Daisaku Kume and Selah - 9 Picture Cards - The Ear of Marco Polo

 

 

Daisaku Kume and Selah - The Ear of Marco Polo

Kume @ discogs.com

  

1.  Jordan

              

               We have F major 9 vamp, followed by  A major vamp, and this repeats a few times.  Sometimes the bass plays F# root note over the A major vamp, implying F#-.  After some time we get to Bb major, then B major, repeat…then the B major holds on for a thunderstorm as a Bmaj7#11.  Then back to the top for keys SOLO!

               This is basically the form, with some nature jams happening for a few bars before the top of the song.

               2^nd nature jam is some Japanese A pentatonic thing, notes are A B D E G.

               3^rd nature jam, bird calls.

               F major vamp fade out!

 

 

 

2.  Dance Ternate

 

               Cutesty F#7 to F#7#5 riff!  Bass plays B, F#, E, G#, B.  Weird bass jam overtop the F# chords.  Not sure what tonality is being implied here, since B (the 11^th) doesn’t normally appear in a dominant 7 chord.

               Vocals come in A major chord, vocal line is A, E, D, C#, D, C#.

               Vocals modulate up to F# major, vocal line is A#, F, F#, F, F#, F.

 

               Bass tends to imply other harmonies over top of these vamps, a lot, throughout the album.

               Key board solo bounces between A major and G7#11.

               Synth Pad comes in playing D major, G7#11, D major, G7#11.

               Top of the form!

               A little later we get that vocal motif in the key of C major, then E major. 

 

 

3.  Nettai Yawa – Tales From Equatorial Nights

 

               This one is juicy!  Main riff is based on a G# major triad, with a low E in the bass, setting up this E major7 #5 harmonic/melodic minor mode type thing!

               Main melody is D#, G#, D#, G#, F#, F#, E, D#, C#.

               The next chord change is a good ol’ G#13, resolving eventually to C# maj69 chord, then repeat the funky top of the form.

               Jammy jam jazz part is ||G-  C7    |  F maj     |  G-    C7    |  Gmaj||

               Then:  ||A -7    D7     |G maj   E-    | A-7   D7 |  Gmaj         ||

               After a long while there’s a chromaticy riff that steps around, then back to the top G#maj/E to G#13 bit.  Eventually ultimately resolving to C#maj69 after some times through the form.

 

 

 

4.  Indigo Queen

 

|| D-7      |  E-7         | D-7                 |  E-7                |

| D-7       |  G7            | Cmaj7 #11     | Cmaj7#11   ||     

 

Then a chill F-7 to G-7, back and forth for a while.  Pretty straight forward.

Organ solo chord progress (F-7   G-7) will end on C- sometimes with some upward side steps.  Then eventually modulates to A-7   B-7

 

 

 

 

5.  Spanish Harlem

 

               Happy islands, G major and A- bopping back and forth with some crazy strings and slide guitar!

               Segment of A-.

               Some slight changes floating around to D major, G major, C major.

               Jammy segment in the middle back and forth between Eb13 and Ab13.

               Another strawberry of F-7  Bb13 funky fank.

 

 

 

6.  Tango Mania

 

               Basic idea is F# major to G7.  Next new section is some D major to G7#11 with lots half stepy things, sounds a little like Gutevolk. 

               Then theres liiike harmonic minor or mixolydian b9 stuff happening, or altered scale?

               Most of the song is based on that F# major G7 motif.

 

 

 

7.  Blue Canary

              

G minor I IV V stuff (G-, C-, D- or D maj).

               Modulates to G major I IV V stuff (G maj, Cmaj, Dmaj).

 

 

 

 

8.  Malabar Jubilee

 

               Dsus pedal, G maj69/D sus type of sound.

               Super cool minor 9 parallel harmonies!  G-9,  F-9,  Db-9,  D-9

               Keys solo in Bb major, modulates to Db major.  Hearing some Mccoy Tyner quartal voicings.

               Ancient tribal vibe, A13 to C13b9.  Illusions of Gaia Ankor Wat temple comes to mind.

 

 

 

9.  Coco and Perfume

 

               ||A -7             |  D7            |  Gmaj7           |  G maj7          ||

 

               ||Cmaj7         | B-7            |E-7                  |A7                     ||

 

               ||  A-7b5       | Gmaj7       |  A-7b5           |  G maj7           |

               |G dim7         | Abmaj7     |  D7sus          |  Bb-7  Eb9      |

               |  D7sus  D7 |                    ||

              

               Jazz town with these standard chord progressions! 

Daniel Lanois - Belladonna

 

 Daniel Lanois - Belladonna

Lanois @ discogs.com 

 

 

 

 vignettes of outlaws

wranglers, wild west people

arid desert dust

 

 

 

1.  Two Worlds

 

Roswell aliens metallic spun landing explore vast wild west

 

               Starting off with a FAT outer space synth pad in A minor that quickly modulates to A major once the guitar comes in.  Guitar opens with riff of G# to A, so for a brief moment there’s an overlap of G# note over the A minor triad and we get an ominous snippet of A harmonic minor!

               Guitar continues unfolding a melody, playing G#, A, B, C#, stepwise up the scale. 

               There are moments of melody E, D# and C#, D, which signals the D major modulation.  Then back to A major.

               Following is an F#- chord, D major chord, G major chord, A major, G major, D major, A major.

               Ending with guitar low key chugging Welcome to the Jungle intro!  (A powerchord).

 

 

2.  Sketches

 

Deteriorating pages tumble across dusty street

Illustrations unknown

Caught in small garden

 

               Main chord is voiced : 045452    (EADGBE)

               So this is cool, Lanois hovers around this chord the entire time.  He mainly outlines the E- triad and hits that 4^th fret, C#, towards the end of the riff, which implies C#-7b5.  He’s doodling around with ideas in this chord shape, teasing it around.  Sometimes he’ll throw in that 2^nd fret on the high E string to make F#.  F# acts at the 9^th when the chord is E-, or the 11^th when the chord is C#-7b5.  The beauty of this song is the melding between the two.

               Small guitar bends on F# up to G.

               Glass rose piano arpeggios flower us with A major and B- chords, usually descending the first arpeggio and ascending the second.  The two opening arpeggios are voiced on guitar like a 1^st inversion A major triad and a root position B- triad.  Beyond that, Glass Rose outlines other arpeggios in the key of D major.

 

 

3.  Oaxaca

 

A tale of lost unsung heroes

 of aged fairy tales

 

 Odin Sphere vocals in the mode of E mixolydian b13.  The melody is E, G#, A, B, D, C, B. 

               A later guitar melody plays D#, E, G#, F#, E, C, B.

               Chord progression is like implied E major to C major.

 

 

 

4.  Agave

 

Downtrodden wobbly hombre

Walks through swinging doors

Gruffly, “Whiskey”

              

||   E-             C#-7b5    |   C maj7                   D maj w/open G string                         ||

||  C maj add9              |  G maj                    |  C maj                    |    D maj                 ||

              

               Playing on that E minor with sometimes C# note sometimes C note theme.  Uses a lot of open strings , like Fuel’s Shimmer or Incubus' Drive.  Late 90’s alt rock stuff style 8).

 

 

 

 

5.  Telco

 

               E minor hombre briefing his accomplice of the severity of the next mission.  Rugged and scruffy, sweaty and gritty.  “This is the last stop, cowboy”.  Telephone static. 

 

|| E-                             |  C major 7                           |  D maj                    |    D   maj                               ||

 

 

 

 

6.  Desert Rose

 

simple hearted dance

between elderly couple

barn aglow, amber

 

               Open D major triad, thumbing the open A string.  Then A major V chord, back to D.

               Slide geetar, simple ballad of ol’ Bessie.  Hints of G# in lead guitar background, spicing it Lydian style.  At fade out, G note harmonic rings out seemingly on purpose.

 

 

7.  Carla

 

               Ooooh Carlaaa Darlin’!  Wailing miseries of a simple fool sunken by the bottle.

 

|| A-                       |  E-                              |  A-                            |  E-                                        |

|   D-       E-             |   A-                           |  D-     E-                     |   A-                                     |

|D -                          |  D-                          ||

 

 

 

8.   The Deadly Nightshade

 

               Fun weird stuff here.  Maybe the only song not in a cowboy key.  First section in key of C# major.  Chords bounce between C# major and G# major.  

               Next section plays off F-13, and later does a chromatic descending bass thingerm:  F, E, Eb, and teases a D note but shrugs it away.  “You can’t fool me, poisonous plant!”

               F- section played like F Dorian mode even though in the key of C# major, the F would be Phrygian.  During the descending bass line part it’s played like F Aeolian, which implies Ab major.  Cool modal interchange !

 

 

9.  Dusty

 

               The returning theme of E-, C major7 and D major.  Lots of open strings.  Switches between notes C# and C. 

 

 

 

10.  Panorama

 

               Camera pun!  The harmony is so out of focus, so distant,  nearly inaudible.  In headphones there’s a background track there with the harmony so so low in the mix.

               Opens up in A Phrygian briefly!

               Main section sounds like I, IV, V stuff in Bb major.

               Weird second part is:

||Bb maj                      |   D maj                    |  F#maj                       |  B-    G maj                   |

|  D maj                        |  C maj   Bb maj       |  D-                            |   Bb maj                         ||

 

 

 

 

11.  Flametop Green                                                                                            

 

valiant young cowboy

with a guitar on his back

reflecting the sun

 

 

||  G-              D-      |  Eb maj7                    |  G-          D-                   |  Eb maj7                      ||

||Eb maj7                |F  maj                         |  D-                                 |  F maj                            |

|  D-7                         D-7/C in bass             |   C maj                 ||

 

               Cool vibe, these are the main two parts.

               Main riff is C, Bb, G, Bb, then strums into D- followed by Ebmaj7.

 

 

 

 

12.  Todos Santos

 

               E major/mixolydian wavering of the colored festive flags dancing sunwise and windswept.  Synth pad is E major with phaser and yummy oscillations...might actually be multiple synths recorded separately and mixed together.  Grainy aged texture.  Brief moment of F dim7 in there somewhere.

 

 

 

Conclusions

-Cowboy keys are open E minor and G minor.

-Extra desert vibes = minor 6 chords (all that E- with C# happening)

-Simple but focused, concise, clear.

-Similar tonal centers throughout = cohesion