January 2014

Music Listomania Edition 1: The Best Bass Lines

Listomania Edition #1 : 8 of the Most Amazing Bass Lines That Make Their Songs Great

Basses are underrated. Not as showy as the electric, not as often as showcased as the acoustic, basses are there to blend into the background. Just think of all the bassists you've seen in concerts: they’re off on stage left, anchored to their amp, all long fringed bangs and melancholy, dreamily staring off into the distance or the ground or the back of the stage while utterly engrossed in the music.

But basses add much needed depth, and often interesting counter-melody, to the mix, and when you discover those deep glimpses of bass between the screaming riffs of the guitar and the clamor of the drums - wow.  It hits you - pow - right in the heart. (And quite literally, if you’re near the speakers).

Also, importantly: bassist are the most attractive member of any band in general.

So here, in no particular order except for memory, is my list of some of the greatest baselines in music history (meaning, the music that I’ve heard and know - I mean no offense to people who find gaping holes in this list where the classic, not-to-be-missed should be.)

1. Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes


Famously not actually a bass, but a guitar made to sound like a bass, this song is still driven by one of the most memorable bass riffs to date. Apparently it’s been given new life as a football theme (Italy World Cup 2006, Euro Cup, Bayern Munich); a Manchester United chant for our growing MVP, RvP (Robin van Persie); and apparently figured prominently during the Arab Spring prodemocracy rallies in Egypt, so rank this as potentially my favorite song, ever. 

2.  I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab for Cutie


This song is just gorgeous, and in fulfilling all definitions of beauty, starts with a hauntingly yearning bass line, and then continues into a five minute long, thoroughly engaging instrumental riff in a frozen, icy, snow-carpeted boxcar BEFORE anyone even starts singing. This was JT-style epic before JT even born (well, before his solo act was born). Also, THAT VIDEO.

(That girl, with her draped scarves, headphones, and graceful manner, and her apparent career consisting of traveling and looking tragic and lovely and contemplative in exquisite locations around the world - this is who I want to be when I grow up.)

The words - well, if you listen hard, they sound rather creepy. So just ignore the slightly sinister meaning behind the words, sit back, watch the pretty girl close her eyes on the gorgeous bridges of Paris, and bask in the crooning voice of Ben Gibbard and the driving, thrumming bass.

3.  Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet



Dun-dun-dun-dun-da-dun-dun. Go! 
This song - which, even with its aspirations to rock, is nonetheless pure pop, which is not an insult in this case - is probably best known for that extremely catchy 4-beat bass riff paired in delightful combination with drums. It may not be a deep meaningful song, but it is fun, and it does get off your seat and onto the dance floor, and that's all we should really ask of a song. Good times.  

4.  Otherside - Red Hot Chili Peppers



Or, basically, every single Red Hot Chili Pepper song - which, no doubt, has to do with the extraordinary abilities of their bassist, Flea. But, this was also one of the first things I learned to play when I first picked up a guitar (of all things) during the crazy sweltering summer of 2003 as a wide-eyed freshman at Penn State, so this is the one that will stick with me forever.

(I have never watched that video before, and may I say, that is a really, really late 90s-early 00s video.)

5.  Another One Bites the Dust - Queen




An old school-funky bass line, almost immediately recognizable to everyone. People are going to start throwing eggs at me through their computer screens for suggesting this, but you should also check out this fun, blasphemous version, courtesy of Glee (I know, I know) and the incomparable Jonathan Groff (aka Kristoff in Frozen).  And yes, that is how I learned about this song (and about The Zombies, and The Doors. Please don't martyr me.)

6.  Pumped-Up Kicks - Foster the People



This song is basically just all bass line and vocal radio-compression, and I love it. It is addictive, it’s deliciously lo-fi, and I can't ever hear this song without thinking of salt-sea breezes on a Californian beach, hanging out of an old-school open air Jeep, watching the layered orange glow of the sunset. The lyrics are also incredibly creepy, but I will never tire of singing along and being blissfully ignorant of the meaning.

7.  Jenny Was A Friend of Mine - The Killers




This is first-chair bass, virtuoso bass, the Mozart of basses, if there ever was such a thing. This is the bass in the lead, creative and freed. I mean, the Killers live - a-mazing in general. But their bassist, Mark Stoermer, is definitely one of the most amazing bassists around these days - and an incredible song writer as well.

(I must admit though, having seen them live twice, this may be one of the cases where the lead singer is the most attractive member of the band. Brandon Flowers is the Tom Brady of lead singers - except not a pregnant-girlfriend dumping donkey.)


Any other suggestions? (and anyone want to teach me how to play the bass?)

Frozen - or Reflections on Watching Disney Movies as Not-a-Child, While Surrounded by Children

First post since the first of the year! And not on anything I thought I would be writing about either...
(SPOILERS GALORE)

Are even Disney movies getting more depressing and more cynical than ever before? 

I apparently didn’t get the memo that it is now a requirement that all Disney movies open with something heartbreakingly tragic. I guess it did start a while back, with Bambi’s mother getting shot relatively early on in the plot. But with each subsequent movie, tragedy seems to appear earlier and more swiftly, working its merry way from homicide (basically every Disney movie ever), to abandonment (Toy Story), to kidnapping (Tangled), with the paradigm being the opening scene in Up, where infertility, unfulfilled lifelong dreams, old age, and death of a loved one were covered in the span of five short minutes. 


(I will admit, during that bit, I teared up behind my 3D glasses. Oh, the feelings.)


Though tragedy, too, reveals itself early on in Frozen, it thankfully doesn’t pack quite as potent of a punch as Up.  I mean, watching a giant wave engulf a ship and leave nothing in its wake a mere, quiet second later, is harrowing, but a second isn’t much time to build up or fully absorb grief. I will also never be able to hear the words, “Do you want to build a snowman?,” in anything other than Kristen Bell’s sad, singing voice ever again, but it’s not going to tear me apart inside.

What I do think is more of a punch, especially to the children, is the part where the handsome prince who falls in love at first sight with our intrepid princess Anna...

We've all been there, Anna
...is in fact a greedy, murderous, conniving son-of-a-bad guy.

What an unusual twist for a Disney movie.

I definitely got suckered in.  During the early scenes, when Anna and Hans were running around, singing together, and finishing each other’s sandwiches, as Disney princesses are wont to do, the word “love” kept coming up over and over again, and I wanted to pretend-gag and/or start on a verbal diatribe but there were innocent children present and we were inside a movie theater. (no talking! cellphones on silent!)
I settled for an enormous, Liz-Lemon-type eye-roll instead. (I’m mature and jaded like that.)


But then, Disney goes and fully justified my cynicism.

Since when did Disney get as messed-up and cynical about the world as I am?

(Some would say of Disney [Walt]: from the onset)

I’m of two minds about this.

On one hand: yay, preach it, sistah. Speak the truth, early and often.

Having been OBGYN, which requires you to be at least 10% raging feminist, I have a bit of an aversion to slick, eager men; equating sexualization to liberation of women; and cutesy, soppy, ultimately insincere gestures and sayings.  And while there was still much of the above to balk at - the existence of the other eager cute guy in the movie (though arguably more klutz than slick); the “liberated” Elsa with slinky low-cut, sheer dress and crazy hip-high slit (Angelina Jolie got nothin' on her); some genuinely frilly songs and pushy match-making trolls - it was still a nice surprise, the handsome, evil prince, and the applaudable, though slightly but pleasantly predictable way that Anna saves the day.

What a great life lesson! 
Looks can be deceiving. 
Charming people may just be using you. 
Don’t marry people you have only known for 24 hours. 
Hopefully that’ll prevent a Vegas marriage or honeymoon murder or two.

Is this the face of a bad guy? YES.

On the other hand, shouldn’t it make you, as it does me, a little sad that it has come to this - that children’s entertainment feels the need to warn little girls of the dangers of handsome men who say they love you, but are total liars and just want to use you, because this happens much too sadly and too frequently in the real world?

It’s also kind of sad to see the end of innocence, no matter how little and perhaps necessary - to see children go from wide-eyed idealism to, well, me. In that instant, hearing that loss in the sharp tiny intakes of breath and small outcries of surprise of the kids all around me, it was surprisingly a bit unsettling.


But, let’s not over-analyze: in the end, Frozen is neither child-directed feminist manifesto, nor innocence-stealing succubus.

It’s just a movie. 

A Disney movie. 

A fairly thoughtful, visually appealing Disney movie about the power of sisterly love. 

It’s not perfect - the relationship between the sisters isn’t nearly as fleshed out as it should be; the music, despite Idina Menzel’s considerable talents, are not very memorable; Tangled, in both story and song, is much more entertaining - but it’s fun, it’s got a reindeer that acts like a dog, a snowman who longs for summer, and a virtual snow-covered Norway as its stunning backdrop.




And that’s pretty much all the child left in me really needs.

Back to Top