High Volume

Driving over to Serangoon Road yesterday evening, I was listening to Television's classic album Marquee Moon at a most satisfactory volume. Prior to the journey I'd never thought of it as a particularly well-produced record, despite the excellent musicianship and songs, but I came to realise that the slightly jangly quality I've always associated with it, as a result, I suppose, of the dual guitars high in the mix, disappears when you get the chance to listen to it really loud. That's when you realise what an exceptional rhythm section underpins it all and how authentically real that sounds when given its due. And how well the treble sounds blend with the lower frequencies once all is unleashed.

I suppose at lower volumes that heft is lost and since the band deliberately avoided the huge smacking drum sound producer Andy Johns was associated with (via John Bonham et al) you assume the bottom end is generally a bit thin. But heard as it should be heard I reckon Marquee Moon is one of the best produced albums I've ever heard. Guitarist Richard Lloyd talked of a dry sound with a nice, tight, smaller kit and that's what Johns delivers.

It sounds wonderfully uncluttered - sort of simple, really. But I suspect it's a kind of deceptive simplicity.