Radiohead - The King of Limbs

httt was their "lets rush thru this shit to get out of our label contract asap" record so that makes some sense

I actually love how TKOL sounds, can’t agree with HTTT hate how thin and crisp everything sounds in that one.

Probably my least favorite RH album based on sound alone.

That’s the actual album of theirs that should have been cut to 8 songs.

Everyone has their own preferred 8-track version of httt and they all rule in different ways

was recently reading a critique of Godrich on rateyourmusic.com on Parquet Courts' "Wide AwAAAAAAAAAKE!" (which he had nothing to do with) that got me trying to put my finger on what it is with Godrich's production sometimes.... but i dunno i think it might be more that the band eventually comes up with more interesting arrangements (e.g. how "The Gloaming" has evolved live). I'm not sure how to discuss production in depth. I guess my next step might be seeing how the hoffman dudes describe it. ANyway, for your entertainment:

When working on Room on Fire, the Strokes had originally worked with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, but scrapped it, deeming his production as "soulless." It's funny: hardly a bastion of soul themselves or known for their smarts, and yet the Strokes were able to see something that most people wouldn't catch up on for years (still haven't figured out): Nigel Godrich's whistle-clean, digital-doodad production seems to only work for Radiohead, and that sound has been just as influential on the indie-alternative scene of the 2000s as Radiohead themselves. No proof better than Danger Mouse, who followed closely in Godrich's footsteps.

God, what a hack. Brian Burton made his name on The Grey Album, a smart-stupid mash-up between Jay-Z's The Black Album and the Beatles' The White Album that frankly no one has heard more than twice, and then was somehow everywhere after: Gorillaz, Beck (notably, after Beck worked with Godrich), Sparklehorse, Broken Bells, Gnarls Barkley (with Godrich). And it was the same shit each and every time: clean and barren and soulless and not dangerous at all. Safety Mouse! He's the anti-Midas. All of it very much of its time, which would be fine except he's somehow still around producing songs for bigger names.

httt was their "lets rush thru this shit to get out of our label contract asap" record so that makes some sense

pitchfork had called it the "thom got beat up in the street and wrote this" record which might also make some sense.... they deleted the review tho, weird

For better or for worse Nigel is the sixth member of Radiohead. Not counting Pablo Honey and the random collaborations only The Bends and the Suspiria OST were not produced by him and he was still somewhat involved in those two.

I think his style is usually very “dry” but I can’t imagine another producer clicking as well with their vision OKC-onwards.

I think Nigel works for “soul-less” albums like Kid A or Amnesiac, albums like HTTT or In Rainbows I think would have been interesting to hear with someone else.

In Rainbows is my fave, Thief my least, so I'm really not sure how to even talk about this. Is dry production like when you stuff the kick drum with towels?

I feel more like we're talking about the degree to which the songs were fleshed out on the records.

I think Nigel works for “soul-less” albums like Kid A or Amnesiac, albums like HTTT or In Rainbows I think would have been interesting to hear with someone else.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Sunday, June 20, 2021 5:51 PM

except in rainbows sounds amazing.

Like what the heck were the Strokes looking for from him?

gravitas

orchestral arrangement for "meet me in the bathroom"

julian casablancas wanted to practice his english accents for jokes

"12:51 (ondes martenot outtakes)"

here for it

first In Rainbows sessions were with Spike Stent.. Wonder what they were looking for

iirc even that was just because nigel was busy with something else at the time

I agree that In Rainbows sounds amazing… just saying it would have been interesting to hear it under a “warmer” producer. Maybe it would have been for the worse, we will never know.

Everyone has their own definition of what “dry” or “wet” in production means I guess. Iirc “dry” usually means very clean on effects and recorded without reverb or echo in the room and “wet” is the opposite.

I’m aware Radiohead’s songs are filled with effects but imho they sound “dry” because it’s usually very clear, specially on the first segments on their songs. Radiohead seem to love doing buildups for most of the song and releasing tension in the last minute - They’ve been doing it since “Creep” and refining it ever since - They need that “dry” cleaner sound otherwise when you keep adding layers later on it’s will sound way too saturated and they’ll end up sounding like a shoegaze band.

I can see why the Strokes thought they didn’t make a good match with Nigel. They tend to play very straight songs that can be translated live effortlessly, you need a “wet” sound if you’re not adding layers /as the song advances.

Maybe I’m not making sense. It’s been an exhausting day.

What I mean is that the strokes will make a song structure that goes:

Intro: vocals and lead guitar
Verse: enters bass and drums
Chorus: enter second guitar

And Radiohead will be more like

Intro: electronic drum loop and vocals
Verse: enter guitar 1 and some ambient effect
Verse 2: enter bass, guitar 2 and drums
Chorus: drop 1 of those and add a spooky moog
Bridge: leave random 3 of the above of your choice
Chorus 2: bring everything back but add the london symphony orchestra and start screaming

Maybe I'm in the minority for generally liking Godrich's production. Even on Terror Twilight. Always find it really warm and sparkly

Love Pavement and many of Godrich's productions with Radiohead, but Terror Twilight does nothing for me

It's just interesting to think about stuff like why the Strokes would've wanted to work with him, then. And in the end they put out the famously same-as-their-debut sounding "Room On Fire"... but in my memory it had a much bigger range of sounds than their first.

"i was thinking of doing this keyboard thing ..." "Get Radiohead's guy on the phone!"

I actually love how TKOL sounds, can’t agree with HTTT hate how thin and crisp everything sounds in that one.

Weird, to me HttT sounds the most like a big modern rock album to me...lots of bass, very compressed, some bigger drum sounds. I really like how it sounds, but it feels like they reacted against it on IR (lots of very dry '70s type drum sounds, like not a lot of room sound or compression-for-effect, with the exception of certain tunes or moments).

not a lot of room sound

I think this is a production problem with both IR and TKOL, though it's more pronounced on the latter. They're both quite "airless" sounding to my ears and it drives me a little nuts. Even on the most outre Kid A/Amnesiac tracks there's a sense of space which grounds the music and makes it feel "live." I think they rectified this a little bit on AMSP. I don't know what exact production techniques contribute to this besides reverb and mixing, but it's interesting to me how different their recordings sound from album to album.

Yeah, I always think of the drum sound on IR as being super home record-y and dry, but I guess it leaves room for the lush Ondes & string parts, and the guitars.

But then there's Reckoner, the only one with really bold choices on the drum sound (very compressed and roomy with the drum kit all on the right channel, and that incredibly recorded + verb-ed out tambourine in the left).

When I think of Terror Twilight, I think of The Hexx and how spacey and trippy it sounds. I wouldn't change the production on that at all.