RE: about Tom's tracklisting.
| From: | Nadoom (xxxxx@hotmail.com) |
| Sent: | 07 May 2011 10:11:53 |
| To: | Waz; Parky; Tibs |
Yo - Here are my thoughts on track listing, attempting to reconcile musical effect with the lyrical/quasi-narrative album journey. Scandinavia IS a concept band, so it is important to bear the latter in mind.
This is what you suggested:
Foxy
Gap Year
Good Living
K Fed
Case of the Kicked-in Door
Nondescript American Accent
Stuck in the 90s
The Blindman
Clarkson
I killed Yr Lover (not so secret track)
My gut says that Stuck in the 90s is mos def not an opener. It is has a penultimate feeling. Lyrically, it's nostalgic- a 'looking back'. You shouldn't look back before you've started. It's also the most autobiographical in spirit, so seems too much like a retro mission statement for the album.
Here is my track listing:
Good Living
Nondescript American Accent
Foxy
Gap Year
K Fed
Case of the Kicked-in Door
Stuck in the 90s
The Blindman
Clarkson
I killed Yr Lover
Good living 'sets the tone' for the album. It's bright, aspirational, brimming with harmony and a bit wry. The lyrics set up the Scandinavia concept. It allows people to picture the band in their prelapsarian home - an arcadia (the mythical 'scandinavia') - where everything is as the band members like it.
Once people have 'bought in' to the good times, we show them some musical edge with Nondesript. Ultimately, this song is the most difficult to place in the album, as it has a more dancey feel than everything else (except killed your lover). That's why it should come early on. Starting with Good living and then Nondescript sets up two musical poles and the rest of the album can chart the terrain in between.
Foxy is, to my mind, where the band really shows its colours and depth, placing the track here is where the mythical Scandinavians seem to descend from the mountaintop into the cruel realities of the modern world.
Gap year's maudlin tone (musically and lyrically) works well after the difficult lyrical content in Foxy. It is older and wiser, a bit jaded.
But the mythical Scandinavians are full of love too. K-fed show that even in this fallen state - bogus politicians etc - we are capable of mirth.
Case of the kicked in door is a serious mid-album track. The quiet ending is a nice transition into the pensive Blindman.
Clarkson is a final lift, and - after repeated listening - strangely, the most preachy. It works at the end(ish)
Killed your lover is about a duel. After preaching one has to stand up and be counted. It is also good for a fade out. I'm not so sure it needs to be secret.
Whaddaya reckon?
Nadoom
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RE: about Tom's tracklisting.
| From: | Parky (xxxxx@hotmail.co.uk) |
| Sent: | 07 May 2011 11:10:02 |
| To: | Nadoom; Waz; Tibs |
This is interesting Nadim, as I was approaching it from an entirely musical perspective.
My reasoning for Stuck in the 90s opening was that it is an upfront, cards-on-table introduction to Scandinavia. It opens in the familiar key of E major, and the squeal of feedback and distorted opening chord establishes us immediately as an indie-leaning guitar band with an enviable understanding of pop music. This is ultimately what we are I feel; we all grew up on indie rock and have earned our chops in that tradition. What we've done is co-opted various other musical traditions that we like (electro, slick 70s AOR, blue-eyed soul etc) into that conceptual framework. SITN is also a blast- it's exhilarating and over with quickly. Then Foxy, (which I predict will be the critics' favourite) settles into a groove which the listener, disarmed by the opener's ebullience, will happily settle into.
Gap Year is maudlin in tone and draws the listener into shadier harmonic climbs.
Good Living restores the soul to calm. With it's tropical skip and positive chords, it's like a hungover summer's day without the self-loathing. It also begins in D- the dominant to Gap Year's closing G- creating a cadence effect across the two songs.
K-Fed: the cadence effect is developed, as its harmonic centre lies somewhere between the keys of G and D. Rhythmically, it marks a return to the ebullience of SITN, but bearing the trace of Good Living's tropicality and the groove-oriented feel of Foxy.
Case of the kicked in Door: another critics' favourite I feel. It sees the band confidently playing with AOR tropes without tipping into pastiche. I think it's the most emotionally complex song on the album.
Nondescript abruptly interjects here, showing disregard, almost contempt, for the listener's fragile emotional state. It provides a needed shot in the arm, readying the listener for the final furlong.
I think the excess energy of NAA buys us the opportunity to sneak another complex song in here. The Blindman is interesting- the vibes bring a refreshing timbre to the palate.
Clarkson revs up and floors the album through the chequered flag.
Killed Yr Lover is a nice unexpected treat which, like all the best bonus tracks, is no weaker than the rest of the album but markedly different, and thus has the potential for cult appeal.
Somewhere there's a perfect listing that reconciles the lyrical and musical identity of the songs. We'll get there
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RE: about Tom's tracklisting.
| From: | Tibs (xxxxx@hotmail.co.uk) |
| Sent: | 08 May 2011 08:31:51 |
| To: | Parky; Nadoom; Waz |
I’m going to keep these e-mails for the VH1 behind the music episode and for any PHD's on Scandinavian theory. Warrick's is sure to follow, possibly a weighty multi-megabyte download affair :)
I lean towards Tom's philosophy but Nadim yours is certainly thought provoking!
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RE: about Tom's tracklisting.
| From: | Parky (xxxxxxxx@hotmail.co.uk) |
| Sent: | 09 May 2011 15:17:20 |
| To: | Tibs; Waz |
| Cc: | Nadoom |
Hey all,
More critical thinking:
Warrick, you noted that our awesomeness owes much to our resistance to definition, in particular with regards to genre affiliation. I've given this some thought and have some concerns regarding a couple of song titles and how they contribute to our public image. I worry that some of our titles will lead some listeners to dismiss us as a joke band without giving the tunes their chance. I'm thinking also of potential reviewers- music journalists are generally idiots who can't write very well, don't like music very much and tend to judge cd's by their covers.
One such song is Gap Year. Gap Year is the key refrain in the song, and a logical title. However, following the unfunny youtube 'Gap Yah' phenomenon, it may lead to us being seen as Johnny come lateys to a lame joke, rather than trailblazing postmodernists. Perhaps something like 'Higher Education' (that's lame though) which is more elusive.
Foxy Knoxy- I personally think that 'Foxy' is a better title- it's obviously ironic, and occupies a middleground between the song's central focus (Amanda Knox aka Foxy Knoxy) and the musical/lyrical reference (Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady). This gives the song more room I feel, and ensures that the listener engages with it initially without a preconceived idea of its content.
This is just my personal preference (and not one I feel very strongly about either). I like relative obliquity and feel it's worked well for some of the other songs. Eg: Clarkson Drive, is, I think a great title and gives the song more space where a more direct 'Jeremy Clarkson' or even 'Clarkson', because it's not immediately obvious that the song is about Jeremy Clarkson (that realisation will come later). Nondescript American Accents is about an Anglo-yank douchebag but the listener has to work out for themselves who that is. K-Fed is about idiots of K-Fed's calibre, and how much we need them, but K-Fed himself is never mis-en-scene.
Just to reiterate though, this is not a big deal in by mind, and there's a good chance I'm wrong- it has been known.
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