How Can I Get This Sound?

[NickEngel]

No matter how hard I try my recordings always end up sounding like boring modern trash. Here is a track from 1996 (though it sounds like its from '66) by The Brian Jonestown Massacre that I would like to emulate. Any suggestions??
Straight Up and Down

[centurymantra]

I am a HUGE fan of the BJM and have devoted much time listening to their music. The 'Take it From the Man' album is possibly my favorite of theirs. I have, at points, listened with a fair amount of fascination to the actual sound/recording of that album. It is lo-fi, yet deep and expansive...constantly shifting and revealing different perspectives. I know that the albums they recorded around that time were done in mad flurry of activity and I've heard that they recorded to cassette (!) although I'm not sure that's entirely true. I couldn't tell you how they got that sound. I think a lot of it is crazy spontaneous activity and Anton's ability to recognize and go with happy accidents rather than perfection. I also think much of the sound is simply the 'vibe' of the band coming through onto tape and this is something you just can't buy. That aside, there surely was a method and technique to their sound and I'm completely with you on this. I'd love to know what they did to get that 'sound'!

[NickEngel]

Yeah, Take it From the Man is probably my favorite as well. But cassette?!? No way. Did they not use and effects either? The band does have this vibe that just comes through no matter what they are recording on.

[scrubs]

what the hell is a .asx file? That's what you've uploaded to Nowhere Radio. It won't play in WMP or Real Player. Sorry.

[NickEngel]

Originally Posted by scrubs

what the hell is a .asx file? That's what you've uploaded to Nowhere Radio. It won't play in WMP or Real Player. Sorry.

hmm... When I try to download it, it shows up as an mp3.

[centurymantra]

Yeah...I don't believe it's actually recorded to cassette either. I encountered a discussion of BJM's music which claimed that Anton had a habit of mastering to cassette which this person felt undermined the strength of the music. Could be entirely inaccurate, but who knows... That aside, I can say is that it is a fairly unique sound although it definitely has a '60's vibe going on...somewhat retro and futuristic at the same time. One thing I can say is that the style and quality of the recording is very far removed from the typical goals and aspirations of the general discussions on this board. I actually think it sounds great and I would LOVE to get that kind of sound. They've got a way of playing with texture and color on the albums they did around that time that just give them a 'sound' that would be hard to recreate. I'd love to see Anton interviewed in Tape Op with a discussion of his recording techniques. The thing that fascinates me about the sound is that, while it definitely qualifies as Lo-Fi and most certainly doesn't revolve around studied technique and a million bucks worth of gear, it has this deep, rich sound that's actually kind of mysterious. I have a pretty high-end stereo rig that really pulls the recording into the room and even before I was into recording I found myself, on a couple of occasions, listening with some fascination, trying to figure out what was going on in that recording. I think a casual listener might not pick up on this and might even dismiss the records as crappy sounding. If one actually pays a bit more attention and allows for a little immersion in the music they might discover that the layers and nuances of the recording are actually rather remarkable. Not sure how they did it, but a lot of it probably is that allusive 'vibe' and Anton & Crew's knack of knowing how to capture it. I know that he definitely doesn't spend a week getting the perfect snare drum sound