In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

Most people talk about the fuzz and the horn arrangements on this record, but they forget the tape hiss and the sheer physical degradation of the multitracks. Robert Schneider produced this at his Pet Sounds studio in Denver using a custom-built 4-track setup, and the reason it sounds like it’s vibrating out of your speakers is because the tapes were literally wearing out while they were tracking. It’s not "lo-fi" because they wanted it to be trendy; it’s lo-fi because they were running out of time and budget, which is the only way a record this manic should ever have been made. You’ve got a massive collection of indie and emo—Alex G, Front Bottoms, Modest Mouse—and you can hear the ghost of this record in every single one of them. You’re spinning a reissue, sure, but the songs haven't lost an ounce of that claustrophobic, life-affirming intensity. If you’ve ever wondered why that specific brand of "screaming into the void but making it sound like a carnival" works, it’s because Jeff Mangum was writing lyrics like he was trying to exorcise his own childhood before the recording booth collapsed on top of him.

source: the clerk