Music

Woah I haven't heard the Sonic R soundtrack in like a decade

I... still don't know how I feel about it


e: also Supes I really like that track you just uploaded

^Man this whole EP is awesome. Like, if I made a house record, I would want it to be like this. Great stuff.

Also, speaking of synth guitars (from last page), Infected Mushroom has a new single:

SpoilerShow

I have a thing for goofy psytrance, I'll admit.

edit: this owns

SpoilerShow

I like all of these! The narration on that St. Germain track is kinda silly though. But overall I am digging this stuff. Especially The World As a Dream and I Feel Love.

also, those Mega Man remixes reminded me of something:

I wish I knew more about music theory so I could articulate this better, but it seems like a lot of Japanese popular music (rock, metal, anime themes, VGM) uses very similar chord progressions and melodies. Like, there's a distinctive Japanese pop "sound".

Could one of the more musically literate people here maybe explain what I'm describing in theory terms?

Pentatonic scales are common in a lot of traditional music! They seem to be fairly* universal, for interesting psychological reasons:

SpoilerShow

*obviously there are exceptions - lots of traditional music doesn't even use the 12-tone scale! but the fact remains that the pentatonic scale seems to have emerged independently in a bunch of different cultures - musical "parallel evolution", if you will.


Also that Sun Orchestra track is dope. That guitar!


Also also this is fun:

SpoilerShow

Could one of the more musically literate people here maybe explain what I'm describing in theory terms?

Well, it’s certainly a number of things.

But one of the most noticeable differences I’ve heard is that a lot of the stuff you mentioned does not shy away from using authentic cadences, whereas the American mainstream (in particular; I just don’t know how things have been in Europe or anything like that) now finds that... a little sugar sweet, shall we say? Not to be used as often as it used to be, at least. Some songs over the past few decades have avoided using leading tones almost pathologically (often using suspensions or stacked chords to give the mere impression of a V, or leaning on some other kind of cadence entirely).

The emphasis on pentatonic colors is another big part of that “sweet” sound that a lot of music avoids now, sure.

And now that I’ve spoken in generalities, there are plenty of exceptions to these trends, and they could just reverse at any time if that’s what people wanted. In fact, I pay enough not-attention to what’s new that it may have already reversed and I just haven’t noticed.

In summary: in a very general way, Japanese songwriters and composers are using the sort of traditional harmony you can find in a 100-year-old textbook more than American songwriters and composers are. That’s not to say that new developments in music are lost on any group in particular, or that any group in particular has thrown out the old rulebooks, though.

After listening to some examples, I think the authentic cadence is definitely a huge part of it, yeah.
I guess it would be fair to say, generally speaking, that Japanese popular music is less afraid of "straightforward" melody and harmony?

Like you said, there are obviously exceptions, but this is just what I've noticed as an American with superficial knowledge of Japanese music.

(thanks, brp! I can always count on you for super-detailed but interesting explanations haha)

No problem! (though I only explain what I know or can look up!).

I mean, anime themes are one thing, but if you go to Merzbow looking for a catchy tune... yeah, gonna recommend against that.

Ha! Actually, though, even Japanese noise bands have their melodic moments:

SpoilerShow

(for those of you not familiar with Boris, most of their stuff sounds like this:)

SpoilerShow

Piano teacher gave me this to learn:

SpoilerShow

I can dig it. I don't listen to a lot of bossa nova but Latin jazz is cool.

Supes you're probably more into this stuff than I am; any bossa recommendations?

^Love the synth line in this

So do you have any recommendations of good bossa stuff, Supes?

I like Stop Foolin' Yourself a lot

SpoilerShow

Tango is cool too!

A recent invention for pianos (or perhaps a modern spin on a long-forgotten mechanism?) is a “harmonic” pedal that exploits sympathetic vibrations in the strings not being played—it sounds like this lovely yet haunting sort of a ringing sound, or perhaps a light but persistent reverb. A really neat effect for staccato notes in particular—clearly staccato, but keeps going.

The jury’s still out on whether this is just a gimmick, but I think it sounds pretty nice and would be an appropriate player’s-discretion tool for certain pieces and styles. Besides, sometimes a classical pianist can’t help but get pedal envy when reading about the crazy gizmos they used to have on some old instruments.

(If you want to skip the guy’s talking about it, the piece starts at 1:12.)

SpoilerShow

I've never heard of that! That's cool. Just spent 20 minutes nerding out on that guy's channel.

Have you ever played a piano with one of these things? Also: what are some of the crazy old pedals you mentioned? I'm curious now.

Hahaha I have a feeling that they made this record solely because of the pun with Switched-on Bach. I do like that version of Walk on By, though.

While we're on the subject of weird versions of Walk on By:

SpoilerShow

The Stranglers were like a punky, rough-edged version of the Doors. They're awesome.

Have you ever played a piano with one of these things? Also: what are some of the crazy old pedals you mentioned? I'm curious now.

Nope! It seems I would have to travel pretty far to try one in a store (either that or I might have to call ahead to a Maryland location but driving there is scary as hell and they probably wouldn’t be too thrilled to hear I’m just an amateur with a 0% likelihood of buying anything substantial).

So on some ancient pianos, they had “janissary” pedals, a sort of crude drum kit used to ape the percussion-heavy style of Turkish military bands. You can see a demonstration here (sadly, the video is so quiet you have to hear it with some nasty hiss).

Some pianos also had a bassoon pedal, and some a lute pedal. Pretty obvious what those were supposed to sound like.

Many harpsichords had similar “special effects”, though usually when we talk of pedals on a harpsichord we mean a harpsichord with a pedalboard. Very nice low notes, as you can hear in the first 30 seconds or so here.

Diggin' the new Siriusmo

Also German disco is surprisingly cool

You actually put me up on those records if I recall correctly, Stij.

???

Maybe, but I don't think so. I think Switched-on Bach was the only one I was aware of before you posted those hilarious* Nashville records.

*I'm sorry, even though they're well-made the premise is just too much for me

EDIT: This sounds more like the old Siriusmo

SpoilerShow

I keep coming back to this thread because I have a love/hate relationship with this stuff. I think roughly half of it is total garbage, but the other half are some of the greatest songs ever. Thanks for posting your shotgun spatter of tunes for me to quietly browse.

Don't you tell me the premise is too much for you Mr. Pirate Metal. The hell you say.

Hey, I'm not saying that something can't be goofy and well-made at the same time. By "too much" I meant "too weird of a premise to take seriously".

I have definitely listened to sillier shit and enjoyed it.

SpoilerShow

Revisiting Squarepusher's latest album. I was pretty disappointed with it when it first came out but there are a few tracks I like upon re-listening. It's definitely a departure from his last couple albums - much more tech-y - but dude's always changing his style.

I don't take half the metal I listen to seriously either - I was just pointing out that Moog Country is a silly concept, not making any sort of value judgement about the record. FWIW, I like all that Switched-On stuff. Early synth music is cool.

SpoilerShow

I've decided that the first half of Ufabulum is pretty good and the second half is disappointing.

My favorite track is actually not off the album itself but from a companion EP:

SpoilerShow

long time no see

SpoilerShow

I really need to get up on bossa and vocal jazz one of these days.

I remember doing latin jazz / bossa nova dumps in the MSPA thread 2-3 times.

SpoilerShow

Fryderyk Chopin, Op. 28, No. 4 (Prelude 4, 18); Alfred Cortot, 1933. A beautifully gloomy piece, and one of the easiest of Chopin’s preludes to play. (The appellation “Suffocation” was not from Chopin, who abhorred having titles on his pieces and was notedly a bit uncomfortable with language in general, but von Bülow, a self-confessed egoist and master faux pas-rtist.)

SpoilerShow

A lot of people find this guy’s playing very strange, but this is mostly attributed to that he was one of the few Romantic-style players who was recorded extensively, and a good number of people who study these things believe that the things people find weirdest (missed notes when playing from memory, playing the left hand part like a grace note) were all fairly normal in the performances of that period.

SpoilerShow

Welcome back CSJ! All of those bossa/jazz tracks are really good

A lot of people find this guy’s playing very strange, but this is mostly attributed to that he was one of the few Romantic-style players who was recorded extensively, and a good number of people who study these things believe that the things people find weirdest (missed notes when playing from memory, playing the left hand part like a grace note) were all fairly normal in the performances of that period.

Huh, this is interesting. I knew that improv used to be common in classical music but I didn't know a lot of the things in that article.

BRP, you seem to know a good amount about this stuff - are there any famous classical musicians today who do improv?

related: I just listened to Pictures At An Exhibition all the way through for the first time and holy crap it is excellent

SpoilerShow

Probably not my favorite interpretation of the piece, but I'm a sucker for Rubinstein's Chopin. His dynamics feel more dynamic, but I'll also admit I'm not particularly well-educated even within my preferred genres. The Cortot just feels... unemotional? Given that the appeal of Chopin, especially his nocturnes and preludes, is largely in their evocativeness, this interpretation leaves me a little hollow.