I'll take a live recording over a multi-track any day, warts and all. There's an electricity there when musicians play together that is absent when they are playing to a previously recorded track. Want an example? Listen to the new CD by the Foghorn String Band from Portland. They gathered around a single recording mic one weekend, and produced a great CD. Your ear just has to get used to the now-unusual sound of live recording. It sounds like they are sitting in your living room playing some tunes!

Al