music
Nuevo Rock Americano
A quick look back to some groups that got bunched into the “Nuevo Rock Americano”, at least in Spain. They had some things in common, at least the ones at the top of the list… but others were clearly misplaced (The Cramps).
A highlight of this period: a song that was a great success back then: [...]
Substitute dominant – an explanation
This is a summary of what I understood about the substitute dominant from a conversation with my colleague Rafael Delgado Buscalioni, who is proficient in music theory. The idea is how to build “another” dominant chord. Say we have a regular, major C chord: C-E-G. The dominant is G major: G-B-D. A typical choice is [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Band in a Box
“The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I’ll never be as good as a wall.” (Mitch Hedberg) Now, I could say similarly: no matter how good I play an instrument, there’s this computer program that does it better. Seriously, I don’t know what kind of AI they use in [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Modes of the diatonic scale
Just a reminder to myself of these nice names
Ionian (I). “Natural” major mode.
Dorian (II). Quite standard minor, specially in Celtic music. E.g. “Drunken Sailor“
Phrygian (III). Intriging minor, flamenco-like. E.g. Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit“
Lydian (IV). Strange major. “Man on the Moon” by R.E.M.
Mixolydian (V). Major, with a H instead of a B. E.g. “Marquee [...]
Los campesinos!
Los campesinos! (the peasants! – you knew that if you know Spanish.) They sound exactly the way I like! Remind me of Sonic Youth, but much much happier. (Proof: Teenage Riot, one of SY’s lighter songs. It sounds similar to me in spirit.)
Fabulous indie band from Wales! Hear some samples at goear. Or this nice [...]
KEXP
KEXP, Seattle. Where the music matters.
I started listening to this station when it still was KCMU, I was living in Seattle and it was broadcast. Happily, I can still catch it online, and due to the time zone, I can now enjoy rare programming at the (Western US) wee hours. I have also added [...]
