ur-Apologies

Dead Man Beatbox recently hipped me and The Lonesome Pragmatist to an MP3 of the original recording of Nirvana's "All Apologies," the Steve Albini-mixed version that was ultimately rejected by the A&R guys at Geffen in favor of the commonly heard, more radio-friendly mix done by R.E.M. producer Scott Litt.

My original comment was this [via e-mail]:

>Hm. As difficult as it is to judge anything from an MP3, I think Scott Litt's
>mix is actually a lot better. Kurt's intentions were a romantic tribute, but
>try as he did, he couldn't make Nirvana sound like the Pixies, because they
>were better than the Pixies. Nirvana was a radio band to the core; the Pixies,
>as great as they were in their own right, weren't, and to confuse the
>difference in terms of sonic presentation was a fatal mistake on Steve's part
>and one that he can't credibly blame Geffen for. Steve is a peerless tracking
>engineer, but not a great mix engineer. To his credit, he's at least upfront
>about the problematic term "producer."

To which The Lonesome Pragmatist replied [via e-mail]:

> Here is where knowing rock-critic stuff about intentions may blind
> you as a critic.
>
> Coming at it as a guy listening to a song, the Albini mix feels like
> a new and far more powerful song--in fact, I think I might use it as
> a parade example to show [my pal] the emotional and aesthetic difference
> producion makes.
>
> The original edit (this goes beyond a remix--I can't believe those
> are even the same guitars on the Litt version as on this crackling
> monstrosity where the pitch keeps falling off and the strings keep
> bending down) feels like it's taking place in some kind of huge, dead
> room with objects moving drastically in (the intimate understated
> vocals) and out (the huge, too-clear drums) of range. When the
> squirming guitar blast hits at the chorus, it feels like the roof has
> been lifted off.

Judge for yourself.

posted at 9:08 PM