Bach, Gould, Interpol: Magnetic Tonality

Greetings to all! I recently received an email regarding Interpol’s music and the concept of tonality:

…Interpol's music, to my ears, often seems not major or minor in key and borderline atonal. I think the song "Precipitate" is a good example of this.
I recently began studying Bach's music and found a youtube video where Glenn Gould discusses Bach's later works. He says (I'm paraphrasing from memory):
“Bach goes back 100 yrs, his compositions reach a degree of chromaticism not seen since the renaissance and he is now able to compose tonally but without the technicolor trappings of tonality.”
The technicolor trappings of tonality . . . hmm . . . somehow, I think Interpol also eludes these trappings, no??
I started thinking more generally about how music moves from a happy "major" sound to something "mournful" and minor. For example, in Aria from Bach's Goldberg Vars. how measures 17-24 turn very sad somehow. Or, in Interpol's music, how they achieve a "grey" sound. I'm wondering if there's something about how the bass lines move, if they move chromatically, maybe. Or the interaction between the guitar melodies and vocal melody. It just does not seem like typical scalewise motion you hear on popular songs on the radio.
Thanks,
Fabrizio

- I completely agree that Interpol’s music very often hovers in the borderlands between tonality and atonality. But first, a few words on what the concept of tonality entails:
To say that a piece of music is “tonal,” is to say that all of its notes (melodies, chords, bass lines) ultimately draw our ears to one specific chord, called the tonic chord. Thus, if I say a piece is in the “key of C major,” the implication is that all of the musical material is either based on the C major triad (C-E-G), or somehow pointing the listener back to that “home” triad, like a magnet. The strongest chord that pulls us most forcefully back to the tonic chord is called the dominant, built on the fifth scale degree (G-B-D), and the second strongest chord is called the subdominant, built on the fourth scale degree (F-A-C).

- The Bach piece mentioned by Fabrizio, while most definitely in the key of G major, does indeed “demagnetize” the G major triad a bit by using certain compositional techniques. The piece can be heard, as played by Glenn Gould, here. The moment when the music “turns very sad somehow” is ca. minute 1:27 to 2:07, and coincidentally is the halfway mark of the piece, where we move from the “A” section to the “B” section (speaking in musical form terms).

- Here, the music is shifting into E minor (and hence, turns “sad”)—but Bach does not make this clear at first, and it takes awhile for the ear to figure out what the new tonic is. At this moment, we are hovering between tonics, and, in the sense that our ears have been demagnetized, we have briefly entered an “atonal” state. In fact, we hover for about three full measures (1:27-1:42). How is this possible? By not giving us the strong dominant (which would definitively point us to E minor as the new tonic) until 1:42, Bach is avoiding the “technicolor trappings of tonality,” those techniques which shout “this is tonic!” (think of the ending of a Beethoven symphony, the blues and standard rock, etc.). Bach is manipulating the culturally accepted and inculcated musical norms by delaying the magnetizing of the new tonic, thereby complicating the listener’s reaction and making it more complex.

- Interpol does this as well. Without completely abandoning tonality, Interpol’s music complicates the normative harmonic progressions (often via complex interactions between Daniel’s guitar melodies and Carlos’ bass lines) and it is thus often very difficult to pinpoint exactly what key an Interpol song, or even section of a song, is in. I like Fabrizio’s mention of “Precipitate,” as this early song is proof positive to me that the desire to manipulate musical norms has always been a concern for the band.

Thanks for the question/observations, Fabrizio!

Up next, a look at an article in which Sam talks about some of his favorite songs.
Until then,

Much love from,
Meg

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Review of Magnetic Morning Show at Southpaw

For the fans of Sam Fogarino's side project Magnetic Morning, have a look at my review of their show at Southpaw on my kleineKultur site:

http://www.megwilhoite.com/1/post/2008/10/magnetic-morning-at-southpaw.html

I spoke briefly to Adam Franklin afterward, thanking him for the show and how MM have turned me onto Swervedriver's music. Great night!

Also, I didn't manage to get any decent pictures but long-time Interpol fan Terri took some great shots at the Boston show. Here are a couple of samples - check out her Flickr for more: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tercat/

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Strange Bedfellows: Hip Hop and 'Evil'

Greetings! I recently received an interesting question from ant regarding Paul Banks’ self-confessed love of hip hop, and the possibility of hip hop’s influence on Interpol’s style. Ant writes that he can hear the influence of hip hop in the vocal style Banks uses for “Evil,” but not generally in the rest of Interpol’s music.

- I can hear what ant means about “Evil,” where, in the verses, the rhythmic aspect of the word presentation is quite significant, and Banks even sings them on repetitive, close-together notes, in a kind of speaking style.

- As to the consideration of outside influences on Interpol’s music: I remember watching an interview with Paul and Daniel awhile ago, where they talked about how disparate each of the band member’s own musical tastes are, and the differences in each person’s musical past before starting Interpol. I’ve heard mention of a taste for (to name a few) punk, dub, and hip hop claimed by Interpol band members in interviews in the past; and we all know by now, from Carlos himself, the effect that classical music has had on his own contributions to Interpol’s music, especially for OLTA.

- I agree with ant that one doesn’t really detect the influence of hip hop on Interpol’s music in general. In fact, I would expand upon that assertion and say that I don’t really detect any distinct stylistic influence on Interpol’s music. I feel that Interpol’s music is of a rare breed that takes what’s familiar—in this case: electric guitars, drums, verses, choruses, fairly standard chord progressions—and truly transforms it into something unique. That is, in the way that each human being is unique, so that person has the capability for unique expression, and likewise has the capability to express collectively with other persons in a unique way, such as in a rock band.

Thanks for the question/observation, ant! Next up, a discussion of one reader’s take on Interpol’s use of tonality.

Until then,
Much love from,
Meg

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OLTA showreel by visual artist Daniel Ryan

Interpol have posted on their website (interpolnyc.com) a brief composite reel of an audio/visual installation that was included in the last leg of the OLTA tour. The visuals were created by Daniel Ryan, with ambient music written by Carlos Dengler.

My quick interpretation:

In the “Introductory Video,” I hear repetitive but subtly changing music, and I see this music mirrored in the gradually morphing grids of tiny squares of white light.

The “Composite Reel of Stage Video,” begins with an interlude that was placed between “The Lighthouse” and “Not Even Jail” during live performances. Floating particles are accompanied by ambient music, and just as “Not Even Jail” bursts over the ambience a splash of light overtakes the particles. These unify into a solid white bar as the initial burst of sound gives way to the song proper. Here we fade into the last part of NARC (the part that I read as shifting abruptly into the fantasy key) as amorphous blobs of light, as if reflected in water, move fluidly over the screen. This fades into “Rest My Chemistry,” and in slow motion spots of light move horizontally across the screen, almost like cars passing in the night. This fades into water ripples at an orangey-bronze sunset as “Hands Away” fades in. The composite reel ends with “Roland” and his knives, the latter being represented by a brutal and dizzying close-up of escalator stairs.

In the same way that I feel London when I listen to Radiohead, I can feel NYC in Interpol’s music. Something I also sometimes feel in Interpol’s music is water. This feeling, of course, is often fostered by the song titles and lyrics: “The Lighthouse,” “oh my love, we’re sailing to Norway,” “Take You On a Cruise.” For example, their penchant for minimalist-esque repetitive guitar riffs resemble to me at times the flow of water in a river or ocean, at others the flow of the city as people stream through a street, as subway doors open and close, and so on. I can see elements of both NYC and water in Ryan’s video installation.

Though I’m glad they posted the composite, it does make me wish I could see the entire installation. Ah well, what’s life without a little longing?

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Carlos: In Defense of Artistic Integrity

Something I love about Interpol is each member’s commitment to artistic integrity and the different ways they express it. In a recent interview (see July 6 entry), Sam stated that his is a commitment to the integrity of Interpol’s ability to reach the audience on a raw emotional level. Daniel often talks about the organic way in which Interpol write their songs and how the integrity of that process is never compromised, while Paul has consistently insisted that his lyrics are not necessarily autobiographical nor are their meanings necessarily fixed; that what’s important is the listener’s unique way of responding to the words. He has always defended the integrity of his intentional indirectness when writing the lyrics for Interpol’s songs.

Carlos also has his own take on artistic integrity, as expressed in this interview from Straight.com. Here we see Carlos dismiss the negative critical attention to Our Love to Admire. The qualifications contained in such attention, he asserts, are not pertinent to Interpol’s purpose, which is to work “from a place that is based on love and artistic integrity.” When this purpose is the focus of the song-writing process, questions of worth “become so shallow and so hollow.” For Carlos, it’s all about an honest portrayal of his artistic self.

Part of that artistic self is his professed admiration of classical and film music (the latter of which is often heavily inspired by the former). Carlos’ love of classical music found its way into his contributions to OLTA, a fact attested to by interviewer John Lucas’ use of phrases like “clean but layered,” and “carefully orchestrated” when describing OLTA’s sound.

Towards the end of the interview, when describing his attitude toward his much commented upon “look,” Carlos invokes the artist’s right to do whatever he likes with it without having “to account for it ever.” Exploiting the visual bias built into the music industry is part of his “artistic process,” and in no way allies him with the commodification of humans and music alike that he believes drives that industry.

Artistic integrity in itself is a slippery concept, and most likely if I were to ask two like-minded people to define it, a debate of some sort would spring up. Nonetheless, it’s always nice to hear one of your favorite bands claiming a commitment to genuineness and integrity when it comes to their music.

Just wanted to share my thoughts on this interesting interview!

Until soon,
Much love from,
Meg

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While Daniel's guitar gently weeps...

Greetings to one and all! A Reader recently asked me about the idea of "chromaticism" in music, and was wondering if this relates to synesthesia, for example in statements such as: “the bass in 'Evil' is very red” or “the rhythm of 'C'mere' is kind of orange and bright.” Dear Reader also mentioned a quote from URB magazine's OLTA review:

“Daniel Kessler's precision guitar weeps become borderline synesthetic.”

- Chromaticism is a music theoretical term with a centuries-long history, but the way it’s used today is fairly straight-forward: chromatic notes are those that lie outside of the diatonic scale being used in the piece. There is also something called the chromatic scale, which contains all of the notes (12 of them) that we here in the Western world traditionally use. So, chromatic notes add “color” to the 7 note diatonic scale.

- Though a direct connection between chromatic notes and synesthesia has not been made (to my knowledge), it would make sense to me that music that ventures here-and-there outside of its standard scale (a.k.a. diatonic) would sound more affective and therefore be more prone to produce vivid visualization (thus, synesthesia, or, sensation modality transfer).

- I relate this to another quote, made by Daniel Kessler, also sent to me by Dear Reader:

I've been learning to play [the piano] for some time already. It's going pretty good, although I’ve neglected practice recently because of all the travelling. Still, it's one of the most pleasant things that are waiting for me after I get back to NY. When playing a guitar, it's all about conveying what and how I feel, my sensibility. The theoretical knowledge seems to have less significant meaning. To play a piano, you've got to have a good technique. Maybe someday I'll learn to compose with it. I'm taking my time.

- Kessler makes it clear that for him, guitar = sensibility (expression), and piano = theory (technique). It is easier for him, when playing the guitar, to go outside the boundaries of standard chords and scales and create “guitar weepings” that are “borderline synesthetic,” while the piano requires him to be conscious of standard chords and scales.

- This makes sense to me, because on a keyboard you have the chromatic scale lined up key after key, and it’s very obvious where the pattern recycles---the piano, being a later invention than the guitar, is pretty much ready-made for diatonicism (i.e., the standard chords/scales) in its clear presentation of all the available notes. However, on a guitar, the pattern repetitions aren’t as clear, as you have strings that are laid out at not entirely consistent intervals (E up a 4th to A up a 4th to D up a 4th to G up a 3rd to B up a 4th to E) as well as all the notes that are contained on each string.

- Well, I know this was a bit theory-heavy, but I hope it made sense! Thanks for the question, Dear Reader. Next up, another selection from the “favorite seconds” thread. And remember, I’m always eager to get your questions/comments!

Much love,
Meg

P.S. Anyone out there experiencing synesthesia while listening to Interpol’s music? If so, let us know!

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Sam on the sweetness of simplicity in Ireland's Hotpress magazine

Taken from a recent interview with Ireland’s Hotpress magazine (June 08 issue):

Speaking of payback, Our Love to Admire reached number one in two countries, Ireland and Mexico, both pagan cultures with a thin film of Catholicism grafted on top. What’s the Interpol connection?

“Well, I think…it’s kinda funny, that’s a little ironic considering that from certain perspectives, other countries overly intellectualise Interpol, and here you have ‘the simple people’ saying, ‘Well fuck that, this is reaching the heart, and we just accept it, without over-analysis, we’ll just physically show you how much we love this fuckin’ record.’ That’s what I find amazing and beautiful, so when you have the rest of the EU and parts of America really trying to figure out what this thing is, Mexico and Ireland are showing us what it is. I identify with that: ‘Let’s put the words away man, let’s just show each other what this is about.’
“You don’t have to go look for the definitive in music, you can feel it and relate it to your situation. Even if you don’t know what somebody is saying, the way they’re saying it will make you feel something that has nothing to do with the content. That’s a powerful song. And nine times out of ten what the singer is conveying is something deeply personal anyway, and you can just toss meaning aside and get to the raw emotion of it. That’s something beautiful. And Ireland and Mexico will forever be Interpol’s favourite places to go because of that simple experience; that simple exchange is more powerful than anything you can put into words. We go and play our songs and the audience responds. And massively so. What more could you want?” (Peter Murphy)

- I completely relate to what Sam is saying in this interview. What we feel, how we respond when we experience music (especially music like Interpol’s) is so amazingly beyond articulation, “what more could you want?” There is something of purity in the physical that can be lost when our analytical faculties are put into use. We run the risk of forgetting what it’s all about and of missing the subtle yet strong “raw emotion” by searching for meaning.

- Like an astronomer looking at the night sky, though, I feel a strong urge to call forth what little perspicacity I have and to examine the music that inspires so much pure physical response in me. My attempt at reconciliation to myself of this seeming paradox---that is, inarticulate feelings and responses being translated through theoretical terms---is that I try at all costs to use moments in the music that have affected me deeply as my analytical ‘springboard’. In all honesty, my desire to consistently tie my analyses to my physical and emotional responses has led to my loss of some street cred with more “serious” music theorists.

- My deepest hope is that, like with astronomy, if my readers learn about the intense magnetic activity of a sunspot, that this information will not detract from or be untrue to the staggering beauty of the sun. Similarly, I hope that by interpreting a key change as a song’s abrupt shift into a different musical realm does not detract from the amazing physical and pre-intellectual response we get by simply listening to it.

- The kind of response to music that Sam is describing above is so incredibly important to me, and has literally shaped the course of my life. My desire to articulate, at least partially, this response is simply an outpouring of my passion for the power of music in my life.

Well, thought this quote from Sam was interesting, so I wanted to respond---but next up will be synesthesia and chromaticism!

Until then,
Much love from,
Meg

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