Nigel Godrich

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Nigel Godrich (born 1971 in England) is a Grammy Award-winning recording engineer and record producer. He is best known for his work with the English alternative band Radiohead. He has also worked as producer or mixer with Paul McCartney, Travis, Beck, Pavement, Air, Neil Finn, Natalie Imbruglia, Lovefoxxx, Silver Sun, The Sundays, The Divine Comedy, U2, The Beta Band, and R.E.M. Godrich productions are generally known for their layered sound.

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[edit] Work

Nigel Godrich is sometimes informally credited as the "sixth member" of Radiohead due to his longtime collaboration with the Oxford band. He has gained respect for helping to define Radiohead's distinct sound, helping to establish them as one of the more acclaimed bands in the world. His first contributions were on certain songs of the 1994 My Iron Lung EP, such as "The Trickster" and "Permanent Daylight." He went on to engineer Radiohead's second record The Bends (1995), co-produced "Black Star" from the same album and produced "Talk Show Host" ("Street Spirit" b-side and a fan-favourite) after the band found they got on well with him.

Godrich's first full album production job with Radiohead was on OK Computer (1997), on which he made his name, and he has produced every album with the band since, including Kid A (2000), Amnesiac (2001) and Hail to the Thief (2003). He also produced singer Thom Yorke's 2006 solo album The Eraser. According to recent band statements, Godrich is now working with the band again on Radiohead's seventh album, following their aborted recording sessions with mixer Mark "Spike" Stent[citation needed].

Coming off his success with OK Computer, Godrich mixed most of R.E.M.'s largely electronic Up (1998) and Natalie Imbruglia's hit Left of the Middle. He also produced Pavement's final album Terror Twilight (1999).

Godrich has collaborated with American singer-songwriter Beck several times, on the highly-acclaimed Mutations (1998), Sea Change (2002), and The Information (2006). The former two of these albums were noted for their atmospheric folk/pop sound, a major departure from the sample-heavy "sound collage" style he's best known for. The Information began as a hip-hop album, a first for Godrich, but eventually incorporated other styles as well. Although it's a departure for Godrich, his signature atmospherics are still quite obvious.

Godrich has also worked with Travis twice, producing the Scottish band's breakthrough The Man Who (1999), and follow-up The Invisible Band (2001), both very successful on the British pop charts. Godrich's partnership with British singer-songwriter Neil Hannon (aka The Divine Comedy) resulted in Regeneration (2001), He also mixed and contributed additional production on the French electronic pop band Air's 2004 comeback Talkie Walkie, and on The Beta Band's swan song Heroes to Zeros (2004).

In 2004 Godrich produced the Band Aid 20 charity single, featuring contributions from Supergrass' Danny Goffey, Paul McCartney, Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, Oasis' Noel Gallagher, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Bono of U2, Sugababes and others.

Godrich received his greatest visibility in 2005 for his work on Paul McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, a job he got after being recommended by legendary Beatles producer George Martin. McCartney also admired Godrich's work with Radiohead, Travis and Beck. According to interviews, the idea of bringing in a younger producer was for McCartney to challenge himself, and accordingly Godrich fired McCartney's touring band on the first day's sessions, and demanded the star abandon songs Godrich felt to be cliched, over-sentimental or subpar.

Although McCartney admitted to being frustrated at times, he credited Godrich with ultimately forcing him into a more intimate mode of songwriting. Chaos and Creation received McCartney's best reviews in several years, with Time magazine even calling it his first worthwhile album since the Beatles. The album was nominated for several Grammys including Album of the Year, and Godrich was nominated for Producer of the Year.

Godrich had been nominated several times previously for the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. In 2000 he won a Grammy Award for producing Best Alternative Album winner Radiohead's Kid A. In 2004 he won Best Engineered Album for Radiohead's Hail to the Thief.

[edit] TV show

In September 2006, it was announced that Godrich was shooting From the Basement, a new series for British television. According to Rolling Stone magazine[citation needed], it will focus on live performances by musicians, with the first episode featuring The White Stripes, Thom Yorke and Four Tet. The second, reported to be in production, would have featured Beck and Jamie Lidell. The first episode will be available for download on December 18, 2006[1].

[edit] Trivia

  • Godrich is younger than any member of Radiohead, a rare situation among producers for popular acts. When working on OK Computer at improvised studios without the close supervision of longtime veterans or record labels, both he and the band learned as they went along, ultimately crediting the open process with the record's success.

[edit] Discography

Year Album Artist Credits
1991 Superstition Siouxsie and the Banshees Assistant Engineer
1992 Vivienne McKone Vivienne McKone Assistant Engineer
1993 Buffalo Skinners Big Country Assistant Engineer
1994 Carnival of Light Ride Engineer
1994 Heitor Heitor Engineer
1994 My Iron Lung EP Radiohead Producer, Engineer
1995 The Bends Radiohead Engineer, Producer on one song ("Black Star")
1995 Feeling Mission Harvest Ministers Engineer
1995 Totally Tee Engineer
1995 Booth and the Bad Angel Tim Booth & Angelo Badalamenti Engineer
1996 English and French Hopper Engineer
1996 Sound of..McAlmont & Butler McAlmont & Butler Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Mixing
1996 OK Computer Radiohead Balance Engineer, Recording Technician (Producer)
1997 Silver Sun Silver Sun Producer
1997 Plagiarism Sparks Engineer
1998 Left of the Middle Natalie Imbruglia Mixing
1998 Mutations Beck Producer, Mixing
1998 Sisters in Pain Jamaica Engineer
1998 Try Whistling This Neil Finn Remixing, Mixing
1998 Up R.E.M. Mixing
1999 Can You Still Feel? Jason Falkner Engineer
1999 The Man Who Travis Producer, Mixing
1999 Terror Twilight Pavement Producer
2000 Kid A Radiohead Producer, Engineer, Mixing
2001 Walk On (Single) U2 Remixer
2001 Amnesiac Radiohead Producer, Engineer
2001 The Invisible Band Travis Producer, Mixing
2001 Regeneration The Divine Comedy Producer
2002 Rouge On Pockmarked Cheeks Brazzaville Producer, Mixing, String Ensemble, Fender Rhodes
2002 Sea Change Beck Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Synthesizer, Percussion, Keyboards, String Arrangements
2003 City Reading (Tre Storie Western) Air & Alessandro Baricco Mixing
2003 Hail to the Thief Radiohead Editing, Mixing, Operation, Recording
2004 Absent Friends The Divine Comedy Mixing
2004 Heroes to Zeros The Beta Band Mixing
2004 Talkie Walkie Air Producer, Engineer, Mixing
2004 When It Falls Zero 7 Guitar, Sounds
2005 Do They Know It's Christmas? Band Aid 20 Producer
2005 Chaos and Creation in the Backyard Paul McCartney Producer, Guitar Loops
2005 Guero Beck Mixing
2005 The Roads Don't Love You Gemma Hayes Mixing
2006 The Eraser Thom Yorke Producer, Mixing, Musician, Arranger
2006 5:55 Charlotte Gainsbourg Producer, Mixing
2006 The Garden Zero 7 Guitar (Acoustic), Engineer
2006 The Information Beck Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Keyboards, Programming, Effects, Scratching, Tambourine, Percussion, Background Vocals, Speak 'n Spell Whistle, Tote A Tune, Kalimba, Drums, Game Boy
2006 Dad's Weird Dream Silver Sun Remixing
2007 Luv 2 Luv U Foxxxy Lovefoxxx Producer

[edit] External links

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