Listening to MusicRSL MUSPRA 209

Task 2 - Other people’s choices

Task: Comment on why you like or dislike the song:

Joey: Ariana Grande ‘Just A Little Bit of your heart’

Major Key Slowly building texture

Catchy melody Use of layered backing vocals

Heartfelt lyrics

Lucie Bates: Fast Car by Tracy Chapman

Major Key Catchy acoustic guitar riff

A narrative Dynamics and texture build in Chorus

Connor Berry: RHCP ‘Under the Bridge’

1. Reverb Electric guitar riff at the start 2. Texture builds really gradually 3. Drums with snare rim-shot 4. Gets progressively more aggressive 5. Use of Backing Vocals

Tyler Blunt: Eminem: ‘Mockingbird’

1. Piano riff, really catchy 2. Syncopated electric drum beat 3. Narrative 4. Simple 4 chord sequence 5. Balanced texture 6. Catchy sung chorus

Connor Chenneour: Red Right Hand by Nick Cave

1. Menacing mood 2. Syncopated plucked strings 3. Dubby ostinato bass line 4. Drums with brushes 5. Use of Kettle Drum 6. Interesting lyrics - unusual

Liam Divito Pink Floyd: Brain Damage

1. Vocal harmonies 2. Dynamics increase as texture fills up 3. Use of strong female BV’s 4. Use of special FX (laughter noises) 5. Sounds great on headphones 6. Unusual lyrics 7. Use of a Coda at end

Katie Hobgen The Cinematic Orchestra:

To Build A Home

1. Reverb and Delay on the Piano chords 2. Texture builds with piano broken chords 3. Terrific male voice, with wide vocal range 4. Lots of space in the mix

Ferrari Jordan ‘Run’ by Leona Lewis

1. Rich vocal sound (tone) with a wide vocal range

2. Catchy piano riff at start 3. Anthemic chorus - where it

changes into a major key 4. Really high production values

JCL ‘Life On Mars’ by David Bowie (Live Version)

Cara Hayes Heavy by Anne Marie

1. Catchy keyboard chord backing 2. Melismatic vocals in chorus 3. Neat, balanced texture 4. Combination of floaty backing

vocals and harmonised backing vocals

5. Interesting use of voices and technology

Jenny Weetman My Kind of Woman - Mac DeMarco

1. Interesting, unusual Timbre (sound of the interesting instruments)

2. A strange, almost out of tune-ness quality 3. Rising bass line in the chorus makes it more catchy 4. Guitars are layered really nicely 5. chilled ‘slacker-style’ lead vocal

Ben Whale Kiss My Country Ass by Blake Shelton

1. Country and Western Genre 2. Big, epic and American 3. Lyrics seem to advocate patriotism and

freedom to carry and use arms 4. Big, dynamic chorus 5. Use of instruments matches the tough lyrics

(slide guitar)(

House of the Rising Sun 5 Finger Death Punch

Liam Young’s1. Referencing ‘Spaghetti Western’ genre at the start 2. Song has gone from usual 6/8 to Hard Rock 4/4 3. Lyrics have been updated to ‘Sin City’, from New

Orleans 4. Powerful hard-rock vocal 5. Heavily compressed drum, virtuosic playing with

double-bass drum 6. Virtuosic guitar solo

21 pilots - Stressed Out Brandon York

1. Ethereal synth part 2. Strong 4/4 beat 3. Falling bass line, over static vocal part, makes

chorus catchy 4. Electronic drum kit? 5. Combination of spoken word/rap style and

sung melodies 6. Catchy chorus vocal, with low-high part

Eminem ‘Lose Yourself’ Tom’s choice

1. Classical-style piano intro 2. Dampened 4/4 guitar riff (D and D augmented

5th chord) 3. Tension builds as dynamics and texture builds

Anthemic chorus feels like a release from the tension

4. Synth brass-stabs in the chorus

Simon & Garfunkel ‘The Sound of Silence’

Millie Weaver1. Plucked Doubled Bass 2. Harmonised 2-part vocals 3. Totally acoustic 4. Poetic, visionary lyrics; “People talking without

speaking…” 5. Simile’s such as ‘Silence like a cancer grows”,

and ‘My words like silent raindrops fell”.

Michael Jackson ‘Human Nature’ Megan Nowlan

1. Swirling synth chord intro 2. Rhythm guitar part with chorus effect 3. Syncopated rhythms between electronic

percussion and bass 4. Really catchy vocal part in chorus, which is

doubled by the guitar 5. Word painting on some lyrics, such “Reaching

out”

Little Lion Man Mumford & Sons

Kelan 1. Modern Folk-Rock genre 2. Pushed rhythms on acoustic guitar 3. Passionate male vocal 4. Tension builds as texture builds 5. Layered rhythms, after the chorus 6. Metaphor heavy lyrics “Your boldness lies

within the wreck” 7. Folk instruments, such as banjo and on the

beat Bass Drum part, mixed with ethereal electric guitar

Zach Smith Fall Out Boy

“American Beauty/American Psycho”

1. Dynamics are high from the outset 2. Catchy/shouty Chorus, which starts the song 3. Hard Rock Pop genre 4. Heavy synth bass 5. High in the mix compressed drums and loops

Kieran Walker Berzerk Eminem

1. Produced by Rick Rubin 2. Rock influenced - reminiscent of the Beastie

Boys’ ‘Fight for your Right to Party’ 3. Not typical Eminem 4. Less sense of a narrative (a la ‘Stan’) 5. No melody, until the Chorus 6. Sample of Rock Guitar riff - like 99 problems