2026 Mix 30: Getting permission from Taylor Swift and Bob Dylan, ferment in multiple regions yoked together, the future in France, and a song about a penguin
Small correction: that Bluesky thread isn't (just) outside-my-comfort-zone songs, just songs i felt like would be rewarding to share. Half the list is square down my lane, and will probably show up again my year-end roundups.
My thinking about modal rap is that it's very close to what classical composers call germ cell theory, that is, working outwards from the implications of a limited sequence of notes. And, as you say of Swift, these musical sequences are being created, in the first place, from the rapper's cadence.
Wiki:
The 1957 Encyclopédie Larousse[1] defines a cell in music as a "small rhythmic and melodic design that can be isolated, or can make up one part of a thematic context". The cell may be distinguished from the figure or motif: the 1958 Encyclopédie Fasquelle[1] defines a cell as "the smallest indivisible unit", unlike the motif, which may be divisible into more than one cell. "A cell can be developed, independent of its context, as a melodic fragment, it can be used as a developmental motif. It can be the source for the whole structure of the work; in that case it is called a generative cell."[2]
Yes I was never quite happy with “modal” because the word encompasses too many different things and gets treacherously close to the kind of in the weeds music theory that can stop astute pop analysis cold. But it does quickly convey the idea that this isn’t only simple melodic strategies, it is a much stricter system with its own distinct sound.
What’s interesting is that Taylor didn’t need her melodies to be as simple as they are at the start of her career (you may not even notice how simple they all are at that earlier stage), but she absolutely needed this simplicity to sustain her career in the direction it’s gone. So it’s not only the volume of words per song but volume of songs themselves that probably push her in this direction.
I love your continued thoughts and analysis of Taylor Swift. The Dylan comparison is apt especially when you think of how many boomers felt he was talking directly to them.
"That's it"?? 😆 That is a ton! Thanks for the food for thought!
Brevity is the something something can't remember how that goes
...the soul of wit. But not everything can be compressed into an aphorism!
Small correction: that Bluesky thread isn't (just) outside-my-comfort-zone songs, just songs i felt like would be rewarding to share. Half the list is square down my lane, and will probably show up again my year-end roundups.
Will edit!
My thinking about modal rap is that it's very close to what classical composers call germ cell theory, that is, working outwards from the implications of a limited sequence of notes. And, as you say of Swift, these musical sequences are being created, in the first place, from the rapper's cadence.
Wiki:
The 1957 Encyclopédie Larousse[1] defines a cell in music as a "small rhythmic and melodic design that can be isolated, or can make up one part of a thematic context". The cell may be distinguished from the figure or motif: the 1958 Encyclopédie Fasquelle[1] defines a cell as "the smallest indivisible unit", unlike the motif, which may be divisible into more than one cell. "A cell can be developed, independent of its context, as a melodic fragment, it can be used as a developmental motif. It can be the source for the whole structure of the work; in that case it is called a generative cell."[2]
Yes I was never quite happy with “modal” because the word encompasses too many different things and gets treacherously close to the kind of in the weeds music theory that can stop astute pop analysis cold. But it does quickly convey the idea that this isn’t only simple melodic strategies, it is a much stricter system with its own distinct sound.
What’s interesting is that Taylor didn’t need her melodies to be as simple as they are at the start of her career (you may not even notice how simple they all are at that earlier stage), but she absolutely needed this simplicity to sustain her career in the direction it’s gone. So it’s not only the volume of words per song but volume of songs themselves that probably push her in this direction.
I love your continued thoughts and analysis of Taylor Swift. The Dylan comparison is apt especially when you think of how many boomers felt he was talking directly to them.