[sno1man]

Has anyone bought/heard this yet. I bought it off itunes this week and it's driving me nuts.

It is horribly distorted sounding. It's possible it's deliberate, since some of the guitars are really cranked. But like in Modern Girl (track 5) harmonica, vocals everything is heavily clipped.

I'd go by the CD if I though it was better, but I'm having trouble even listening to the album right now.

 

[recstar24]

bought it last night as well, its a little better than the compressed itunes stuff, but its kind of harsh sounding and it clips a good amount, pretty good tunes though, can't listen with the rs-1's its too in my face, the senns help out a bit

 

[Davey]

Ya know, I love Sleater-Kinney and have all their albums since Dig Me Out and was kind of looking forward to this one until I heard Dave Fridmann was producing. He's just gone way over the top lately and I think wrecked a lot of good records with the huge amounts of compression he's been using. Sad, because I do really like the production of Flaming Lips and Wheat and all the rest. It's just that maximizing that I hate. I listened to a mp3 of Entertain from the album and it might be the loudest one I've ever heard. Real crappy sound. Didn't even listen to the whole thing because it sounded so bad. Made me reconsider. Even the indie zines that are normally apathetic to sound quality have commented on the "meters in the red" sound. They still give it 5 stars, but ....

Oh well, I'd like to support them because they are such a good band, but ya gotta draw the line someplace and I think this is my place.

 

[sno1man]

I'm a fan from a ways back with "the hot rocK" they are killer live.

I just cant listen to this album

 

[philodox]

I have seen them live with my Wife a couple of times and they are great. It is a shame to hear that the recording quality has suffered on their new album. I should give it a listen, she probably has it.

 

[Megaptera]

It's an incredible album, but yeah, the sound quality really took a hit. When Modern Girl came on I thought my roommates had broken my amp it's so compressed -- but I'm pretty sure that track in particular is distorted intentionally. It would fit with the mood of the lyrics, and it clips more and more as the song goes on, at least. Plus, there's no possible way anybody listened to that in production and said "that's a reasonable amount of compression to use"

Overall the compression doesn't bother me much on this album. It seems to me that they're not just trying to get as loud as possible, but intentionally using it for the harsh effect it has on the sound.

 

[markl]

pssssssssssssssst... Look here:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/sh...ad.php?t=53965

 

[s m @]

I'm obviously in the minority here, but I like the Dave Fridmann sound. Although I'll admit that I haven't heard that much of his work since Mogwai's 'Rock Action', up until that time I considered him to be my favourite producer. Since then I've only heard Flips albums and the Low album a few times. But it's definitely intentional. I've always wanted to get a S-K album, I think I'll have to get the vinyl version of this one.

 

[markl]

Buy Dig Me Out instead, fantastic album!

 

[sno1man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl pssssssssssssssst... Look here: http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/sh...ad.php?t=53965

thanks Markl, twice shows i wasn't crazy. I cant stand it on phones, but it is tolerable in the car. Too bad because the songs themselves rock

Picked up dig me out this morning. I'm digging it now

 

[s m @]

This is from exclaim.ca. It has some interesting comments on the sound of the album. I've edited this heavily, the whole article is here:

http://www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layi...778&csid1=3871

Still haven't picked up anything by this band. Soon, probably.


[size=x-small]Instead, they packed up for Tarbox Studios just outside of Buffalo, New York. This is where producer Dave Fridmann has been crafting magical modern psychedelics for the likes of the Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Mogwai, the Delgados and others for the last ten years.

Yet none of those bands sound anything like Sleater-Kinney - a raw rock'n'roll power trio. And perhaps tellingly, Fridmann wasn't even really a fan before he took the job. Says Carrie, “He was excited to work with us, but he wasn't blown away by the production of our other records. When we played for him in the studio, he was really moved by it and thought it was really visceral. He thought the old records didn't really capture the power he felt standing next to our amps. That's why he went in such an extreme direction, so that now we're bleeding through people's speakers. Dave is a sadist that way, even more than us. He's really tired of clean and sterile music.”

Much of The Woods ****s with your expectations in ways that few guitar bands since the psychedelic '60s have bothered trying. Corin admits that records from the Summer of Love were on high rotation during the making of The Woods, and for once her vocal similarities to Grace Slick aren't the only comparison point to Jefferson Airplane; meanwhile, Carrie's guitars at times sound like they were borrowed from Big Brother and the Holding Company. Songs stop cold for Hendrixian guitar meltdowns. Distorted drums appear in only one channel. Whirling guitars are panned in ping-pong circles around your head.

Sleater-Kinney still doesn't have a bassist, yet the entire record rumbles and quakes and sounds impossibly loud no matter what volume it's played at. The entire sonic soundscape of The Woods is thick with distortion, with everything riding into the red on the VU meter at all times. Fridmann says, “The microphone can't tell how hard you are hitting the strings. Live, there is such a visceral action and response that can be engaged in, but it takes a lot to make a quiet, small set of speakers sound like they are punching you in the face.”
“Dave blew it all to smithereens,” says Janet, enthusiastically. “The sound is so destroyed, so thick and heavy. I don't know how he gets those sounds, they're so beautiful and incredible.”

Although Sleater-Kinney were up for massive changes, surrendering to Fridmann's sonic vision didn't always happen easily. Explains Carrie, “When we started mixing, he'd ask our opinion of something and we'd always say, 'Oh, the vocals need to be louder.' Finally, he said, 'If you want to make this record sound different, first and foremost we have to make the vocals quieter than on your last record.' He really tortured us. He'd play us one of our older songs, and then he'd play us a Sarah McLachlan song and exclaim, 'Your vocals are louder than Sarah McLachlan's!' Eventually we realised it was the biggest hurdle that we have to get over. Now they just seem normal to me.” [/size]

 

[sarz]

I love the internet because i can vibe with a discussion had 20 years ago, and just fully agree. It's always irked me the production on this album. I had hoped the remaster would have drastically changed this album but sadly not. It is quite painful to listen to in headphones. On my Vinyl speakers its okay, but i just feel like a lot is lost, when it may not mean to be? not sure. hope someone replies within the next 20 years