Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Sound of Karma I

Ahh. It feels good to be back to the act of Sounding Karma. Tonight/today/this afternoon I'm going to begin a 3 part SoK where I show you a musical style that has become a phenomenon my life. Boy/girl vocal duets! Yes, if you think about it, this technique is very seldom used in rock, despite its simple nature. Contrary to common sense, it is actually quite difficult to find bands that A) do this on a regular basis and B) do it well. Here's a few that at least follow b, and some that follow a.

1. Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead

Stars is likely the most famous of the boy/girl indie darlings. With a core made up of fellow Broken Social Scene members, man and ex trade off in describing the chance meeting of two people who may just have known each other in better days.

2. The White Stripes - Rag & Bone



The White Stripes aren't exactly a typical boy/girl duet band. In fact, they're not even a boy/girl duet band at all. However, on "Rag & Bone", Jack and Meg White sing, often in spoken format, of a junk collection trip.

3. Snow Patrol - Set the Fire to the Third Bar

Snow Patrol - Set the Fire to the Third Bar


Again. Snow Patrol, not a boy/girl band. However, in Eyes Open, Snow Patrol made the wise move to take this route in "Set the Fire". It made the already glowing album even more flawless. And yes, there are degrees of flawlessness.

4. The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbor



The New Pornographers are a very weird, foreign band. I don't really care where they're from, however, as long as they're still playing good music. I've never been a huge fan of them, but I always have to appreciate them.

5. The Moldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You



Recognize this band? If you do, there's a 99.5% chance that it's because you've seen Juno. Juno's legendary soundtrack made more fans and enemies of its soundtrack than any movie in memorable history. The star of the musical show was Kimya Dawson, better known for her part in The Moldy Peaches. "Anyone Else But You" is an adowable, innocent duet between two lovers.

These five songs make up the first part of the three part SoK. Two more issues of boy/girl loveliness will come in the near future.

3 comments:

Chrono said...

Whoa, whoa, whoa... Sound of Karma? How is that differentiated from "The Videos?" Let's keep it uniform, unless you think SoK is specifically different from "The Videos."

And you put the song's name in blue... kind of tough to read with the blue background.


P.S.: Sorry for being such a nag.

Chrono said...

I hated Juno's soundtrack.

Robert Langellier said...

It was a love/hate thing.