Albums and songs recorded in unusual environments and/or using unorthodox methods

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk (the song): Recorded at Dodger Stadium
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible: recorded in a church
Animal Collective - Campfire Songs: recorded on a porch on 3 minidiscs

Any more?

https://www.discogs.com/Metgumbnerbone-Ligeliahorn/release/426169

"I Can Hear You" by They Might Be Giants was recorded on a wax cylinder at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Bedhead 4SongEP19:10 recorded in one take to a stereo mic in a church (actually that Cowboy Junkies album was the same deal, right?)

Heron recorded their first LP in a field. Look:

http://www.relaxx.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/back.jpg

UK experimental folk band, Dead Rat Orchestra, recorded a concept album about 18th century gull hunters while on board a lighthouse ship in Colchester, Essex. They had to fit their recording schedule around the tides because apparently it affected the acoustics of the room as the ship went up and down.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/quietus_production/images/articles/13073/dead_rat_orchestra_1376324297_crop_550x367.jpg

Maybe it's because I listen to a lot of (religious) classical music, but a church doesn't sound like an unusual place in which to record?

Churches are pretty much designed for music, so not unusual! I meant one single-mic take for the whole EP, in an era of multitrack and drop-ins, was unusual.

https://www.discogs.com/Hia-Biosphere-Polar-Sequences/release/640

'Tromsø, 70 degrees north, in the Arctic region, in the middle of the most active northern lights zone. In summer time, land of the midnight sun. In winter, total darkness.

In October 1995, as part of the annual Polar Music Festival, Geir Jenssen of Biosphere and Bobby Bird of The Higher Intelligence Agency, were commissioned by Nor Concerts to collaborate together on a musical project to take place in Geir's home town of Tromsø, Norway. The brief was for them to perform three concerts, using sounds sourced from the area as the basis of the music - the machinery of the local mountain cable lift, the snow, the ice etc…

The performances from which this recording is taken, took place on top of a mountain above Tromsø, in a cabin reached by the cable car, in which the audience were transported up the mountain in turn.'

Sadly, the album isn't quite as awesome as its production process, though it's still okay if you like environmental ambient.

(xpost)

Yeah, sorry, I got it. That was more a comment to Dog Latin's mention of some other albums having been recorded in a church too.

I think recording a rock or pop album in a church is unorthodox (even if it's in an orthodox church LOOOOOOL!!!!!), since using the natural acoustics of a church goes against modern production standards where everything would be recorded dry as possible with reverb added in the mixing stages. I'm always fascinated when I see footage of, say, Simon and Garfunkel recording vocals in what appear to be huge hangar-like halls as opposed to a vocal booth.

Deep Listening – recorded 14 feet underground in an unused cistern with a 45-second reverb time.

Björk, There's More to Life than This - recorded live at the Milk Bar toilets.

I thought that was a just a joke? The "non-toilet" version of it is on the B side of Venus as a Boy, and it sounds pretty much like the same take to me, only without the "live" filtering to her voice added to the album version.

idk, i found this, it's on the internet it must be true: http://b-faq.bjorkish.net/debut/debut-1.htm

modern production standards where everything would be recorded dry as possible with reverb added in the mixing stages

Not saying that recording in a church is the norm for rock but I didn't think "as dry as possible; reverb in the mix" was really the modern production standard for anything other than vocals?

I thought Kitaro had at times recorded in places like vaults within Pyramids or some such in the late 70s/early 80s.

....and don't nobody start sayin' that's akin to Yanni at The Acropolis....

Archaeologically speaking, surprised nobody notable has done anything from either the Oracle Chamber in Malta or the Temple of Kukulan (SP?) in South America.

Nomex LP recorded in the Paris catacombs:

https://www.discogs.com/Nomex-Infiltrate-Assimilate-Propagate-Disseminate/release/230980

Not saying that recording in a church is the norm for rock but I didn't think "as dry as possible; reverb in the mix" was really the modern production standard for anything other than vocals?

― Spiritual Hat Minimalism (Sund4r), Monday, November 28, 2016 2:27 PM (ten minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Drums too though, no? I guess any album where they use the natural acoustics or backdrop of an environment outside the confines of a studio would be considered out of the ordinary these days? I'd even count something like real plate-reverb to be a quaint idea that could fit in this thread

idk, i found this, it's on the internet it must be true: http://b-faq.bjorkish.net/debut/debut-1.htm

Okay, I listened to both the "live in the toilet" and the "non-toilet" versions side by side, and the vocal track is definitely the same, the "live" version just adds some crowd noises and murkiness to the sound so it feels like it was recorded at a toilet. I guess it's theoretically possible she managed to get a perfect take in that toilet (the vocals don't really have any stumbling or the sort of unpolished feel you normally get with live recordings), but more likely the whole story is just a joke.

IIRC Jaz Coleman recorded some vocals inside one of the great pyramids at Giza. The results could have been effectively reproduced in a £20ph demo studio in Willesden mind you, but i'm sure the vibe helped enormously.

Don't ask why I know this but the Barenaked Ladies always record one song per album totally nude

Are you talking about this album? I have it, and the liner notes say that it was partially recorded in Cairo and was inspired by the presence of the pyramids, but there's no mention of anything being recorded inside them...

(xpost)

Katie Melua, 300m underwater inside one of the pillars of the Troll-A gas rig.

John Martyn - One World:

One of Phill Brown’s recording techniques for the album – at Blackwell’s suggestion – involved installing a large PA system outdoors and setting the monitor stacks up on the far side of the stables, pointing out across the lake, then using two microphones on the opposite side of the house, to mike up the outdoor PA sound coming back off the lake, and two more close to the water’s edge, to pick up the water lapping at the shore, as well as the distant, extremely ambient guitar sound coming from the PA.

IIRC Jaz Coleman recorded some vocals inside one of the great pyramids at Giza. The results could have been effectively reproduced in a £20ph demo studio in Willesden mind you, but i'm sure the vibe helped enormously.

One of the versions of Exorcism, I think, only on the 10"?

The entire discography of Chris Watson (...albums by field recordists in general)

http://teamrock.com/feature/2014-04-07/killing-joke-inside-the-great-pyramid-at-giza

I guess there's Einstürzende Neubauten who made recordings inside the eaves of a motorway flyover and in a spherical watertower too, probably a few other odd places.

Paul Horn, Inside (Taj Mahal, Great Pyramid, elsewhere)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGaA6OS1bN0

Sigur Ros in a disused building somewhere in Iceland designed to store and keep fish oil from freezing, those metal tracks on the floor are elements.

didn't the Beach Boys record parts of Smiley Smile in an empty swimming pool?

Exile on Main Street and the hot and humid basement of the villa in the South of France--a story told so often we do not need to hear it again. Do like 2 books a year come out on the making of EOMS?

^yes. I was also going to mention Led Zeppelin III. they used the Stones' mobile recording unit iirc

I was also thinking of Presence, which was recorded in... a castle? or something? but it was an established studio. like, there's a difference between something recorded in an unusual environment vs. a working studio that may be unusual or unorthodox. because they used their mobile recording unit in the villa basement on EOMS, it qualifies, but the place where Zep & the Stones recorded in 1975 doesn't.

The story behind the recording of Ween's "Transdermal Celebration" is very good - here's Deaner telling it:

me and carlos sort of collaborate-------I think enough time has passed where I can finally tell my favorite Ween story of all-time. The businesses and the people involved have long since closed their doors and moved on for good and hopefully the people involved (and Carlos himself, if it comes to that) will have a good sense of humor about this story. In 2003 Ween released our album “quebec” on Sanctuary Records. We worked on the album for 2 years in our beach house in Holgate,NJ, a rented house in the Pocono Mountains of PA, the garage behind Aaron’s house in Pt. Pleasant, PA, my upstairs guest room, and finally Andrew Weiss’s living room in NJ. We also worked at Water Music in Hoboken, NJ and Graphic Sound Studios in Ringoes, NJ. It was not a great period in our personal lives, Aaron was going thru a divorce and I was partying way too hard myself—it was some dark shit. The record is one of my favorites, but it is a depressing album lyrically. It was not an easy record to make either, as evidenced by the amount of places we worked, trying to find the right environment. There are demos available online that I posted where you can hear the process at work, we racked up our normal batch of like 6 dozen songs or more before whittling it down to what was finally released, 15 tunes. I am a huge fan of Carlos Santana. He is one of my favorite guitarists of all-time. He is playing better these days than ever before in my opinion. His music is more radio friendly, for sure, but as a guitarist he has aged like a fine wine. Only Neil Young, Prince, and a small handful of others can make that claim as they become members of the AARP. We were working in Andrew’s living room on the song “Transdermal Celebration”, our drummer Claude Coleman had just gotten into a horrific car crash and left us w/o a drummer for the recording and ensuing tour. Eventually it worked itself out where the record took so long to complete that Claude made enough of a recovery to do the world tour with us supporting “quebec.” In the meantime though, even though Claude had played on some of the demos, drumming on the album was left up to me, Josh Freese, and Sim Cain. “Transdermal Celebration” had been recorded 3 times by this point, with a drum machine, with Claude playing drums, and the final take on the album which features Josh Freese. It was the eventual single from the album. So, we’re in the middle of this session and I get a phone call from my roadie (nameless) who also worked for a backline company (nameless) that supplied amps, drums, lights, etc. to bands touring in the Northeast. My roadie told me that Carlos Santana’s equipment (including his guitars) had arrived via a trucking company that night at their depot. Carlos was recording an appearance on “Good Morning America” the next morning and his equipment was to be delivered to the set in NYC in a few hours. What needed to be done was immediately clear to me, I had an opportunity to play the solo on “Transdermal Celebration” through Carlos Santana’s amplifier and guitar. I had one shot at it, it meant taking a hard disk recorder to a storage space where all of Carlos’ stuff was sitting in transit. I arrived at 2am. We (very carefully) unpacked his equipment and set up his stage gear and in one take I recorded the guitar solo for “Transdermal Celebration” (the one that appears on the album, playing thru Carlos Santana’s guitar, pedalboard, and amplifier. The whole thing took 10 minutes and we were terrified we were going to get caught. A lot of people would have lost their jobs. We got the fuck outta there really fast after that. So the solo on “Transdermal Celebration” was played thru all of Santana’s shit in what resembled an early morning bank heist or something………. Of course a story like this requires visual proof, so here it is. Don’t tell anyone about these please. -Dean Ween

6/14 an afterthought: regarding the Carlos post, i'd like to add that we handled his equipment as if it were the Mona Lisa. We photographed the way his roadie had his cables wrapped and positioned and put everything back exactly as it was found. The whole process was over as quickly as it happened. Also, the respect that I have for Carlos and the depth, spirituality and stamina of his playing is held by me in the highest regard. I am not just a fan of Carlos, I am a believer and follower of everything he has done, and yes that includes the pop singles. I felt it was important to have this be known, there is no one I hold in a higher regard. Also, I have a lifetime of experience of handling equipment, as did the other person involved, it wasn't two drunk buffoons manhandling a legend's gear, the furthest thing from it. I think it's important to clarify that. -DW

Should note the first two and a half Belle & Sebastian LPs being recorded in a church hall, which is why they sound better, etc., etc.

ha thats great xp

Allin retreated to a cabin in New Hampshire where he wrote what he considered to be his first masterpiece, Eat My Fuc.

Not saying that recording in a church is the norm for rock but I didn't think "as dry as possible; reverb in the mix" was really the modern production standard for anything other than vocals?
― Spiritual Hat Minimalism (Sund4r), Monday, November 28, 2016 2:27 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

There's really no set way. Some people prefer the "record dry and add the effects in the mix" approach, but some like to get their sound together while recording. I'm sure I remember reading that Tony Visconti liked to have the effects already in place while Bowie's bands were tracking. It wasn't uncommon to print effects to tape, either, back in the days where you had to make concrete decisions during recording.

Natural reverb (i.e. "echo chambers") not that uncommon either.

didn't the Beach Boys record parts of Smiley Smile in an empty swimming pool?

The Band's 2nd album was recorded in Sammy Davis Jr's pool house fwiw. Turned out pretty good.

Can we please just have a tacit understanding not to mention Bon Iver.

are there any Prince tracks that fit here? thinking about that story where he ordered an engineer to work out how to record an electric guitar being played underwater in a swimming pool, but had already lost interest and was on to the next thing by the time they came up with an answer.

One of the Harold Budd Eno albums was recorded in a room filled with mist.
U2's Unforgettable Fire was recorded in a castle.

Downward Spiral was recorded in Sharon Tate's house.
Oh, yeah, some Mellencamp album was recorded between Sun Studios, the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia, and the San Antonio hotel where Robert Johnson recorded.

U2's Unforgettable Fire was recorded in a castle.

http://www.popsike.com/pix/20090427/110382568460.jpg

I like the idea that if von ribbentrop had asked a fortune teller to show him the future of the 1000 year reich he would been offered an apparition of Can recording an album at schloss nörvenich.

not that experimental rock music represents the pinnacle of anti-fascism, but it still would have really pissed him off that it was in an old castle, even if it was a bit of a tarted up Barratt house by ancient Teutonic standards.

Andy Johns on recording Led Zeppelin IV @ Headley Grange and getting the drum sound on 'When the Levee Breaks'.

http://www.musicradar.com/news/drums/andy-johns-on-the-secrets-behind-the-led-zeppelin-iv-sessions-586533

Quite a few classic records were done with the Rolling Stones remote. From what I understand, running the remote truck business was what Ian Stewart did when the Stones were not on the road.

Deep Purple's Machine Head including "Smoke on the Water" was recorded at a casino in Montreaux that was closed for the season. Read a take on how it was done and they used an axis on two long hallways in the hotel to get the drum sound on that record.

I seem to recall the Grifters took a 4-track into a parking garage stairwell to record some overdubs on one of their early records.

Ben Vaughn Rambler 65 was recorded inside his 1965 Rambler American.

Jackson Browne Running on Empty - Three songs recorded in hotel rooms, one on a moving tour bus.

Living Colour, "Nothingness:"

“Corey sang into this satellite dish outside the studio (Long View Farm)–it was bent over instead of facing the sky. He said, `I wanna sing this outside’–it was 4 a.m.! Ron Saint Germain and I were walking past this dish and heard this crazy echo. So there’s no vocal overdub on that song, it’s one song with different microphones on a continuous vocal performance. An unbelievable experience, with Doug right under there makin’ it swing.

The Libertines - Anthems for Doomed Youth: After finally deciding to pick up where they left off 11 years after their demise, the boys headed to Thailand to record their comeback in isolated paradise - but quickly discovered their studio was built on an old snake-pit. Peter Dogherty told NME, I said to the guy there:"Do you have anti-venom for the snakes?' He said: 'Anti-venom?' I said: 'Yeah, anti-venom for snake bites." "No, if snake bites you, you die." "Ok, what about going to hospital?" "No! You die!"

xpost with more detail

Einsturzende Neubaten - Stahlmusik: The ridiculously experimental band recorded their LP in a small pillar of the Stadtautobahn Bridge in Berlin. According to the band's record company, Einsturzende Neubaten - Stahlmusik: The ridiculously experimental band recorded their LP in a small pillar of the Stadtautobahn Bridge in Berlin. According to the band's record company, "the inner core of the pillar could only be accessed through a crawl space, and candles were lit to monitor oxygen levels. Instrumentation was basic. A crude guitar and amp setup meant the tall singer, Blixa Bargeld, could play and sing if he bent almost double, while percussionist N.U. Unruh pounded two large bricks on oil drums on the walls of the autobahn." Holy moly.

Obviously a couple of famous albums at least partially recorded in prisons. And that guy last year recorded an entire album in an Apple store.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAxHlLK3Oyk

And inspired by that, Jakob Kirkegaard's Four Rooms, which was recorded in various (abandoned) places around Chernobyl

Stockhausen, Helikopter-Streichquartett

dunno how unusual it really is but I always liked the way Richard Bishop described the making of Tangier Sessions. improvised self-recordings in a quiet, dark apartment above the busy streets of the namesake city with only a very-old-but-brand-new-to-him guitar by his side. i suppose it's probably the myth talking, but i feel like i can feel the warm air hanging around when i listen thru headphones.

From the Neubauten documentary Liebeslieder

The watertower.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw_6dRjIDX8

The Stadtautobahn Bridge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm52NT4wnKE

Sleep No More by the Comsat Angels:

Frontman Stephen Fellows described how they achieved a resonant sound on a couple of the tracks: "Pete Wilson suggested taking the drums out of the studio – on the fourth floor at Polydor – and putting them near the lift-shaft (elevator shaft) by the stairs. We then put microphones on the three floors above and below... Obviously we were only able to do this sort of thing in the evening when the offices were closed!"

Especially if we're talking studio technique, for "People Are People" Depeche Mode pumped the bass drum down from the studio (Hansa?) to a giant set of PA speakers, cranked them up, then recorded the speakers.

Similarly, on a smaller scale, I remember reading that Adrian Sherwood would blast beats and drums through a pair of cheap headphones and then mic the headphones.

Esquivel to thread - on Latin-esque, reportedly he achieved extreme channel separation by placing two orchestras in different studios a block apart and then mixed the result live.

... i did not know that about Juan Garcia ... that crazy bastard. I'd put him at the table of the five historical figures you'd like to have diner with.

Sunn O))) Black One - Per Wikipedia: "The band supposedly also went so far as to lock the claustrophobic Malefic in a casket to record the vocals on "Báthory Erzsébet."

Let It Be, surely...

Warren Defever of His Name is Alive/Stars on ESP has recorded a lot of music on a 1930s Webster Wire recorder

Gong's "Magick Brother/Mystic Sister" was supposedly recorded on the sound channel of a movie camera - don't ask me how that works - and it does sound pretty rough tbh.

Laura Cannell recorded her latest album by herself in a lighthouse within the space of a few hours.

C-Murder's Truest Shit I Ever Said was recorded from prison during visiting hours with a handheld recorder

Garlo - Vent de Guitares

54 guitars placed on the summit of the highest sand dune in Europe. The magical song of hundreds of strings vibrating only under the wind's touch. Immense sound bands crossed by harmonic waves, and by eddys of frequencies... This is Vent de Guitares, a geo-acoustic creation, a work of land art where the ephemeral act and the climatic uncertainty generate a timeless music.

https://www.discogs.com/Garlo-Vent-De-Guitares/release/1575820

Amateur Doubles (Graham Lambkin) was recorded inside of a moving Honda Civic, supposedly.

My Morning Jacket recorded the vocals for their early albums in a disused grain silo

Mayhem recorded albums while the band was busy murdering each other

That's also true of Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors", but with sex.

They were busy murdering sex?

No, murdering each other with sex.

ciccone youth's cover of addicted to love was recorded in a karaoke booth iirc

along similar lines, neil young's album a letetr home was recorded in an old voice-o-graph vinyl recording booth

Mercury Rev recorded their first few records on 35mm tape.

The Fall recorded Hex Enduction Hour in an Icelandic igloo-like studio with lava walls and in a "disused cinema".

Women's first record was partially recorded in an outdoor culvert and a crawlspace, and recorded in parts on boomboxes.

The Feelies Crazy Rhythms recorded the guitars by plugging them directly into the board.

are albums recorded on a 4-track another category? nebraska by springsteen and roman candle by elliott smith, for example. bee thousand too i think

I.S.O. featuring Yoshihide Otomo, Sachiko M & Yoshimitsu Ichiraku was recorded live at Sesshu-tei Garden, Yamaguchi, Japan. It's very light beautiful electroacoustic ambient with the sounds of the garden, birds and such.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5527/31342328782_94e749480a_o.jpg

ctrlf sulk no results what the fuck?