Joe Bunting

Zen Musicianship

I don’t like music with too much going on. There are two main culprits of musical oppression: the drummer and the guitarists. When the distorted guitars become the Berlin wall, the drum cymbals sound like a level 5 hurricane off the coast of of Belize, and the only reason you can hear the singer is because the volume is at 100 dB, I feel assaulted.

Maybe I feel this way because first and foremost I’m a singer-songwriter. Good lyrics and a well voiced melody are the musical elements that really pump me up.

However, I know there are plenty of people that love complexity. I have a friend (drummer) who’s favorite musicians are the metal band Children of Bodom and Mozart. He loves those little details in the music. I couldn’t really care.

Every once in a while though, an insturmental gem gets stuck under my skin.

Last night I was on my way to LAX when my roommate (keyboardist) turned on “Dashboard” by Modest Mouse. I was blown away by the musical complexity, yet overall subtlety, of the song. While there was never a point of overpowering “noise,” I noticed 4 different keyboard sounds, horns, strings (I don’t know if they were real or MIDI, but they worked), two rythm guitar solos, and 3 seconds of shaker. The drums were good but never overbearing. The back-up vocals were co-ordinated to perfection.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it took more than 100 hours of studio time for that one song. All in all, a subtly awesome musical experience.

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