Best stereo effects

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At least prior to Electronica, the Basildon synth guys on Mute Records would own this thread. Just mentioning two examples here:

Depeche Mode: Blasphemous Rumours
Yazoo: Only You

OK, go on. More suggestions? :-)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 4 October 2004 00:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Spiritualized's "Pure Phase" owns this thread. Partly for the title track (which wanders from channel to channel, and plays through the entire album, more or less) but mainly for having a totally different mix in each channel.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 4 October 2004 00:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Cornelius.

― B.A.R.M.S. (Barima), Monday, 4 October 2004 01:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Os Mutantes

― DEEBZ (ddb), Monday, 4 October 2004 13:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Black Dice likes it.

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Monday, 4 October 2004 14:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Never heard Zaireeka so I'll go with "Perpetual Change" by Yes. But any sort of electro-disco with that ping-pong panning effect such as "I Feel Love" (Donna Summer) or "situation" (Yaz again) will do nicely.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 4 October 2004 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

This would make for a fun mix CD. More -- and name tracks!

― Taxi Dancing in the Soft Prison (Ben Boyer), Monday, 4 October 2004 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Moody Blues, "The Voice" -- not the gist of the song but some of the backing effects twiddle about from side to side.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Monday, 4 October 2004 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Stereolab: "Exploded Head Movie" from Refried Ectoplasm.

― Sean Witzman (trip maker), Monday, 4 October 2004 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

That ping-pong panning is also found in some electronica, such as Orbital's "Out There Somewhere" (guess it deserves a mention here, although it would take up more than a fourth of said mix CD :-) )

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 4 October 2004 19:36 (twenty-one years ago)

There's a Phil Elvrum-produced Mirah song that's really brutally mixed. Clanging metal noises going from ear to ear... Something off "Advisory Committee." "The Garden?"

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Monday, 4 October 2004 19:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, Orb are really good at utilizing surround, but their 2D stereo effects aren't any more special than a lot of electronica, I guess.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 4 October 2004 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

blue cheer's second album has some awesome panning/flanging combo effects.

yes, also black dice.

― peter smith (plsmith), Monday, 4 October 2004 19:39 (twenty-one years ago)

ramones!!

― jones (actual), Monday, 4 October 2004 19:47 (twenty-one years ago)

eric's trip

― DEEBZ (ddb), Monday, 4 October 2004 20:40 (twenty-one years ago)

ramones??

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Monday, 4 October 2004 20:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, I was going to post the Ramones. Bass panned all the way to the left, guitar panned all the way to the right.

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 4 October 2004 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

guess I never listened to the ramones on headphones before
Sly and Family Stone indulge in some wild hard pans as well

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Monday, 4 October 2004 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Loop - Arc-Lite (Radiated) - a mix by Mute founder Daniel Miller.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 4 October 2004 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

ahead ii by wire (ie the electronic version, not the guitar one): the bassline on that is head-meltingly wonderful on headphones.

and on a depeche tip: the version of behind the wheel with the hubcap-on-the-road noise at the beginning (click ... oh, that'll be the album version, then) ... so simple, so beautifully done. CHRIST, that's a good song.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Monday, 4 October 2004 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

the intro to 'perfect kiss' by new order is jarringly thrilling/thrillingly jarring

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Monday, 4 October 2004 22:07 (twenty-one years ago)

There's a correct answer to this question:

White Noise - An Electric Storm

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/2554/whitenoise.html

― dlp9001, Monday, 4 October 2004 22:36 (twenty-one years ago)

the totally unnecessary hard-panning at the end of Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" seems to require a mention...

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 4 October 2004 22:40 (twenty-one years ago)

And the ridiculous panning during the breakdown of "Whole Lotta Love" that precede the guitar solo...

― darin, Monday, 4 October 2004 23:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Hell, I'd say that every moderately "psychedelic" record released around 1968-69 goes totally over(mixing)board with the panning effects!

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 4 October 2004 23:49 (twenty-one years ago)

KLF: What Time Is Love?
Jimi Hendrix: All Along The Watchtower
Stone Roses: Begging You
- This latter has an extremely cool missile taking off from behind you and flying off into the distance type noise.

― M Carty (mj_c), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 06:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Destroy: Most Beatles albums (where stereo = half the band in one ear, half in the other).

― M Carty (mj_c), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 06:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I love that kind of separation. At least it leaves that listener in no doubt that this is a stereo recording rather than a mono one ;)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 11:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Moby Grape - Omaha (intro)
Velvet Underground - Murder Mystery

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 11:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Enough with the ping-pong panning, already. What about stuff that really uses stereo to create the illusion of three-dimensional sound (which was kinda the idea of stereo, wasn't it?). A sense of depth to yr panoramas.

Anyone?

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 11:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Psychic TV - Force the Hand of Chance

This used Hugo Zuccarelli's Holophonic recording system, a supposedly revolutionary technique which actually sounds like much the same idea as Manfred Schunke's Artificial Head recording technique, which was used on, among others:

Can - Flowmotion
Lou Reed - Street Hassle (or is it "The Bells"?)

To be honest I don't think any of these records sounded that different from records using the usual techniques

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 11:45 (twenty-one years ago)

four years pass...

Forgot to mention Husker Du's "Indecision Time", in which the vocal "Go to the left/Go to the right" is hard-panned appropriately.

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Wednesday, 1 April 2009 07:01 (sixteen years ago)

Bluebells by Patrick Wolf; firework takes off in left air, explodes in right ear.

The Open had one track on their second album that did something very interesting with moving a backing vocal around not only left-to-right but also up-and-down, so it sounded like it was rotating in a circle.

― Sickamous Mouthall (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 1 April 2009 07:12 (sixteen years ago)

'black satin'. those handclaps zapping left-right-left disoriented me to the point of falling over once. thanks for that, miles!

― prince of PLURsia (haitch), Wednesday, 1 April 2009 07:24 (sixteen years ago)

I nominate Jimi Hendrix for worst/best stereo effects.. in that they're awesome and yet really corny.

― billstevejim, Wednesday, 1 April 2009 08:10 (sixteen years ago)

I'm thinking specifically of stuff like "EXP" or some of the forgettable songs on Electric Ladyland.

― billstevejim, Wednesday, 1 April 2009 08:11 (sixteen years ago)

Zep's "What Is And What Should Never Be," the chord stabs alternating channels before the big ending kicks in.

― OK, fine, yes, I Goggled it (Pancakes Hackman), Wednesday, 1 April 2009 10:20 (sixteen years ago)

Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" - "STRICT STEREO SEPARATION"

― snoball, Wednesday, 1 April 2009 10:53 (sixteen years ago)

The Young Gods - L'eau Rouge. Play Kurt Weill

Lotsa early sampling close panning fx.

― MaresNest, Wednesday, 1 April 2009 11:04 (sixteen years ago)

aphex twin - mount st michel saint michael's mount or whatever it's called.

― the next grozart, Wednesday, 1 April 2009 14:41 (sixteen years ago)

Destroy: Most Beatles albums (where stereo = half the band in one ear, half in the other).

― M Carty (mj_c), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 06:46 (4 years ago)

I love that kind of separation. At least it leaves that listener in no doubt that this is a stereo recording rather than a mono one ;)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 11:20 (4 years ago)

It is neither a stereo effect, nor evidence of stereo at all. It is, strictly speaking, evidence of mono recording, and is most closely related to the recording limitations of the time (which have been expounded upon elsewhere @ length). Ditto goes for a lot of Jamaican recordings where new tracks were added to instrumental mixdowns on a 2 track deck. Actually this makes me crazy (surprise!), and I pine for the days when your basic hi-fi amp had a mono button to sum the 2 sides together.

I mostly find it most useful for sampling, EG: getting Ringo breaks off Beatles records. I will also note here that the intro drums for Sgt Pepper's has a nice whisper by John ("lies") under it.

Just my penny's worth.

― factcheckr, Wednesday, 1 April 2009 15:20 (sixteen years ago)

Low's most recent album Drums and Guns makes excellent use of stereo techniques, with all the vocals fed effectively into the right channel and the drums front and center, where they should be.

― ilxor, Wednesday, 1 April 2009 16:31 (sixteen years ago)

I'll add any Adrian Sherwood / On-U sound production to this, and anything with a stereo Rhodes tremolo as well. I'm a sucker for both. There's lots of stereo Rhodes on those Lonnie Liston Smith albums.

― factcheckr, Wednesday, 1 April 2009 20:09 (sixteen years ago)

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