Nothing de-stresses me than listening to songs that have lovely instrumention and arrangement, especially ones that only musical instrument players can truly appreciate. We break away from the usual guitar heavy / synth heavy music to a more unplugged, acoustic style . This week, we have my top 5 favorite songs that have that lush feel in them featuring your not so typical musical instruments found in a pop song –
1. A Big Yes and a Small No – Composure
We begin the list with something a bit on the jazzy side. When things go jazzy – it’s all about the instruments. Of course nothing does it better for me than a bit of wire brushes on the drums coupled with a touch of the vibraphone. Throw in some harmonious vocals, piano and guitar – you’ve got a nice, easygoing song that’s cool on the ears. Despite it being a breakup song, anyone having this song dedicated to them would be too entranced with the beatiful melody to notice the message it’s trying to deliver. It’s probably one way to let them down easy.
2. Ra Ra Riot – Winter ’05
Strings make a love song sweeter it seems. The heartbeat of a drum, a cello and a violin is all Ra Ra Riot needs to capture person’s longing during the Winter of ’05 in a grand, romantic kind of way.
3. Parenthetical Girls – Avenue of Trees
Have I mentioned how I love glockienspiels in songs? I do. This song not only has the glockenspiel, but a whole multitude of musical instruments playing as the song progresses. What you get in the end is a feeling of whimsy, with a mini orchestra of violins and an assortment of wind instruments playing in the background.
4. Jens Lekman – And I Remember Every Kiss
I’ve already included this song in one of my lists as a perfect song to serenade someone with. It’s also one of my favorites if you talk about lush instrumentation. Jens Lekman pulls all the stops here with an orchestra backing him up – strings, timpanis, fanfare and all.
5. Chasing Dorotea – All I Want
Compared to some of the other songs in my list, this one has a much simpler arrangement to it – but with a little touch of the trumpets accompanying the guitars, it makes this sweet sweet love song have that lush feel.
artwork : a Threadless tee by Joshuah Howard