NOEXTEHO

Maybe you know me. Maybe I've mentioned how I don't usually listen to the words in songs. If I did, I'm sorry because this is not entirely true. I listen to the words, and sometimes I even pay attention to their meaning. But usually, I only listen to their sound and rhythm, ignoring any and all meaning.

Recently, Pitchfork* turned me onto Charles Spearin's The Happiness Project (you can listen to it if you follow that link), which just so happens to be an album of music made from the inherent musicality of speech. Considering the fact that it was from a Broken Social Scene member, I had my doubts**, but this turned out to be a surprisingly wonderful album. I think the Pitchfork review tosses around the word "conceptual" a few times (and compared to a BSS album, I suppose it would be "conceptual") but I would definitely put this more in the "musical" department over the "conceptual" one.

Anyway, got me thinking about what other music uses the musicality of speech. Two things popped into my head immediately: Paul Lansky*** and Boards of Canada. This is a great pairing, too, because Paul Lansky's work falls more in the conceptual (actually: academic) realm than Charles Spearin, while Boards Of Canada fall more in the musical (actually: pop?) realm.

First, let's check out Boards Of Canada, since you've probably already heard them. Not all of their songs deal with the music of speech, but a few do. Perhaps my favorite is Telephasic Workshop. (That link leads to a crappy Youtube video, but at least you can listen to the song.) This song extracts and manipulates the rhythmic nature of speech, working it somewhat subtly into the mix. And I love it to death.

On the other end of the spectrum, we've got Mr. Lansky. Here's a link to some samples of his work. If you haven't already done so, go there now and check out Now And Then. Unlike Telephasic Workshop, which fit the speech to the music, Now And Then fits the music to the speech. Or, for exquisite examples of songs that fit the speech to the music (or perhaps where the speech creates the music), check out Idle Chatter, Notjustmoreidlechatter, and Idle Chatter Junior. (By the way, if you like Paul Lansky's stuff, chances are high that you'll like Nico Muhly's Mothertongue.)

Now there are a few others who I think have dealt with speech and music in similar ways, but I don't know of very many, so if you've got any ideas, do please let me know!

* Yes, I still glance at their reviews from time to time. Old habits die hard

** Don't get me wrong... 7/4 (Shoreline) and some other songs off the self-titled album are TOTALLY guilty/not-guilty pleasures of mine.

*** I want to point out that Mr. Lansky made what might very well be my favorite song ever, Table's Clear, of which you can find samples on his webpage.