What makes songs great?

[Stratmangler]

The vid says it all.

QLoh8zHjGUI

[Pigmy Pony]

Thanks Chris, that vid brightened my day no end. :)

I enjoyed it so much I went on to watch the "Kid Charlemagne" video. The part dealing with Larry Carlton's solo was moving me to tears, such was the quality.

Royal Scam is one of my favourite albums, and I'll now be hearing it with a new set of ears.

Sorry I seem to have digressed a bit from your post.

[Stratmangler]

Don't worry about the digression, Steve.
I was going to recommend listening to other vids in the series.

I am surprised there are no other respondents - maybe folk here are less interested in music than they are in having circular arguments about bits of gear ;)

[Pigmy Pony]

Absolutely.

I was watching this on a crappy laptop with no headphones, but it was still the most interesting thing I've seen all week.

I'm gonna watch the rest of these tomorrow.

My TV has hundreds of channels, mostly crap - there should be room for a channel that caters for this kind of thing, I'm sure it wouldn't cost much

[Hammer]

Really enjoyed that:)

[mightymonoped]

These are just great..
Have to admit I jumped straight to The Dan first, can't resist a bit of Bernard Purdie :-)

[Macca]

.

I am surprised there are no other respondents - maybe folk here are less interested in music than they are in having circular arguments about bits of gear ;)

Maybe so but it is quite difficult to have a circular argument about music ;)

[Pigmy Pony]

Maybe so but it is quite difficult to have a circular argument about music ;)

No arguments about my music collection - it's all circular

[Macca]

You must have a funny looking cassette deck then...

[Pigmy Pony]

Hmm you got me there...

And you're right, circular arguments about music are difficult. Can we have an oblong argument instead?

I would argue that CD cases are slightly more oblong than record covers

[Pete The Cat]

I don't like the track but I loved watching this, I find the (de-)construction of music fascinating. I remember having a music teacher at school who could hear a record and then spontaneously knock out the main components for us on piano, explaining what was happening with each, and I was enthralled.

Good thread :)

Pete

PS - so is all this an art or a science ? :scratch:

[Macca]

Hmm you got me there...

And you're right, circular arguments about music are difficult. Can we have an oblong argument instead?

I would argue that CD cases are slightly more oblong than record covers

It's odd that with all the geometric shapes to choose from arguments always go for circular. If we could just work out why that was we might discover the secret of everything. It's what Stephen Hawking was working on before his death. Probably.

[Stratmangler]

I don't like the track but I loved watching this, I find the (de-)construction of music fascinating. I remember having a music teacher at school who could hear a record and then spontaneously knock out the main components for us on piano, explaining what was happening with each, and I was enthralled.

Good thread :)

Pete

PS - so is all this an art or a science ? :scratch:

It's a bit of both - there's a load of artistry involved, and there's the maths/music theory side of it all.
Add in the record production and arrangement talents and it and the lines begin to blur.

Going through the series of videos one thing becomes very apparent - in many cases the artists are really good singers, both individually and in ensemble.
Everyone in the bands concerned is a killer player, and the foundation of everything is usually what the drummer brings to the party. If yer drummer's ropey then yer band's ropey.

What I hoped to kick off, and seems to have happened, is some folk looking a bit deeper, and appreciating something a bit more than it just being a collection of agreeable noises.

[Pigmy Pony]

I heard he was working on triangular wheels for his chair, and the experiment was going nowhere :(

[Pigmy Pony]

This is a great series of videos. What they do for me is show just how much talent and passion these guys put into their 'craft' much of which can be lost during replay.

Of course good hifi helps with this!

I do like electronic music and my collection contains quite a lot of it, but nothing moves me more than a musician at the top of his game doing what he loves best.

It would be nice if there was a place on here for such 'discoveries'.

[Macca]

There is the whole thing of 'dissecting the music. And potentially spoiling the emotional flow. Do you really want to see behind the scenes, so next time you listen you are thinking about the recording and missing out on the rest of it?

I mean, if you watch a documentary about the recording of an album (like the 'Classic Albums' TV series) are you never going to listen to that recording in the same way again?

[Stratmangler]

Being at the top of their game is a bonus, but not an absolute necessity.

A long time back I went to see Peter Green Splinter Group, and there's no way you could say Peter Green was at the top of his game.
His playing was masterful and considered, but a good way off the level he'd attained prior to his flirtation with recreational pharmaceuticals.
When he took hold of a note you felt a direct connection to the internal anguish he felt, and the experience was quite something to behold. I was drained at the end of the gig, the Lord knows how he (Peter Green) felt.

[Stratmangler]

There is the whole thing of 'dissecting the music. And potentially spoiling the emotional flow. Do you really want to see behind the scenes, so next time you listen you are thinking about the recording and missing out on the rest of it?

I mean, if you watch a documentary about the recording of an album (like the 'Classic Albums' TV series) are you never going to listen to that recording in the same way again?

It doesn't happen with me.
I don't get hauled back into the dissection next time I play something.
The Classic Albums episode when Aja featured was fantastic in the way certain aspects of the recording was brought to light, and it has helped me appreciate the players and what they brought to the table all the more.

Have you picked up the Purdie Shuffle being played on Babylon Sisters, on the Gaucho album?
Most of the rest of the album featured the human metronome Steve Gadd on drums, but that first one sticks out like a sore thumb because it's Bernard doing his shuffle.

[Macca]

It doesn't happen with me.
I don't get hauled back into the dissection next time I play something.
The Classic Albums episode when Aja featured was fantastic in the way certain aspects of the recording was brought to light, and it has helped me appreciate the players and what they brought to the table all the more.

Have you picked up the Purdie Shuffle being played on Babylon Sisters, on the Gaucho album?
Most of the rest of the album featured the human metronome Steve Gadd on drums, but that first one sticks out like a sore thumb because it's Bernard doing his shuffle.

'Aja' is probably the best of those shows even though it's the one where the musicians are not taking it all that seriously.

You're a musician so I know you get the get all the technicalities as a matter of course but I'm not, so I don't.

[Pigmy Pony]

Being at the top of their game is a bonus, but not an absolute necessity.

A long time back I went to see Peter Green Splinter Group, and there's no way you could say Peter Green was at the top of his game.
His playing was masterful and considered, but a good way off the level he'd attained prior to his flirtation with recreational pharmaceuticals.
When he took hold of a note you felt a direct connection to the internal anguish he felt, and the experience was quite something to behold. I was drained at the end of the gig, the Lord knows how he (Peter Green) felt.

Of course you're right, not an absolute necessity.

My musical peak happened when I had the job of banging two sticks together in our school's production of 'The Turtle Drum'. The extra hit I added to the end of one of the songs, the headmaster deemed worthy of mention next day.

I would say the audience was moved by the performance - there were certainly less people at the end than at the beginning.

[Hammer]

Of course you're right, not an absolute necessity.

My musical peak happened when I had the job of banging two sticks together in our school's production of 'The Turtle Drum'. The extra hit I added to the end of one of the songs, the headmaster deemed worthy of mention next day.

I would say the audience was moved by the performance - there were certainly less people at the end than at the beginning.:lol:

[Stratmangler]

I was pleased, nay, delighted to spot this vid today - what a great song, but much more than that, what a fantastic and off the wall production piece too!
Yes at their finest!

SFisOTDzGuE

[Stratmangler]

I remember this being released in early 1976.
Could they be as good as they were with Peter Gabriel?
The answer was a resounding yes :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOtw3ZYREhA

[Stratmangler]

The first song from one of the best selling debut albums in US history.
And what an astonishing bit of work it is :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynFNt4tgBJ0&t=968s

[Minstrel SE]

Genius that raises the music to a seminal level. Talent.... hard Work...musicianship...A combination of ideas...drugs....emotionally living the experience. Martin Hannett was the fifth member of Joy Division. Morrissey and Marr made a stunning combination ...would it have suceeded otherwise?

Who really knows...I like to think I have good musical taste...will people still be listening to it in a few hundred years time?

If youve got it something magical happens. Maybe there is an element of luck and being in the right place at the right time. I dont think the truly great songwriters and performers needed much luck though...do you?

As Les Mcqueen of Creme Brulee says.....its a shit business :)