Archive for January, 2012

06 ‘The Last Dictator I’ – Paradise Discotheque (1990) – Crime and the City Solution

  • first in a 4 song cycle
  • bass and drums  (kik, open hat) intro, then organ
  • gtr joins, rhythmic – one chord?
  • violin enters
  • ‘chorus’: violin, gtrs, organ
  • female vox for the angels
  • multiple ‘voices’
  • middle: ‘dream’ minor sounding, backwards gtr texture loop
  • ending: multi-vox, call and response, incl whispered fem vox
    ‘yes i am!’ yes you are!’
  • ends with just drums and bass then,
  • ends with only bass line

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. middle: ‘dream’ minor sounding, backwards gtr texture loop
    • multiple ‘voices’
    • ending: multi-vox, call and response, incl whispered fem vox
      ‘yes i am!’ yes you are!’

05 ‘Motherless Child’ – Paradise Discotheque (1990) – Crime and the City Solution

  • 3rd fret: Am, Dm, F, Em
  • rattling percussion; shakers, hats etc
  • breathing percussion
  • verbed vox
  • bongos, doubled and hard panned
  • gtr riff – 2 gtrs hard panned
  • bongos and gtr riff provide rhythmic basis – allowing bass and drums to do others things
  • no resolution chord at end

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. bongos and gtr riff provide rhythmic basis – allowing bass and drums to do others things
  2. no resolution chord at end

04 ‘The Sun Before the Darkness’ – Paradise Discotheque (1990) – Crime and the City Solution

  • spooky electronic ‘animal’ noises
  • picking elc gtr riff, delayed hard left
  • percussion; congas, bongos
  • vox
  • fast (staccato?) strings with gtrs enter, dramatic melody, then pull out
  • shuddering, pitch dropping, white noise at a slower tempo
  • cello line
  • repeat whole structure?
  • then violin enters
  • character from previous song
  • violin enters, bass drops out before final crescendo
  • ends with percussion and elc animal noises only, fading out

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. spooky electronic ‘animal’ noises
  2. shuddering, pitch dropping, white noise at a slower tempo

03 ‘The Dolphins and the Sharks’ – Paradise Discotheque (1990) – Crime and the City Solution

  • bass and drums (snr is a little roll), elc rhythm gtr, accented
  • piano; verbed, delayed moody sprinkles
  • chord change: elc gtr howling and groaning
  • 2 chord song – Am, F (Key of C)
  • violin enters in latter stages
  • howling at the end
  • piano starts fast hammering
  • everything drops out one by one

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. (snr is a little roll)
  2. everything drops out one by one

 

02 ‘The Sly Persuaders’ – Paradise Discotheque (1990) – Crime and the City Solution

  • starts with bass, drums, piano, some horn flourishes
  • wandering bass
  • drums: toms and ride, handclaps
  • piano chords, tumbling on the 1s
  • vox enters
  • horn riff builds
  • section 2: horns out, violin riff enters, chord changes underneath
  • horn riff re-enters
  • section 3: back to start instrumentation, piano riff
  • horn riff re enters
  • snare enters as punctuation
  • vox: call and response; delayed distant repeat of lead vox, line by line
  • drums and bass drop out, leaving horn riff and hand claps
  • structure: 4 sections
    1: Bbm riff
    2: Ab, Bbm, Ab, Bbm, Gb, Ab, Bbm,
    Ab, Bbm, Ab, Bbm, Ab, Gb, Ab, Bbm etc
    3. Bbm, Fm, Bbm, Fm
    4. return to Bbm riff

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. vox: call and response; delayed distant repeat of lead vox, line by line
  2. section 2: horns out, violin riff enters, chord changes underneath
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