drums there and the vocals here")

I'd like to have a good list of songs or albums to buy so I can train my brain for interesting mixes.

Bas.

Maroon 5 - Songs for Jane (Pop/rock/R&B): Really simple, clean production. Great sounding pop/R&B record with rock band instruments.

I Mother Earth - The Quicksilver Meat Dream (Rock/Experimental): Produced and engineered by the amazing David Bottrill, this album is like a three dimensional version of Tool's Aenima.

Toy Matinee (Pop)- An old favorite from 1989, and stylistically was even kind of dated then.. but with three excellent producers behind the desk (Bill Bottrell produced, Kevin Gilbert and Patrick Leonard were the main writers and performers), and brilliant musicians such as Guy Pratt, Tim Pierce and Brian MacLeod involved.. just amazing.

..and if you can only get one, get this album:

Jellyfish - Spilt Milk (Rock/Pop): Essentially produced by four people, Albhy Galuten, Jack Joseph Puig, Andy Sturmer, and Roger Manning, this is quite simply a production masterpiece by two of the premier pop songwriters of our time, and I'm not even close to exaggerating. If you haven't heard Spilt Milk, you just haven't heard.

anonymous Wed, 10/12/2005 - 12:39

I'm a huge fan of the Earlimart album Treble and Tremble...there's a lot of manipulation of sounds on there, but it's done in a way that makes the mixes gel together beautifully.
Bonnie Prince Billy's Master and Everyone is probably the best example of space in a mix that I can think of, though Neil Young's Harvest is pretty damned good, too.
Hum's album You'd Prefer an Astronaut is perfect in terms of huge guitars.
My favorite mix, though, is probably the Beach Boys song Let 'Em Run Wild.

CoyoteTrax Wed, 10/12/2005 - 15:13

Some of these may have already been listed:

Queensryche - Rage for Order and Empire (of course)
Alison Krause & Union Station (especially "Forget About It")
Page & Plant - Walking Into Clarksdale (a Steve Albini masterpiece)
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (of course)
Dido's last album. Great mix
Train - Train

anonymous Sat, 10/15/2005 - 05:45

Jellyfish - Spilt Milk (Rock/Pop): Essentially produced by four people, Albhy Galuten, Jack Joseph Puig, Andy Sturmer, and Roger Manning, this is quite simply a production masterpiece by two of the premier pop songwriters of our time, and I'm not even close to exaggerating. If you haven't heard Spilt Milk, you just haven't heard.

This is my #1, as well, and has been so since it came out.

I also dig:

XTC "Skylarking" (for everything)

Fiona Apple "When the Pawn...." (best drum record since Spilt Milk)

Jet "Get Born" (Amazing guitar and drum sounds, even if the band sucks)

Switchfoot "Nothing Is Sound" (my new favorite for CLA HUGE arena guitars, also see the new Green Day)

RHCP - "BSSM" (for vibe)

Elvis Costello "Blood and Chocolate" (for cool rock sounds with a live-but-tight feel - recorded through a PA)

[edit:] Also, Neil Finn's "Try Whistling This" for depth and 3D.

~id

anonymous Mon, 10/17/2005 - 06:52

God, yes! Spilt milk indeed is wonderful! one of my favourite albums ever!
Did you ever check out what andy sturmer is doing now? He's producing this superpopular japanese girlduo ; puffy amiyumi..
It's fun, but no jellyfish..The stuff roger manning is doing on his own also isnt that great..Maybe they should get back together again?
I never get tired of harpsichords and psychedelic ooohs and aaaahs..

Oh, and the best mix i've heard thusfar is a crow left of the murder by Incubus..
I think brendan o' brien is a sonic genius..
And I think he can already die happy after engineering and mixing Blood Sugar Sex Magic by the rhcp..

anonymous Tue, 10/18/2005 - 10:38

baslotto wrote:
What is your favourite song/album/engineer? Please consider these characteristics:

- Variety of instruments and their tones
- Dynamic groove of the whole song/mix
- Progression of "hidden" sounds that make the mix being INTERESTING through out the whole development of the mix
- Good individual sounds (i.e. "I like the drums there and the vocals here")

I'd like to have a good list of songs or albums to buy so I can train my brain for interesting mixes.

You should definately check out David Crowder Band's new album "A Collision." The creativity not only in the music, but the production as well, is amazing. The flow from song to song is done so perfectly that a distinctive mood and attitude is created along with the music. This album is more than songs on a plactic disc. Take a listen to it and you will see what I mean. Only one in a million bands (and producers as well) get this far. These guys definately made a great album. Just go get it and lemme know what you think. To each his own, I guess. :)

- Matt

anonymous Tue, 10/18/2005 - 21:04

Dave Jerden

producing for red hot chili peppers, janes addiction, alice in chains, offspring (ixnay and later i believe).

what really caught my attention was gone away from ixnay. i heard it and the first thing that caught me was 'HOLY SHIT the guitar really kicks on here'. its so clear, has tons of bite, and mixes perfectly with everything without sounding artificial. not only, but the drums are very clear, especially kick and snare. the song itself is awesome.

looking back, alice in chains also had some pretty clear sounding guitars in their albums, and red hot chili peppers is, well, who they are, they have a unique feel to their tone.

on other noteworthy mention, i dont know who the producer was, but finch's 'what it is to burn' album is nice too. whoever did it really captured the bands feel, and i love the mono guitar sounds in 'letters to you'. its creative and very sonically pleasing for breaks. in a nutshell before the chorus the song breaks down with a left panned guitar then hits into a really smooth chorus. drums are pretty clear too.

things i love about albums:
really thick distortion that can hold its own solo, but not lost in the mix
really clear up front sound, each instrument clearly heard but not seperated from the mix
damn good drums and a damn good drummer. solid clear kicks/snares. most important, cymbols with body. i love to hear the 'splash' in the hits and not just the 'sizzle'. nothing destroys a song more imo than a constant stream of 10k for cymbol hits.
and extra props for creative mixing without subtracting from the bands natural talent (as mentioned in finch, or stuff like violins laid under acoustic pieces)

took-the-red-pill Wed, 11/02/2005 - 21:40

Emmy Lou Harris-Wrecking ball-(another Daniel Lanois work. You either love him or hate him: "Hmm okay, this rule, and this one, and that one and this one...yes now we're going to take all of them and blow them to hell and see what happens")

Dave Matthews-Crash

Kate Bush-hounds of Love-(Speaking of blowing all the writing/mixing/vocal/instrmental rules straight to hell where they belong)

Geoffrey Oryema-Spirit(a Rupert Hine work. a must hear)

Those are pretty much my desert island picks as well I think.

I'm out
Keith

anonymous Thu, 11/03/2005 - 02:00

Surprisingly one of my favourites is Bob Dylan 'Oh Mercy' Dylan's albums usually sound really ropey but Daniel Lanois produced that one and it's lovely, same for the stuff he produced for U2.

Mark Knopfler 'Sailing to Philadelphia' was a beautifully recorded and mixed album. Everything sounds like it 'should' sound. Brothers in Arms aswell, the song 'Mans to strong', how's that for dynamics!!

I love the sound of the Fun Lovin' Criminals stuff, tight and clean but never sounds to over produced.

Rage Against The Machine 'Rage aginst the machine' punchy and in your face, great rock sound.

Eat Static 'Impant' for electronic stuff, a beutifull envolving album with so much clarity and fantastic use of panning.

Van Morrison 'Astral Weeks' so organic.

Creedence Clearwater Revival, all six albums. One of the tightest and in my opinion the best rock and roll band ever. No frills just honest representations of a fantastic live band playing live.

Penguin Cafe Orchestra, all their albums just sound so 'right'

Any albums that capture the personality of the artist and the songs just right really.

anonymous Fri, 01/13/2006 - 17:47

Primus - Frizzle Fry

Tool - Enema

Boston - Boston

Frederick Fennell/Cleveland Symphonic Winds - Holst Suite No.1 in E Flat. Holst Suite No. 2 in F. Handel Royal Fireworks Music. Bach Fantasia in G. (possibly the best classical recording ever).

Green Day - Dookie

Oingo Boingo - Alive (best live studio album)

Michael Jackson - Thriller (yes, he's a freak. But this album is the bomb.)

Santana - Supernatural

Led Zeppelin - IV

AC/DC - Back in Black

Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet

Steve Miller Band - Greatest Hits 74-78

Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever

And of course...

Spinal Tap - This Is Spinal Tap

JWL Sun, 02/26/2006 - 20:02

"The Invisible Man," first track on Marillion's most recent album, Marbles, (from 2004) mixed by Dave Meegan. Dynamic, groovy, lots of layers to a coherent sound. The way the acoustic guitar drives the groove rocks my world. The keyboards and the guitars play really well off each other, and it's easily the best use of the AdrenaLinn I've yet heard....

ouzo77 Mon, 02/27/2006 - 02:31

listen to toto's "tambu" and "mindfields". great sound. very open and transparent but powerful!
for hidden sounds you should definitely check kip winger's "songs from the ocean floor". there's so much going on in the background without disturbing the songs at all. also the songwriting and performance are really great. one of my favorites. that's a headphone album!
for more electronic sound i love chroma key's "you go now". although almost completely electronic, this record is more organic and breathing than most acoustic recordings i know. also lots of hidden sounds and one of my favorites!
these are the ones i could think of right now and are definitely worth checking not only because of the sound.

anonymous Mon, 02/27/2006 - 02:38

another vote for switchfoot - nothing is sound. theres just something about it
old metallica... ride the lightning, master of puppets, metallica, just love the vocal and the guitar sounds and how they go together
dream theater
liquid tension experiment - liquid tension experiment
a perfect circle. DYNAMIC RANGE. enough said

twon

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