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

Michael Brook/Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois – Hybrid

 

 

Michael Brook - Hybrid

Michael Brook @ spotify 

Michael Brook @ discogs.com

 

 

the vibrating air

of unknown lands, wading through

dense humidity

 

 

Lots of this album is in keys between two pitches, keys based on microtones.  Prolly what contributes to the otherworldly atmosphere!

 

 

1.  Hybrid

 

               Esoteric dilapidated sculptures of swans guard the Aztec temple; and island centered in mosquito infested swamps.  Thick heavy air shrouds secrets kept within.  An undocumented tribe worships in the distance playing loose, booming drums made from the earth itself.  Dense forest but open sky.

 

               We’re set up with a drone in the key of between E and F.  On guitar, slightly bend up from an E note, that’s the key!  Crazy!  A synth melody appears, plays mostly off the notes F, Eb, and D...the root, b7 and 6…suggesting a mixolydian or dorian scale, but since no third is ever played there’s no true quality of major or minor.  Both mixolydian and dorian have a feeling of voyage or journey.  The vagueness here is cool, so much mystery!

               The synth melody rarely goes beyond that note range, mostly floats around among F, Eb, and D, sometimes goes to C or G.  It plays like an Indiana raga.  Some riffs towards the end lean into blues scale, briefly (C blues scale…not sure?)

               Tribal drums come in that have a verbal quality to them, ancient vocalizations, “Ooga Aaga!”.

Between the Indian raga style melody and the microtonal key, Hybrid paints a land very foreign.

 

 

 

2.  Distant Village

              

               Lonely languid current swaying between wooden pagodas, rippling as each tear falls.  Wooden beams leaning out of the water splintered yet dull with time.  Rounded wind worn architecture silently whispers with the breeze.  A fisherman with a straw hat and simple pole.  Nocturnal insects choir on the perimeter.

              

More clearly than previously, Distant village is in Eb minor pentatonic  Swirling 4ths that fade into the distance.  The slight phaser/chorus that fades into the background create a feeling of age, of a far away civilization of time past, and the pentatonic 4^th harmonies suggest an Asian culture, calling on their traditional music styles. 

 

 

3.  Mimosa

              

               Crescent bubbling of an otherwise still layered sunrise.  A vessel with 8 eyes, waiting patiently. 

 

               An otherworldly key pitched between B and C.  Melody in marimba plays with notes B, F# and F.  Ungrounded key, wonky tritone melody, marimba with lots of overtones making it hard to pin down a definitive pitch.

               Synth pads come in seem to be in key of between B and C Aeolian. 

               There’s a swirling of the drink in the glass and carbonation around 1:40.  The carbonation synths are major arpeggios, I think major I chords!  A pad shines by accentuating a major 9^th note.

               At 2:34 the mood changes to creepy harmonic minor tension in the piano melody, sometimes ending on the dramatic minor 9^th note.

               The opening marimba returns too.  Totally perplexed with this one, very strange vibes.  Is it a tropical glass?  The funky marimba symbolizing the orange origins of the fruit…the harmonic minor eeriness symbolizing a depressive tipsy thought filled mind?

              

 

4.  Pond Life

              

               A pond with bright fish.  Insects skipping on the surface of the pond.  Stagnant, murky, scummy unbothered liminal puddle dotted anonymously in the world.  Perspective from being partially submerged and being eye level with the water line; seeing both above and under the surface at once

              

               Immediately we hear:

                              -reeling tape like sound in the back

                              -background static

                              -bird calls

                              -soaring mournful dove (?) calls

                              -cicadas

                              -chirping crickets

 

               I’m assuming these nature sounds are all man-made, and that this song is not a field recording.  Unbelievable.

Somehow, Ab major pentatonic works well over this?

                             

 

 

5.  Ocean Motion

              

               The humming, shimmering untamed waters of the sea blurring vertically with overcast storm telling skies.  Undulating freely. 

              

               In the key of “Sea” minor ha ha ha, nice pun Michael Brook.

               Steady pulse of a metronome feels like a buoy, but also sets up a flowing rhythm.  Notice the churning rhythm of the synthesizer pad chords.  I think they accent the quarter note. 

               A lot of voicings end in Eb. (the major 3^rd of the key).  Maybe creating a sense of melancholy hope?  Eb, the major note, ringing through the seas of minor.

               The high piano notes meld ripple into the ocean waves.  At times there are sustained suspended chords, emphasizing notes D and G, the 9^th and the 5^th.  The 5^th helps stabilize the harmony, the 9^th is pure flavor, but no 3^rd or 7^th to suggest a chord quality.

 

 

6.  Midday

 

               Death’s insistent aging made light of by daily mundanities, like a broad July sky over asphalt.

 

               Right off the bat, the clock tik toks setting up a feeling of dragging time.

               Hearing notes like Bb, C, Eb, F, Ab.  Tonality settled between Bb and B.  Not hearing any 3rds (Db or D).  So it’s not major or minor. 

               Wiggly side bass is humorous.

               Midday heat summer frogs in the background, and synths, create a picture of vast stretching humidity.

               Synthesizer towards the ending (4:35 and on) is like the yawning/screaming/wailing of the mind trying to break out of a mundane, lightly torturous and inconsequential day.  An office worker yelling in their head, imprisoned and waiting clock out.

 

 

7.  Earth Floor

 

               Twisted fossils…deep remains….holy minerals…inconsequential stuff…rotting death…rotting past below…gives way for new life, for a new change at existence. 

 

               Very weird.  Key of between D and Eb minor.  Tons of half step harmonies here between b9 and natural 9, and between natural 9 and b3.  Also between natural 4 and #4, and #4 and 5.

               The tribal drum from the beginning of the album comes back, lower pitched now.  Heavier. 

               Faint acoustic guitar and piano in the background!

 

 

8.  Vacant

 

               The Mojave Desert bending with heat.  Each grain of sand a boiling stone.  Sporadic scampering of nondescript creatures.    Link a budd song to this  SUBTLE RESOLVE, prolly the only track that actually resolves?

 

               Melody plays with C Lydian notes, C, G, F#, and E.  Lots of play between F# and G.  Sometimes B!  Similar melodic ideas as the first song, Indian raga feel.

               Spring peepers are in the background, the soaring bird calls.  Lotsa microtones in bent notes (F# to G). 

               Guitar drone in far background playing C note and the open B string. 

               Possibly some screeching echoed background notes made by using a guitar slide off the fret board!

 

               And the humid sighs drift into the further unknown, putting an end to The Pearl's companion album.