Today I’m sharing 3 musical observations that I’ve noticed over the past week.
First up is a chart on the percentage of number one singles with a key change by year.
I’m so used to being surprised at a key change if I hear it in today’s music, that I find it hard to imagine that about 1 in 3 of the top songs on the billboard charts having them back in the 60s and early 70s.
Second is this great video of producer, Rick Rubin, showing Sir Paul McCartney the individually recorded tracks—or “stems”—from All Star by Smash Mouth.
All Star gets a lot of hate as that cheesy, quirky song from Shrek. But I’ve always had a soft spot for it.
I feel vindicated seeing how much Rubin loves the song, and seeing Paul’s overwhelmingly positive reaction. It really is a great song!
Finally, I wrote earlier this year about how I’ve been reading historical fiction novels about the life of Genghis Khan. Well, I recently found a band that combines traditional Mongolian music (including guttural throat singing) with heavy metal. They’re called The Hu, and their music is unlikely anything I’ve heard before. They’re playing a concert here in London in December and I’m considering going to see what their live show is like.