Finding Jon Brion, Day 3: Producer Extraordinaire

A big part of the reason why Jon Brion has so little recorded output to call his own is that he’s just too damn good at putting other people’s work together. Brion has worked with some of the best respected names in music today, from Rufus Wainwright to Aimee Mann to… Kanye West? Yup… in possibly his most prolific turn as a record producer, Jon Brion served as co-executive producer on the Grammy-winning Late Registration, and those familiar with his work saw his influence loud and clear, especially on tracks like opener “Heard Em Say”, which features a very familiar sounding piano groove twinkling in the background.

Kanye West—Heard Em Say



Perhaps the most legendary Brion-produced work, at least among the indie geeks, is one that never actually got released. Brion took producing credits for the original mix of the long-delayed (and often leaked) Fiona Apple album “Extraordinary Machine”, but by the time it actually hit store shelves, it had been almost entirely reworked by another producer. Still, Brion fans and music snobs in general swear by the original version and still cling tightly to their pirated original mixes.

Fiona Apple- Better Version of Me (Jon Brion Mix)