“Bleach” at 20: How Kurt Cobain Made a Masterpiece for $600
“A recording done with specific commercial considerations in mind doesn’t tend to stand the test of time,” Endino said. “The production tends to date it. This year it’s Auto-Tune; last year it was sampling. With ‘Bleach,’ there’s no slickness to it. It’s a very honest record.”
The album’s stripped-down sound is as much a reflection of Nirvana’s punk ethos as it is the circumstances under which it was recorded. When the band arrived in late 1988 at Reciprocal Recordings, the Seattle studio where Endino had made a name producing grunge acts like Soundgarden, they basically had no money to spend (total budget: roughly $600). The entire record was cut in three days. “There wasn’t any screwing around,” Endino said. “Contrary to some stories, I don’t even remember seeing a beer in the studio.”
