Faster, But Slower

Felt a real bit of encouragement the other day when I learned that Martin Hannett, famed Factory Records producer, was a chemistry major! He started his production career at 28, as well. You see, just nigh of my 28th birthday (and graduation, with a chemistry degree), I'm at a bit of an impasse about what to do with my life. Obviously I can't be writer. I've always held out a slight dream of producing music - it was what I originally intended to go to college for, after all. I suspect that's where my talents lie (if I in fact have any)... writing little riffs, sculpting the big picture, ridding the world of boring-sounding records. Will I become a producer this year? Should I produce records as 'The Truth', like Flood or The Matrix?

Flood Bro

Here's one of the best scenes about producing ever in a movie, from 24 Hour Party People. Thanks be to whoever had the good taste to upload the entire scene.

Did Martin Hannett invent sipping syzzurp in the studio?

Faster, but slower. It always amazes me how many people can't understand this simple artistic maxim. It's about Impact; something very few recordings have. The reason recorded music is so transformative, is about 50% to do with the production. The vibe is as important as the song itself - it's the world the song pulls you into. Take 'She's Lost Control' - not that great of a song, really, yet Tony Wilson's right on the money when he says "there's nothing else out there that sounds like this, and that's the best thing about it". The song basically invented post-punk. Joy Division were miles ahead of everyone else, vibe-wise (they would sound futuristic today) and Hannett definitely was a big part of it.

He's also responsible for possibly my favorite production ever, New Order's 'Ceremony' (esp. the early 3-piece version below). Youtube doesn't really do it justice, you need to hear it on 45 rpm vinyl. (Drew was gentleman enough to let me buy it back from him after I sold it, setting a good example for us all.)

When the record starts spinning, and you hear the kick drum, perfectly isolated and centered in the mix, with an assuring 4/4 thump while the Doppler-ed bass lines weave in and out, jagged guitars pierce the vast space around the song, and the haunted vocal issues forth, totally out of place sonically, yet just right, you feel genuinely excited; you get the sense that you're listening to Art, a singular experience, captured somehow on a 12" plastic disc. Real lightning-in-a-bottle type shit.

A nice puff piece about the real Martin, in the studio, twiddling knobs. For fans of 'practical' Youtube videos:

Here's a couple more tasty productions by Hannett.

Can't find the original Hannett version of this OMD song, but the version the band remixed is very, very close to his.

Did you know? The Stone Rosies recorded their first album years before their debut finally came out... with Marty Hanny. They canned the project at the demo stage bc they got into a fight or something (they would probably call it a 'kerfuffle') bc they couldn't handle the 'far out' sound Hannett was bringing (he was getting wild - and obese - at this point). They released the tapes some years later when they realized their careers weren't coming back [via burning out, then fading away].

Gnarly sounding version of 'I Wanna Get Around'

Was this song ever on Guitar Hero?

Not too many other producers captured sounds with as much focus and clarity as old MH. The few that come to mind are Steve Albini, Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening, and SST's man Spot, who gave us my 2nd favorite production of all time:

You think Kevin Shields liked this record?

That IS Rock and Roll. It basically proves that rock is as much the sound as it is the song. All you need is one chord, and one lyric. New Day Rising! New Day Rising! New Day Rising! Play it with enough feeling and you WILL win your local talent show. I remember back in the day, me and my roommate bought that record for our dorm room, and when we brought it to the counter the owner of the shop (Bull City Records, RIP) said, with a seriousness straight outta High Fidelity, "I listened to this every morning on the way to high-school". You don't say that about shittily produced music!!

So, just start a one-chord band for now. Stick to maybe... one lyric. Hire me as your producer. I can't guarantee success, but I promise our records won't sound like this (i.e. successful):

Kinda feel like building a studio with a fireplace in it, so I can use PRS guitars as firewood. Has a good song ever been written on a PRS?

Not enough Martins in the world today.