what do you hear? the retro vs. the contemporary

[andygabrys]

just for discussion sake:

what you do hear in the references that nail down the retro vibe? vs. the contemporary vibe?

I am asking cause these listings often seem to pop up, and I often go too retro. So how do you split the difference?

what I hear:

Grizzly bear "two weeks" - reverb on piano, and beach boys Bg vocals, and kinda Beach Boys lead vocal. fairly dry dead drums (like 70's)

The Morning Benders "cold war" - timpani. And strummy acoustic guitar like that reminds of Jose Feliciano or something. Yet the claps are a modern feel?

Cat Power "ruin" - octave disco bassline. Latin-esque piano that sounds like Arthur Lyman's version of Hawaii Five-O theme. Dryer more upfront vocal and kick drum?

for this listing:

CONTEMPORARY INDIE ROCK SONGS in the stylistic wheelhouse of “Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear, “Cold War” by The Morning Benders, “Ruin” by Cat Power, etc., are needed by the Creative Director at a HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL Nashville-based Music Publishing Company for a bunch of Film/TV placements. Quoting the company: “We‟re looking for songs that will be able to find their way onto a TV show or Feature Film. We want something SUPER CATCHY, and SUPER INDIE.” Your songs must be COMMERCIAL and VERSATILE enough to fit within a wide variety of scenarios. They‟re looking for ORIGINAL songs that have a TRUE INDIE aesthetic. HONEST and COMPELLING vocal performances are a MUST HAVE for this pitch. MALE or FEMALE vocals will BOTH work for this. MID-to-UPTEMPOS will work best. Be sure your lyrics are UNIVERSAL and are pretty PG-Rated! Broadcast quality is needed (excellent home recordings are fine.) You must own or control 100% of your composition and master recording. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD, include lyrics. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than Friday, March 29, 2013. TAXI #S130329IR

[lucis]

This is probably a bit late for today's deadline Andy...but...here goes my 10c worth...with my forwards record...(NOT)...that's probably an inflation of it worth !

When I listened a few times to these artists....I agree with your 'sonic'/production analysis...with only minor additions
Grizzly Bear: ..distorted, 'punchy' bass line
Cat Power keyboard riff..reminded me also of Rider's on The Storm' the Doors.
..but those are minor...
When reading the listing...I was drawn to the word 'songs'....so on listening again I paid attention to the quirkiness of the melody lines across all three songs...with Cat Power being the most 'quirky'....the rhythmical structures of the top lines...and where they start and end in counts of 8 main pulses.
Grizzly Bear's: the note range of the verse and chorus : from scattered to compact
The Morning Benders: rhythm pattern moves from scattered and extended in the Vs..to a focused top line more driven by the cliched rhythm pattern for the ch.
they both used what you call "beech Boy" bv's to extend the melody.

Cat Power's Melody is most complex..interesting(?)...very rambling rhythmically but with a sliding or surging flow in the notes...like a groovy bass line..(??? which becomes shorter, more predicable and repetitive..for the ch.

the vocal presentations are all very soft and airy and cool without a depth of passion or feeling....more focused on the notes and the lyric...or word flow....! I'm not sure if there is any story telling ...maybe in Cat Power. ( Which might be in what Ralph Murphy calls 'Rhondo' form ?....i'm not sure....but it ends flow with the repetition of the title...as a refrain (?) ).

good luck

Lucis

[melodymessiah]

i think what they mean is that you need to mix the retro VIBE with contemporary SOUND/PRODUCTION.