“The Well” by Smog
This is a pretty lengthy folk song through which Bill Callahan tries to tell a story. There isn’t too much going on musically; it is very repetitive and only has two different chords played on the guitar. The drums and fiddle do a good job of filling out the song. I feel the double-stopping on the fiddle adds a nice touch to the overall sound of the track. The album that this track features on, “A River Ain’t Too Much to Love”, is Bill Callahan’s eleventh and last album released under the name “Smog”. All material after this album has been released under his own name.
“Mount The Air” by The Unthanks
“Mount The Air” is a very progressive folk song with a mix of orchestral, traditional and jazz ensemble sections. The start of the song sounds like it belongs in a film, mainly because of the orchestral sound and minimal singing. The fiddle comes in after a few minutes, with a very Scottish traditional feel. Overall this song is very well put together and has many repeating – but with differences each time – phrases and sequences. It seems that The Unthanks wanted to put everything that they love into one song, which can be very ambitious, but I think that they did a good job at piecing it all together.
The Comparison
Both of these songs are very long and repetitive, mainly because they are both trying to tell a story to the listener. These tracks contrast each other quite a bit; “The Well” by Smog is very minimal in terms of instrumentation. All parts that feature in the song don’t change apart from the tempo during the middle and at the end. “Mount The Air” by The Unthanks has much more going on in terms of the instruments. The majority of this song has a brass band playing with a piano accompaniment but there are a few transitions into some nice, slow fiddle tunes. The vocals are very syllabic, which fits very well with all the other solo instruments in the piece. Overall I think these two songs differ greatly from each other, but they are still both telling their own unique story.
Modern vs. Classic Funk Comparison
“I Want to Take You Higher” by Sly & The Family Stone
This song is very lively and very funky and keeps this feel all the way through. At about 3 minutes in, there’s a small breakdown that changes up the song a bit. The breakdown works really well with the rest of the tune. There are multiple vocalists all taking turns and this creates really good contrast within the song. The different singers are panned left, middle and right. The harmonica and the Hammond organ players really make the song. Every so often when no one is singing, the harmonica player is improvising to fill the gap. Released in 1969, “I Want to Take You Higher” made it into the Top 40, despite being a b-side track.
“Overtime (Live Band sesh)” by KNOWER
This song by KNOWER is a live adaptation of their track “Overtime” from the album “Life”. I think the reason for doing this live version was mainly to have lots of fun but also to show an alternate version of an electronic song. The keyboard and bass players play together for most of the song, accenting lots of off-beats throughout. The keyboard player has an improvisation section about 3 and a half minutes in. In the description of the music video on YouTube, it says that KNOWER and their live band recorded the song live “in some guys house” in 2017.
The Comparison
Both of the songs I’ve talked about are funk songs but are very different to each other. “Overtime” has quite a bit of post-production whereas “I Want to Take You Higher” is a lot more stripped down and chilled out. There is a lot of soul singing and sections of the song have a country and blues feel, such as the harmonica sections. “Overtime” is not very relaxed but it is a great listen and really shows off the technical and musical skills of the performers, due to the song and the video being released together. Overall, both songs are great examples of the folk genre, which has so many sub-genres. Sly & The Family Stone are a funk/psychedelic soul/rock band. KNOWER’s live group is a modern jazz-funk band.
“Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon
I performed this song during the end of year recital. I played bass, Will played drums, Connor played guitar and Liam was singing. The song as a whole is very simple but there are a few subtleties without which the song wouldn’t sound the same. The song starts out with a chorus instrumental and then goes into the first verse. The verses are very stripped down and minimal but the choruses really open up the song and have a big yet a relaxed and spacey sound. The vocals are mainly syllabic and are very harsh sounding. Liam has a very similar voice to the lead singer of Kings of Leon which made him perfect for the performance. In the original song there are some backing vocals to fill out the choruses which add the spacey sound that they give off. Released as a single from their album Only by the Night on December 8th, 2008, the song had huge success in the US, reaching number 4 on the Hot 100 and number one on the Pop Songs chart.
End of Year Recital – Programme Notes
Performance Date: Monday 25th March
Full running order:
- “Can’t Stop” – 04:29
- “Electric Avenue” – 03:12
- “Teenage Dirtbag” – 04:01
- “Put Your Records On” – 03:35
- “All of Me” – 04:30
- “Maneater” – 04:18
- “Deeper Underground” – 03:34
- “Be Quick or Be Dead” – 03:25
- “Thunderbirds are Go” – 03:09
- “Song 2” – 02:01
- “Killing in the Name” – 05:14
- “Poison” – 04:30
- “Human” – 03:20
- “Bob the Builder” – 02:00
- “Never Gonna Give You Up” – 03:33
- “Stand and Deliver” – 03:32
- “Don’t Look Back in Anger” – 04:47
- “Use Somebody” – 03:50
Song 1, “Can We Fix It?” by Bob the Builder (02:00):
- Finn Kennedy: acoustic guitar
- Will Kerr: bass guitar
- Callum Morrison: lead electric guitar
- Mark Pennel: drums
- Jordan Watson: vocals
This song was written as the theme song for the 2000s kids show Bob the Builder by Paul K. Joyce. The catchy theme song topped the UK Charts at number 1 in 2000, the year of its release.
This rendition of the song is played in a Ska-punk style, is very lively and will encourage a sing-a-long.
Song 2, “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheetus (04:01):
- Finn Kennedy: acoustic guitar, vocals
- Will Kerr: rhythm electric guitar
- Callum Morrison: bass guitar
- Liam Allen: drums
- Tasha Macdonald: vocals
Released in 2000, this song was the band’s debut single from their debut self-titled album. It saw huge success all over the world, reaching number 1 in Australia for 4 weeks, and reaching number 2 in Ireland, Germany and the UK.
This is another catchy song with minimal instrumentation in the verses, opening up to a big sound for the choruses. The acoustic guitar creates an uplifting mood throughout the song.
Finn's Music Blog 