Revolver - Makeup Post

Revolver is the bridge from pop love songs to a more diverse expression of ideas both in sound and lyrics that would mark The Beatles impact on the musical landscape forever. They still held onto conventional song durations of under three minutes to fit the radio airplay expectations of 1966 yet several songs feel like there is more story to be told.

The album opens with what is thought to be their first protest song against the “Taxman”, mentioning real people in government, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Heath, by name. This is immediately followed by a eulogy in “Eleanor Rigby”, perhaps one of the saddest and loneliest songs ever written. Continuing with a departure from the content of previous records, John Lennon’s “I’m Only Sleeping” is bedded in the reality of someone who is truly tired. Thinking of the pace of the recordings released from 1962 to 1965, world tours and Beatle Mania, it makes sense.

The use of symphonic instruments (strings and horns), a sitar, electronic and tape manipulation make this a signature turning point for the Beatles as well as a roadmap for other artists to experiment. Coincidentally, it is well known that this is also when The Beatles began experimenting with mind altering substances.

Track 4, George Harrison’s “Love You To” is the first “love” song on the album but in a completely different vein. The line “I’ll make love to you, If you want me to” is direct and without a chorus and can hardly be compared to “Don’t Bother Me”, George’s first credited song on With the Beatles. Another love song is up next from McCartney, "Here, There and Everywhere", and returns to the group’s staple of wooing listeners.

“Yellow Submarine” is a whimsical Ringo Starr song that introduces sound effects enhanced through recording studio ambiance. Next up, rich guitar parts in the right channel seem to only be getting started when the song “She Said She Said” is faded at 2:37. The song takes the love song to a new level in depicting conflict in a relationship beyond the attraction theme of their earlier pieces. Leaving youthful innocence behind can be seen in the song’s lyrics:

She said “you don’t understand what I said”
I said “No, no, no, you’re wrong”
When I was a boy everything was right
Everything was right

I said “Even though you know what you know
I know that I’m ready to leave
‘Cause you’re making me feel like I’ve never been born.”

She said “I know what it’s like to be dead
I know what it is to be sad”

Side two opens with Paul McCartney’s trademark optimism “Good Day Sunshine”, the bread and butter love song again. Quickly countered by Lennon’s "And Your Bird Can Sing" that shows more relationship disagreement. It is also in this song that Mark Lewisohn, author and renown expert on The Beatles, describes how this was recorded using “Artificial Double Tracking”. “Ken Townsend developed a method by running the tape over the tape head with a very slight delay”. This is one of the great triumphs and innovations found on Revolver, the extensive use and perfection of Automatic-Double Tracking (ADT) let George Martin free up a track and still create a wide sound image while saving time over previous tracking methods.

McCartney returns with a heartbreak song “For No One". John comes back with the expose` “Dr. Robert” about a NYC methamphetamine prescriber. "I Want to Tell You", a Harrison composition adds to the richness and diversity of the album. Another apparent love song "Got to Get You into My Life" turns out to be about marijuana according to a book by Barry Miles, Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. This song also features a strong horn presence attributed to the influence of American rhythm and blues acts that Paul liked to follow.

The album closes with a foreshadow of things to come with “Tomorrow Never Knows”. It uses reverse tape loops, driving drum repetitions and several other sound innovations. Engineer Geoff Emerick created a previously unheard drum sound when he moved the kick microphone closer to the drum head than had ever been done before. He then compressed and limited that signal to make the heavy kick drum sound we have become familiar with today. Revolver is considered the band’s first foray into psychedelic music as well as for the mainstream music world at large.

Prophetically, the Beatles would never be the same after this album. Growing ever more daring in their recordings and in their personal lives the closing lyric to “Tomorrow Never Knows” says:

… But listen to the

color of your dreams

It is not living

It is not living

Or play the game

existence to the end

Of the beginning

Of the beginning …

which could be read as the end of the beginning chapters of The Beatles and the opening to a whole new musical world on which they would embark next in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

As a listener I love how alive the album sounds. When listening to the stereo version through headphones or the mono version through my speakers I feel like I am right at Abbey Road. Upon further listening I find myself able to connect with the lyrics. As a professional I see Revolver as an example of how you can have both conventional and experimental music mesh together well on a single album. It is also a prime reference for how harmonies should be arranged and how great they can sound.

References:

Everett, W. (1999). Another Kind of Mind There. The Beatles as musicians: Revolver through the Anthology (p. 48). New York: Oxford University Press.

Fontenot, R. (n.d.). The Beatles -- Yellow Submarine -- History and Information from the Oldies Guide at About.com. Oldies Music at About.com -- Oldies Music and Artists -- Top 40 Music from the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies. Retrieved January 11, 2011, from http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlessongs/a/yellowsubmarine.htm

Howard, D. N. (2004). Sonic alchemy: visionary music producers and their maverick recordings. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corp..

Spitz, B. (2005). The Beatles: the biography. New York: Little, Brown.

http://www.prx.org/pieces/15368-everything-was-right-the-beatles-revolver

http://www.paulingles.com/Revolver.html

http://www.revolverbook.co.uk/abracadabrav1.0.pdf

Danger Mouse - the quick rundown

Here is my second podcast: Danger Mouse in under 5 minutes

Danger Mouse

Born July 29, 1977 DJ turned beatsmith, Brian Burton, was pretty much non-notable until in 2004 he attempted to release a mashup that would shake the entire music industry. “The White Album,” as the Beatles double album is often miscalled, “The Black Album,” Jay-Z’s third(?) studio album. While putting one away with the other one playing it struck him: “[he] decide to see if [he] could take those two albums and make one song, just because of the names of the two albums and because they're perceived as being so different.” Like a scientist stumbling upon a surreptitious discovery, he decided to test the idea with one track. So he fired up ACIDPro and, using only material from those two albums, started to mix Jay-Z and the Fab Four’s forced collaboration. Working two weeks straight in his basement studio, Danger Mouse emerged with “The Grey Album,” a perfect amalgamation of unlikely worlds. He had however, managed to break (or rewrite as some suggest) the rules of sampling in many ways. Traditional sampling would capture a musical phrase or drum loop lasting a certain number of bars. For “The Gray Album” Danger Mouse combed “The White Album” for Ringo’s individual drum hits where they could be isolated and would stitch together drumbeats one hit at a time. The same steps were repeated for every track on “The Gray Album.” The second rule of sampling Danger Mouse broke was failing to get permission to use any of the Beatles material. This blatant disregard for the status quo paved the way for sampling sensation Girl Talk.
Although his sampling propelled him into notoriety it is not a defining characteristic of his production. One common thread is a preference towards a darker sound, and influences from Italian film soundtracks of the 70's. He often enlists the help of Daniele Luppi to arrange Ennio Morconniesque string parts for tracks he produces. The work he did on Gorillaz album "Demon Days" shaped the direction and sound of the band in their latest release "Plastic Beach". In addition to his success producing large collaborations he also thrives in smaller producer+musician settings. With Cee-Lo Green he formed Gnarls Barkley, and with James Mercer became the duo Broken Bells. As a listener I love the "future-retro" sound of Danger Mouse's productions. The thick string sections combined with bouncing synth lines all settling below a sub-pop vocal draw me in to the song. Any Danger Mouse production makes for perfect driving music.

Sources:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1485693/grey-album-producer-explains-how-did-it.jhtml
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/magazine/18barkley.html

Kraftwerk

The music of Kraftwerk is widely regarded as some of the most influential electronic music recorded. Their music is created without the use of acoustic instruments and is exclusively electronic. Kraftwerk's music was, for lack of better words, the soundtrack to post-war urban redevelopment in Europe and specifically Germany. Between 1974 and 1981 it seems the members of Kraftwerk were obsessed with two things: driving and transistors. The albums "Autobahn" and "Trans-Europe Express" both have similar concepts of capturing the mood of travel in Europe. Then following that, they set out to explore the impact of computers permeating society in "The Man-Machine" and "Computer World". This would represent the peak of their career with their only chart topping single "The Model" being released during this time.
The lyrics of Kraftwerk songs were often modulated to have a robotic quality from a device called a vocoder. Its original purpose, ironically, was to prevent the interception of strategic transmissions by the Germans during WWII. Later it was recognized by Wendy Carlos for the musical instrument that it is, which Kraftwerk took and made part of their signature sound. Also key to their sound and stage presence were their synthesizers, the Minimoog and ARP Odyssey the principal among them. The influence of Kraftwerk on the roots of the synthpop genre is extensive. Giorgio Moroder's hits for Donna Summer are directly inspired by "Trans-Europe Express". Devo, Depeche Mode, New Order, and The Human League are just a few of the big names that have been directly influenced by Kraftwerk.
For me the music of Kraftwerk is simply entrancing. As someone who has always been fascinated with computers the album "Computerwelt" speaks to me in particular. As a professional the music of Kraftwerk is a great example of how much people enjoy repetition repetition repetition. It is also a good example of how melody is king when it comes to having a catchy tune. All I have to do is go "da de da, da da, do da de do" and now "Computerliebe" is playing in your head.

Podcast Number 1

My Podcast for this week can be found here : What's Goin On - A peek inside

What's Goin' On

Even before What's Goin On Marvin Gaye was a respected member of the Motown crew and that cohesiveness. Musically he was heavily into jazz and reluctant to do R&B in his early career. He also had little or no interest in political activism. At the time of What's Goin' On Gaye was upset with the death of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy as well as the general suffering and violence associated with the African American Civil Rights Movement. He was also influenced by America's ongoing involvement in the Vietnam War, from where his brother had just returned. This is reflected in the songs "What's Happening Brother" and "Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)" which both deal with the struggles of returning soldiers. Gaye had a difficult time "…stay(ing) away from anything resembling a standard Motown beat." when the was recording the album right in Motown. Gaye shook up the sound by bringing in outside drummer Chet Forest and others to play on the record. The biggest obstacle was the refusal of Motown emperor Berry Gordy to release the album. Marvin tried to play hardball but ended up playing the long game and the record was released right under Gordy's nose. The fact that Gaye sang, played, and produced his album was very unusual for Motown releases. He also eschewed the typical practice of using Motown's usual background singers and assembled a ragtag group of his friends. As a listener I was drawn hypnotically towards the vocals. I felt the cohesion of the album was palpable and felt compelled to listen to the album start to finish uninterrupted. As an industry professional I was particularly impressed with the use of "happy accidents" on the album. The double layered vocal, the sax opening, and the box drum are all "happy accidents" that work so well in the album.

Edmonds, Ben. " What's Going On by Ben Edmonds | Books | guardian.co.uk ." Latest news, comment and reviews from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk . N.p., 8 Dec. 2001. Web. 17 Jan. 2011. .
Howard, David N.. Sonic alchemy: visionary music producers and their maverick recordings. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corp., 2004. Print.
Moss, Charles. "What's Going On: Marvin Gaye's Liberation from the Motown Sound _qacct="p-6fyjhx6gpjuDg";quantserve(); (function() { var s = document.createElement('SCRIPT'), s1 = document.getElementsByTagName('SCRIPT')[0]; s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.asy." PopMatters. N.p., 29 Jan. 2009. Web. 17 Jan. 2011. .

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground is a very image centric group. From the start they were an art band. Another creative impulse in Andy Warhol's mixed media empire. Their musical goals were inspired by divergent ends of the musical spectrum. German/Austrian singer Nico further added to the band's dark hedonistic image. Even in his early music career Lou Reed was a rock'n'roller but prior to the VU he only cranked out pop songs. With Velvet Underground he authored most of their songs. Opposite his influence was Cale the band's sonic craftsman. Gravitating towards the avant-garde and minimal, his John Cage inspired drones and piano arrangements shaped the band's sound. Who should be credited for producing The Velvet Underground is a grey area and up for debate. Through his funding and promotion through the Exploding Plastic Inevitable events, Warhol certainly deserves some credit. On the other hand he had no real understanding of the music and accounts indicate he had little involvement outside being present at the sessions.

In the ecosystem of all modern rock The Velvet Underground is the one common ancestor all lineages can trace back to. Joe Harvard offers up dozens bands which have "…been influenced in a fundamental or important way…" by The Velvet Underground. Almost counter-intuitively, the album's release was largely unsuccessful. This can be partly attributed to the lack of mainstream media's blackout of the album severely impeding its success. One of my favorite characteristics of The Velvet Underground is Lou Reed's lyrics. Music critic Robert Christgau uses words like deadpan, witty, lively, and conversational to describe Reed's writing. It is also argued that he is not a rock poet but instead offers narrative and authenticity. When listening to the Velvet Underground I was taken away by the cacophonous storm of rock-reborn. With each track I would hear sections that influenced or inspired much of my favorite music. As a professional the record has impressed upon me how important it is to have a real producer if you want commercial success.

Harvard, Joe. The Velvet Underground and Nico . New York: Continuum, 2004. Print.
Howard, David N.. Sonic alchemy: visionary music producers and their maverick recordings. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corp., 2004. Print.
Howard, David N.. Sonic alchemy: visionary music producers and their maverick recordings. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corp., 2004. Print.
Olsen, Eric. "The Velvet Underground - It Began Here - Blogcritics Music ." Blogcritics - News Reviews and Opinion . N.p., 15 Aug. 2002. Web. 17 Jan. 2011. .
The Southbank Show. Dir. Kim Evans. Perf. The Velvet Underground. musicdox.net, 19. Film.