Schemes & Shades

Ellis || 23 My musical journal; A blog filled with songs I like and what they mean to me. Feel free to ask me things/ send me suggestions!

[didierleclair]

YOU GUYS ARE IN FOR A TREAT, YOU CAN’T EVEN FATHOM…

Master of jazz Thelonious Monk ready to roll

source: tumblr.bandofoutsiders.com

[schemesandshades]

“Complexion (A Zulu Love)” by Kendrick Lamar

I can see To Pimp a Butterfly being near the top of my all-time favorite albums list for quite some time. Each song sounds so detailed and meticulously produced and the whole album musically feels like a tribute to the historically black music that gave birth to hip-hop in the first place. Jazz, funk, R&B, and soul all make an appearance. Don’t be surprised if I feature most of tracks from TPAB at some point or another.

My Favorite Things:

The soulful background harmonies in the verses

The finger picked guitar sample in the hook

They’re used sparingly, but I love hearing the trumpets and piano swell in and out throughout the track

Everything in the bridge/transition (the ”You like it. I love it.” part). I really like how the instruments fade out and the vocal harmonies and piano take over for a moment.

The change in beat and bassline for Rapsody’s verse

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“Coming Down Is Calming Down” by Underoath

I don’t listen to a lot of metalcore music, but Underoath was another one of those bands that I latched onto early. It may not be obvious in my own music, but I think I learned a lot from how they approach things both melodically and rhythmically.

My Favorite Things:

The first verse is so syncopated and chaotic that it’s tough to make out the time signature at first. The guitar chords are never quite where you expect them to be and it keeps you guessing throughout a lot of the track.

That quick instrumental transition right after the first chorus (as he sings “this place is getting smaller”). The drums just roll smoothly into the next verse and I like the way the guitar patterns fit in with the snare hits.

The drum line in the verse after that transition almost has this militaristic marching vibe to it.

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“Red Oyster Cult” by Guster

My older sister introduced me to Guster when I was younger. They were just starting to get bigger when she was in college and would often play at her school. They, along with Foo Fighters, were one of the first rock bands I got into.

My Favorite Things:

The way the light mood of the music briefly fades the moment he sings “Tell her there’s not a chance you’re ever gonna change the world”. It feels like those words sort of let all the air out of the room. 

The chorus’ melody navigates the chords underneath it really well. Guster’s another one of those bands that has a knack for writing melodies that fit right into the music around them.

The tone of the guitar that begins the outro (right after he sings “you’ll never have to change...”)

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“Is It Scary” by Michael Jackson

Blood on the Dance Floor was one of the first CDs I owned as a kid. It was primarily composed of remixes of songs from Michael Jackson’s previous album HIStory, but featured a handful of original tracks; this being one of them. I must have listened to it countless times during long car trips.

I’ve always liked how the music flowed between contrasting emotions on a dime. The pre-chorus feels like a break from the grim nature of the rest of the song. But the moments are always brief and soon the song heads right back into reality with the chorus.

The bass line in the pre-chorus sounds great against the piano chords.

It’s cool how a lot of the percussion in the verses are actually vocal tracks.

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“Repine” by Pianos Become The Teeth

A friend of mine recommended Keep You shortly after it came out saying it would be right up my alley. He was right. It’s such a dynamic and organically sounding record. The guitar work and drumming really stands out.

I’m in love with that guitar riff in the first part of the song.

The drums fade in so subtly in the beginning that you almost don’t notice their presence until they hit their peak.

I really like the chord progression the bass follows in the chorus.

The drumming as a whole sounds great in this track, especially the beats in the choruses and second verse.

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“Pendulum” by SMV

Growing up I listened to almost exclusively jazz and r&b music. I idolized bass players Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten and I aspired to become as skillful as them as I learned bass guitar myself. Hearing all three of them write music together was a dream come true. 

This is one of the more stripped down songs on the album but it’s one of the ones I find myself playing the most. It sounds so calm and serene.

It’s impressive how many sounds these guys can make with a bass guitar. I really like the harmonics in the beginning.

My favorite thing about this track has to be the cascading melody around a minute in. It always reminded me of watching rain hit a window for some reason. 

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“Casey’s Song” by City and Colour

City and Colour is one of my largest influences for acoustic guitar. I was surprised and excited when I first heard Sometimes because it was the exact sound I was striving to make as I learned how to play. The way he formed all these somber and dissonant chords really resonated with me.

The faster chords in the refrain (after the “break me” line) is my favorite part of the song.

As usual, Dallas Green does a great job of letting the music itself set the emotional tone of the song. The whole thing sounds earnest and pressing to me.

[schemesandshades]

“Mural” by Lupe Fiasco

“Kick Push” used to be my jam back in junior high school, but Tetsuo & Youth was the first Lupe album I really fully checked out. “Mural” is long but easily one of my favorite rap songs this year. It convinced me that I have to listen to more of his work.

I love the piano sample. It sounds almost hypnotic to me.

The bass line gives the track a driven, no-nonsense vibe. It stays on one note for a majority of the song but it pairs very well with the drums.

Lupe’s lyrics are really visual. Favorite lines?: “Incense smoke made vortices and other curls”  and “Nerd gang, make Mandelbrot sets when we handshake”

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“Death March On Two, Ready?” by Envy on the Coast

I first found out about Envy on the Coast after seeing them open on The Fall of Troy’s farewell tour. I had no idea who they were, but after seeing them play I was an instant fan. I was pretty bummed when they broke up a few months later.

Man oh man do I love that intro guitar riff.

True to its name, Lowcountry has a tinge of southern hard rock sprinkled throughout most of the album. The guitarists really did a good job getting that sound down.

I don’t really know how to describe it, but Ryan Hunter seems to sing with a sort of swagger and confidence. Maybe it’s the little laughs and the way he leads into the last chorus that give me that vibe.

Reminds me of: Getting punched in the mouth in a bar fight somewhere down in the bayou.

[nprmusic]

First Listen: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto & Bryce Dessner, The Revenant

The score gives Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film its emotional baseline, summoning the profound disquiet of a forbidding winter in the American West.

[schemesandshades]

“Requiem” from Halo 4 by Neil Davidge

Another song from a video game soundtrack. Halo 4 catches a lot of flack from fans of the franchise for being too wide of a musical departure from previous games. But despite having a new composer, the game has a few of my personal favorite tracks in the series.

The Context: Halo is a science fiction video game series set in the 26th century. In the fourth installment the protagonist explores an artificial planet built by an ancient, but technologically advanced, alien race.

This song is short, but really has a sense of unearthly wonder to it. It plays right when the player gets their first glimpse of the planet’s surface; a mountainous landscape littered with immense floating structures.

I think the track nails the feeling seeing a new world for the first time. I really like the contrast of the hammered strings in the beginning (is it a dulcimer?) with man-made sound of the synths.

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“Make My” by The Roots

Undun is a concept album detailing the life and death of a fictional drug dealer. This song in particular seems to be about the character reflecting on his life after his demise. 

I think the instrumental outro that kicks off as the rapper sings “make my departure from the world” does a great job of capturing the surreality of the character’s soul leaving his body. The background vocals and the synths make it sound almost dreamlike.

That’s one smooth bass line!

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“Styrofoam Plates” by Death Cab for Cutie

This band’s been a huge influence for me through the years. I really admire their approach to writing guitar parts and Ben Gibbard’s ability to tell a detailed story through his lyrics. I think this song exemplifies both those things well.

You don’t even need to listen to the lyrics to get a feel of how heartbreaking and sad of a song this is. The long instrumental build up really fits the story about a father who was never around.

To me, the guitar part in the build up initially sounds kind of playful and cheerful, But as soon as the bass comes in, I feel like the guitar gets re-contextualized and takes on a more bittersweet and mournful role. The idea that the same guitar part could sound so different within the song always fascinated me.

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“Storms” by Person L

I’ve been a pretty big fan of The Starting Line for a while but it didn’t occur to me to check out any of frontman Kenny Vasoli’s other projects until recently. This is the first Person L song that I’ve heard and I really love it. The dude is simply a good songwriter.

Most of the song is in 7/8 but the rhythm still sounds really natural

He’s always had a good feel for making great melodies and this track’s no different.

The keys, acoustic and electric guitars mix so well together

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“Pink Toes” by Childish Gambino

Because the Internet is one of my favorite rap albums from a production standpoint. A lot of the record has a sort of dark electronic vibe to it (especially in the second half) that I haven’t heard much before. This song ranks pretty high on my completely arbitrary list of “perfect songs”.

I absolutely love the chord progression in the intro and hook

The keys and synths throughout the song blend really well together

The vocal harmonies in the first verse and chorus are probably my favorite thing about this song

Reminds me of: Binge watching Breaking Bad during Christmas break the month the album dropped.

[schemesandshades]

“Boiling” by Disclosure 

I’ve found that I’ve been really enjoying deep house music lately. A friend of mine introduced me to Disclosure last year and I found myself listening to their The Face EP countless times during a cross-country road trip that I took with a few friends last summer.

I could listen to that bass line for days

This song has always felt very relaxing to me. Both the bass and kick sounds have a very rounded and soft “texture” to them and the minimalistic keys leave tons of room for the song to breathe.

I love the little variations in the drum and basslines in the last chorus.

The singer’s voice sounds so calming and natural to me. She really fits the general “open” sound of the song.

Reminds me of: Watching mountain ranges and plains zoom by from the side window of the car; Summer; Lounges