Archive for December, 2011

07 ‘Coming Down’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd

  • breathy synths, verbed plucky gtr lick
  • drums enter
  • high wordless vox intro
  • low vox verse
  • chorus: main lyric line in two halves
    ‘i always want you when i’m’ – ‘coming down’
  • tinkling, ringing phone, flourishes
  • midway: 10CC-like sample (fem spoken whispered)
    becomes loop and melodic/rhythmic element of remaining track)

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. 10CC-like sample (fem spoken whispered)
    becomes loop and melodic/rhythmic element of remaining track)
  2. chorus: main lyric line in two halves
    ‘i always want you when i’m’ – ‘coming down’

06 ‘The Party & The After Party’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd

  • starts with loop holding chord
  • vox enters, chord sequence begins
  • bass enters
  • vox alternates between
    mod phrasing ‘i understand your body wants it’,
    slow phrasing ‘ride baby, ride baby’,
    fast phrasing ‘with your louis v bag, tatts on your arms’
  • breakdown/merge into ‘after party’: fem bv delayed, fades, bass + drums continue, lead vox
  • 2nd half: processed funk gtr lick
  • bass and drums drop out
  • processed bv
  • kik returns
  • drums return, dub gestures on drums
  • pulsing, breathy beat – surging

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. pulsing, breathy beat – surging
  2. two versions of the one song (same chords/melody) stitched together

05 ‘Wicked Games’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd

  • descending chord pattern for whole song
  • elct gtr picking + atmos noise
  • pause
  • bass, drums, elct gtr, synth + vox (verb, slight EQ)
  • chorus: vox doubled + harmonies
  • riff thickens toward end of track

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. same chord pattern broken by pauses
  2. thicken riff over time

04 ‘The Morning’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd

  • chirpy gtr solo opening
  • bright breezy synth chords (quite a contrast to prev. trk)
  • vox enters with strange percussion (firework? bursting balloon?)
  • vox is emotive but monotonish – modulating around two or three notes)
  • gtr solo returns as verbed out back ground
  • bass and drums kick in with chorus
  • chorus has harmonised vox
  • 2nd verse features extra vox – doubles harmonies call + response
  • v 3 backing fades out over time
  • chorus: all back in again
  • whole track fades out

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. monotone vox over rich chords
  2. strange percussion – balloon bursting/fireworks

03 ‘House of Balloons – Glass Table Girls’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd

  • siouxsie and the banshees sample – lead gtr loop + vox
  • creates a party/crowd feel
  • breakdown before merging into ‘glass table girls’
  • transition is a funky repeat + pitch drop of vox
  • 2nd half is a solo vox over a bass heavy pattern
    all melodic richness is gone
    lots of swearing

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. transition is a funky repeat + pitch drop of vox
  2. stitch 2 songs together to make one
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