Here’s a mashup:

Update: It’s offline—another case of major industries sniping down creative remix projects with legal nastygrams.  But that’s another story entirely.

What I think is fascinating is how the lyrical vocal line is accentuated by the latin rhythms and the light backups. Oh yeah, the faux-trumpet break is pretty sweet and serves as the homerun gimmick, but the reason why Nota won was not because of nailing gimmick after gimmick (which they did, btw), but the musical choices that set up those homeruns. Each one of their performances features some ethnic flavor that makes each one stand out, but the underlying musicality is why they walked off as champs.

To use a cake metaphor…they had really good cake. Yeah, the frosting and decorations made Nota distinctive and gave them that necessary push to top the Bubs and Voices of Lee, but they developed something good and did it right, then added the buttercream to eke out the top slot.

Listen closely to the arrangement and see how the ensemble works: you can easily hear the soloist, the backup hits are light, there is smart use of silence and noise, and the percussion sets up a groove and establishes a mood without overshadowing the solo. The interplay between the singers links the musical phrases (watch how one hits the splash cymbals on the VP) and the choreography has direction: “We are here. We are now moving here. We are spreading out…to do something wicked cool. We come back together.” The choreography underlines the music, rather than the other way around.

A take-away from their arrangement is the use of sustained bass notes. When the bass activates and starts jumping around, there’s a rise in the energy level, but when it’s sustained it sets up a smooth groove. Also, the root of the chord provides a strong tension with the vocal line, which sits on the dissonant 4th and 2nd scale degree a lot. Milking that tension makes it delicious when it resolves…down (b’dum, crash).

And yeah, the trumpet break is pretty ballers too.

Stayed tuned in the coming months for a lot of activity on this site. We’re gearing up for a new school year and there will be plenty of thunking happening. In the meantime, enjoy this incredible stop motion video someone forwarded me. Notice especially the absolutely stellar image quality that is a result of using a still camera and not a video camera to take the photos, then editing it into a movie. I can’t imagine all the work involved!

Although the “Mother of all Funk Chords” video hits way closer to home in content, I’m going to feature this one because I CAN’T STOP LOVING the groove.

This is truly some virtuosic film and audio editing, but it starts from a fantastic idea. As far as I can tell, the constituent videos’ authors have made their initial recordings with no intention of having them used thusly; we can thank the producer for bringing them together. 

The two things that strike me most about this:

How effective the production is even though it is for the most part recorded through terrible on computer microphones. It’s safe to assume Kutiman has done some serious crunching and EQing, but even so… as much of an audiophile as I am I have to admit not being to bothered by the poor quality of some of the samples. It even gives it a somewhat rugged authenticity.

and:

What this type of thing means for collaborative production. Everybody remembers the Postal Service, but soon and very soon distance will simply NOT be a barrier anymore, in any way. I imagine this will result in a lot more and a lot better music and art in general, or at least I would hope this to be the case. It will be an enlightening time for those who choose to utilize it.

Here’s the original rant, which was followed by a techno remix, R&B/Club remix, and my personal favorite, a Newsies trailer re-release.

Oh, how technology and cheap beat machines have revolutionized the political cartoon.

Always listening for new things

There was a whole phase in contemporary music when quoting famous pieces was in vogue. The art of “mashup” is when your material is, essentially, other people’s stuff (plug for Girl Talk; I never danced harder at a concert). Brahms is said to have sketched his first symphony on a Beethoven symphony framework…was it number 5, or 9?

Anywho, if you’re looking for a great place to get a plethora of different a cappella tunes, check out A Cappella U. The host, Joey C, has been doing it for several years now, and he gives all sorts of styles and versions that provide juicy material for an arranger. You can download the free podcast here, or you can sign up and pay for 2 bucks an episode to get the full tracks.

I often measure a group’s true talent by how they sound live versus how they sound in the studio. Going on the assumption that bands have a substantial amount of time and resources to perfect their pieces in the studio, I look at it like this: If their live performances are on par with their studio recordings, they’re a good band. If their live performances far exceed their recordings in quality, they’re a great band. And Rush even takes it a step further – they’re still finding ways of making old music sound new more than 25 years after it has been released. See below for reference.

Rush was, in my mind, one of the great pioneers of the synthesizer as a “lead” instrument. It’s so seamlessly integrated into this song; the synth melody tag-teams the guitar riffs with such impeccable grace. The way I see it, they were able to incorporate electronic music into their songs in ways that few others have. The sounds are not gimmicky, and they don’t feel tacked on. They’re part of the song. And man, also, Alex Lifeson (guitarist) can shred.

The other thing about Rush that really stands out to me (and that is evident in this video) is their ability to write material that feels satisfyingly theatrical. Not like Queen theatrical; I’m thinking more like Aerosmith theatrical. In your face, passionate, and meaningful. Meat and potatoes. And oh so delicious!

Bonus: I’ve always admired lead singer Geddy Lee’s unique vocals. He might be one of the most underrated lead singers of 20th century rock. But did you know that his name is actually Gary? Turns out, his mother had some kind of zany accent and pronounced his name “Geddy”. And it kind of stuck. Awesome.

This fellow is halfway between Screech from Saved By The Bell and every friend I’ve ever had.  Combined.  Also, the head bob at 0:14 is fantastic.  The consonants “f” and “ck” are both unvoiced, so a beep in the middle sounds fantastically realistic.  Very smart.  I love keytars.