[phild]

Originally Posted by timaltman

The Times wrote an article on Arcade Fire a week ago. Here's an excerpt:

The band took its time recording “The Suburbs,” working and reworking songs for much of a year in homes and studios, using 24-track tape. “I’d hate to take a guess at the budget,” Mr. Butler said, but he added that part of the cost was equipment the band would continue to use, including a 1940s mixing console with vacuum tubes. Each completed song was pressed onto a 12-inch disc, and the vinyl playback was recorded for the final digital master.

“We recorded it on tape, we press it to vinyl, and the digital is the archive of this physical thing that exists in the world,” Mr. Butler said. “We’re preserving it and using digital as a mode of distribution, but ultimately there was something real that was made.”

Unsurprisingly, after hitting their mix to vinyl, all the low end disappeared. I'm sure they lost consider high frequencies too. What a stupid decision. You go and use all these amazing mics, acoustic instruments full of a wide range of tonality and vintage tube gear that gives you such incredible bass response and high frequency energy and you just throw it all away to get a throwback sound? Foolish. What is the frequency response of vinyl? 100 Hz to maybe 15 kHz?

I'm listening to the album right now and it reminds me of listening to an old record player -- a mid-range assault on the ears. It's a damn shame. But don't get me wrong, the music is great. Arcade Fire is one of the greatest rock bands producing some of the best music out there right now. Maybe they know what their doing? They seem to be saying -- "Screw fidelity, it's all about the music."

All that mastering going on and no mastering credit on the liner notes?