2000s – Page 11

Marcela Mangabeira | Para Ti

Born in the Brazilian city of Recife in 1981, Marcela Mangabeira “participated in the first European tour of the group Bossacucanova in 2001, passing through Spain, Denmark, Germany, France, England, and Wales,” the Brazilian website Som13.com reports. “She moved to Rio de Janeiro in 2003 … Her first album, Simples, was released in 2005 in Japan, where it had a great reception.” According to her own website, Mangabeira has released two other albums: Colors of Rio (2011) and Closer Project (2017); her music is also part of 40 compilations worldwide.

“Para Ti” (For You) was released on Simples. Its breezy contemporary sound rolls along beautifully as the Mangabeira finishes the first section. A wordless vocals section from the backup singers begins at 1:33; a half-step modulation catches us by surprise at 1:36, right in the middle of a phrase. At 2:42, an amorphous outro floats onward until the tune’s end.

S Club 7 | Sunshine

“Sunshine” is the title track on the English pop group S Club 7’s third studio album, released in 2001. The album, which debuted at #3 on the UK Charts and sold over 600,000 copies, was the last to include band member Paul Cattermole, who left the group in 2002. The track modulates up a half step from E to F at 2:55.

Laura Osnes, Meghann Fahy | My Heart Is Split

“My Heart Is Split” is from the experimental 2007 musical The Freshmen Experiment by Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk. Envisioned as a story based on the lives of two young bloggers who are sharing the story of their first year at college, the show was not ultimately produced, but the songs that were written continue to be performed. The song modulates from F to G at 3:18.

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!

Emmylou Harris | Night Flyer

“Night Flyer,” written by Johnny Mullins, was included on the 2004 re-issue of Emmylou Harris’s 1976 album Luxury Liner and features guest singer Delia Bell. The track demonstrates Harris’s trademark country/bluegrass style, and modulates from C to D at 2:18.

So Much Better (from “Legally Blonde”)

We conclude our week-long series on Legally Blonde with “So Much Better,” the Act 1 finale. After breaking up with Elle, Warner proposes to his new girlfriend Vivienne right in front of Elle, leaving her devastated. Immediately after, however, Professor Callahan posts the list of who has been selected for his highly coveted internship positions, and Elle makes the cut. She realizes that life is about more than just one guy, and she has more potential than she previously knew. Key changes at 0:38, 0:51, 1:03, 1:29, 1:41, 2:04, 2:28, 2:37, and 2:50.

Legally Blonde (from “Legally Blonde”)

The fourth installment in our week-long series on Legally Blonde:

The title song from the musical comes in Act 2. After Elle makes a discovery in the courtroom that is crucial to helping Callahan’s case defending Brook Windham, he asks the rest of his defense team to leave and forcibly kisses Elle; she responds by slapping him, and Callahan fires her from the case. Elle starts to question if Callahan ever really respected her for her intellect and whether she should stay at Harvard. Key changes at 0:49, 1:06, 1:23, 2:07, 2:23, and 2:42.

Whipped Into Shape (from “Legally Blonde”)

“Whipped Into Shape,” the third installment of our Legally Blonde series, opens Act 2 of the show and introduces us to Brooke Windham, a fitness instructor who has been accused of murder and is being defended by Elle’s tutor Professor Callahan. Key changes at 2:34, 3:06, 3:13, 3:21, 3:29, 3:37, and 3:54.

Ireland (from “Legally Blonde”)

The second in our Legally Blonde series this week:

“Ireland” introduces us to the hairdresser Paulette, who comforts Elle after Warner unexpectedly breaks up with her. Over the course of the song, Paulette narrates her own complicated romantic history, accompanied by her beloved Irish “Celtic Moods” CD. Key changes at 0:22, 1:15, 1:30, 2:05, and 2:23.

Omigod You Guys (from “Legally Blonde”)

The first of our week-long series of tunes from Legally Blonde:

The opening song in the show, “Omigod You Guys” introduces us to Elle Woods and her fellow Delta Nu’s, who are helping Elle pick out a dress for her planned proposal to Warner Huntington III later that night. Key changes at 0:47, 1:14, 1:31, 1:54, 2:23, 3:04, 3:16, 3:36, 3:49, 4:28, 4:45, 4:51, 5:05, and 5:19.