Are there ANY plans to reissue Husker Du?

Norman Records are indeed selling the vinyl in the UK - £79 delivered which isn't too harsh given the shit nature of the pound vs dollar

Confession: I've never had a problem with the way my Husker Du discs sounded. I remember reading Christgau's reviews of the albums, and even he would bring up the bad production, but it's always been exactly what I wanted from the band. I even like the drum sound, which I don't think is gated reverb. It's something a lot more eccentric.

I cant imagine the albums sounding any other way. If they had been more polished I doubt we would like them as much.

totes agree with those 2 posts

MoB sounded great on Vs. in part because Rick Harte (Ace of Hearts) was Ginn's exact opposite, and the mensch of Boston label owners. Everything done right.

I've listened to the NPR streaming, and it feels like the remasters have done the standard thing—fill in the bass to make the sound fuller. (And also to bring everything up to current loudness standards, of course, which is fine.) But I'm not sure a fuller Husker Du is always a better Husker Du. You can subtly take the edge off the sound and make it a touch sluggish, too. It'll probably sound great on cheap headphones, though, which is too frequently the target of remastering nowadays.

Thing is I don't think it's lack of polish that's the problem with the production on Husker Du records. There are loads of punk/hardcore records with way cruddier lo-fi production than Husker Du/other SST records from that time that still manage to sound good. I think it's the mixing? Maybe just a bit of EQ-ing would make them better, I dunno. Obviously this is a taste thing as well, I'm used to "raw" punk production and generally dislike "slick" production on punk records.

Mind you the only Husker Du I have on vinyl is Flip Your Wig, the rest is all on CD, so it could be the bad CD transfer or whatever.

Would also say my issues with Husker Du production mostly go away if you crank it loud enough!

Pretty fair to say, I think, that Copper Blue or maybe Beaster is what HD might have sounded like with traditional "good" production, but that would not have worked well. It needs that jagged in the red feel. There's a reason they call it stun guitar.

Wait what are blue oyster cult doing in the huskers thread???

Seriously though, does anyone have a line on some decent huskers vinyl rips? In my original fandom I had them all on cassette, and those were replaced by CDs. I never heard them on vinyl... and people's description intrigues me.

I love those first two Sugar records so much

The bass on Zen Arcade / NDR sounds like it went through a Laney 'Klipp' combo with the mega-compression button pushed in. It's truly horrible. With a better bass sound the whole thing would improve no end, but I guess that was the sound they were after (or maybe they just didn't know any better).

I really don't blame spot particularly. Bob Moulds guitar sound, there is no way to better capture anything that loud and in the red. there is just no space in it at all.

Where was I just reading about the Minutemen guitar approach? That D Boon would just turn the treble all the way up on his amp, and turn the bass all the way down, then crank it?

the MP3s sound great, I just skipped around a bit last night

I also got an email confirmation

They tweeted last nite they had some overrun of the Extra Circus 7 inch...so I ordered the 3CD + 7 inch, order went through, we'll see

Where was I just reading about the Minutemen guitar approach? That D Boon would just turn the treble all the way up on his amp, and turn the bass all the way down, then crank it?

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, September 8, 2017 10:03 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

And he was using a Tele, so OUCH

"Can't See You Anymore" is the best "Yeah!!! Just gotta have sex!" so funny

I also can't believe I'm listening to this and waiting for my vinyl of Neil Young Hitchhiker to arrive

haha otm

Where was I just reading about the Minutemen guitar approach? That D Boon would just turn the treble all the way up on his amp, and turn the bass all the way down, then crank it?

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, September 8, 2017 10:03 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

They considered guitar and bass to be separate, sovereign states with no over lap so...yeah

Wish I woulda bought that Statues Record Store Day a couple years ago, those songs are great

I think all four of the tracks from that double 7" are on this new box, fwiw

oh yeah i meant i'm hearing them and they are great! wish i woulda sprung for it back then just to have the 7 inch

i had it in my hand then put it down to buy something else

it's funny how some of this stuff puts lie to the narrative that they started out as wild ass hardcore kids that couldn't play and eventually developed songwriting chop

like "Writer's Cramp" in particular is a well crafted and well played little power pop/punk number that's far from hardcore

totally otm, they began as a post-punk band

People are talking about the thin, razor-in-the-red, sheet metal roar of Mould's guitar & the lack of bass & low-end as if they're mutually exclusive. Listen to the Zen Arcade rehearsals I posted upthread, it's not an either/or, you can have both! and it sounds glorious

Industrial Grocery Store is a great pop number

FWIW I still don't have a confirmation email from Numero yet, but I just checked my site account and the item field is finally filled in with what I ordered - and my download is available (half a GB!) - so that's a relief. Shame it took them three-plus days to fix it. And if it were me, I would have more regularly piped up with a 'sorry things got messed up, we're working on it' message.

Reports coming in that Grant Hart has passed away.

so sad. bob might've been a more consistent songwriter, but grant's songs were my favourites. saw him play solo a decade or so ago, and he was just incandescent. that second nova mob album was sorely overlooked, too.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck

In actual tears. So long grant :(

Whoa, unexpected.

Thread title needs modification..

Just when I was wondering if a reunion could be a possibility..

RIP - 56 is way too young

Thanks, Grant, for always having a kind word and a smile for teenage me whenever we bumped into each other. Also for being one of the first gay guys I ever met, which was an important role to play in the lives of Minneapolis teen punks and wavers trying to escape the suburban mindset. Thanks for playing for us (and with us). RIP; you were a lovely man.

Aw man, RIP Grant.

this is seriously making me so sad. 56?!

I'm a mess tbh

Did you ever hug him, LL? I definitely remember us discussing the idea of you hugging him at a show.

I did!! The pics are bad but I did give him an earnest hug, the most sincere kind of hug you can give a person.

what the fucking fuck

thanks for that post, suzy

xpost oh i'm glad to hear that. That feels consoling to know.

this was the first of 4 or 5 shows i saw; they did "Ticket to Ride"

http://www.thirdav.com/hd_discog/05_live_audio.html#08May1985

Good God, that setlist is incredible

No! Awful. RIP Grant.

other thread for reference, not because of your post cuz this is indeed awful and is hitting me in several different ways:

RIP Grant Hart

this is a lovely thing on numero's insta
https://instagram.com/p/BZL8M3qhwEH/