In this episode, we're expanding on the concepts put out in the first episode and applying them to "Love, Love, Love" by the Mountain Goats, talking about forming melodies, putting harmony to work, and creating a soundscape with instruments.
LINKS:
Listen and follow along to the music
Ben's new album, Tramway, is out now on Bandcamp. You can stream the lead single, See You In Harlem, on all your favorite streaming platforms.
For someone not already knee-deep in playing music, it can be challenging to have a framework with which to understand it. In the first episode of this season, Ben gets down to bare-bones and talks about what sound and music actually are, and how to take the basic elements and construct works out of them.
LINKS:
An explanation of the Harmonic Series
Ben's new album, Tramway, is out now on Bandcamp. You can stream the lead single, See You In Harlem, on all your favorite services.
This week, we're doing something a bit different.
LINKS
You can email requests for tracks to deconstruct@wicb.org
Ben is on Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok as BMACS001
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TikTok's Duet feature has a habit of creating wild collaborations between musicians overlaying their talents on each other, creating art greater than the sum of its parts. Ben is taking a few minutes today to talk about one of these videos, an a capella medley of "The Record Player Song" by Daisy the Great, the whaling song "The Wellerman", and the verse "My Mother Told Me" from Egil's Saga as set in the History Channel series "Vikings", and discusses the basics of why something like this would work, analyzes each melody, and goes on a tangent about why learning music theory in school is soulless and lifeless.
LINKS:
The video in question (and no, you don't need the app to view it, this isn't Snapchat)
You can email requests for tracks to deconstruct@wicb.org
In this episode, Ben takes a look at the 80's nostalgia trip that is Somebody's Baby by Jackson Browne, and looks into how music can both be anthemic and catchy as heck, covering topics like slap bass, crafting a guitar's sound, and how to shape vocal lines around lyrics.
LINKS:
Listen and follow along with the music
You can email requests for tracks to deconstruct@wicb.org
This week, Ben sits down with Ellen Chapman to discuss a song that made the rounds on TikTok last year, where even though the melodies are quickly forgotten, the dreamy vibes only get more intense with each listen.
LINKS:
Listen and follow along with the music
Ellen wished to plug kindness here
You can email requests for tracks to deconstruct@wicb.org
In which Ben is joined by Cam Narimanian again to discuss an early punk track. Even though the song is quite a simple one (and I may have picked that deliberately), we find that there's always meat to dive into, no matter the track.
LINKS:
Listen and follow along with the music
Cam’s a member of the band Soul From Body
You can email requests for tracks to deconstruct@wicb.org
Ben is also on Twitter, Youtube, and TikTok as BMACS001
In which Ben reminisces about the past, goes on a tangent about Automated Dialogue Replacement, and finishes the episode only halfway through talking about Derek and the Dominoes' "Layla"
LINKS:
Listen and follow along with the music: We talk about Eric Clapton's Unplugged version before the proper Derek and the Dominoes version
You can email requests for tracks to deconstruct@wicb.org
For the first time, Ben's on his own! This week, he's talking Boney M's Rasputin, discussing a melding of folk and 70's Europop, building of suspense, and how EDM is basically just electronic disco
LINKS:
Listen and follow along to the music
Ben is trying to raise funds to make an album
Finally, an episode where the writer is sufficiently dead that we can use their music without infringing on copyright! This week, Ben is joined by Peter Oselador to talk Gustav Holst, brass bands, non-functional harmony, and ask what the heck a Moorside Suite is.
LINKS:
I've made a reduced score for you to follow along with. If a full score is more your cup of tea, the full score is on IMSLP
Peter has appeared on Breaking the Third Wall in Music by Tara Allen
Ben is joined by WICB DJ Laura Koch to discuss the intertwining of melody and lyric, intentionally shoddy production, and use a term meant for literature with surprisingly metaphorically resonant results.
LINKS:
Laura's co-hosts the A-Side B-Side Podcast
Ben is joined today by Sarah Borsari from WICB's Eve Out Loud to talk about one of the catchiest pop songs of all time, ABBA's "S.O.S.", and why the key to an excellent pop song is emotional frustration
LINKS:
Listen and follow along with the music
SOS is in fact the fifth most catchy song from Billboards biggest hits of all time, according to a survey of 12,000 people by the Manchester Museum of Science Industry
Sarah is DJ on WICB’s Eve Out Loud and contributes to Buzzsaw Magazine
This week, Ben is joined by Cam Narimanian to dissect “Dreams” by the Cranberries, discussing the early 90’s alt rock sound, the vocal stylings of Dolores O’Riordan, a funky middle eight, and more. And this time around we've included timestamps in the music so you know what we're going on about!
LINKS:
Listen and follow along with the music
Cam’s band, Soul From Body