Recording
For Dirty, Sonic Youth worked with producer Butch Vig. During his first meeting with the group, Vig told the band that he wanted to tighten the song arrangement and focus on crafting the guitar sounds. Vig quickly landed the producer job for the record. During a visit to the apartment of Sonic Youth members Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, Moore told Vig he wanted the album to sound like an obscure Mecht Mensch single Vig had produced. The band sent a series of cassette tapes to Vig in late 1991 featuring its new compositions. Vig was pleased but also uncertain, as the tapes consisted of long instrumentals where the producer was unable to discern the song structures. The second batch of cassettes Vig received demonstrated that the band had performed some self-editing with its compositions.
Vig moved to New York City for three months in early 1992, booking studio time at the Magic Shop studio. Vig felt pressure about working with the group, he noted that expectations that the record would be "amazing" from his friends "...sneak into your psyche". Vig also found it difficult dealing with the Fender Jazzmaster guitars the band favored, which easily went out of tune. Vig made the band perform multiple takes for songs, a practice the band did not always like but did regardless.
After recording was completed, the album needed to be trimmed down from 19 tracks. Moore, Gordon, and the band A&R personnel Gary Gersh agreed that the song "Genetic" by guitarist Lee Ranaldo would be removed. Ranaldo did not react well to the decision; coupled with personal issues at the time, Ranaldo considered leaving the group. After a few weeks the matter settled and Ranaldo stayed with the band.
Read more about this topic: Dirty (album)
Famous quotes containing the word recording:
“He shall not die, by G—, cried my uncle Toby.
MThe ACCUSING SPIRIT which flew up to heaven’s chancery with the oath, blush’d as he gave it in;—and the RECORDING ANGEL as he wrote it down, dropp’d a tear upon the word, and blotted it out for ever.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“I didn’t have to think up so much as a comma or a semicolon; it was all given, straight from the celestial recording room. Weary, I would beg for a break, an intermission, time enough, let’s say, to go to the toilet or take a breath of fresh air on the balcony. Nothing doing!”
—Henry Miller (1891–1980)
“Too many photographers try too hard. They try to lift photography into the realm of Art, because they have an inferiority complex about their Craft. You and I would see more interesting photography if they would stop worrying, and instead, apply horse-sense to the problem of recording the look and feel of their own era.”
—Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870–1942)