Pop songs with non-standard mixing

Tracks that you like that are mixed non-standardly, uniquely, strangely... Commercial/indie/pop/electronic/whatever from yesterday and today...

I'll start it off with Kevin Lyttle- Turn Me On. I love this track, and it's pretty unique in terms of the mix because of it's almost complete lack of low end/bass. If I recall, I don't think it even has a bassline, and uses a very bass-less kick...

Being a club-oriented dance track, i find it extremely unique for it to be so bass-less, and actually really awesome, like it serves as a reminder to me that dance doesnt always mean big bass (: .. I just figure it's more noteworthy when mainstream artists/producers make the creative choice to mix/produce something in non-traditional way since it's more of a risk for them, and cuz there are already zillions of underground tracks mixed uniquely

Other tracks?

Go!

Sounds like dancehall.

*googles song*

Oh ok, it's a soca track. Yeah that makes sense, a lot of pop in the Caribbean seems less reliant on bass, which is ironic because genres like dub are very heavy on low-end. Soca taps into more traditional dance rhythms and instruments. Cumbia in Mexico/Texas is similar, very little bass, mix-oriented beats.

Bumaye by Major Lazer is very much in the same vein as above. Hot horns and low bass.

Hey Ya always seemed a bit unusual in it's structure:

Oh wait, you meant mixing...oops.

http://youtu.be/Tgcc5V9Hu3g

Honeslty, anything remotely close to dynamic in quiet/loud mixing or live recording is "unusual" by today's standards in pop.

Same with radio broadcasts: I've heard the same songs on college or public radio stations sound far better than airings on corporate stations, which use additional compression and automated digital playlists of songs instead of the actual CDs or LPs.

Kanye's newest album.

all the stereo Beatles stuff is bananas

it's all hard panned left or right

Always thought shakira's vocals were mixed disproportionally loud in this one

There are many many jazz recordings (too many to count) that are hard-panned, like Limpy said, making them unlistenable (to me) with headphones. Maybe it's a 60's thing or at least originated then?

  On 12/31/2013 at 8:23 PM, M360 said:

There are many many jazz recordings (too many to count) that are hard-panned, like Limpy said, making them unlistenable (to me) with headphones. Maybe it's a 60's thing or at least originated then?

Yes it's a 60's thing. In the earliest days of stereo, consoles didn't have pan knobs, they just had an 'LCR' switch, so if you wanted to pan something you really had to pan it.

Personally I love LCR mixes. My favorite mix of all time is "Crimson and Clover" strangely enough. Very non-standard mixing.

  On 12/31/2013 at 8:23 PM, M360 said:

There are many many jazz recordings (too many to count) that are hard-panned, like Limpy said, making them unlistenable (to me) with headphones. Maybe it's a 60's thing or at least originated then?

nobody knew any better at the time, basically

Edit: or what Limpy said, more accurately

Compare with 1970 complete stereofield studio fuckery:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEKkJHSO8A0

  On 12/31/2013 at 8:23 PM, M360 said:

There are many many jazz recordings (too many to count) that are hard-panned, like Limpy said, making them unlistenable (to me) with headphones. Maybe it's a 60's thing or at least originated then?

Yes, very much so. What really mucked up the Beatles catalog (and Beach Boys) was the use of "fake stereo" aka Duophonic_sound and reissuing the Beatles was a headache for that and other reasons, including destroyed master tapes, highlighted when The_Beatles_Stereo_Box_Set came out.

Home listening novelty drove hi-fi and stereo recording in the 50s and 60s: it was exacerbated with Quadraphonic_sound in the 70s. Thankfully that along with 5.1 mixes are reissue-oriented. It's remastering existing material.

There were notable anti-stereo people too, like Phil Spector, who was known for his "Wall of Sound" approach.

Just in the realm of recording and production the Beatles are incredible to listen to and read about, particularly George_Martin's role in their career.

What they did with the equipment they had is mind-boggling. I mean, god good, this masterpiece was recorded on a 4-track with meticulous dubbing.

Yes the Beatles had some way out mixing and production. I was listening to "hello goodbye" the other day and it always trips me out when that reverbed vocal section comes in out of nowhere.

The beach boys of course also had some great stuff as did Eddie Kramer with Hendrix.

  On 12/31/2013 at 9:34 PM, chenGOD said:

Yes the Beatles had some way out mixing and production. I was listening to "hello goodbye" the other day and it always trips me out when that reverbed vocal section comes in out of nowhere. The beach boys of course also had some great stuff as did Eddie Kramer with Hendrix.

Wasn't familiar with Eddie Kramer til now - guy engineered a lot of excellent records.

I was watching this and at 6:00 there's an insightful point about how 60s-70s psychedelic rock is so unique, varied, and "trippy" because of the absolute lack of guitar pedals, especially digital effects units. It's virtually impossible to recreate the meticulous analog setups and experimentation done by bands back then.

I've been enjoying Sleigh Bells' "Treats" album. Unapologetic distorted hyper-compressed noise-pop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SyEwLREPs4

the beatles were some of the first music I listened to on headphones, and then I got into 50s and 60s jazz later, so I'm used to listening to stereo anti-mixes like that, with the drums completely in one ear and whatnot. I think it made it easier to focus on particular instruments, which is important when you're first getting into music.

  On 12/31/2013 at 5:16 PM, joshuatx said:

Sounds like dancehall.

 

*googles song*

 

Oh ok, it's a soca track. Yeah that makes sense, a lot of pop in the Caribbean seems less reliant on bass, which is ironic because genres like dub are very heavy on low-end. Soca taps into more traditional dance rhythms and instruments. Cumbia in Mexico/Texas is similar, very little bass, mix-oriented beats.

very true! gonna hunt for more soca... i like the idea of "anti-bass" lol.. since bass is so fundamental in hip hop, dance, and pop, it's pretty cool to go against the grain when it's necessary, and focus on the music/rhythm, and maybe use very nice warm low mids as opposed to booming bass.

  On 12/31/2013 at 5:32 PM, joshuatx said:

http://youtu.be/Tgcc5V9Hu3g

 

Honeslty, anything remotely close to dynamic in quiet/loud mixing or live recording is "unusual" by today's standards in pop.

 

Same with radio broadcasts: I've heard the same songs on college or public radio stations sound far better than airings on corporate stations, which use additional compression and automated digital playlists of songs instead of the actual CDs or LPs.

Heroes- yes! That Bowie track is pretty non-standard in its mixing. I remember reading an interview in Mix Magazine with Tony Visconti, that goes in depth over the mixing process of this song in particular. It was an amazing interview.. His micing technique with Bowie's vocals were very unique, as I recall Visconti did something like using a floor mic far away in the corner of the room (in addition to other multiple mics regularly placed) and setting a gate on it, so that it would only open up and pick up Bowie's vox when they reached a high gain level, and then he mixed that into his liking along with the other vocal tracks, so I think it created a strange effect where you could start to hear the far away roominess the louder he got. Pretty freakin awesome.

  On 1/2/2014 at 6:08 AM, deferlow said:

I've been enjoying Sleigh Bells' "Treats" album. Unapologetic distorted hyper-compressed noise-pop:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SyEwLREPs4

fuck yeah! love their sound.. yeah, the way you described it is perfectly fitting, and works for their music so damn well. wish more stuff like this came out.

  On 1/2/2014 at 6:08 AM, deferlow said:

I've been enjoying Sleigh Bells' "Treats" album. Unapologetic distorted hyper-compressed noise-pop:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SyEwLREPs4

This kind of reminds of Mahmoud Awad's masterpieces

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuB6xTi8UXU