What do rapper Eminem, country singer Toby Keith and the Transplants, an alternative-rock band, have in common?
Listen to certain songs on their latest albums, and you'll pick up the scratchy clues. Each CD features the kind of snaps, crackles and pops that marred the bygone era of vinyl records. But these noises were not caused by wear, tear or an inebriated party guest bumping into a phonograph. They were put there deliberately.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday December 24, 2002 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 19 inches; 707 words Type of Material: Correction
Beatles song -- A story in Wednesday's Section A about computer-generated sounds meant to simulate the scratches on vinyl records incorrectly cited the Beatles song "Rocky Raccoon" as an early example of the effect. The Beatles' "Honey Pie" included such sound effects.
Today's pure-sounding digital CDs leave some musicians and listeners cold, like a hearth with a blazing fire that's all flame, no crackle or heat.
So, like furniture manufacturers who pound, ding and scratch tables and chairs to make them look time-ravaged, or jeans makers who pre-fade their denims to save customers the bother, musicians and record producers are using computer technology to make songs captured in crystalline digital audio sound as if they've been spinning on a cheap record player for years.
"A lot of contemporary recordings can sound very similar," says singer-songwriter Pete Yorn, whose modern-rock hit, "Life on a Chain," starts out sounding like a battered 78 rpm. "So, an old record that's very dirty sounding and all staticky can sound pretty good when you put it on."
For some artists, surface noise is a novelty, a way to make their recordings stand out.
For others, it's a heartfelt nod to an earlier era in music, when records themselves, not just the music within their grooves, were cherished objects whose nicks and scars, like the dogeared pages of a beloved book, attested to the years of enjoyment they'd given.
Today's computer-conjured imperfections can provide a shortcut to instant character, similar to the post-production tricks that make new movies look like pitted and scratched black-and-white films.
Eminem tosses in vinyl noise at the start of "Without Me," the lively hit single from "The Eminem Show," the bestselling album of 2002.
Keith uses it on "Good to Go to Mexico" from his "Unleashed" album, one of the top-selling country collections of the year.
The Transplants' "Diamonds and Guns," one of the hottest songs on alternative-rock stations across the country, sounds as if it has taken a few too many rides on someone's turntable.
More hissing, ticks and assorted noise turn up on recent tracks by alt-rock groups Wilco and Bright Eyes, R&B singer-songwriter Lamya, even country music titan Johnny Cash.
