maxim wrote on Sat, 31 December 2005 18:36 |
hands up who thinks they can recognise an 'albini' record
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Lessee here... Just off the top of my head, here are some of the records I own that Steve recorded: Mclusky, Nina Nastasia, The Ex, Shorty, Uzeda, Don Caballero, Palace, The Jesus Lizard, The Oxbow, Federation X. And of course, Shellac. I'm sure there are others on the shelf, I just haven't looked.
I'm trying to think of what ties them all together. They're very natural-sounding records without excessive effects or processing applied to them. The studio as effect is de-emphasized. In short, they sound like bands playing music in a room. To imply that this is an aesthetic choice on his part is silly. Yeah, in the most literal sense it's a different way of doing things (or at least not the rock standard), and there are choices made in the execution, but that doesn't qualify it as a "signature sound".
And what's more, there are just as many other records on the shelf by different engineers that I could say the same about. The majority of jazz and classical records shoot for the same thing, and I own a lot of those. It's a good goal for any engineer.
Doesn't this debate get old after a while? I'm tired of arguing about the validity of Steve's approach, and don't understand why it's an issue to so many people. And the more I think about it, I don't really care to get why it's an issue. There are a lot more interesting things to talk about.