Author: Mod of the Day

R.E.M. | Orange Crush

From the R.E.M. album Green, “Orange Crush” reached #1 in the Billboard Alternative Charts and Mainstream Rock Hits, #28 in the UK, and #5 in New Zealand in 1989. PowerPop.Blog quotes R.E.M.’s lead singer Michael Stipe: “The song is a composite and fictional narrative in the first person, drawn from different stories I heard growing up around Army bases. This song is about the Vietnam War and the impact on soldiers returning to a country that wrongly blamed them for the war.”

Songfacts details that while the chemical known as Agent Orange was “used by the US to defoliate the Vietnamese jungle during the Vietnam War,” it had far broader effects as well: “US military personnel exposed to it developed cancer years later and some of their children had birth defects. The extreme lyrical dissonance in the song meant that most people completely misinterpreted the song, including Top Of The Pops host Simon Parkin, who remarked on camera after R.E.M. performed the song on the British TV show, ‘Mmm, great on a summer’s day. That’s Orange Crush.’”

The subject matter was uncomfortably close for R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe, whose father served in the helicopter corps during the Vietnam War, Songfacts reports. “Stipe sometimes introduced this in concert by singing the US Army jingle, ‘Be all that you can be, in the Army.’”

The tune starts in E minor, but shifts to E major for a interlude-like section featuring wordless vocals at 0:50-1:06 before reverting to the original key. The interlude returns twice more, but the reiterations have an additional layer of unintelligible sung vocals and spoken military-style chatter superimposed over them.

Cross That Bridge (from “Schmigadoon!”)

Schmigadoon!, a comedy TV series that premiered on Apple TV+ last month, is a parody of and homage to Golden Age musicals from the 1940s and 50s. “Schmigadoon! is nothing if not corny,” said Vulture TV critic Kathryn VanArendonk in her review. “It is a backstage musical (like Cabaret or Follies, a musical about putting on a show) that’s stuck in the world of integrated musicals, shows like Oklahoma! or Sound of Music, where songs are naturalistic extensions of the narrative’s emotional arc. In other words, it is a show where the only real way to register your feelings about being trapped in the aesthetics and the morality of a Golden Age musical is to burst into song about how weird and frustrating it all is. And really, what could be cornier than eventually giving in and singing about the transformative power of love (and also musicals)?”

“Cross That Bridge” is from the third episode of the show, and takes its inspiration from the Frank Loesser songs “Brotherhood of Man” (from his 1961 musical How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying) and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ The Boat” (from the 1950 musical Guys & Dolls). The tune features modulations at 1:58 and 2:14.

Astral Drive | Onebiglove

Phil Thornalley is known as a co-writer (along with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) of Natalie Imbruglia‘s international smash single “Torn.” The tune reached #2 on the UK Singles chart in 1997, led airplay around the world, and maintained a #1 position on the Billboard Airplay chart for 14 weeks. Thornalley, a UK native, is also known for his early-80s stint as a producer — and for a time, the bassist — for The Cure. In various production roles, he also worked with several other bands, including Duran Duran, Prefab Sprout, Graham Parker, and XTC.

In an interview for Sound on Sound magazine, Thornalley examined his place in the music ecosystem: “My natural inclination has always been to make pop. Having had such success with Natalie, I suddenly was a pop writer and producer, and I’m not unhappy about that at all. The artists that I worked with … all have their own artistic voice, but I don’t think I ever had that. I’m not ashamed to say that. I have always felt that I am a craftsman: I like to make things. Some people know how to make a chair or a table, and if someone comes to me with a request to make something in music, I go: ‘Oh, yes, I know how to do that.’ Of course I respect artists: my biggest influence is Todd Rundgren; but I’m not an artist or protest singer.” Despite Thornalley’s modesty, ArkansasOnline‘s review of his 2018 release (as Astral Drive) suggests that the work indeed rises to the level of art: “Astral Drive feels dreamy and pre-punk, shot through with sunshine with just a hint of melancholy. It’s sonic virtual reality, something you can get lost in. It transports. It connects. And so it succeeds.” The 2021 release, while distinct from the Astral Drive debut, operates on or near the same axis.

The 2021 track “OneBigLove” features a gentle intro built on compelling yet ambiguous compound chords, a regular feature of the Rundgren liturgy. At 0:15, now firmly in A minor, the verse features an insistent eighth-note groove with a prominent sub-V Bb major kick at 0:24, just in case you weren’t paying full attention yet. At 1:03, an early syncopated start to the lead vocal line opens a trapdoor into the next verse, this time in B minor. We can’t locate liner notes, but longtime Rundgren bandmate, Utopia co-vocalist, songwriter, and free-range bassist Kasim Sulton has collaborated on recent Astral Drive tracks and his distinctive tenor seems to be in strong evidence on backing vocals. During a mini-bridge starting at 2:06, the groove falls away, but returns again at 2:17 as the key shifts to C# minor. The long fade, more than 30 seconds, suggests that this track was a party that nobody wanted to bring to an end.

Many thanks to our stalwart mod scout JB for this submission!

Fol Chen | No Wedding Cake

“Since 2009, the Los Angeles-area collective has created their signature sound from field recordings and an electronic junk drawer, splicing compound beats and sending warped vocal transmissions,” reports AsthmaticKitty, Fol Chen’s label. “The band calls their genre ‘Opera House,’ a name lifted from Malcolm McLaren but recoined as beat-driven electronica with grand, operatic gestures and lyrically dense storytelling … think of it as pop music for people who aren’t sure where or when they are, but who know it’s nowhere they’ve been before.”

NPR reviewed the electronica/pop tune “No Wedding Cake,” from the band’s debut 2009 album Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made: ” … How can you not develop an immediate fondness for an art-rock experiment that delivers sentiments like, ‘I could never break your heart,’ and simply beseeches us to just ‘listen to this song’? … charm and a knack for memorable melodies is what lends Fol Chen an energy too many self-consciously hip bands lack.”

The band experiments with multiple shifts in instrumental texture on the track, from an occasional burst of up-the-neck 16th-note funk guitar to gently undulating keyboards whose slow sine-wave pulse is entirely separate from the relentless eighth-note groove. 1:33 brings a casual, unprepared whole-step modulation so guileless that it’s barely noticeable. Many thanks to our regular contributor JHarms for this submission!

Janet Jackson | Let’s Wait Awhile

Featured on Janet Jackson’s 1986 album Control, “Let’s Wait Awhile” represents a departure from the sexually provocative themes typical of Jackson’s output. “I didn’t think at the time we were sending out any kind of significant message,” Jimmy Jam, who helped co-write the song, said. “For us it was more like a love song. It got interpreted as maybe more of a statement than it was intended to be. It’s a very simple love song and it was just saying, ‘Let’s wait. I’m not going anywhere, so let’s just take our time.’ Lyrically, that was Janet’s concept and we shaped the music to fit.”

Released during the AIDS crisis in the United States, the song was also frequently employed as a teaching tool to encourage abstinence. Critic Danyel Smith commented in the magazine Vibe that “on the fragile [ballad], Jackson’s tender, hesitant delivery conveys all of the trepidation and wonder felt by a young girl on the brink of losing her innocence.”

Jackson included the track on two of her greatest hits albums, and performs it regularly on tour. A modulation from Db to D occurs at 3:14 (the tune briefly returns to Db in the outro at 4:24.)

Stevie Wonder | Summer Soft

AfroPunk praises Stevie Wonder’s “Summer Soft” from his legendary 1976 album Songs In the Key of Life: ‘“You’ve been fooled by April, and he’s gone. Winter is gone,’ sings Stevie Wonder atop spiraling instruments. If you could create a song that encompasses the calm excitement of watching nature at the park — or on Netflix — that song would be Stevie Wonder’s ‘Summer Soft.’ It’s a cathartic epic about life and loss, using the changing seasons as a metaphorical backdrop, with Wonder’s voice sounding more pained with every passing verse, but … the production blooms.”

The track was one of so many singularly strong tunes on this celebrated album. From Pitchfork‘s review: “Songs in the Key of Life was the culmination of a historic period of creativity for Stevie Wonder. Its ambition and scope were unprecedented, and he never approached its caliber or impact again. Stevie Wonder’s legacy ranks among the most powerful in pop music, though his story remains elusive. His songwriting and his voice echo through virtually all R&B-related sounds that have followed him … yet there is no major biography, no documentary, nothing that presents the full sweep of the most dominant and defining artist of the 1970s. And make no mistake—it was an era of superstar acts and chart-busting albums, but no one was as universally loved, respected, and honored as he was.”

After the tune starts in F# major, the first chorus (1:02) shifts to B minor, but then drifts back to the initial key for the next verse. At 2:17, a half-step modulation hits not at the start of a new section, but rather on the last note of the pre-chorus, transitioning to B minor — a pattern that’s repeated. Thereafter, the lid blows off as the tune winds up more and more, though it’s difficult to pinpoint a specific apogee of the energy. At 3:32, the tonality of the final chorus stabilizes, leading us to an instrumental outro; there’s a fade in volume (in high 1970s fashion), but no lag in energy.

Astrud Gilberto | Stay

From Astrud Gilberto’s site: “Known as ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ and often referred to as ‘The Queen of Bossa Nova,’ (Gilberto) is an artist with roots firmly planted in Brazilian music. Her music has become an interesting combination of the sensual rhythms of Brazil and American Pop and Jazz. Born in the Northeast of Brazil in the state of Bahia, one of three sisters of a German father and a Brazilian mother, Astrud grew up in Rio de Janeiro. She immigrated to the United States in the early 1960s,” and has lived in the US since then.

“Astrud was first introduced to the world at large in 1964 through ‘The Girl From Ipanema,’ the Grammy-winning recording with Stan Getz and her then-husband João Gilberto (the father of Bossa Nova).” Since then, she’s worked with Chet Baker, Michael Brecker, George Michael, Etienne Daho, and many other artists. In 1992, she received the Latin Jazz USA Award for Lifetime Achievement; in 2002, she was inducted to the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award by the Latin Recording Academy in 2008.

From a 1981 New York Times review: “(It’s) still very much the same – about 80 percent Brazilian, from the 1960s and 70s. And she is still puzzled by the fact that she is often characterized as a jazz singer. ‘What is a jazz singer? Somebody who improvises? But I don’t: I prefer simplicity. I’ve been told that my phrasing is jazz-influenced. My early albums were recorded for a jazz label, Verve. My first record was with Stan Getz. And I did an album with Gil Evans. So I guess that’s where the jazz idea comes from. But I’m not a pure jazz singer.’

Her 1967 tune “Stay,” recorded in English, modulates up by a half-step at 1:41 in the midst of a wonderful flute solo by Hubert Laws; the vocal returns at 1:46. The flute and vocal trade soloist status throughout the balance of the tune.

Brian David Gilbert (2Wins2) | Just One Day

For a guy who’s racked up five-million-plus views on a video entitled “I Read All 337 Books in Skyrim So You Don’t Have To” on the Youtube channel for the popular gaming site Polygon, Brian David Gilbert is orders of magnitude more musical than you’d have any right to expect. But then multiply that sentiment by many, many Polygon videos, combine it with an effortlessly musical one-man sendup of classic late 90s/early 2000s boy band cliches, and <scene>.

Members of the thankfully fictitious sibling boy band 2Winz2 apparently focus on drive-by insults as much as they do on their latest single. The 2021 release “Just One Day” suggests that quartet member Dale’s days in 2W2 might be numbered — and not by his choice. The lyrics are not to be missed.

At 2:30, the much-maligned Dale earnestly dives into the bridge: his moment in the sun has arrived. By 2:43, a key change kicks in — but is rendered almost completely inaudible by thoughtless use of a blender, followed by an intra-band quarrel that shows Dale’s future with the group is in serious question.

Many thanks to first-time contributor Alex D. for this hilarious tune!

Phony Ppl | Why iii Love the Moon

Phony Ppl, a Brooklyn-based band with a neo-soul/hiphop focus, grew out of the school friendship of vocalist Elbie Thrie and keyboardist Aja Grant. “Thrie and Grant met in middle school,” Rolling Stone reports. “’We found out we lived two blocks from each other. It was the first time my parents would let me out of the house by myself, to go to Elbie’s: Oh, he’ll be okay. They’re playing music.‘ … A lot of our influences were us listening to new music that was actually super old music from the Sixties and Seventies.’”

Members of the band delved into music study at Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, the School of Rock, and learning on the fly in musical theatre pit bands. Rolling Stone continues: “’Why iii Love the Moon,’ a hypnotic ballad on Yesterday’s Tomorrow (2015) combining vintage Earth, Wind and Fire with Kaya-style Bob Marley, that began as a voice memo … ‘Aja had the chords; I had the concept. We actually put the first time we played it on the record. That’s what you hear, us testing everything.’ Thrie smiles. ‘We tried to make it sound more shitty. But that’s the original tape.’”

After a dreamy intro, the track starts in earnest in Eb minor at 0:26. From 3:34 – 3:55, a trippy bridge shifts gears and airdrops us into B minor. The casually improvised percussion hints at the the tune’s homegrown origins as a voice memo. At 4:36, we’re suddenly back in Eb for the duration.