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Out On The Wiley, Windy Moors
As this dark winter draws to a close, it’s hard to deny a feeling of... well, I don’t want to say hope, but that’s what it is. Hope! What a concept.
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New Music Video: Enter Hallownest
I recently finished a medium-sized musical project—writing a multi-instrumental arrangement of “Greenpath,” one of my favorite pieces from Hollow Knight, one of my favorite games. It goes a lot of different places, from resonant wine glasses to tenor sax solos, and I’m proud of it.
You can watch it on YouTube, or right here:
You can also listen to an audio-only version on Soundcloud, and check out the original via the composer, Christopher Larkin’s Bandcamp page.
This project was mostly just for fun - I wanted to stretch out in the studio and work on getting everything dialed in, in anticipation of beginning work on my next album. (Incedentally, that work has begun as of yesterday.) I’ve expanded my home recording toolkit significantly over the past few years, and while I have a lot more to learn about engineering and mixing, I’m still happy with how far I’ve come.
The process of arranging the piece was a rewarding one. I always like coming up with an odd-meter groove—in this case one that combines 5/8, 6/8, and 9/8—and then finding melodies that stretch over the barline. I’ve never recorded “singing” wine glasses before, and I’m in love with the sound, especially when combined with some overdubbed E-Bow electric guitar.
I based the structure of the piece on Larkin’s “Greenpath” as it appears on the game’s soundtrack, though in the actual game it functions pretty differently due to the way the game dynamically adds and removes soundtrack stems in real time. I talked a bit about that on this week’s episode of Triple Click.
I also worked in a few of his other themes; during the introductory woodwind section, the saxophones echo the main Hollow Knight theme:
As the saxophone solo merges with the ensemble, the winds pick up a version of the “City of Tears” melody:
And at the culmination of the piece, the full ensemble lays into Hornet’s Theme:
That felt like a fitting finale, given how psyched many of us are for Hollow Knight: Silksong, which will star Hornet herself.
I hope you have a chance to check it out. Thanks to those who’ve already listened or shared it!
STRONG NOTES: Imogen, Babylon, Wuthering Heights
Strong Songs year three continues apace. I’m slowly refining my process for making the show, and get a lot of satisfaction out of each small optimization I make.
I knew that January’s episode on Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” would be a challenge, since the song is so different from most other songs. It’s a solo artist, it mostly revolves around the same four chords, it relies on a distinct technology for its entire effect. As usual in the end, those challenges were what made the epsiode work.
Heap herself listened to the episode, which was pretty freakin cool:
It always gives me a bit of anxiety when an artist listens to an episode I made about one of their songs, but mostly in a good way. Next up: getting her to come on the show for an interview.
I knew that I’d never make everyone happy with my Steely Dan episode, in part because Dan fans can be particular about which era they prefer, and in part because the band is unusually divisive and some people just can’t stand them. I’m definitely in the former camp—I love this band—but while Aja is probably my favorite album of theirs, I’m not sure I actually have a favorite era.
In the end, I decided to go with “Babylon Sisters” from Gaucho as a roundabout way to feature the work of the great Bernard Purdie, the drumming legend whose groove defined that tune (and a lot of other tunes).
I didn’t get a chance to talk about this documentary segment on the episode, but I recommend checking out this clip of Fagen and Becker talking about Purdie’s style:
One bonus of making this episode was that I learned to play a passable Purdie Shuffle myself; gonna have to use that one of these days.
This week’s episode on Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights” was another interesting challenge, more in the pre-production phase than in the creation of the episode itself. Since I started making Strong Songs, I’ve fielded regular requests for a Kate Bush song, but because she’s so much less well-known here in the US, I hadn’t grown up with her music.
It was a real treat to go and listen through her discography; if you’re an unschooled Yank like me and have always been curious about her work, I really recommend it. I came close to doing an episode on “Running Up That Hill” from Hounds of Love, but in the end I couldn’t resist “Wuthering Heights,” for its harmonic strangeness, its unshackled vocal performance, and just for how totally Kate Bush it is, for lack of a better way of describing it. 💃🏼
Elsewhere in the Strong Song-o-verse, I did my first Patron Q&A video of year three over on the Strong Songs Patreon, so if you’d like to hear more about my process making the show and get a tour of how my home studio has changed in the last year, that’s the place to go. The Strong Songs Store continues to thrive; if you haven’t ordered yourself a Thump, Pop, Sizzle mug, well, what are you waiting for!
Music Recomendations
I’ve been listening to a ton of new music over the past couple months. Here are some highlights.
Sigur Rós - ( ) - I’d known this group was good for a long time, but I hadn’t realized how experimental they can be.
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid - What a distinct sound, and some great songs.
Andy Shauf - The Neon Skyline - How had I never listened to Andy Shauf? A listener wrote in to recommend his music, and I’m delighted to have discovered him. What a great lyrical approach, and a great vocal style.
The King’s Singers - In Isolation - I’m not super familiar with the world of acapella, but even I know that the King’s Singers sit near the top of the heap. It’s a straightforward delight to listen to people who are this good at what they do.
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Live at the Roxy: The Complete Concert - How had I never really listened to this? There’s so much beautiful energy in this recording.
The KPM 1000 Series, Vols. 1 and 2 - I talked about discovering the KPM greensleeve records on a recent Strong Songs Q&A, but man, I love these recordings so much. A seemingly endless amount of music, and such variety! You never know when you’re going to stumble on something magic.
Angélique Kidjo - Eve - My buddy Russ recommended this record by Beninese-American singer Angélique Kidjo, and it rules.
WolfWalkers Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - I watched this movie after a few listeners wrote in to ask about the soundtrack, and I’m glad I did. Bruno Coulais is one of my favorite film composers, and Kíla’s additions to the soundtrack are beautiful. Also, it’s a good movie.
SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Sides - I knew of SOPHIE before her recent, tragic passing, but hadn’t listened closely to her music. Now I have, and I’m doubly sad that we’ve lost her. What a brilliant artist, and only at the start of her career.
The Midnight - Nocturnal - A listener recommended this synthwave saxstravaganza to me, and I gotta say, thanks, man. This is a super fun record, like a heightened memory of a sound from my childhood.
Onward
That’ll do it for now. Thanks as always to everyone for reading, listening, and following along. I’ve been using social media less in 2021, but you can still find me on Twitter and Instagram.
I’ll leave you with a gif from a birthday video I made of Appa, who recently turned one. She’s grown so fast! Imagine if humans matured as fast as dogs. The mind boggles.
I’ll also leave you with this recent piece by Defector’s Drew Magary, “The Finish Line is in Sight.” He perfectly captures how I feel right now.
We’re close, we really are. Until then, stay safe, and keep making time to listen.
~KH
3/12/2021
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