Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary
For fuck's sake- this is one of the greatest records of the 90's, and it sounds terrible. Luckily for all of us, the excellent songcraft shines through the horrible, muddy mix. Jeremy Enigk needs to get over himself, do the respectable thing by making the record sound like it should, and even, as a side benefit, make some fucking cash (everyone knows Nate Mendel had to pay for the first Fire Theft record).
Ratings in it's present form: Songs: 9.5, Mix: 2.0.
Jeremy/Sub Pop- DO THE RIGHT THING.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
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I did not know that, nor do I even know who Mr. Mendel is.
ReplyDeleteNor did I realize there was a second Fire Theft album.
Nor did I ever really think about that mix on the cd...the sound is part of the magic is it not?
I'm assuming you've probably googlized it by now, but Mr. Mendel is the now-wealthy ex-bass player of Sunny Day and current-ish of The Fire Theft. He also plays in some band with Dave Grohl. And nor does everyone know that- I am just a dickhead.
ReplyDeleteAs I think about it, I guess there isn't a second Fire Theft record- there is a second (and recently, third) Jeremy Enigk solo record though. That's what I was thinking of, I suppose.
I think Diary sounds too bad to have been purposeful. The early nineties were a tough time for independent bands not recorded by Steve Albini or Mark Trombino or the Dischord guys (sorry Brad Wood, but you cam into your own later). Which leads me to a semi-tangent: Brad Wood produced the first 2 SDRE records, but he didn't mix LP2. Maybe he's just really bad at mixing.
Anyway, no, I don't think it's magic. But that could have been the idea.
I do have to agree, the record sounds really terrible, and there are some amazing songs that should have the honor of being remastered, re-released or at least covered by Katy Perry!
ReplyDeleteI recall listening to this constantly on cassette tape where generally everything sounded terrible. That was one of my favorite records for quite some time though...
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