Occasionally, this blog is relevant―like really really relevant. Topical too. Like when a new Radiohead drops, and the hot new beats widget is up within the week!
Track 2 off King of Limbs is a syncopated little Mixolydian tune called “Morning Mr Magpie”. Here is a little loop of the first couple measures to give you the basic idea. (I trust the Head won’t begrudge these Doggies, as the entire album is up on youtube.)
So here’s the breakdown of that fucked up farce of a 4/4 beat. Though there is really no bass drum in the song, a muted guitar taps the samba feel and the tonic throughout (as represented by the “kick” below). The hi-hats bounce along the off-beats (also called up-beats, or feminine beats) and often synch up with the kick drums. The snare drums strike alone on the 3’s and 4’s, as snare drums are wont to do in rock ‘n’ roll (isn’t it still?). The 3 and 4 are the classic “pah” of a boom-pah beat, or the “cats” in “boots & cats”. Believe it or not, there’s actually only one quaver rest (a 1/16 note of silence) in the whole beat, right in between the first two hi-hats.
Throw them all together and you get this crazy compin’ off-beat samba groove. Click on the score to turn on/off.
Try it on your laps at home if you dare, using the membranophones of your very own body.
Who needs songs when you got beats this good?
if you like syncopated beats, check out this label night slugs. http://rougesfoam.blogspot.com/2011/01/artl-night-slugs.html
Yeah this song has been infuriating me since I downloaded this album. On my first listen thru I didn’t quite get the beat sorted, now it’s carved into my brain with the hi-hats on the down beats, and the snares an up-beat short. I have yet to have the song fall properly into beat in my head. So by all right, I don’t really know what it sounds like :P
I had the same problem with Analyze from Thom Yorke’s Eraser album. The version floating around on P2P networks (I know, shame on me) had the first half second or so chopped off, so I ‘learned’ the song in my head incorrectly. To this day I really have to focus to hear it properly right when it starts. Listening to the live version helped a LOT as it was not quite so busy.
But yeah, just wanted to say thanks. Didn’t figure there was anyone as dorky as me who would actually put together info on how this beat is actually supposed to fall. I was pleasantly surprised!!