[Pibborando]

I posted this on another forum, but figured this would be a more appropriate place.

This isn't so much a request in a certain genre or style, but rather I'm looking for music that is exceptionally well produced/mastered. Thanks to the loudness war, more and more albums are getting compressed to all hell and sound like ****. I've included an example of both good and bad:

On top is Mr. Bungle's "Quote Unquote" (1991) and on the bottom is Queens of the Stone Age's "Go With the Flow " (2002). You can see that in QU, the full dynamic range is used, but there are actually peaks and valleys, as well as marked changed in intensity. In contrast, GwtF looks like a solid brick of sound. It's pretty much at 100% intensity for the whole song with absolutely no changes in dynamics. This makes GwtF sound very flat while QU is actually sonically engaging. Not just that, but if you zoom in on the waveform of GwtF, you'll see clipping all over the place.

Don't get me wrong, I love QotS but dear GOD that mastering is atrocious. And unfortunately, it's pretty much the norm for music these days.

I have very few modern albums with good mastering and I'd like to change that. Some artists that I listen to with recent albums that aren't (too) butchered are Amon Tobin, Architecture in Helsinki, The Books, Explosions in the Sky, GY!BE, Iron And Wine, Porcupine Tree, Shpongle, Sigur Ros, Tortoise, TV On The Radio and Wilco.

I'm open to pretty much any genre, so feel free.

I'd like for this thread to be a place to share any work you feel hasn't been destroyed in the modern mixing board. It will also give people a chance to try out music they otherwise wouldn't have heard of or thought they'd be interested in before.

 

[rincewind]

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f9/aud...albums-250396/

 

[Pibborando]

Aww beaten to the punch as always.

edit: Oh hey, I've posted in that thread. It's been a while.

 

[Dubwiser]

First ones that i come to think about are both Burial's albums(self titled and Untrue) and J Dilla's Donuts. Electronic music though(finest), dunno if you like the genre.
Also, Talking Heads' Remain In Light and Joanna Newsom's Ys. My Bloody Valentine's Loveless also has an awesome production, but not in the clean-sound terms, heh.

 

[Pibborando]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dubwiser /img/forum/go_quote.gif Burial's albums(self titled and Untrue) ... My Bloody Valentine's Loveless

Have and love those. I'll check out the others.

 

[goldenratiophi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dubwiser /img/forum/go_quote.gif First ones that i come to think about are both Burial's albums(self titled and Untrue) and J Dilla's Donuts. Electronic music though(finest), dunno if you like the genre. Also, Talking Heads' Remain In Light and Joanna Newsom's Ys. My Bloody Valentine's Loveless also has an awesome production, but not in the clean-sound terms, heh.

Agree with all of these, except Loveless is no where near audiophile quality

 

[Dubwiser]

Loveless wouldn't be the masterpiece that it is if not for Kevin Shield's studio work. It obviously isn't meant to be audiophile music.