imo, the reason 90.437 sounds weird is because ppl today are so used to playing to these whole numbers like 88, 95, 83, etc, and they've probably played to every whole number between 60-120bpm a hundred times each if they're experienced. So they know the feel of each inherently, so then when you throw in a 90.437 that they've never played to, its just sounds weird at first, but not necessarily more realistic.

I personally never really use a metronome when recording, just when rehearsing my first track (usually drums) to get an approximation of the tempo I'm going to play at, just so it will loop properly when I do record. So even though it loops at 90bpm for example, everything in between is everchanging. So I can speed up and slow down my pace within a loop set to 90bpm, as long as I pick back up at the right spot by the end of the loop, so it loops properly. And then that live tempo of the first track becomes my "metronome" for the rest of the song. In effect, my "true" tempo likely is 90.xxx, and not exactly 90 bpm, but thats just where I loop it at.

In my experience, thats the best way to have a live feel/realistic tempo - make sure your first track is a live track and then use that unique tempo as your metronome for the rest of the song, and just play everything else to that groove. Use the metronome in your head and tap your foot to create the first track that set the tempo.

Then if playing is a little too sloppy in parts, I can push notes around in each track afterwards until everything sits together right. A lot of ppl like to quantize first, then nudge things around to add a live feel, but I prefer the opposite, record live first then nudge the notes around to better fit the pocket, if necessary.