Tuesday, January 26, 2010

An Surprising Example of Well-Produced Music

Yesterday I stumbled across a slice of mid-'90s esoteria-- The Crash Test Dummies' random hit "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm." And I had two reactions:

1. The song holds up remarkably well. I actually really like it.

2. It's really well produced. The instruments are wonderfully clear and precise, the stereo mix is excellent, and while it is definitely compressed, there are still dynamics within the track.

Unfortunately I have to upload a compressed .mp3, so it's not going to sound as great in this stream. But check it out. I'm really impressed and would be interested to hear what some of the more discriminating audiophiles in our collective think.



I'd also welcome other examples of great production.

Press Time Update: Right before posting, I went to All Music Guide to see just who the hell produced this anyway. And I guess I wasn't alone in my opinion:

"Thanks to Jerry Harrison's remarkably clear and focused production, Crash Test Dummies' second album became a surprise hit."

Production mentioned in the first line of the review... and it's a "celebrity" producer no less! Yay Talking Heads! (sort of)

1 comment:

Eric said...

Besides Motown, which technically sounds like over-compressed sludge, but oh what glorious over-compressed sludge, I was just recently struck by the incredible production on Al Green's early 70s records. You can hear every little crack in his voice, you can hear exactly how the drums are tuned and textured, and the guitar, bass and organ are all clear as a bell. It's really remarkable and makes me wonder why no one else was able to get that sound. Stax records (also made in Memphis with some of the same musicians) have a nice, crunchy compressed sound, but don't have nearly the warmth and dynamic range of those Al Green records.