variations on a theme

One of the things I've been debating posting here is an "A-Z" of various indie/punk/etc producers and/or engineers. Names that, without which, we'd not have some of the landmark records we have today.

Some say "no, fool, it's for the bands that we have these records" and they're right. The producer or engineer was just the person who happened to be sat behind the boards when the tape was run, the musicians played their music, and so on.

But there have been some people who, over the course of history, have left their mark on a great string of records that without whom the indie scene would be forever poorer.



Martin Hannett (above, with Joy Division's Bernard Sumner at Cargo Studios).

Steve Albini.

John Fryer.

Chris Nagle.

Kramer.

Brad Wood.

Brian Paulson.

Alan Moulder.

Flood.

Bemusic.

Iain Burgess.

Spot.

Mitch Easter.

I could go on of course - there's countless more. But what I'm going to do, in an occasional series starting shortly, is to highlight some of the more essential tracks and/or bands these guys have left an imprint with. I won't cover every producer, I won't even guarantee I'll get to everyone I listed above. But at the very least it'll bring forward music that you may not have heard yet - the whole point of the enterprise, one might say.

If you have any suggestions of course, by all means drop them in the comment box!