Brian is right in almost everything there...
and I think because he gets to remix so many classic recordings, he KNOWS that the sound is there on the tape more often than not.
It doesn't take genius mixing.
mixing, as a concept is overrated, although i'm always happy to do it for way too much money.
(as my friend Will Lee says "it would be my financial pleasure...")
on the Mutt thing (again), I think he was very influenced by Chapman (at least he told Mike that, once, and it makes sense)
He can pay attention to the small details BECAUSE he has the big picture so etched into his brain.
That's the OPPOSITE of the kind of compulsive, A-D-D, thing where the little things become so distracting that you cannot get BY them and on to the big picture.
It's always a good idea to remind yourself who you are making the records for.
Sure, it's for you, but it's MORE for the audience who really couldn't care less about the little noise in bar 326 or the way the high hat sounds.
where I disagree with Brian is that I think Mutt still makes exceptional records.
Always classy, incredibly clear and effective... not always of music that I love, but always VERY well made.
an interesting Steely Dan aside (an oxymoron, I know) is that despite the "recording on 24 compressors" remark, Fagen did an interview recently where he extolled the virtues of analogue sound and said it was really Becker and Nichols who were the anal digital guys. He and Elliot liked the analogue.
who knew?
perhaps he's trying to put the anal back in analogue.