A three-year-old doesn’t intellectualize music, doesn’t hear it within any social contexts, and has no idea what’s cool and what’s not cool. That’s the best indication that we’ve done something right. “A friend of mine said that he’d been playing our album and his three-year-old daughter was dancing around the room, singing along, making up her own words, jumping around and stuff. You dance and you feel the passion, and then you can sort through the grander ideas which the music suggests. “To me, pop music is music that moves you without engaging the brain,” Kapranos explains, “and then allows you to engage the brain afterwards. charts - served to validate the band’s vision of itself as a pop group in the tradition of such leftfield acts as the Smiths and New Order, bringing adventurous ideas and challenging concepts to a mainstream audience through the undeniable power of catchy tunes. Their rapid rise at home - both “Take Me Out” and Franz Ferdinand crashed onto the upper reaches of the U.K. It makes sense that an Internet-based community would appeal to Franz Ferdinand, who adopted a populist stance from the start by articulating their mission as creating “music for girls to dance to.” And while many American bands would recoil at the idea of being viewed as a pop band, Franz Ferdinand are not only proud of the label, they’re determined to change people’s minds about the meaning of the term. People come up to me and say, ‘I downloaded your album, and I can’t wait to go out and buy it.'” “I’m not going to criticize somebody for loving music. “Downloading is a great way to find out about music,” he says. In the bridge section, Bob abandons crotchet root notes in favour of a melodic sub hook that outlines the A Dorian mode – notice how the 2-bar pattern alternates between descending and ascending lines to create interest.Kapranos credits the band’s rising popularity outside of its home country to the power of the Internet, which he views as a boon to music, as opposed to a profit-draining menace. Bach being the undisputed heavyweight champion of weaving multiple melodic lines in contrary motion (those who are curious about counterpoint should read ‘ Evening In The Palace Of Reason’ by James Gaines or – if you’re feeling brave – Douglas Hofstadder’s brain-melting ‘ Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid’ for more on the subject).Īs the intro comes to an end, the tempo slows as the band signposts the main event of ‘Take Me Out’ – the repeated guitar melody that is underpinned by solid crotchets from the bass, locking with the four-to-the-floor drumbeat. This notion of having two (or more) melodies which simultaneously move in different directions was the staple of the Baroque era, with J.S. Bassist Bob Hardy shows that he isn’t afraid of utilizing the ‘dusty end’ of the fretboard, frequently playing in the same register as the guitars. The bass and guitar both have independent parts that move in different directions, creating a series of different harmonic intervals as the intro progresses. The song’s intro actually shows an interesting musical device that seldom appears in commercial rock and pop songs – counterpoint. The lead single from the album and perhaps the band’s best-known track, ‘Take Me Out’ was Franz Ferdinand’s international breakthrough hit, combining punchy guitar hooks and a shout-along chorus with influences taken from dance music. (If any readers can think of a genuinely excellent band name then PLEASE email and I will arrange a suitable prize).Īnyway, enough of my personal grievances back in 2004 Scottish indie darlings Franz Ferdinand were achieving chart success and critical acclaim thanks to their debut album (imaginatively titled Franz Ferdinand), which won them the Mercury Music Prize, a Brit Award, a Grammy nomination and has shifted almost 4 million copies to date. The band behind ‘Take Me Out’, Franz Ferdinand, are no exception, but there’s something about naming a band after the Austrian duke whose assassination triggered the outbreak of World War 1 that’s particularly awful. U2, Coldplay, Radiohead, The Beatles, Pink Floyd – regardless of how great they may be musically and commercially the reality remains that they all are garbage. Here’s a thought to consider: all band names are terrible.
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