Tuesday Tunes

It was in high school that we were made to read John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’. We were made to read the book, of course. But the novel (pun fully intended) part of the excercise for our class was when we demonstrated our understanding of the text by putting on a mock trial of George Milton. As a class we all played different roles of the characters in the book. Myself and the two other members of the debating team were the Lawyers and Judge. It was an interesting experience, and made the book stick in my head far longer than many other books I was forced to read. I was reminded of it when it came to doing this week’s blog, because I had a plan of which song and artist I was going to choose, but then I noticed that another artist I enjoy had recently released a song that needs much more love. Best laid plans …

The Song
Song: She so Fine (2019 Mix)
Artist: Rob J Madin
Album: She so Fine (2019 Mix)- 2019 - Self Published (as far as I can tell)
Method of discovery: YouTube rabbit hole

Theory: ‘She so Fine’ unapologetically slaps you in the face and doesn’t really stop hitting you. The song seems to be in Gm (Intro: Bb-F-C then Dm and D, Verse: Vamp over Gm centric Bass, I think, Chorus: Gm-Cm-D, Breakdown: Cm-Gm-D-Cm-Bb-Gm-D. Theres a keychange up a tone at the end, too). Sorry about that anlysis, I kind of phoned that one in. Mainly because I wanted to talk about the real key of the piece (Pun fully intended): space. The song has guitars, bass, drums, a plethora of percussive sounds, keys, and a few vocal tracks. It would be easy to make this cluttered, but like Lisa Simpson, I’m listening to the parts he’s not playing. Madin’s use of space, particularly to hone in on the lyrics entering the first and second verse, and in every chorus, is masterful to the point of distilling the song to it’s core message: unrequited passion. Below are the unaccompanied words:

First Verse: She got a look that can’t be touched
Second Verse: She got no idea just what she do to me
Choruses: She so Fine - She doesn’t wanna know, so she gotta go, where she gonna go?

The space is created when there is a sudden lack of music, forcing your ear to zero in on the only thing to hear - the words. By creating a busy soundscape, and then riping it out from under you, you grab onto the only thing left, which forces you to continue the listening experience. Or at least me.

Research: Rob J Madin, born in Sheffield, UK, is more popularly known as Brett Domino. Brett Domino has been making YouTube videos since 2008, has gained (as of writing) 192,738 Subscribers and over 28 million views. Rob J Madin joined YouTube in 2006, has 5690 Subscribers and almost 600 thousand views. There is certainly something to be said about presentation. But to say that his success is represented by only those figures would be completely incorrect. Madin has acted in several UK TV Series, composed music for the BBC and Comic Relief, and even written and directed adverts for brands like Kinder.

Personal thoughts: Brett Domino tickles my funny bone (humerus), but Rob J Madin tickles my musical bone (the brain). He has complete albums, and they are well worth the listen. All of the YouTube videos are worth a watch. As The Brett Domino Trio, he and Steven Peavis (and formerly Mitch Hutchinson) are among my favourite guests on ‘8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. He has studied music formally and holds a degree in Music Production. But his more personal stuff is dwarfed by his success as his Alter-Ego. I can’t help but feel the same, when I write a new song I’m really proud of, and all anybody wants to hear is the funny songs I wrote years ago. Ah well, best laid plans and all that…

Give it a go: if you want to hear something that slaps

Give it a miss: if you’re not a fan of reading into literary parallels (pun fully intended)

[links]
Spotify: She so Fine (2019), Rob J Madin, Tuesday Tunes
Madin/Domino: Website, Wikipedia, IMDB, YouTube (Madin), YouTube (Domino), Twitter
Other: Of Mice and Men (Wikipedia)