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Number 13, Friday, 8 March 1996
Today's Topics:
Re: Audiophiles vs. Lanois
MUSIC LANOIS HAS PLAYED ON.....
Tibet performance, lucious' TWO albums
Misc. rant
Collection of Marie Claire again
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POSTS: Please send all posts to lanois@sfbayconcerts.com
WWW: http://www.sfbayconcerts.com/lanois/home.html
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From: ElevenShad@aol.com
Date: Sat, 2 Mar 1996 20:37:07 -0500
Subject: Re: Audiophiles vs. Lanois
In a message dated 96-03-02 15:58:58 EST, you write:
>For the most part you're very correct - I've heard it go both ways,
>though, surprisingly. I was pleasantly surprised to find a messages in
>some of the audio newsgroups that discussed "For The Beauty..." as being
>the perfect album for testing audio equipment because of the 'immense sonic
>variety.' (yes, I just made that phrase up :)...) And many were curious
>about his recording technique, i.e. mikes, effects, etc.
>
I think I may have mentioned this before, but Mix Magazine, a recording
industry trade publication, ran a poll of engineers and producers several
years back, and Lanois was cited as being their favorite producer. As I work
as a recording engineer as well as a recording artist (Eleven Shadows), I
come in contact with a reasonable amount of musicians and engineers, and most
of them greatly admire the man's talents.
>From a technical standpoint, his productions are not considered pristine, but
they ARE considered well-recorded still. He'll keep in certain kinds of
noises or mistakes or oddities and record everyone while sitting close
together in a close room instead of isolating them sonically, so in this way
it is not "technically" pristine, but it is interesting. But make no mistake
-- he uses really expensive equipment, including a lot of vintage recording
equipment and microphones, and he knows how to use it extremely well. As far
as making artists sound alike, there is a definite sonic thumbprint, but if
you ask these artists whether they are happy with the end result, they always
seem to be very happy about it. He keeps getting asked back!!! First and
foremost he seems to bring out a great performance from the artists he
produces.
My old band had the pleasure of meeting him several years ago when we were
looking for producers, and he was extremely knowledgeable about the kinds of
equipment we were interested in using, and discussed creating a "vibe" or
atmosphere that would pervade the entire recording (he also said he was
extremely busy for the next two years, so we didn't end up recording with
him, and then disbanded shortly thereafter anyway).
But to return to Eric's original comment -- there are a fair amount of
engineers out there who are what we call "clean-freaks", being anal-retentive
engineers who insist on gating every little thing out of the mix, perfect
isolation, and so forth. This is especially pervasive in the pop field. As
I tend to gravitate towards more "creative" engineers and musicians, I rarely
run across these types, but these are the guys who worship Steely Dan
recordings :). But in my circles, and the Mix Magazine poll would appear to
support this, Lanois (and Eno) are generally greatly appreciated in the field
of recording engineering. The results are what are important, and a lot of
engineers realize that the song and the emotional/spiritual quality and the
performance, etc. etc. transcend aural "cleanliness".
Sorry for rambling (again)!
-Ken/Eleven Shadows ElevenShad@aol.com
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From: THESPIES@aol.com
Date: Sun, 3 Mar 1996 11:10:20 -0500
Subject: MUSIC LANOIS HAS PLAYED ON.....
Kenly,
I am so glad that someone is finally doing a page on Daniel! I
stummbled upon it through shear luck. Anyway I was noticing that on your
page of music that Daniel Lanois has played on there was an omintion. Daniel
played on and produced one song for Syd Straw on her 'Surprise' release.
Find it and listen to it, it is unmistakingly Lanois. So thanks for the
suprise and keep up the good work!
Shawn
A. Hafle
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Date: Sun, 3 Mar 1996 14:27:03 -0500
From: igranof1@swarthmore.edu (ilmi granoff)
Subject: Tibet performance, lucious' TWO albums
I know this is a bit late, but I am a busy college student so you'll have
to forgive me. I saw DL on the 19 of Feb. He DID play at the Tibet House
benefit, which had all sorts of surprise including Daryl Johnson singing a
beautiful song with Natalie Merchant and Emmy Lou (can't remember the song
. . .). Emmy Lou sang the "Sweet Waterfall" song from her album with DL
doing backup and great guitar work and Daryl playing what looked to me to
be a North African style drum. DL then sung "Sometimes I Feel Like a
Motherless Child," a pleasant surprise, and then did (of course) "The
Maker/ River Rise." Richie Havens followed with a "solo" performance of
"Freedom." I you solo very loosely because he had a finger injury so DL
helped him press the frets for certain difficult chords which brought him
wild cheering. Richie and DL were the last performers, so all the rest
came out during the number and sand a danced to DL's lead (This was an
all-star grouping including Phillip Glass, Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith,
Michael Stype, all the artists I have already mentioned, and more). It
turns out Emmy and DL did a free performance the next night at Winter Park,
for Mardi Gras, but I had to miss it. By the way I am aware of two albums
by Lucious Jackson. They have one called NATURAL INGREDIENTS and another
called IN SEARCH OF MANNY, both come highly recommended. At first I was
pretty surprised to here about the collaboration, but if any of you know
U2's "Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World," the mixing DL does for
that it remeniscent of the Lucious sound. Stay Frosty.
yours deeply,
ilmi granoff
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Date: Tue, 5 Mar 1996 12:01:38 -0500
From: eclark@monmouth.com (Eric)
Subject: Misc. rant
Daniel has what I think of as a musician's relationship to the studio.
Technique is important, in order to actually get the material on to the
tape, but never more important than the music. This is why his records have
such a strong individualistic sound and style.
Why should this matter to us? It is partially about art and partially about
each of our lives. We can all make decisions for ourselves inside of the
creative work of music or art, and in all walks of life. The boundaries blur
for me.
Music resonates within us in powerful ways. We can be transformed by it if
we are fortunate, in a positive manner. Daniel's heart is audible in his
songs, in the way he sings and plays and how his records are recorded. His
expression of his personal vision is inspiring because he is true to
himself. We might all try to be so true to ourselves.
My comments about engineers not liking to work in flexable ways comes from
personal experience. As a percussionist, I will often employ instruments and
techniques that are quite quiet. The difficulty in getting a good sound out
of an Udu drum, for example is that because it is made of clay, the sound
can be stunning or annoying. Time must be taken, different microphones tried
out, and finally, signal processing like reverb (my favorite friend in the
studio or on stage) applied to shape the sound or voice of the instrument.
Now, after all this has been done, the playing occurs. The music may be
coaxed into visiting the studio, if you will, through the musicians. If, as
I prefer, the sound of my instrument is printed directly to the track, as it
has been shaped through the aforementioned efforts, the recording stands as
a document of the music.
Here's the essence of my respect for Daniel's technique. This takes control
out of the hands of the engineer and producer and essentially places it in
the hands of the musicians. The track printed with effects exists as it is,
and cannot be significantly altered without completely losing it's
character.Engineers are
So, who makes decisions in the creative process? I prefer that the artists
themselves retain such control. Producer's suggestions are important,
leading to the best performance, then they are best employed if they step
aside. Their creative input is most effective conceptually perhaps.
Engineers are trained to take control and see that tracks are well recorded.
Well recoreded is an arbitrary set of conditions.
Too many words, perhaps.
I enjoy reading eveyone's comments.
I have no official roothead releases, all were small edition cassette
releases or private soundboard tapes, but maybe I'll put a compilation
togather. Friends have been asking for this. Recently I jperformed in Asbury
Park, NJ, my town at The Saint. I sat in with Heather Eatman, who has a
wonderful CD on OH Boy records, John Prine's label. She's on tour mostly
west coast, with him, so if you get the chance, she's terrific. I also did a
performance art noise band project which I designed. If anyone is interested
in chance procedure and improvisation I'll talk about that, but don't think
this is the place for that kind of thing. I am not attempting to promote
myself in any way here, but rather , I hope to connect with like minded
music lovers.
CD Review gave Wrecking Ball a very high rating. 10 out of 10 for sound.
Good to see this.
Anyone have info re: Dan's band backing Emmylou in NYC recently? Dan is
recording so he was not there.
Peace all.....
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[The following message was sent to me by a non-subscriber of the newsletter but
I thought the info/comments it contained would be useful to our group.]
Date: Sat, 09 Mar 96 00:38:54 0000
Subject: Collection of Marie Claire again
Hi again,
Due to a mistake I've made, you have received only part of my
first message. I was about to tell you that I had spotted a few mistakes
in your transcription of the song Collection of Marie Claire. As far as I
can understand, and in spite of the strong Canadian accent of D.Lanois,
it says:
Ton portrait est toujours pres de mon coeur (=close to my heart)
J'veux te dire que j't'ai revee tout l'ete (=I want to tell you I dreamt
of you the whole summer)
(...)
Marie Claire, it's no good la vie d'une danseuse (=the life of a dancer)
There are also a few misspellings: "n'ait pas peur"; "j'ai sale
beaucoup..."; " sont tranquilles"; "je te promets".
That's about it. Keep on running this site enthusiastically!
B.Arey
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The views expressed in ACADIE are those of the individual authors only.
ACADIE is released for the personal use of readers. No commercial use may
be made of the material unless permission is granted by the author.
Kenley Neufeld, ACADIE editor
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