Signifiers

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

So recently I've been listening to the new album by Spoon, or more accurately one song on the album: You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb (streaming & d/l). All the reviews cite this as Spoon's "Motown" song, and my first reaction was "Why?" It was certainly immediately accessible, but I don't know if I would've made the specific Motown connection myself. I started listening, trying to understand why so many people were coming up with the same analysis.

Cynic that I am, I thought (and still believe, to some degree) that it probably had something to do with a press pack out there somewhere. But after a few listens, sure enough, I heard a couple of sonic clues -- vibraphone touches, driving on-the-beat (?) snare drum and tambourines. (Check for yourself, listen to "It's the Same Old Song.") It seemed immediately recognizable once I was listening for it, although I really don't hear much else about a reedy indie-rock song that suggests classic soul.

Then I started to ask myself, "Geez, was that all it took to get me to like this -- a driving beat and some vibraphone flourishes?" At the same time, having "unpacked" the song like this, I think I like it more. So I have two questions:
First, when you listen to the song, do you hear anything else that specifically suggests Motown?
Second (and more interesting, perhaps), what are some other examples of little sonic tricks like this, that subtly link a particular song to what, on the surface, would sound like a completely different genre/style of music?

Comments

[koganbot]

Have to do other stuff, so this is a post before listening, but I remember hearing my first Spoon track several years ago and specifically saying to myself, "This is about as white as music ever gets." I think the signifier for this would have been the rhythm and the timbre of the vocals. Then on second listen I suddenly went, "Oh, wait, he's doing soul!"

(Haven't paid much attention to Spoon; the reason I was listening was that Derek Krissoff, the acquisitions editor at University of Georgia Press who first suggested I do a book, listed Spoon as his favorite group.)

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Re: the Amerie/Rihanna discussion the other day, I wonder to what extent complex harmony signifies "soul" to listeners, or more specifically certain complex harmonies. There's a huge social element in deciding what's "soulful" and what isn't, but people (music critics? Is this a class unto itself?) tend not to account for complex harmonies with any consistency, and often the introduction of any harmonies into music not normally associated with them can yield interesting results. I'm thinking of TV on the Radio specifically, who had all kinds of "soul" tags thrown at them. Without being too cynical about issues of race in a largely white dominant field as a huge factor (no one calls Bloc Party "soulful"), I think one thing TVOTR did do was to layer vocals in a much more complex way than their music might have suggested.

It seems like a lack of harmony is one thing that keeps Rihanna tilted toward a more general "pop" tag, along with a relatively diverse production sound, and I wonder if this is part of her appeal -- when R&B focuses on an individual melody/performer, the tendency is toward diva chops, show-off vocals. Which is to say that maybe in being really ordinary-sounding, Rihanna is actually kind of unique in her field, just as a bit of expressiveness/harmony in indie can get you a "soul" tag.

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

(You also really can't underestimate the press kit. That isn't cynical at all! Like, lots of people will think "Supertramp" if you use a Wurlitzer, but if you use the instrument AND name-drop Supertramp in your press kit, the urge for a hack like myself to drop in the ref. skyrockets.)

Ahem.

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Y is for…
You Got Yr Cherry Bomb
And the horns return. The bells and handclaps on this sparkling pop gem were added by someone claming to be Phil Spector in a Second Life recording studio.

S is for…
Soul

Spoon have got it:

"Merchants of Soul."

"Rhthm and Soul."

Street tar and summer do a job on your…

From their most recent online bio at Merge. All spelling errors cut and pasted directly.

[mooxyjoo.livejournal.com]

i would go for the vocals too, though it may not be completely clear that they say 'soul' rather than 'sounds like soul'. on what skyecaptain sez: i think it's probably confusing now what to make of more complex harmony in some cases because of the uptake of soul into the greater musical landscape, and because of non-soul performers, non-black performers, in particular. but i have something particular in mind with that. i just got the sly + the family box, and one thing that's really obvious especially on the earlier, more syncretic stuff, is that a big part of what makes it count as soul comes from church music. i realize that's kind of obvious, but maybe it's easy to lose track of if you don't spend enough time listening to more 'churchy' black music. i'm not too sure but it seems like even in contemporary r+b churchy signifiers have been pretty streamlined away, or confined to explicitly more churchy tracks. much less in contemporary borrowings.

(thought upon hearing amy winehouse record in a coffeeshop: this woman learned how to sing soul from records.)



at my sister's wedding reception there were two kinds of music played: out-of-the-box wedding reception music, and country (mostly new country). one song had an arpeggiated disco bassline in the middle, i believe without any ironic or mocking wink. (but you asked for SUBTLE signifiers.)

sonic youth do this kind of thing all the time.