A bit of older music this week:
The Impression that I get by The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones.
The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones came into the pop rock scene in the early to mid 90s with the ska and swing "resurgence". This tune, arguably, is one of the defining tunes of the time.
Sonically all ska (and ska-punk, which is closer to what the Bosstones really fit) is incredibly interesting: You have a mid-range brass/woodwind section, an electric guitar that primarily stays on the top three strings, and lots of high tom/snare/hat work by the drummer. This leaves a HUGE hole for the bass (and sometimes baritone saxophone) to fill. Many of the bassists in this genre do their best to slam a ton of notes into the music to fill that void. The Bosstones often follow that recipe, this tune being no exception, and it works well.
I have a special place for this tune in my heart, evidenced by the fact that I've written about it before.
The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones website: http://www.bosstonesmusic.com
2012-01-23
2012-01-16
Music of the moment, Jan 16 2012
A classic tune this week: Lukey, a traditional folk song from the tiny island of Newfoundland.
This particular arrangement is performed by two great bands in the genre, The Chieftans and Great Big Sea. It has the feel of an old sea shanty, and sonically is an acoustic assault on the ear. There is so much going on in the music it's hard to track sometimes, but it comes out as a coherent piece of fun due to the talent that both of these groups bring to the table.
I've found myself drawn to Canadian/Irish folk music over the past few years. The instrumentation is completely fresh to my ear, having followed a gamut of preferred genres through the years from prog rock and metal, to jazz, to pop-rock. Accordion, tin whistle, violin, mandolin, dulcimer... While none unique to the genre, very unique to hear in something that has appeal to those outside of those who grew up with this kind of music.
The Chieftans: http://www.thechieftains.com/
Great Big Sea: http://www.greatbigsea.com
This particular arrangement is performed by two great bands in the genre, The Chieftans and Great Big Sea. It has the feel of an old sea shanty, and sonically is an acoustic assault on the ear. There is so much going on in the music it's hard to track sometimes, but it comes out as a coherent piece of fun due to the talent that both of these groups bring to the table.
I've found myself drawn to Canadian/Irish folk music over the past few years. The instrumentation is completely fresh to my ear, having followed a gamut of preferred genres through the years from prog rock and metal, to jazz, to pop-rock. Accordion, tin whistle, violin, mandolin, dulcimer... While none unique to the genre, very unique to hear in something that has appeal to those outside of those who grew up with this kind of music.
The Chieftans: http://www.thechieftains.com/
Great Big Sea: http://www.greatbigsea.com
2012-01-09
Music of the moment, Jan 9 2012
This is something I found last year, again, via Pandora.
Thinking Loudly by El Ten Eleven.
This reminds me very much of something that Michael Manring (one of my personal bass playing heroes) would have put on his solo album Thonk. The bassist is working hard to put a lot of well placed notes onto the plate and succeeds well. The music starts small and simply with keyboard pads which progressively grows into a wall of sound. It sets you back down gently, like a falling leaf brushes the ground in a light breeze before it comes to a standstill.
El Ten Eleven's official website: http://www.elteneleven.com.
Thinking Loudly by El Ten Eleven.
This reminds me very much of something that Michael Manring (one of my personal bass playing heroes) would have put on his solo album Thonk. The bassist is working hard to put a lot of well placed notes onto the plate and succeeds well. The music starts small and simply with keyboard pads which progressively grows into a wall of sound. It sets you back down gently, like a falling leaf brushes the ground in a light breeze before it comes to a standstill.
El Ten Eleven's official website: http://www.elteneleven.com.
2012-01-02
Music of the moment, Jan 2 2012
I find that I have found lots of interesting stuff via Pandora and have decided to share some of it.
For this week, the music that caught my attention was this: Go Do by Jonsi (This Vimeo link has the audio encoded a bit louder)
I love how the huge floppy kick drum, which usually doesn't work anywhere, dovetails with the rest of the music sonically. Woodwinds and strings dance and spin around keyboard pads, percussion, and Jonsi's somewhat haunting sounding tenor voice, weaving something that is simultaneously acoustically dense and yet still maintains a considerable amount of air within it.
Jonsi's official website: http://jonsi.com/
For this week, the music that caught my attention was this: Go Do by Jonsi (This Vimeo link has the audio encoded a bit louder)
I love how the huge floppy kick drum, which usually doesn't work anywhere, dovetails with the rest of the music sonically. Woodwinds and strings dance and spin around keyboard pads, percussion, and Jonsi's somewhat haunting sounding tenor voice, weaving something that is simultaneously acoustically dense and yet still maintains a considerable amount of air within it.
Jonsi's official website: http://jonsi.com/
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