Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

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chessrock

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A lot of friends and people I know have been raving about this one for some time now. I've heard so much about it's "amazing production" value.

So I snagged a copy from a friend and had a good listen.

Man, is that gonna' be the next big drum sound? That was probably the dryest, and pardon me, but DEADEST sounding drums I've ever heard in a pop record. It's low-fi in a Neil Young sort of way, but much more natural sounding. But so damn dry.

What's up with that? Any opinions/thoughts on that drum sound?
 
I'll have to go back and listen to the drums. I haven't played the record in awhile. I downloaded it several months ago, and, since it didn't grab me immediately, I let it sorta fall to the wayside . Still, I went out to see the band with its new "yankee" line-up when they were trying out the new material even though the record wasn't yet out. Cool show, but definitely not the same sounds I've loved so, since AM. Jeff Tweedy's an innovative artist. I'm sure there's some method to his madness on producing such a dry drum sound.
Michael
 
I happen to enjoy the really dry drum sound, simply because the huge "wall of sound" people have been applying to drums lately is finally starting to get on my nerves.
 
wes480 said:
hey chess...use the fucking search engine dude...newbies...pfft
Click to expand...

Yea, but my question is better. So ppptttt ! ! ! Besides, I think you gave up on that last thread a little prematurely. I want to get to the bottom of this drum sound and why people like it. :)

Vota mentioned he's growning weary of over-produced drums. And I guess I can see where he's coming from. And there is a certain charm to something that's more organic.

But the sound on the Wilco record (as well as some others I've been hearing lately) just sounds flat-out wimpy to me. No liveliness. No punch. Just flat and kinda' lifeless. I personally think it's reasonable to get more life and energy out of a drum sound without necessarily producing it to death or taking away from it's natural sound.

This kind of drum sound, in my opinion, tries TOO HARD to be organic, and just winds up sounding . . . well . . . bad, for lack of a better word.
 
I read an interview with Tweedy and he said that Jim O'rourke (the guy who mixed the album) decided to go pretty much without reverb in the mix. He said something about wanting the listener to feel closer (in proximity) to the music.

I'm not sure if this drum sound is the next big thing, Jim O'rourke is known to be on the avante garde side of things. I must say though, that the one aspect of the new Wilco that I'm sure I really dig is the drums--which is not to say I don't like the old drums, I love everything about the old Wilco but the new drums add a really different sound and feel from anything I'm familiar with. Without the reverb you can really hear all of the subtleties in the drums.

It's kind of funny that YHF is so dry because their last disc, Summerteeth, was dense and dripping with reverb.

michael butler,
YHF is not my favorite Wilco disc, that distinction belongs to Being There, however, "Jesus etc." from YHF is possibly their greatest written and sounding song they have committed to tape. You should go back and check that one out. When the pedal-steels come in, it's absolutely gorgeous.
 
yeah, "Jesus Etc." is my fav wilco track as well...

I love the lyrics..."Jesus don't cry...you can rely on me honey.."

something so genius about refferring to Jesus as "honey"...if that is how he meant it. Maybe he's just using Jesus in the explative...but, I like it my way.

and "bitter melody...turning your orbit around"...wow. I love it.

as far as the drums....my other track on the album that I love is "I'm the man who loves you" - I think it is 8 or so. I love the drum sound in that song...it sounds pretty agressive but..natural. and the playing is great...love the fills.

I'm sick of what I am calling "Nickelback" drums....I think it can go overboard though on the organic side like you said chess. But, I don't think the majority of pop music will go that way. I think "in your face" is here to stay for a while.
 
see, I really enjoy the drums on songs like "I am Trying to Break Your Heart" when they finally commit to a steady beat (somewhere around the fourth "verse", I think?", and also on "Ashes of American Flags" when they come in on "I'm down on my hands and knees".... there's something about that dry snare that just makes it really loud, and the bass and kick drum are (for lack of a better word) really "warm" sounding together.

overall, I really like the sound of YHF, and it was smart of them to really make all the noise at the end of certain songs really loud by limiting it to almost 0, since the relative loudness of just noise will be much higher than the full band......

the one thing about the "production values" that bugs me is that Tweedy's vocal sound doesn't really change much throughout the album... I kind of like when you can notice the difference throughout an album.
 
Originally posted by chessrock


. I want to get to the bottom of this drum sound and why people like it. :)

Maybe you should just stick to your Journey records.

Michael
 
yep, I just listened to "I am trying to break your heart" again, and it's official.... I LOVE the drum sound on that song. when the snare hits..... YOWZA.
 
Funny you mention that, Vota. That's pretty much the only one of the bunch where I really took notice and actually thought the drum sound "worked." It's very natural-sounding, but the kick and snare still have some balls and overall they sound more close-mic'ed and better compressed.

Pot Kettle Black is really growing on me in a big way. But I'm still getting used to that drum sound. The snare is just so . . . dry and dead throughout the bulk of the song. Like the snare is tuned funny, and it doesn't sound like it was even mic'ed. Sounds like it was recorded with two overheads and nothing else.
 
pot kettle black is a great song. really, REALLY catchy, and yet quite a genius song as well........

what I've noticed more and more about the drum sound is that most of the time, I'm so busy listening to the songs that I don't really notice the drum sound.
 
I'm w/ vota. Listen to the SONGS and don't miss the forest for the trees.

You know what the snare on the new Wilco record sounds like? A snare! How 'bout toms and cymbals? Sound a little like toms and cymbals, huh? Some aspects of the record do come across as "lo-fi". So what? It ain't rocket science; it's rock-n-roll.

A lot of artists go for lo-fi productions to make a statement, still others just 'cause they like the way it sounds. And it's nothing new. Unless you've spent your entire life listening to top 40, you would know tons of artists (and I'd probably say the best artists) experiment w/ writing, mixing, producing "natural", "lo-fi" sounding records occasionally. I happen to like it, but if I didn't, I wouldn't put too much energy in trying to "understand" it. I'd just move on.

When I hear some crap on the radio that's way over-produced, or just a shitty song, I turn the dial. It's easy to do. If you don't "get" a certain style, genre, production, whatever, stick to what you do know and enjoy. Take it easy on yourself. It's just rock-n-roll.

Michael
 
michael.butler said:
I'll have to go back and listen to the drums. I haven't played the record in awhile. I downloaded it several months ago, and, since it didn't grab me immediately, I let it sorta fall to the wayside . Still, I went out to see the band with its new "yankee" line-up when they were trying out the new material even though the record wasn't yet out. Cool show, but definitely not the same sounds I've loved so, since AM. Jeff Tweedy's an innovative artist. I'm sure there's some method to his madness on producing such a dry drum sound.
Michael
Click to expand...

Who was the opening act when you saw them?

My younger brother' band was their opening act for a few months.(Neil Michael Haggerty....my brother is the bass player.)



Tim
 
I think it was the Handsome Family. It was several months ago.
Michael
 
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YHF

I really dig the drums on this album. They make it feel like an unplugged atmosphere, which is ideal for most of Wilco's material, since most of their material is kind of personal. There are only two tolerable drum sounds in my opinion: dry, like in YHF...or overly reverbed and undermiked, a la most late 60s garage rock bands and more recently on The Flaming Lips album "The Soft Bulletin."

-max
 
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