2006-07-25 - 11:39 a.m. There was a time when anything recorded on more than 4 tracks, or featuring any studio wizardry more schmancy than reverb sounded �overproduced� to me. It�s too bad, cuz it made me reject a lot of music out of hand� But then I relaxed a bit, and eventually�-as many of us do�-had my Beach Boys/Pet Sounds awakening, and eventually became open to the idea that the recording studio could be used to artful effect, as a way to create beauty rather than manipulate mediocre songs into more radio-friendly ones. So I�m careful these days not to dismiss things based on their production. And yet the moment I picked up this CD by Carina Round, my hands felt scorched by the presence of...just too much�-too much Glen Balladry, too much drama in the vocals, too many record label/management people being thanked in the liner notes, too much icky overblown production weighing down what could be a set of nice songs. It was kind of a sweet, nostalgic feeling to be all offended by the too-muchness of it. Even in this day and age of DIY internet bootstrappery, there is still such thing as old-fashioned major label excess. But I�ll be curious to hear the second album, after she�s been dropped by a label that will inevitably be disappointed that she couldn�t match their bloated expectations. Conversely, Bernard Fanning�s album Tea & Sympathy benefits from a more baroque and detailed production than music like his�-country/rootsy/Steve Earle-y�-usually gets. It�s surprisingly not overblown, despite being recorded at Peter Gabriel�s studio in Bath under the watchful eye of Tchad Blake. I�m enjoying this one a lot�-very melodic. thoughts? (6 comments so far) previous - next blog archive contact