Steve Albini Letter to Nirvana

Steve Albini Letter to Nirvana Sept 29, 2013 4:54:41 GMT -6

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Post by jazznoise on Sept 29, 2013 4:54:41 GMT -6

Sept 28, 2013 23:41:51 GMT -6 @jordanvoth said:

scumbum and I are on the same page it seems.

I think Nevermind is straight forward and In Utero is overproduced.
It's not an ultra ironic, hardcore, against the grain for the sake of it sort of thing. I just feel on Nevermind it's a production that took a backseat to the songs and on In Utero we have a production that is certainly calling attention to itself, whether it's working for or against the songs is up to the listener. It's production is definitely hard to ignore and that's why this album sparks debates and lengthy discussions like this.

It's a fair point, but is the starkness of it just because hearing a set of recordings done this way is unusual to you? We're used to things being more processed. Overproduced, I'm not sure, if you find the lack of editing and close mic'ing with artificial ambience distracting then I guess fair enough. But I thought pretentious was probably misappropriation - that's a word you hear used to describe 4'33" or Metal Machine Music, not 12 rock songs with some roomy ambience.

There's Multitracks available of In Bloom and Very Ape, if you can find them it's an interesting way to take apart the recordings from the inside. You've got 3 vocal mics of increasing distance on Kurt on Very Ape, and loads of guitar mics, but on In Bloom it's all about doubling. Also, the guitar solo has a crazy amount of delay on it. Kind of never spotted it until I opened the mults.