bitflipper

The first album I ever heard in stereo: Magical Mystery Tour. I had an epiphany right then and there, that the studio itself could be part of the creative process. From a musical perspective, the album that inspired me most was In the Court of the Crimson King. It was a bolt of lightning, showing me that rock, jazz and classical were all just different facets of the same gem. For emotional impact, it would be the first Black Sabbath album. It was my first time listening on headphones. "I am Iron Man" emanating from the middle of my head! Well, I was also on acid, so there's that. For musical inspiration, Time Out by Dave Brubeck and its follow-up, Time Further Out. Prior to that, I thought that all music was in 4/4, 3/4 or 6/8. Not only was 7/4 a viable option, you could even dance to it. Look it up on YouTube; there is a live performance of Unsquare Dance with (admittedly pro) dancers having no problem bouncing along to its odd time signature. Honorable mention: Hope by Klaatu, an epic concept album on par -imo- with Dark Side of the Moon. I bought it on cassette while on the road and fell asleep to it every night that summer. Our drummer was also a big fan of it, so when he bought a Sony reel-to-reel with sound-on-sound, Hope was in our minds as we began experimenting. That was my first non-studio recording. Can't call it a home recording as it was in a motel room in Idaho.

I dunno, $39 would be a great deal for somebody who doesn't already have a de-esser and a spectral compressor. Such a consumer probably falls right into iZotope's marketing demographic. Next ground-breaking product: a combination bitcrusher + cheese straightener! Part of a new suite of things you never knew you needed.

I am reminded of Flo & Eddy (The Turtles), who set out to write the dumbest song ever as a gag, only to score a hit with it. That song was called Eleanor ("Eleanor, gee I think you're swell, you're my pride and joy, etcetera")

Next you're gonna tell me that music production is similar fakery.

Thanks for that, Marc. I was so disappointed with the first album that I never gave the band a second chance. But your comment spurred me to give it a listen. You're right - it's pretty good. I know there's a lot of good stuff from the 90's that I missed due to spending that decade completely disconnected from popular music. It was disco that pushed me away in the 80's, resulting in a retreat to the music of my youth, primarily oldies from the 19th century. The Brandenburg Concertos - that's the soundtrack of my youth, my musical comfort food.

When this song was originally released, I had never seen Saturday Night Live because I was a working musician and Saturday nights were spoken for. But I had bought the first videotape machine I could afford and began recording SNL episodes and watching them on Sunday. It was a Sony Beta, which my technoid brain assumed would become the prevailing videotape format, being technically superior to VHS. That thing cost over a grand and didn't even have a wireless remote. I can still vividly recall playing back an SNL episode that featured a band named Dream Academy, playing Life in a Northern Town. I stood there slackjawed, thinking this was the best thing I'd ever heard on that show. Rewound and played it over and over, then ran out that afternoon and bought the album on cassette. Only to find that Life in a Northern Town was the only good song on the album. The band vanished, leaving only this one masterpiece as their legacy. Here's Justin Hayward covering it 40 years later, with an orchestra and still sounding remarkably mellifluous for an old man.

Just watching Runaway Jury on Netflix...Gene was one of the best villains ever. You know he's evil, but he's still sympathetic. Of course, some of that credit goes to John Grisham, but I'd previously listened to this on audiobook and didn't even form a mental picture the villain while listening. My money's on carbon monoxide. At 95, the list of things that could have killed Mr. Hackman was extensive, but his wife was much younger and his dog younger still.

This is a most welcome addition. I'm a fan of the spectral filter, but it had been a little less usable due to it favoring the lower frequencies within the band because it was reacting linearly, like a compressor without a sidechain filter. Now we have a sidechain filter for it. Hopefully they'll someday make its slope adjustable. But just the modest 3dB tilt helps.

My Cinnamon Girl is Keep on Rockin' in the Free World.