Cozy Rocket

First let’s start with the song. All I ask is that you listen through the first 1 minute and 36 seconds of it (after that you’re free to stop it and read the rest of the post). During the playback, pay attention to a drum solo that starts around the 1:29 mark; be careful because it’s only around 6 seconds long so you might miss it.

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So what’s so special about the song? Well the song itself is a Winstons production that didn’t really garner much attention. The drum solo on the other hand has pretty much left its mark on the world of music in ways that you would never expect. The drum solo has been cut, remixed, sampled, and incorporated into so many songs that there’s a chance you’ve listened to it in a modified form at least once this year; if not in an actual song, then in a track created for a commercial or TV show. There’s a good video about the “Amen Break” (as it has come to be called) on YouTube, it’s a bit long yet the first few minutes offer some good insight into the Amen Break. The link for the video is: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac.

Can you believe that I’ve met individuals who believe that Axel F was created by the people behind Crazy Frog? I’m not sure what the recipe for their success was, but I bet it went something along the lines of “80’s Hit” + “CGI” + “Helium induced voice” = “Mad Ca$h”. I’m still shaking my head in disbelief. In the meantime, here’s the original.

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Hope you enjoyed Recycle Week!

Chances are you’ve heard Dick Dale’s Misirlou recently - if not through The Black Eyed Peas Pump It, then through the oh-so-popular Pulp Fiction Movie Soundtrack (Track 1 to be exact). Dick Dale’s rendition of Misirlou actually has its roots in Greek and Middle Eastern Music, according to the Fender Players Club:

“Misirlou” has unusual origins for a seminal piece in American rock. Its roots are in Middle Eastern music, and it was a 1940s pop hit in Turkey (and a Greek folk dance) two decades before Dick revived and reinvented the piece in 1962 — when he gave it a high energy twist by performing it on electric guitar with his band, the Del-Tones. It was rediscovered in the ‘90s when it appeared as a leading cut from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. …

The central focus of the piece is a classic case of a linear melody played solely on one string, which favors the tremolo picking attack. The scale of the theme melody has a decidedly ethnic sound, which gives “Misirlou” its haunting Middle Eastern quality. Called a “synthetic scale” in our Western culture, it has an unusual symmetrical layout which uses two augmented second intervals and four minor second intervals in its structure.

You can read more about the melody and tuning here, and of course you can listen to the track here at Cozy Rocket.

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For those who have heard Coolio’s Gangsta Paradise, Stevie Wonder’s Pastime Paradise should be eerily familiar. Not only is the main composition used as an essential part of Gangsta Paradise, the chorus passes along almost untouched with the exception of “Pastime Paradise” being swapped out with “Gangsta Paradise”. The songs are lyrically different, but I think it is fair to say that the latter would be nothing without the original.

As a side note, there was some backlash from the Coolio camp after “Weird Al” Yankovic’s Amish Paradise gained popularity. According to the Amish Paradise Wikipedia article:

“Although Yankovic traditionally secures permission from the artists he parodies (even though this is not legally required), and was told by his record label that Coolio had given permission, Coolio later claimed that he had not given such permission. This created a minor controversy, as speculation surfaced that Coolio had actually given permission but later claimed he hadn’t in the fear that allowing the parody wouldn’t be seen as “cool,” or that Yankovic’s record label lied to Yankovic in the hopes that the song would become popular. Yankovic later stated on VH-1’s Behind the Music that he had written a sincere letter of apology to Coolio which was never returned, and that Coolio never complained when he received his royalty check from proceeds of the song.”

…pretty ironic indeed. Regardless, here’s the Stevie Wonder original in all it’s aural splendor.

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Here’s a good article I found while looking for a CPU liquid cooling DIY on Tom’s Hardware. The article is a brief introduction to audio sampling and the software and hardware tools used in audio sampling. While reading the article, I came across the following quote:

“A classic formula for an unoriginal hip hop track would be to take an old funk record, make a loop, throw it over a 2 bar hip hop beat, and repeat for that 5 minutes. People who do this are the reason that sampling is seen as stealing, unmusical, and unoriginal. This is one of the most common, and in my opinion least extraordinary uses of sampling.”

So the article fits perfectly with the entire Recycle Week! philosophy. It also makes mention of the “Amen Break” used as backdrops to numerous Hip Hop and Jungle tracks. Alright, so enough talk, here’s the link for your reading pleasure: Tom’s Hardware - A brief introduction to sampling audio.

Enya’s Boadicea has been sampled in Ready or Not by the Fugees and just recently by Mario Winans in I Don’t Wanna Know. I’m not entirely sure what the inspiration behind the song is, but world history does tell of a Queen Boadicea of Norfolk (Eastern Britain) who led a major uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. Upon the death of her husband Prasutagus (circa 60), the Romans annexed his kingdom and brutally humiliated Boadicea and her daughters, spurring her leadership of the revolt.

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I came across this site a few years back and was glad to see that it was still up and running. The site used to be located at www.members.accessus.net/~xombi/intro.html, but now has a new home at the-breaks.com.

So what’s so great about the site? Well, it is pretty much the largest collection of sampled music that I’ve ever come across. And by “sampled”, I’m referring to the process by which artists create beats and backdrops to their songs using other songs and music. For example, Vanilla Ice’s one hit wonder “Ice Ice Baby” used Queen’s “Under Pressure” as the opening beat. Or how about Warren G’s “Regulate” which used Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin’” as the backdrop to the entire song.

On the one hand I think it’s a shame because I’m pretty sure that there are people out there that have no idea who Queen or Michael McDonald is and might believe that Vanilla Ice and Warren G where the original innovators of these tracks. I also think it’s a shame how these new artists are just recycling and reusing classic beats. On the other hand, inquiring minds might make an effort to actually research the beats used in these songs and discover some great music that might have fallen from the public’s ear.

The database is probably 90% Rap and Hip-Hop, but there are also other music genre’s represented along with Movie phrases that have been used in songs. It is a great reference for music lovers, especially those looking to rediscover some original hits and classics, so check it out.