1 |
China |
Little Earthquakes |
Tori Amos |
Smooth production should be fine on any system. Problems here indicate big issues! |
2 |
Don’t Know Why |
Come Away With Me |
Norah Jones |
Smooth production should be fine on any system. Problems here indicate big issues! |
3 |
Close To You |
Gold – Greatest Hits |
Carpenters |
Smooth production should be fine on any system. Problems here indicate big issues! |
4 |
Savior (piano version) |
MassEducation |
St. Vincent |
Smooth production should be fine on any system. Problems here indicate big issues! |
5 |
Desperado (2013 Remaster) |
Desperado (2013 Remaster) |
Eagles |
Smooth production should be fine on any system. Problems here indicate big issues! |
6 |
The Girl From Ipanema |
Sinatra/Jobim |
Antonio Carlos Jobim |
Smooth production should be fine on any system. Problems here indicate big issues! |
7 |
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes |
Graceland |
Paul Simon |
Smooth production should be fine on any system. Problems here indicate big issues! |
8 |
Sun Giant |
Sun Giant EP |
Fleet Foxes |
Insane layers of vocal echoes get muddy and lost with less resolving systems |
9 |
Riptide |
Dream Your Life Away |
Vance Joy |
Acoustic ukulele intro good for nuances in volume and air of recording (45 seconds) |
10 |
Tamacun (Remastered) |
Rodrigo Y Gabriela |
Rodrigo Y Gabriela |
Acoustic guitars flattened in the Loudness Wars: How well do they hold up? |
11 |
I Hung My Head |
American IV |
Johnny Cash |
Vocals flattened in the Loudness Wars: How well does it hold up? |
12 |
Californication |
Californication |
Red Hot Chili Peppers |
Vocals BUTCHERED in the Loudness Wars: Can any hardware save it? |
13 |
Levi Stubbs’ Tears |
Must I Paint You a Picture? |
Billy Bragg |
Pre-Loudness Wars forward vocals: Compare to prior tracks [Note strong UK accent] |
14 |
Crazy Rhythm |
The Beat Of My Heart |
Tony Bennett |
Vocals on right side, but resolving setups reveal clear ghostly echoes of the words on the left |
15 |
Just One Of Those Things |
The Beat Of My Heart |
Tony Bennett |
Jazz percussion and cymbals from 1957 – production techniques of an earlier era |
16 |
BirdFlu |
Kala |
M.I.A. |
Intense 2007 studio percussion |
17 |
Islands |
XX |
The XX |
Deep bass, really deep bass and more musical than the “Why So Serious?” track |
18 |
WAKING UP DOWN |
WHAT WE DREW |
Yaeji |
Contemporary heavy bass / club sound |
19 |
Blood In The Cut |
Every Where Is Some Where |
K.Flay |
Contemporary heavy bass / club sound |
20 |
Bizarre Love Triangle |
Brotherhood |
New Order |
Landmark in production methods: How does potentially brittle 1980s music sound with setup? |
21 |
Break-Thru |
Lamp Lit Prose |
Dirty Projectors |
Studio musicians spending a lot of time on mixing, staging, and effects (alt example) |
22 |
Donna |
Sun Machine |
Rubblebucket |
Studio musicians spending a lot of time on mixing, staging, and effects (alt example) |
23 |
My Girls |
Merriweather Post Pavilion |
Animal Collective |
Studio musicians spending a lot of time on mixing, staging, and effects (alt example) |
24 |
What’s That Perfume That You Wear? |
Life Will See You Now |
Jens Lekman |
Studio musicians spending a lot of time on mixing, staging, and effects (alt example) |
25 |
Empire Ants (feat. Little Dragon) |
Plastic Beach |
Gorillaz |
Studio musicians spending a lot of time on mixing, staging, and effects (alt example) |
26 |
Souk Eye |
The Now Now |
Gorillaz |
Listen to the last minute: How long before the chimes fade away? [Varies by setup] |
27 |
Let Down |
OK Computer |
Radiohead |
Studio musicians spending a lot of time on mixing, staging, and effects (alt example) |
28 |
Time to Pretend |
Oracular Spectacular |
MGMT |
Studio musicians spending a lot of time on mixing, staging, and effects (alt example) |
29 |
Sultans of Swing |
Sultans of Swing – the Very Best of Dire Straits |
Dire Straits |
Baseline expectations for Rock ‘n’ Roll: Guitar by an expert |
30 |
Pride and Joy |
The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan |
Stevie Ray Vaughan |
Baseline expectations for Rock ‘n’ Roll: Guitar by an expert |
31 |
Flight of The Bumblebee |
The Greatest Classical Masterpieces! |
London Philharmonic Orchestra |
Classical: Dynamics, clarity, strings, brass and harshness or hiss [Nostalgia: School field trip] |
32 |
The Ride Of The Valkyries |
Wagner – Ride Of The Valkyries |
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
Classical: Dynamics, clarity, strings, brass and harshness or hiss [Nostalgia: School field trip] |
33 |
Rhapsody in Blue |
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue & An American in Paris |
Leonard Bernstein |
This track is iconic, and provides good examples of orchestral and piano content |
34 |
No Rest for the Wicked |
World on Fire |
Yngwie J Malmsteen |
Technical heavy metal – contemporary update to the soul of classical and a check for clarity |
35 |
Lovefool |
First Band On The Moon |
The Cardigans |
Sharp and chipper female pop: Can be sibalant, too bright, and painful with some setups |
36 |
Go Outside |
Cults |
Cults |
Sharp and chipper female pop: Can be sibalant, too bright, and painful with some setups |
37 |
You Don’t Get Me High Anymore |
Three |
Phantogram |
Sharp and chipper female pop: Can be sibalant, too bright, and painful with some setups |
38 |
Steve Jobs |
Wonderland |
Steve Aoki feat. Angger Dimas |
EDM that can be harsh or unpleasant (starting at 1:30); compare with next two tracks |
39 |
All The Time |
Bahamas Is Afie |
Bahamas |
Melodic but heavy guitar distortion; compare with prior and next track |
40 |
Little Cream Soda |
Icky Thump |
The White Stripes |
Extreme guitar distortion and quasi-heavy metal; compare with prior two tracks |
41 |
Du Hast |
Sensucht |
Rammstein |
Mainstream metal production – baseline for genre and should perform well |
42 |
Walk |
Vulgar Display of Power |
Pantera |
Mainstream metal production – baseline for genre and should perform well |
43 |
Crown On The Ground |
Treats |
Sleigh Bells |
The absurd level of constant distortion can reveal dynamic issues and limitations of amps |
44 |
The Queen And The Soldier (Live) |
RetroSpective |
Suzanne Vega |
Listen for (a) clear background crowd noise, and (b) fluctuating volume of voice [Varies by setup] |
45 |
Woman On The Tier |
RetroSpective |
Suzanne Vega |
Novel percussion using trash cans sometimes induces tinnitus, weirdness, or unpleasantness |
46 |
This Devil’s Workday |
Good News For People Who Love Bad News |
Modest Mouse |
Bright and brassy – unpleasant with many setups (Ow, this entire album is so bright it hurts!) |
47 |
Leave Your Body Behind You |
Standing At The Sky’s Edge |
Richard Hawley |
Underlying distortion can induce hiss and make the presentation fall apart [varies by setup] |
48 |
Answering Machine |
Let It Be |
The Replacements |
Cheap studio equipment and a shrill high end often induces tinnitus |
49 |
You Really Got Me (2015 Remaster) |
Van Halen (Remastered) |
Van Halen |
Shrill around 0:30, 1:00 and elsewhere – extremely high pitched tones induce tinnitus |
50 |
Soon |
Loveless |
My Bloody Valentine |
Entire album is more noise than music: known to lead to tinnitus in creator Kevin Shields |