The National - I Am Easy To Find (May 17, 2019) Album • Page 73

It sounds perfect imo

 

I’m going to agree to disagree because I love that band and I don’t want to be a butthole about my hangups on the production

 

it is perfect for the songwriting on that album. it wouldn’t work with other songs/other albums wouldn’t work with that production, but the two together are a perfect match

 

Your perspective intrigues me

 

damn lol I think Alligator sounds perfect. ideal mix of raw and polished. I wish all their records sounded the same

 

matt’s singing on that record still isn’t perfect yet. mixing it as another instrument - instead of how forward placed his vocals are on later albums - makes sense to me. also its got some of their more frantic and raw songs, it also makes sense for the mix to have a bit more distorted and chaotic feels.

 

There are definitely parts of Alligator that don't sound great but I don’t imagine they’d ever remix it and I don’t think a remaster alone would make a huge difference.

There’s a super interesting interview with Peter Katis (who mixed it and Boxer) where he says this about it:

“They love to talk about how mean I am, and of course I’m not mean at all! But when they disappeared for a few months on Alligator and came back with some new recordings, let’s just say I wasn’t impressed. The first day of mixing, I had a talk with Aaron [Dessner – guitars, keyboards] as I was on my way out, and I said, “This is pretty compromised, and we have two choices. We can re-record these songs, which is going to throw everything out of whack, or we can say ‘F it’ and mix it, and whatever happens, happens. I got home and he said, “We had a band meeting. Let’s just try to mix it.” So it’s a combination of analogue sounds mixed with cheap drum machine samples. I did whatever I could to make those sounds interesting. It’s a scrappy-sounding record, but I still really like it.”

 

Hmmmmm that is interesting

 

I do appreciate PK saying that then recording them at his own studio and making one of the arguable greatest sounding records of all time immediately after

 

I think TWFM is probably my third favorite record of theirs, but my least favorite production wise. Matt sounds like he is singing from down a hallway.

 

I love TWFM and everything about how it’s mixed, especially Matt’s vocals

 

my favorite of theirs absolutely

 

I can agree that Matt’s vocals are mixed a little different on TWFM but I remember listening to it for the very first time and excitedly texting my engineer bandmate about how insanely good I Should Live in Salt sounds. Pretty impressive first crack at producing for the Dessner bros

 

I’m a Boxer boi

 

Favorite album would change every day. And reading the quote from yesterday about going back to a classic national sound is right in the middle of bittersweet to me

 

Hell yeah, self-titled sequel!!!

 

Trouble is the best because it was the soundtrack to my days as a dominos delivery expert

 

I haven't been itt in a long time and just wanna say I've seen them play arenas and a stadium show & I'm seeing them play a 10k-cap outdoor show in three months, they're doing just fine on their own strengths lmfao

 

Vanderlyle is a top 10 national song

 

I’m not sure you understood my comment. I’m saying they would be less successful and have had less longevity as a band had they chased a more immediate version of themselves. Instead they released TWFM, SWB, and IAETF, three records that are different than HV and full of growth and new textures, and they are doing awesome, as you’re saying.

 

if anything the last three records prove they can do immediacy on their own terms as they're a fucking amazing singles band too

 

High Violet 4ever

 

It’s wild. I can’t think of other modern rock bands who have been able to maintain this level of quality and on their own terms for this long. Their thoughtfulness and longevity as a band reminds me of R.E.M. but R.E.M. couldn’t go this long without stumbling.

 

Aren'y we actually at Automatic for the People in terms of # album in their respective discogs lol

 

The difference being that 1-7 National is about a thousand times better imo