Post a controversial music opinion

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.”

Phil Collins is a national treasure and everyone should quit being a prick about him.

Which nation?

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

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

Prodigy is better than nas

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

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

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.

ok just for posterity's sake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDAMC9w-oL8

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

Sugar >>> Husker Du

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.

I listen to more Mould solo than Sugar or HD these days

I like Copper Blue and Land Speed Record

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, 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.

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

*actual controversial opinion alert*

Husker Du is boring, their records sound bad, and all the songwriting about their pwecious hurt feewings is really tiresome

are you talking about the same band

i could not name a single husker du song about pwecious hurt feewings

Agreed. 'Reoccurring Dreams' is alright, though.

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

i could not name a single husker du song about pwecious hurt feewings

lol ok, off the top of my head from when I was really into them in high school

Makes No Sense at All
Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely
Too Far Down
Standing in the Rain

just all these songs about being aggrieved at other people

idk man i listen to a lot of emo, husker du don't particularly rate in that department for me

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

it can't all be Katrina and the Waves, man

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

Husker Du is boring, their records sound bad, and all the songwriting about their pwecious hurt feewings is really tiresome

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.

it's fine not to like it, but "pwecious feewlings" is some retrograde garbage

Feewings are indeed pwecious tho

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.

oooh ok so this is a newfound disgust for their emotional songs
that's somewhat controversial -- i'll give you that
understandable 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.

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.

it's fine not to like it, but "pwecious feewlings" is some retrograde garbage

otm

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.

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.

we got some dudes moving in new furniture in the office today and one of them just proclaimed "bob dylan absolutely sucks"

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."

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

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuJzSTNDUGI

*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, October 23, 2018 10:50 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is a really poor take on Grant Hart's songwriting

I feel like people are just talking about Bob here mostly

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, 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.

HD's most nakedly political song instead of subtler ones like "Pink Turns to Blue" is "Turn on the News" -- hardly 'just don't care'

true, and those are both Grant songs. as always Bob's songs and style are what come up when talking about HD. but even "In a Free Land" isn't really a 'fuck it' political song, it's as strident as "Turn on the News."

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.
they are not feelings that I personally relate to as an adult either; still, not relating to them as an adult does not render them dismissable entirely with a wave of the hand from someone with the benefit of hindsight. unwarranted harshness isn't controversial so much as just kind of mean? why punch down on your teen self? i have more compassion for my teen self now than i did as a teen.

"growing out of music" = dud

idk there aren't any bands or albums or songs that I loved as a kid that I don't still like. I may not listen to N*SYNC or The Decemberists anymore, but when I do revisit something like Picaresque or "Bye Bye Bye" I enjoy it.

I don't understand "relating to music." I guess it's happened to me a few times.

idk the whole vibe of HD (and yes this is mostly Mould) is being angry at other people on a personal level, it's just not a headspace I care to be in. it's not interesting to me.