Strings!
Pop musicians, particularly singer/songwriters, must be stopped. If they keep trying to expand their musical "range" by adding more "accompaniments" to their songs I may become trapped in a state of perpetual nausea. While cheap multitracking and sampling have made adding layer upon unnecessary layer to songs easy and affordable, the destruction of songs by the addition of musical clutter has been going on for a long time. The worst culprit has always been strings (violins, violas, cellos, etc.), the favorite recourse of the "mature" musician. More often than not, it seems that musicians seem to employ sweeping string string arrangements only to obscure the mediocrity of their songs, adding easy melodrama and emotion and making the song sound more complex than it really is.
While I used to think that I hated the violins, violas and cellos themselves, I recently realized that they have been abused. Maybe it's that most musicians throw them into the song as afterthoughts and really have no idea as to their range and capabilities, or maybe it's that the "mature" musician is usually out of ideas and the strings are just reflections of a larger failure. Regardless, in recent years I've discovered a number of singer/songwriters whose string accompaniments not only make their songs better, but are even essential to the songs. Nina Nastasia's recorded output, as well as her live shows, are perhaps the best examples of this that I've yet heard.
Nina Nastasia - Stormy Weather
This song from Nastasia's first album, Dogs, contains some pretty straightforward string accompaniment. Unlike most arrangements used in similar types of singer/songwriter songs, however, the strings are used sparingly and this is the precisely the key to their goodness. Silence is left in throughout the song, meaning that the strings have a noticeable affect on the song's volume. They don't overwhelm the fundamental components of the song (i.e. her voice and guitar) but, rather, accentuate certain aspects of the melody or specific lyrics by adding a small amount of texture. Most imporantly, they do add some sense of mood to the song but without resorting to sweeping, sentimental flourishes. The song's simplicity is maintained and it doesn't sound the least bit cluttered.
[Buy Dogs from Insound]
Nina Nastasia - On Teasing
This song from Nastasia's most recent album, Run to Ruin, is different altogether. The violins are no less important than the drums, guitar, accordion, piano or even Nastasia’s voice. In fact, in the second half of the song, the violin completely takes over, continuing the narrative where the lyrics left off, evoking crashing waves and powerful currents, frantic underwater flailing and terror.
[Buy Run to Ruin from Insound]
While I used to think that I hated the violins, violas and cellos themselves, I recently realized that they have been abused. Maybe it's that most musicians throw them into the song as afterthoughts and really have no idea as to their range and capabilities, or maybe it's that the "mature" musician is usually out of ideas and the strings are just reflections of a larger failure. Regardless, in recent years I've discovered a number of singer/songwriters whose string accompaniments not only make their songs better, but are even essential to the songs. Nina Nastasia's recorded output, as well as her live shows, are perhaps the best examples of this that I've yet heard.
Nina Nastasia - Stormy Weather
This song from Nastasia's first album, Dogs, contains some pretty straightforward string accompaniment. Unlike most arrangements used in similar types of singer/songwriter songs, however, the strings are used sparingly and this is the precisely the key to their goodness. Silence is left in throughout the song, meaning that the strings have a noticeable affect on the song's volume. They don't overwhelm the fundamental components of the song (i.e. her voice and guitar) but, rather, accentuate certain aspects of the melody or specific lyrics by adding a small amount of texture. Most imporantly, they do add some sense of mood to the song but without resorting to sweeping, sentimental flourishes. The song's simplicity is maintained and it doesn't sound the least bit cluttered.
[Buy Dogs from Insound]
Nina Nastasia - On Teasing
This song from Nastasia's most recent album, Run to Ruin, is different altogether. The violins are no less important than the drums, guitar, accordion, piano or even Nastasia’s voice. In fact, in the second half of the song, the violin completely takes over, continuing the narrative where the lyrics left off, evoking crashing waves and powerful currents, frantic underwater flailing and terror.
[Buy Run to Ruin from Insound]
3 Comments:
David Byrne runs for the hills, tail-between-legs!
Wow. Accidentally happened accross your site and read this post about strings. You might like to have a closer listen to some of the great arrangers of the 20th century to get a better appreciation. My suggestions, Ravel and Bacharach.
Yes - one of my new rules for buying old vinyl is: avoid albums with a lot of "strings" in the credits.
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