Late 70s punks were trying to be controversial tbf.
I love the recording and engineering of Steely Dan's records myself btw.
― The nexus of the crisis (Sund4r), Monday, 22 October 2018 01:28 (five years ago) link
a lot of soca is shit
― marcos, Monday, 22 October 2018 01:33 (five years ago) link
Gaucho: engineered by Spot at Total Access Studio, CA
― Buckaroo Can't Fail (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 22 October 2018 01:34 (five years ago) link
my original blues post was just a reaction to like 3x/week electric blues slots on local college radio and one of them would be just fine but 3 or so? fuck that, why is there so much electric blues on local cle radio
― marcos, Monday, 22 October 2018 01:36 (five years ago) link
I’ll say he same about death metal, no reason more than one prime a lot needs to go to that nonsense
not gonna look it up now but I prob made that original post on a Thursday night when one of the two best stations in town plays death metal and the other plays electric blues
― marcos, Monday, 22 October 2018 01:39 (five years ago) link
“prime a lot” should be “prime slot”
The irony of the reputation Steely Dan records have for engineering standards is that Katy Lied was recorded with a faulty noise reduction unit (cymbals decay too fast, attacks/impacts are generally dulled, etc.). After the exacting Dan realized this, they were all, “Eh, whatever, put it out anyway.”
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 22 October 2018 02:01 (five years ago) link
Phil Collins is a national treasure and everyone should quit being a prick about him.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Monday, 22 October 2018 17:37 (five years ago) link
Which nation?
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 22 October 2018 17:38 (five years ago) link
holy shit just the thought of Spot recording Gaucho gave me a minor panic attack, at the same time I desperately want to hear that version
― flappy bird, Monday, 22 October 2018 18:46 (five years ago) link
If anything, they seem like the audiophile height of naturalistic recording and engineering, as far as commercial pop music goes - this might be what turns the haters off.
― The nexus of the crisis (Sund4r)
this is definitely true for Aja but Gaucho sounds hermetically sealed & antiseptic. it's the perfect music for a doctor's office waiting room. I love both though. but yeah this is a very common discussion, talking about Steely Dan really is the Godwin's Law of ILM.
lemme think of something spicy
― flappy bird, Monday, 22 October 2018 18:49 (five years ago) link
Prodigy is better than nas
― Vapor waif (uptown churl), Monday, 22 October 2018 19:48 (five years ago) link
A lot of the records Spot did that sound "bad" according to ppl would sound a lot worse if they sounded "better" (particularly Huskers)
also I think he takes a lot of heat for recording bands that 1) had shitty equipment 2) weren't really studio ready 3) were gacked on coke/pills/weed/etc 4) having to do whole albums in one 48 hour marathon session
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 22 October 2018 20:03 (five years ago) link
and that thin, crystalline sound was something Mould was after. it's not a defect. I agree that Flip Your Wig, my favorite HD record, has some awful production, particularly the gated reverb on the drums. But the songs are strong enough and the guitars sound pretty good that it doesn't bother me that much. they also all sound better on vinyl, those digital/CD transfers are shit.
I just wish they could've gotten some production that captured the immensity of their live sound circa '83-'85, particularly the guitars, which sound so contained and one dimensional compared to the massive, swirling sound in something like this audience video. I wish there was a version of Flip Your Wig that had the production style of Copper Blue, or Nevermind or something.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1fBMtaVd9s
― flappy bird, Monday, 22 October 2018 23:46 (five years ago) link
and actually they did capture that insane beautiful guitar sound very early on with "In a Free Land." so bracing, still one of the most thrilling songs I've ever heard.
― flappy bird, Monday, 22 October 2018 23:51 (five years ago) link
ok just for posterity's sake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDAMC9w-oL8
― flappy bird, Monday, 22 October 2018 23:53 (five years ago) link
The Impaler record Mould produced around that time sounds really thin, I def agree that's what he wanted
I suppose Sugar is him doing that sound in a more professional/slick way
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 02:38 (five years ago) link
Sugar >>> Husker Du
― I like queer. You like queer, senator? (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 02:50 (five years ago) link
I would have loved to hear Husker Du recorded with just some good amps (actually getting to hear the sound of Norton's bass) and a nice warm drum sound.
― timellison, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 02:59 (five years ago) link
I listen to more Mould solo than Sugar or HD these days
― the dutiful and the banned (rip van wanko), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 03:06 (five years ago) link
I like Copper Blue and Land Speed Record
― fgti is for (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 03:09 (five years ago) link
― marcos, Sunday, October 21, 2018 9:36 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Yeah, I hate that. WCSB is especially bad weekday mornings when going to work: Blues on Monday, Ray Carr and his not-good-enough-for-commercial-radio-morning-show on Tuesday, blues AGAIN on Wednesday, and metal on Thursday. Argh.
― Plinka Trinka Banga Tink (Eliza D.), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 15:36 (five years ago) link
totally! have to say though despite some minor gripes WCSB and WRUW are really two of the best college radio stations i’ve heard in any city. we are lucky to have them
― marcos, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 15:47 (five years ago) link
*actual controversial opinion alert*
Husker Du is boring, their records sound bad, and all the songwriting about their pwecious hurt feewings is really tiresome
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 15:50 (five years ago) link
are you talking about the same band
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 15:51 (five years ago) link
i could not name a single husker du song about pwecious hurt feewings
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 15:52 (five years ago) link
Agreed. 'Reoccurring Dreams' is alright, though.
― pomenitul, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 15:53 (five years ago) link
I don't really like Husker Du either but I really like those two records! I remember when Stereogum posted their "every HD/Sugar/BM/etc. ranked" list and Land Speed Record wasn't even considered worth including I was.. very surprised! I love that thing
― fgti is for (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:00 (five years ago) link
lol ok, off the top of my head from when I was really into them in high school
Makes No Sense at AllDon't Want to Know if You Are LonelyToo Far DownStanding in the Rain
just all these songs about being aggrieved at other people
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:22 (five years ago) link
idk man i listen to a lot of emo, husker du don't particularly rate in that department for me
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:23 (five years ago) link
Yeah, I love Husker Du but it doesn't seem controversial to me that they sang about their hurt feelings. "I'll Never Forget You" is another one off the top of my head. xp
― The nexus of the crisis (Sund4r), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:24 (five years ago) link
it can't all be Katrina and the Waves, man
― omar little, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:24 (five years ago) link
i loved husker du because i too was a punk who had hurt feelings and loved the '60s guess it's cool for you that you didn't relate but i did
sund4r otm
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:29 (five years ago) link
With this 100%. I tried to like them in high school, and just couldn't connect with it at all. From a purely sonic perspective, I liked Mould's Black Sheets of Rain a little, but that's the only record of his that's ever done it for me.
― grawlix (unperson), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:32 (five years ago) link
it's fine not to like it, but "pwecious feewlings" is some retrograde garbage
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:33 (five years ago) link
Feewings are indeed pwecious tho
― fgti is for (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:36 (five years ago) link
guess it's cool for you that you didn't relate but i did
two of my favorite bands in high school were Husker Du and REM. I grew out of it I guess cuz now I have zero interest in either. Both just feel really monotonous.
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:39 (five years ago) link
oooh ok so this is a newfound disgust for their emotional songsthat's somewhat controversial -- i'll give you thatunderstandable too but i don't think it's fair to impugn the emotions of the young from the vantage point of the old
i recently tried to listen to some REM songs and it was still not something i would do on a regular basis. i get it though.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:42 (five years ago) link
i loved husker du because i too was a punk who had hurt feelings and loved the '60s
Yeah, this was my experience, too.
But even though Mould's solo records went over similar themes, I could never get into them: they just sounded kind of dull and flat, with none of the airplane-without-wings excitement (aka, Grant Hart) of HD.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:43 (five years ago) link
otm
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:44 (five years ago) link
understandable too but i don't think it's fair to impugn the emotions of the young from the vantage point of the old
ok granted I was being a bit harsh, but really at this point in my life those just aren't feelings I have or relate to, so the music doesn't serve much purpose except to remind me of how I felt when I was 16 and well, why wallow in that. But yeah as an adult I find myself less drawn into songs that focus on shitty relationships or being resentful about what other people think of me or whatever because those are just not a part of my life. I am lucky enough to have a very stable relationship, and am just not involved in any kind of emotional soap opera with my peers that would cause me any anxiety.
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 16:54 (five years ago) link
Even when I was young HD came off too gloomy and dour for me, much uncertainty about life, lots of lyrics about "just don't know" and "just don't care" that were certainly part of the general punk rock worldview, but just not my thing.
― Freddy "Boom Boom" QAnon (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 17:19 (five years ago) link
we got some dudes moving in new furniture in the office today and one of them just proclaimed "bob dylan absolutely sucks"
― marcos, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 17:25 (five years ago) link
you could apply 'precious feelings being hurt' to like 90% of music. Plastic Ono Band? also Husker Du hardly ever moped (they have their moments - "Hardly Getting Over It"), but it's more aimless angst and vague political fury like "In a Free Land" or "Divide and Conquer" or "Something I Learned Today."
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 17:30 (five years ago) link
Why do people give a shit about Husker Dus lyrics
It’s how they were singing them and the melody behind it
If the latter are strong enough I don’t care how self-absorbed they scan
― Master of Treacle, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 17:31 (five years ago) link
Even back when hurt feelings were my bread and butter I didn't care for them. But then again, I never paid attention to their lyrics either.
― pomenitul, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 17:35 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuJzSTNDUGI
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 17:44 (five years ago) link
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, October 23, 2018 10:50 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This is a really poor take on Grant Hart's songwriting
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 17:52 (five years ago) link
I feel like people are just talking about Bob here mostly
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 17:53 (five years ago) link
Why do people give a shit about Husker Dus lyricsIt’s how they were singing them and the melody behind itIf the latter are strong enough I don’t care how self-absorbed they scan― Master of Treacle, Tuesday, October 23, 2018 1:31 PM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Master of Treacle, Tuesday, October 23, 2018 1:31 PM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I agree melody and delivery can overpower crap lyrics, but I give a shit about HD lyrics because they're often great for what they are - pissed off aimless teenage angst. "Got nothing to do, got nothing to say / Everything is so fucked up I guess we like it that way / Everything falls apart." that's fucking great.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 18:00 (five years ago) link