New Monday #24
Happy Monday,
Singers and singing today, and minimalist arrangements. And a scene from a great movie.
Start here. Headphones or earbuds are perhaps preferred. There are such little things to hear.
It begins and perhaps it’s a heartbeat, but maybe a clock? Or dripping water?
There’s a rhythm that's perhaps the track noise of a vinyl LP, like the record has ended but it’s stuck in the runout groove, and no one is getting up to lift the needle.
A voice drifts in, singing words that don’t matter. They’re just sounds to be sung, stretched into shapes.
The song never fleshes itself out beyond a harpsichord, a few piano chords, and a wet, ghostly choir.
Trip-Hop Masterpiece
The singer, Elizabeth Fraser, hits a high point at about 4 minutes. And then it all drifts away, on that constant, watery pulse, stuck in that runout groove.
Teardrop is a definitive statement in trip-hop. It’s a sad masterpiece in a genre that’s bleak to begin with.
Fraser came up with the words while working with Massive Attack in the studio. She had just heard about the accidental death of her former lover, American singer Jeff Buckley. She thinks the song is about him, about loss.
Jeff Buckley Died Too Soon
Jeff Buckley was blessed with a once-in-a-generation voice. The guy could sing your To-Do list and make it sound like a love letter.
Although he too bends words into sounds and shapes, Buckley never loses grip on the meaning of lyrics. He digs in deeper, turning into a character delivering a monologue.
Case in point is his rendition of Lilac Wine. Listen here.
Lilac Wine was written in 1950 by James Shelton. It’s been recorded by many artists, but Jeff Buckley’s version is like watching a drunk talking to himself before passing out.
The production and the mix is by Andy Wallace. Listen for a kick, so low and large that it’s more of an exhale than a drum, and gorgeous shimmers of reverb. Wallace’s basic rig was an SSL 4000 console and a Lexicon 480L reverb, and not much else.
At 3:20 the band drops out and the narrator has an epiphany or a hallucination, and then resumes drinking. As the song ends he seems to pass out, climbing a vocal staircase to heaven. An angelic ending.
Buckley drowned in 1997. His breakthrough hit—a Billboard #1—was his cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, 10 years after his death.
Aside from a love affair, Elizabeth Fraser and Jeff Buckley are connected by influences: especially Nina Simone.
Nina Simone
Nina Simone: a classically trained pianist with a one octave growl of a voice, perfect pitch, and a penchant for not wanting to do what other people do.
She doesn’t have a pretty voice like Fraser and Buckley. Hers is ungainly and raw, but it works tremendously well. And it doesn’t matter the language, either. She’s a wonderful actress and always gets it across.
Listen here to Ne me quitte pas. You can ignore the lyrics. All you need is the title in English: Don't leave me.
A cabaret tune by Jaques Brel, about a desperate lover, perhaps suicidal. Cut in 1965, this sounds live in-the-studio, with everyone in the room and Nina Simone in a booth rather than where she usually was, behind a piano.
If Lou Reed is the patron saint of singers who can’t sing, Nina Simone is the devil on your shoulder saying, “Screw it. Sing anyway. You’ll be fine."
Let’s slam this all together. All this love and loss, singing and acting.
A Great French Thriller
Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne) is a French thriller from 2006. If you’re looking for a movie to blow your mind and heart open, it’s highly recommended.
For eight years, Dr. Alexandre Beck has been limping through life, devastated by the horrific murder of his wife. He and Margot were in love even as children.
Watch a brief sequence from it here.
All that without a word of dialog.
After this scene he gets an email... from his dead wife! Or is she dead?
See the movie and find out!
New Monday #24
This is the 24th New Monday, written to inspire you to think about audio and recording as an artist and not a mechanic. Ai is here. We have only our humanity to hold the fort.
What Ai cannot do is figure out how to take love and loss and make something wonderful out of it.
We have tons of great stuff happening. More later!
The Guys at Korneff Audio
