ITT: Good Mixes.

[theguy77]

inspired by the "ITT: good remixes" thread (sorry to steal your thunder).

what are some albums you think are really well-produced/well-mixed? i personally love idiosyncratic/atmospheric production jobs.

caribou - andorra
william doyle - born in the USB
broken social scene - you forgot it in people
thrice - water EP
my bloody valentine - loveless

anything by chris walla, including death cab albums, since 2003
anything by nigel godrich, including radiohead from OK computer onwards
anything by dave fridmann, specifically the flaming lips' discography

EDIT: oh, and pedro the lion - control

[Chromefox]

Obligatory Neon Bible post.

[Javs]

If mine gets bumped off the front page....

[theguy77]

come on! anybody else a chris walla fan in this category? i listened to the decemberists' picaresque tonight and i think he did a BRILLIANT job with that record.

[inuewiwedem]

come on! anybody else a chris walla fan in this category? i listened to the decemberists' picaresque tonight and i think he did a BRILLIANT job with that record.
Great producer. He did a great job with his solo album, too.

and Holding Onto Hope - Of The Sea is really well produced.

[Cuddleworthy]

The National - Boxer

[chipdip18]

I'm a big fan of weird panning, so lots of love goes out to 60s and 70s music, but there are newer bands doing this sort of thing:
David Bowie - Low
The Beatles - Abbey Road
The Flying Burritos Band - The Gilded Palace of Sin
Spoon - Kill the Moonlight
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground - s/t


Here some albums with production that's fitting for the album:
- Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (let's face it, with polished production, it'd suck)
- The Olivia Tremor Control - Music from Unrealized...blah blah (new obsession, but i'm right)
- A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

Others:
- The National - Boxer
- Elliott Smith - XO
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A# Infinity

[j4callen]

My fav Walla production is for Tegan and Sara's "The Con." Some really cool sounds on that album.

I like Chip Dip's point about production that fits the band. I love Osker's "Idle Will Kill," The Kinison's "What Are You Listening To?" and Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago" for that reason.

Mixing, for me, is a hard thing to judge because you're never 100% sure who came up with the sounds/ideas for a particular spot in the song. Could have been the mixing engineer or producer or the band themselves.

My favorite sounding album of all time is Say Anthing's "Is a Real Boy" though. There's just so much stuff going on yet it doesn't ever feel too crowded. Very hard to pull something like that off.

[j4callen]

I'm a big fan of weird panning, so lots of love goes out to 60s and 70s music, but there are newer bands doing this sort of thing:

You should check out Ted Leo and the Pharmacists' "Hearts of Oak" The panning is whacky but somehow great.

[chipdip18]

Thanks for agreeing with my points. That's a key point in decided what kind of production is better than another. It's better when it's more fitting to the atmosphere conveyed, and the goal in how the music is displayed. For Emma, Forever Ago is a great example of that. And that's why lo-fi might not necessarily be worse production, or high end polished production might not be better.

[chipdip18]

You should check out Ted Leo and the Pharmacists' "Hearts of Oak" The panning is whacky but somehow great.

Got it and love it, i should have added it in.

[antayarocks]

Sullivan-Fire Away

[theguy77]

My favorite sounding album of all time is Say Anthing's "Is a Real Boy" though. There's just so much stuff going on yet it doesn't ever feel too crowded. Very hard to pull something like that off.

oh yeah, that album wouldnt be anywhere near what it is without tim o'heir's production. max is a douchebag and SA are a very overrated band so they get a lot of hate around here, but im first to admit that IARB is one of the most layered pop-punk albums out there.

as far as albums that have a LOT going on but dont feel too crowded, may i point you in the direction of the kingpin of them all: sufjan stevens - come on feel the illinoise. i am completely stunned by compositions like "the tallest man, the broadest shoulders", how well all those like 20 different instrument layers blend together. sufjan is a genius.