Writing

1. overlapping lyric – almost a round 01 ‘Unluck’ – James Blake – James Blake
2. single melody/lyric line repeated 02 ‘The Wilhelm Scream’ – James Blake – James Blake
3. single line repeated but with gaps and last paraphrase repeats 03 ‘I Never Learnt To Share’ – James Blake – James Blake
4. solo vocals – reminiscent of imogen heap’s ‘hide and seek’ 04 ‘Lindisfarne I’ – James Blake – James Blake
5. long pause with delays fading out 06 ‘Limit To Your Love’ – James Blake – James Blake
6. falsetto vocals 07 ‘Give Me My Month’ – James Blake – James Blake
7. popping edit loop, changing chord, as backbone of song 08 ‘To Care (Like You)’ – James Blake – James Blake
8. double meaning homophones 08 ‘To Care (Like You)’ – James Blake – James Blake
9. begin with ‘live performed’ section, then build track from edited loops of same material 09 ‘Why Don’t You Call Me’ – James Blake – James Blake
10. vox loop layers as harmony and melody 10 ‘I Mind’ – James Blake – James Blake
11. harmonies with slight differences – reminiscent of queen’s ‘somebody to love’ 11 ‘Measurements’ – James Blake – James Blake
12. vox melody on the beat 01 ‘Only If You Run’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper – Julian Plenti
13. a single line repeated with an internal repeat. “with all the fun that we have, we have come far” 02 ‘Fun That We Have’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
14. monotone one chord – minimalist tricking of giving the eventual change more impact 03 ‘Skyscraper’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
15. low baritone vox 03 ‘Skyscraper’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
16. the beat (and 1 and) ( 2 3 4) 04 ‘Games For Days’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
17. VIm – IV – I – III7 04 ‘Games For Days’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
18. “living in a cave, man” – name calling puns ie, honey, honey. sugar, sugar. tea, bag. 06 ‘No Chance Survival’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
19. key change 09 – ‘On The Esplanade’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
20. two chord see saw IVm – V 10 ‘Fly As You Might’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
21. counter melody in triplets 10 ‘Fly As You Might’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
22. actual notes made by internal vocal loops 06 ‘You Are In My System (Funky Linear)’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
23. lyric prosody 07 ‘Ashes To Ashes (Digital Space Replicant)’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) -LB
24. poetic lyric 08 ‘Thatness And thereness (Mental Organic)’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
25. taking only a fragment of an existing song and building a new track 10 ‘Silence Is Golden (Moral Morph)’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
26. softly sung/spoken vocals ‘it was paradise’ 01 ‘Berlin ‘ – Berlin (1973) – Lou Reed
27. reggae offbeat 01 ‘Animal’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
28. vocal sample as lead solo line “tell me … ah ah ah ah” 03 ‘Silvia’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
29. EQ sweeps as progression and build, instead of chord changes 03 ‘Silvia’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
30. timings of chords changes against solid backbeat 05 ‘Black & Blue’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
31. 3 major chords 06 ‘Sans Soleil’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
32. false ending in the middle, then into refrain 06 ‘Sans Soleil’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
33. late chord change timing 07 ‘A Horse Is Not A Home’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
34. 1 & – & 3 jittering one note rhythm 08 ‘Cult Logic’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
35. electrical hum, used tonally 09 ‘Plastic Jungle’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
36. piano chords 1 2 3 4 while bass line skips along 11 ‘Faker’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
37. added chords on the 2 and 4 + horn section on the 1s 11 ‘Faker’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
38. instrumental aside/intro to album, sets the mood/tone 01 ‘ Dawna’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
39. monophonic inst. only (vox, sax, bass – well, maybe some polyphony with 2 strings being played at once) 02 ‘Buena’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
40. lyric echoes of other tracks on the album 03 ‘I’m Free Now’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
41. chorus; no instruments except rim shot ticking like a clock, and vox (harmonies) and sax doubling melody line 04 ‘All Wrong’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
42. verse and chorus are same chords but chorus is led into by a bridge 05 ‘Candy’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
43. main lyrics line inserted in pause. 06 ‘A Head With Wings’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
44. complete break in style from previous (and later) tracks 07 ‘In Spite Of Me’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
45. vox and inst. call and response 08 ‘Thursday’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
46. song title sung in inst. pauses 09 ‘Cure For Pain’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
47. ending; vox only, slows down 10 ‘Mary Won’t You Call My Name’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
48. strange ending … just peters out 11 ‘Let’s Take A Trip Together’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
49. lyric 12 ‘Sheila’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
50. instrumental bookend to album 13 ‘Miles Davis’ Funeral’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
51. call and response verses (‘and i control you’) – response heavily filtered 01 ‘Mr Self Destruct’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
52. lyric recurring as theme/chant throughout several songs 02 ‘Piggy’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
53. sfx (marching boots, machines) become percussion 03 ‘Heresy’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
54. switch from heavy to acoustic and clean ‘now, doesn’t that make you feel better?’ 04 ‘March Of The Pigs’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
55. piano melody from previous tracks – establishing itself as the album theme melody 05 ‘Closer’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
56. extreme, uncompromising lyric 05 ‘Closer’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
57. final line ‘nothing can stop me now’ – hard cut right on the word ‘stop’ – prosody 06 ‘Ruiner’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
58. unusual rhythm – makes it hard to dance/tap foot to 07 ‘The Becoming’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
59. great beat 08 ‘I Do Not Want This’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
60. return of key line ‘nothing can stop me now’ 09 ‘Big Man With A Gun’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
61. descending chord progression against ascending melody / track in 2 halves, same progression but in different keys 10 ‘A Warm Place’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
62. when vox enter it is sudden and everything changes – like 2 tracks stitched together 11 ‘ Eraser’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
63. bass enter – bass is just one long note hold/throb/hum 12 – ‘Reptile’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
64. one note riff – simple beat 1234 – changes texture (ie., becomes low note/chord) 14 ‘ Hurt’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
65. 5/4 01 ’15 Step’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
66. fast track with a funky riff 02 ‘Bodysnatchers’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
67. backwards sounds as rhythm 03 ‘Nude’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
68. (one note picked out of an arpeggio) – maybe use delays 04 ‘Weird Fishes / Arpeggi’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
69. fast percussion contrasted with slow feel of track 04 ‘Weird Fishes / Arpeggi’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
70. changes from 4/4 to 3/4 multiple times
    1234 1234 123 123 123 1234 1234 1234 06 ‘Faust Arp’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
71. using familiar sounding non-musical objects eg. vibrating mobile 07 ‘Reckoner’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
72. falsetto as lead/top, chest vox as backing 07 ‘Reckoner’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
73. unusual strumming pattern. emphasizing up strokes 08 – ‘House of Cards’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
74. fast, busy bass line & gtr arpeggios (no polyphonic playing) 09 ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
75. lyric: unresolved sentence beginnings “just as you …. before the …. 09 ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
76. (slight edit pop simulates soft kik) 10 ‘Videotape’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
77. opening prologue states theme and lyric 01 ‘Prologue’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
78. piano line (verbed) hitting only key notes of the vocal melody as it is sung 05 ‘Stay’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
79. sung ‘stay’ sustained and morphed/merged into strings 05 ‘Stay’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
80. same vocal line repeated over the changing instrumental sections 06 ‘Raise’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
81. cymbal-less drums 06 ‘Raise’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
82. drum machine slows as a bridge into final section 08 ‘Wither’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
83. poly rhythms – 3/4 against 4/4 09 ‘Stand’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
84. jittering strings enter, panning rapidly – serves as rhythm, instead of perc 10 ‘War’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
85. processed vox as texture 11 ‘Epilogue’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
86. stops suddenly 01 ‘A Little Longing Goes Away’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
87. spoken samples used as template for song structure 02 ‘Be Good To Them Always’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
88. great riff – call & response (possibly using delay) 02 ‘Be Good To Them Always’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
89. portamento 03 ‘ Vogt Dig For Kloppervok’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
90. a lot of words delivered very quickly 04 ‘ Smells Like Content’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
91. 4 chord pattern in 7 bars
    1 / / 2 / / 3 / / 4 / /  / / /  / / /  : 04 ‘ Smells Like Content’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
92. lyric: repeat a point but worded slightly differently – as i do in everyday speech 05 ‘It Never Changes To Stop’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
93. drum accents match spoken word accents from a certain point 06 ‘An Animated Description of Mr. Maps’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
94. do the above with singing 06 ‘An Animated Description of Mr. Maps’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
95. score an existing narrative – documentary? news story? 07 ‘Venice’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
96. gtr riff in 3s against a 4/4 rhythm 08 ‘None But Shining Hours’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
97. switching from 3/4 to 4/4 and back again 09 ‘If Not Now, Whenever’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
98. chords and vox together, on 1s 10 ‘An Owl With Knees’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
99. plucking, delay, gtr rhythm 10 ‘An Owl With Knees’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
100. lines broken mid-word 01 ‘Terrible Love’ – High Violet (2010) – The National
101. lowest possible vocal 02 ‘Sorrow’ – High Violet (2010) – The National
102. chord progression ascends then descends 10 ‘England’ – High Violet (2010) – The National
103. last line of chorus vox ends with delay 02 ‘What You Need’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
104. stitch 2 songs together to make one 03 ‘House of Balloons – Glass Table Girls’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
105. monotone vox over rich chords 04 ‘The Morning’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
106. same chord pattern broken by pauses 05 ‘Wicked Games’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
107. pulsing, breathy beat – surging 06 ‘The Party & The After Party’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
108. two versions of the one song (same chords/melody) stitched together 06 ‘The Party & The After Party’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
109. chorus: main lyric line in two halves ‘i always want you when i’m’ – ‘coming down’ 07 ‘Coming Down’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
110. 2 lead vox overlapping, like a conversation, or good/bad internal dialogue 08 ‘Loft Music’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
111. beat 09 ‘The Knowing’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
112. rollicking rhythm 6/8? 12/8? 01 ‘The Suburbs’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
113. single note riff, adds second semitone to create tension 02 ‘Ready To Start’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
114. add a beat to a 4/4 riff 03 ‘Modern Man’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
115. ‘musical’ word with syllables extended/repeated; eg. ‘rococo-coco’ 04 ‘Rococo’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
116. play riff/beat as fast as possible 05 ‘Empty Room’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
117. riffs on 2 chords, sliding from the tonic to the 4th and back 06 ‘City With No Children’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
118. companion or sequel to previous track 08 ‘Half Light II (No Celebration)’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
119. picked elc gtr intro, verbed – Beatle-esque sound 09 ‘Suburban War’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
120. about three quarters in, organ does semitone (flattened) tonic, changing key 10 ‘Month of May’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
121. country style ac gtr playing 11 ‘Wasted Hours’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
122. pause into chorus 11 ‘Wasted Hours’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
123. staccato(?) violin – like ‘godfather’ italian drama 14 ‘Sprawl (Flatland)’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
124. bridge: changes key, up 3 steps. ending returns to original key
     <capo 3rd fret> C Am F C – Eb Cm (G bridging chord) – C Am F C
     I VIm V I  – (up 3 steps) I VIm  – bridging chord: III major (new key)/V major (old key) – (down 3 steps) I VIm V I 15 ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
125. last track on the album, continuation of first track on the album – bookend the album 16 ‘ The Suburbs (continued)’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
126. same chords, same melody, same chorus lyric, same tempo but different feel 16 ‘ The Suburbs (continued)’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
127. ascending chord sequence, almost cyclical 01 ‘One Crowded Hour’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
128. vox melody hold/hovers around the one note 01 ‘One Crowded Hour’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
129. beat, bup ba-dup, ba-dup, ba-dup 03 ‘The Cold Acre’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
130. prosody: vox melody jumping from low to high notes, ‘some go high and very low’ 04 ‘Stranger Strange’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
131. prosody: ‘rise, rise, rise and tune your pianos’ 05 ‘Mother Greer’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
132. vox: high (falsetto) doubled with low vox 06 ‘The Honey Month’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
133. lyric: ‘don’t bring em up if you can’t put em down’ 08 ‘Thin Captain Crackers’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
134. lyric: ‘so many souls were sold, so many lies were told’ 10 ‘Mt. Wellington Reverie’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
135. vox lines delivered via alternate takes; ends overlap 10 ‘Mt. Wellington Reverie’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
136. long, descending vox melody line, cut short and extended then repeated 11 ‘ The Baron of Sentiment’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
137. doubled lead vox with high falsetto harmony (octave?) 12 ‘ Bolte and Dunstan Talk Youth’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
138. melody progression reminiscent of Nick Cave’s ‘People Ain’t No Good’ 13 ‘Clockwork’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
139. call: high vox, multi harmonies ‘autumn leaves are flying’ 14 ‘Vernoona’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
140. response: low, doubled with bass ‘time to find yr wintercoat’ 14 ‘Vernoona’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
141. low key, bored/depressed vox vs. dramatic bombastic interjections (strings, elc gtr) 02 ‘Paper Tiger’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
142. tension and release: sliding note – down to correct pitch on the 1 03 ‘Guess I’m Doing Fine’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
143. tension and release: bvs come in on the tonic chord 03 ‘Guess I’m Doing Fine’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
144. climbing melody – shepard tone 04 ‘Lonesome Tears’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
145. chorus: pause before 2nd half of line; ‘and i wanted to be’ – full chord sequence – ‘a good friend’ 07 ‘It’s All In Your Mind’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
146. prosody: ‘around’ – pitch sliding up and down 08 ‘Round The Bend’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck

Production

1. poly rhythmic hi hat 01 ‘Unluck’ – James Blake – James Blake
2. overall structure with noise crescendo 02 ‘The Wilhelm Scream’ – James Blake – James Blake
3. crescendo plateaus into loop 03 ‘I Never Learnt To Share’ – James Blake – James Blake
4. ringing phasing effect 04 ‘Lindisfarne I’ – James Blake – James Blake
5. distorted acoustic guitar – sound like mic distortion? 05 ‘Lindisfarne II’ – James Blake – James Blake
6. off beat woody tuned percussion 05 ‘Lindisfarne II’ – James Blake – James Blake
7. deep, oscillating bass 06 ‘Limit To Your Love’ – James Blake – James Blake
8. live performance recorded in a sonically interesting place (ie. background sound) 07 ‘Give Me My Month’ – James Blake – James Blake
9. use edit pops as beat 09 ‘Why Don’t You Call Me’ – James Blake – James Blake
10. white noise as cymbal (swell, reverse ‘open hi hat’) – ducked by kik 10 ‘I Mind’ – James Blake – James Blake
11. hiss/overdub artefact as deliberate texture 11 ‘Measurements’ – James Blake – James Blake
12. intro + oscillating texture 01 ‘Only If You Run’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper – Julian Plenti
13. slowing loop countering the beat 02 ‘Fun That We Have’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
14. spoken word sample as melodic material 05 ‘Madrid Song’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
15. soft and loud dynamics, density and sparseness – lyric repetition/single chord progression 07 ‘Unwind’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
16. switching of doubling vox effects 07 ‘Unwind’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
17. shuffling snare beat intro 08 ‘Girl On The Sporting News’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
18. spoken word samples used musically 11 ‘H’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
19. noise texture 11 ‘H’ – Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper (2009) – Julian Plenti
20. replace guitar lick with electronic blips 01 Superbad (Soul Substitute) – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
21. extend vocal words/notes with internal looping 01 Superbad (Soul Substitute) – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
22. unnaturally truncated – stuttering jump cut effect 02 ‘Be Near Me’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
23. bursts of tuned static for chord stabs 02 ‘Be Near Me’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
24. mimic stereo spread of classic 60s (beatles?) track 03 ‘Sunshine Superman’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
25. mix of recognisable instruments and electronics 04 ‘The Future (Spiritual Surface Noise) – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
26. spoken word samples also processed, though not used musically at least stylistically integrated 04 ‘The Future (Spiritual Surface Noise) – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
27. delay/phasing effects – droplet percussion, swirling sustained chords 05 ‘Jealous Guy (Poeme Syncope)’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
28. contrast between long sustained musically rich backing with busy, tonally minimal, electronic rhythm. 06 ‘You Are In My System (Funky Linear)’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
29. piano melodic phrases ending in electronic ‘punctuation’ 09 ‘Angie (Miniature Numerique)’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
30. long build of noise and texture leading into melodic section 10 ‘Silence Is Golden (Moral Morph)’ – Pop Artificielle (1999) – LB
31. use of field recording to set place and mood 01 ‘Berlin ‘ – Berlin (1973) – Lou Reed
32. layering at the start 01 ‘Animal’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
33. different vox production for each melody 1. radio 2. reverbed 3. doubled 02 ‘Burial’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
34. tumbling, rolling snare 02 ‘Burial’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
35. lead gtr call and response melody with vox lines 04 ‘Song For No One’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
36. distant chords stabs (organ) slapback delayed, up close dinky lead gtr melody line 04 ‘Song For No One’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
37. chorus; burbling synth, peaks in between vox lines, call and response 05 ‘Black & Blue’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
38. matched with delays providing a steady pulse 07 ‘A Horse Is Not A Home’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
39. strange animal cries in the background, tonally sliding 08 ‘Cult Logic’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
40. giant hand clap, offbeat (4&) – like a big exclamation mark 09 ‘Plastic Jungle’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
41. reverse sucking chords, ducked on the kik – like nosaj thing does 10 ‘In Search Of’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
42. fuzzed out slabs cutting in and out 4 1 / / / / /  – 4 1 / / / / / – 4 10 ‘In Search Of’ – Miike Snow (2009) – Miike Snow
43. simplest possible elements 02 ‘Buena’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
44. vocal and other monophonic instrument doubling ’cause you pain, ohhhhhh’ 03 ‘I’m Free Now’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
45. background gurgling atmosphere in chorus, audible because the other instruments drop out 04 ‘All Wrong’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
46. hard panned monophonic instruments to create chords 05 ‘Candy’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
47. breakdown section; no bass, sax stabs at riff, drums focus on toms 06 ‘A Head With Wings’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
48. radio effect (EQ) on whispered vox 07 ‘In Spite Of Me’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
49. monophonic instr. harmonised riff, hard panned 08 ‘Thursday’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
50. vox doubling/chorusing increases throughout track 09 ‘Cure For Pain’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
51. chorus; title repeated. hi hat only, vox harmonies. hats stop for delivery of title vox 10 ‘Mary Won’t You Call My Name’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
52. vox harmonies; high is distant (with delay/echo) low is close 11 ‘Let’s Take A Trip Together’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
53. vox ‘sheila’ doubled with sax 12 ‘Sheila’ – Cure For Pain (1993) – Morphine
54. extreme contrast – very loud to very quiet, very full to very sparse 01 ‘Mr Self Destruct’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
55. drum loops made from different spaced drum recordings; both at a micro hit-by-hit level and at a macro part-by-part level 02 ‘Piggy’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
56. vox layering 03 ‘Heresy’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
57. significant moment of silence mid song 04 ‘March Of The Pigs’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
58. pre chorus bridge vox unintelligible – dimly audible vocal production 06 ‘Ruiner’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
59. hard panned crossfade into next track 07 ‘The Becoming’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
60. contrast of plaintive acst elements (piano) with hard industrial elements (drums and noises) 08 ‘I Do Not Want This’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
61. rapid fire drumming contrasted with relatively slow gtr chords 09 ‘Big Man With A Gun’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
62. pretty, almost sickly so, melodic/harmonic content made interesting through textural production 10 ‘A Warm Place’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
63. long instrumental build 11 ‘ Eraser’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
64. middle section features loop of ambient ‘other place’ sound (from film strk) 12 – ‘Reptile’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
65. muffled, like a bad demo tape – as effect when contrasted either with previous section or with instrument on top 13 ‘The Downward Spiral’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
66. sudden cuts and edits between sections and sudden ending 13 ‘The Downward Spiral’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
67. loop final note/chord and sustain for a long time 14 ‘ Hurt’ – The Downward Spiral (1994) – Nine Inch Nails
68. recognisable sound effect playing typical musical role (ie. children cheering as’ cymbal splash’) 01 ’15 Step’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
69. twin gtrs, hard panned, complimenting parts (a la AC/DC ‘long way to the top’) 02 ‘Bodysnatchers’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
70. wordless falsetto backing vocal 03 ‘Nude’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
71. very dry percussion contrasted against slow decaying ‘strings’ and synths 05 ‘All I Need’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
72. one note piano climax (a la Police’s ‘every breath you take’) 05 ‘All I Need’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
73. doubles vox at odd times, not the obvious chorus emphasis 06 ‘Faust Arp’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
74. dub gestures at the ends of vocal lines ie verbed percussion, underneath very dry drums 08 – ‘House of Cards’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
75. &1 drum beat; & = rim shot, 1 = kik (simulates backwards sound) 10 ‘Videotape’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead
76. vox focus, minimal inst. backing (breath based inst ie harmonica, recorder etc) 01 ‘Prologue’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
77. rattling drum chaos with melodic chords 02 ‘Break’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
78. vox harmonies out of time with lead vox 02 ‘Break’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
79. dropped pitch vox as texture 03 ‘Weapons’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
80. choral vox with shimmering volume effect 03 ‘Weapons’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
81. half time beginning 04 ‘Betray’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
82. half time drums only, harmonic progression stays the same tempo 04 ‘Betray’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
83. lonely vox (EQ effect) 07 ‘Tell’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
84. distortion sliding in and out – sounds like speaker distortion … 07 ‘Tell’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
85. rattling effected snare roll mirrored by tremelo effect on synth chords 08 ‘Wither’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
86. operatic vox – typically lead inst as background harmony 09 ‘Stand’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
87. dbl and triple vox, hard panned – out of time with each other slightly 10 ‘War’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
88. harmonica! 11 ‘Epilogue’ – At War With Walls And Mazes (2008) – Son Lux
89. artificial tremelo effect – like Butthole Surfers ‘The Hurdy Gurdy Man’ 01 ‘A Little Longing Goes Away’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
90. kik – sounds like basketball bouncing 02 ‘Be Good To Them Always’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
91. tremelo vocal effect – like butthole surfers ‘hurdy gurdy man’ 03 ‘ Vogt Dig For Kloppervok’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
92. ducking 03 ‘ Vogt Dig For Kloppervok’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
93. voice breaks – keep a flaw/mistake, make it a central point of focus 05 ‘It Never Changes To Stop’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
94. music cuts right on the final word of narrative 07 ‘Venice’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
95. ripping sfx beat, rhythmic atmos 08 ‘None But Shining Hours’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
96. layers of spoken word samples, overlapping 09 ‘If Not Now, Whenever’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
97. shuffling background noise adds atmosphere – is it a loop? 11 ‘Twelve Fold Chain’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
98. crackling ‘percussion’ – vinyl surface noise as rhythm 11 ‘Twelve Fold Chain’ – Lost and Safe (2005) – The Books
99. great intro – oscillating tremelo tone panning around 01 ‘High For This’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
100. watery submerged beat 01 ‘High For This’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
101. processed vox loop 02 ‘What You Need’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
102. transition is a funky repeat + pitch drop of vox 03 ‘House of Balloons – Glass Table Girls’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
103. strange percussion – balloon bursting/fireworks 04 ‘The Morning’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
104. thicken riff over time 05 ‘Wicked Games’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
105. 10CC-like sample (fem spoken whispered) becomes loop and melodic/rhythmic element of remaining track) 07 ‘Coming Down’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
106. midway: track descends into dreamy ambient track (delays, pan sweeps, eq sweeps, verb soaked) 08 ‘Loft Music’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
107. big gtr chords at the end 09 ‘The Knowing’ – House of Balloons (2011) – The Weeknd
108. add ornamentation in 2nd verse, strip back in 3rd verse 01 ‘The Suburbs’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
109. after last line drums turn to toms, building to next section (verse or repeat chorus) 02 ‘Ready To Start’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
110. final section intro: rapid fire bass line (synth?), drums reduced to kik 02 ‘Ready To Start’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
111. chorus: vox melody doubles with lead gtr, then deviates 03 ‘Modern Man’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
112. marry a synthetic inst with a natural acoustic inst. eg. legato synth bass and ac gtr 04 ‘Rococo’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
113. pulsing monotone stays consistent throughout all chord changes 05 ‘Empty Room’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
114. bass, gtr and kik/tom all on the riff 06 ‘City With No Children’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
115. cello/string section finale, doubled with indistinct vox (state melody first, then add vox but keep low in mix, lyrics unintelligible) 07 ‘Half Light I’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
116. accent with highest possible notes eg. triangle 07 ‘Half Light I’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
117. great synth pulse/delay 08 ‘Half Light II (No Celebration)’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
118. pause then big finish: new beat, tom based – faster? 09 ‘Suburban War’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
119. ‘1234’ vox count in – when track is clearly not an ensemble of players 10 ‘Month of May’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
120. one note piano riff – on the snr beat – reminiscent of police’s ‘every breath’ 12 ‘Deep Blue’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
121. elc gtr – 2 note riff/solo 12 ‘Deep Blue’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
122. elc gtr stabs match snr tuplets, big verbed sfx/stab every few bars, fem bv match snr too 13 ‘We Used To Wait’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
123. middle (between 2nd verse and 1st chorus): single chord instrumental build 13 ‘We Used To Wait’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
124. distant, verbed (warehouse) percussion against intimate vox – lonely feel 14 ‘Sprawl (Flatland)’ – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
125. rapid two note off beat highlight 15 ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) – The Suburbs (2010) – Arcade Fire
126. big distorted gtrs, without being heavy or hard, long languorous strums 02 ‘Victoria’s Secrets’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
127. gtr solo: siren sound. follows final lyric ‘vain!, vain!’ 02 ‘Victoria’s Secrets’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
128. double note melody line 03 ‘The Cold Acre’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
129. breathy bv, enters slightly ahead of lead vox. same lyric, ‘stranger strange’ 04 ‘Stranger Strange’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
130. boxy drum beginning 05 ‘Mother Greer’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
131. ambience – other worldy: brushes, verb soaked ekc gtr, breathy vox, distant keys, verbed tambourine 06 ‘The Honey Month’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
132. single element of track (preferably something relatively hidden) as intro that fades in and out eg. subtle organ fade in intro, stops 07 ‘Just Passing Through’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
133. differentiate 2 chords in a progression with different drum beats eg. chorus is just 2 chords; first instrumental version of chorus features 2 different drum beats for each chord 07 ‘Just Passing Through’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
134. middle: elc gtr – single chord whilst bass etc continue progressions 08 ‘Thin Captain Crackers’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
135. no percussion 09 ‘Bottle Baby’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
136. ac gtr up close, piano distant 09 ‘Bottle Baby’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
137. 2 instruments doubling melody ie. piano and gtr picking doubled together 12 ‘ Bolte and Dunstan Talk Youth’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
138. mid section vox: monotone eg. ‘in a berth of the port wharf the song of the penitent sailor…’ 13 ‘Clockwork’ – Moo, You Bloody Choir (2006) – Augie March
139. bvs: (from 2nd verse) monotone, verbed. alternating with wordless falsetto ‘oohs’ 01 ‘The Golden Age’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
140. b/ground electronics – spacey delayed feedback, builds to a climax, filter swept, stops at the peak 01 ‘The Golden Age’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
141. middle: phased vox for 2 lines 02 ‘Paper Tiger’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
142. orchestrate like Air; dry drums, slow strings, languid bass, rhodes keys, breathy vox 04 ‘Lonesome Tears’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
143. backwards sounds 05 ‘Lost Cause’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
144. white noise percussion fizzing 05 ‘Lost Cause’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
145. atmos: noises: low res white noise explosions, reverbered 06 ‘End Of The Day’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
146. atmos: big verb tambourine on the 3rd beat of every 2nd bar 06 ‘End Of The Day’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
147. ring modulated piano  (2nd verse) 07 ‘It’s All In Your Mind’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
148. accentuate fret buzz 08 ‘Round The Bend’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
149. last word of chorus vox verbed: ‘feel like something dying…’ 09 ‘Already Dead’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
150. lead gtr bending notes 09 ‘Already Dead’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
151. throbbing piano line, like a bass line 10 ‘Sunday Sun’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
152. mobile phone beep goes off every revolution of the chord progression, include an every day sound like mobile phone 10 ‘Sunday Sun’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
153. no drums in the verses, full drums in the choruses 11 ‘ Little One’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
154. end with a holding pattern 11 ‘ Little One’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
155. ac gtrs – two parts, hard panned, doubling and then deviating 12 ‘Side of the Road’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck
156. elc keys (rhodes) – reminds me of dan lanois’ sling blade soundtrack 12 ‘Side of the Road’ – Sea Change (2002) – Beck