Archive for November, 2011

03 ‘Nude’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  • gorgeous melody and lyric
  • also wordless falsetto backing vocal
  • intro is rich, featuring backwards sounds of some sort
  • then strips back for first verse, bass enters
  • drums very dry
  • vox have big verb

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. wordless falsetto backing vocal
  2. backwards sounds as rhythm

02 ‘Bodysnatchers’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  • distorted gtr riff, fast track
  • drums and bass join, and vox
  • twin gtrs (harmonies?) join, hard panned
  • chorus: riff stops but bass and drums continue, riff replaced by long notes (organ ish)
  • change; verbed long guitar notes, vox gets more frantic
  • come down; back to riff but subdued, distorted vox chants ‘ma, ma, ma, ma’
  • builds to climax ‘I’ve seen it coming!’

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. fast track with a funky riff
  2. twin gtrs, hard panned, complimenting parts (a la AC/DC ‘long way to the top’)

01 ’15 Step’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  • 5/4
  • funky beat, distorted kik, and handclaps
  • vox enters
  • gtr lead line, hard left enters. plus bass
  • use of ride cymbal to fill out next section
  • bridge to 2nd verse, distant wordless backing vox
  • children cheering as ‘cymbal splash’
  • heavy verb on lead vox for a moment
  • backwards verb heavy organ solo
  • bass gets really busy

KEY IDEAS to plunder

  1. 5/4
  2. recognisable sound effect playing typical musical role (ie. children cheering as’ cymbal splash’)

In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  • richly melodic
  • seemingly banal lyrics but they are powerfully ‘meaningful’ when sung in this melodic emotive way
  • lyrics in present tense
  • lyrics sung slowly, drawing out notes, focus on the melodic progression rather than the lyrical statement
  • intricate rhythms and parts interwined (most would be uninteresting on their own)
  • odd beats and sometimes time sigs but always dancy and toe tappin

01 ’15 Step’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  1. 5/4
  2. recognisable sound effect playing typical musical role (ie. children cheering as’ cymbal splash’)

02 ‘Bodysnatchers’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  1. fast track with a funky riff
  2. twin gtrs, hard panned, complimenting parts (a la AC/DC ‘long way to the top’)
  1. wordless falsetto backing vocal
  2. backwards sounds as rhythm
  1. (one note picked out of an arpeggio) – maybe use delays
  2. fast percussion contrasted with slow feel of track

05 ‘All I Need’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  1. very dry percussion contrasted against slow decaying ‘strings’ and synths
  2. one note piano climax (a la Police’s ‘every breath you take’)

06 ‘Faust Arp’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  1. changes from 4/4 to 3/4 multiple times
    1234 1234 123 123 123 1234 1234 1234
  2. doubles vox at odd times, not the obvious chorus emphasis

07 ‘Reckoner’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  1. falsetto as lead/top, chest vox as backing
  2. using familiar sounding non-musical objects eg. vibrating mobile

08 – ‘House of Cards’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  1. unusual strumming pattern. emphasizing up strokes
  2. dub gestures at the ends of vocal lines ie verbed percussion, underneath very dry drums

09 ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  1. fast, busy bass line & gtr arpeggios (no polyphonic playing)
  2. lyric: unresolved sentence beginnings “just as you …. before the ….
10 ‘Videotape’ – In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  1. (slight edit pop simulates soft kik)
  2. &1 drum beat; & = rim shot, 1 = kik (simulates backwards sound)

In Rainbows (2007) – Radiohead

  • richly melodic
  • seemingly banal lyrics but they are powerfully ‘meaningful’ when sung in this melodic emotive way
  • lyrics in present tense
  • lyrics sung slowly, drawing out notes, focus on the melodic progression rather than the lyrical statement
  • intricate rhythms and parts interwined (most would be uninteresting on their own)
  • odd beats and sometimes time sigs but always dancy and toe tappin
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