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Gord Sinclair Questions: - Printable Version

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Gord Sinclair Questions: - chagrinfalls - 08-07-2017

the bends Wrote:For me one of the magnet themes from the Hip is the inevitability of chaos and the possibility of happy. No compromise it just happens.

I've been hypnotized by the bends' phrase 'magnet themes' & I'm trying to write something about it. I'm having some trouble finding my way into & thru the idea, but at the moment I'm thoroughly parked in 'Grace Too' & I have some questions I can't answer. So if you have suggestions or answers, I'd appreciate hearing them.

Turns out it might be all about Gord S, lol. I mean, is that him--is that the bass--that is the opening guitar riff of 'Grace Too'? The central riff, you could say, the dark heart about which the rest of the song spins. The magnet that draws everything else to it--is that Gord S's bass?

& if it is, are there other songs you can think of where the bass seems to be central to what's going on, or where what you notice about the music/song in fact turns out to be the sound Gord S is making with his bass?

Also. How would you describe Gord S's role in 'Scared' & "Locked in The Trunk of a Car'? Where is the bass, where do you notice it, what role is it playing etc. Whatever you think of.

I'm not a musician & I find it hard to distinguish what each of the guys in the band is contributing--is that guitar? Is it bass? Is it more cowbell? It's always just sort of been a gorgeous wash of music that acted as background to Gord's voice & words. But I realize in the same way that a magnet acts invisibly, the work of each of the musicians in the band is contributing a powerful riptide pull in the Hip's work.

I am looking forward to hearing any & all ideas & tangents. cheers!

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - potsie - 08-07-2017

I think Day for Night is in the running for best "bass album" in the Hip catalogue. GS plays a huge role in making that my favourite Hip album, from the hypnotic groove of Grace, Too, through the funky bass line in Thugs. The thin, metallic sound of the drums in that latter song stand in stark contrast to what is really a monstrous bass line. I wouldn't call it his best bass part (I would reserve label that for Grace, Too), but can't think of a Hip song that GS "propels" better than Thugs.

Yawning or Snarling is another DFN song where GS really shines. There are several lines in that song that evoke temperature (throbbing bladder of light/glaring bladder of light/t-shirts off/chilled to the tips of your fingers) and it's really Gord's bass part that makes me "feel" those temperatures.

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - Escape@Hand - 08-08-2017

Blow at High Dough was the first song that came to my mind that has a driving bass line that is central to the song. Courage and At Transformation are two others, in my mind, with prominent bass lines.

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - robbroncs - 08-08-2017

you could say the same for Nautical....it's definitely bass driven, the same way as Grace.

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - potsie - 08-08-2017

Escape@Hand Wrote:Blow at High Dough was the first song that came to my mind that has a driving bass line that is central to the song. Courage and At Transformation are two others, in my mind, with prominent bass lines.

Love the "fuzz bass" in At Transformation. That song has a great opening.

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - NWOntario - 08-08-2017

I see no one's mentioned "Thugs" yet.

So, I'm mentioning "Thugs."

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - sean.bonner - 08-08-2017

NWOntario Wrote:I see no one's mentioned "Thugs" yet.

So, I'm mentioning "Thugs."

potsie Wrote:through the funky bass line in Thugs.

So people just want to watch the world burn.

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - emperor penguin - 08-08-2017

I think his work on the album Man Machine Poem is also some of his finest work. The songs Hot Mic, and Here in the Dark come to mind.

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - chagrinfalls - 08-08-2017

potsie Wrote:I think Day for Night is in the running for best "bass album" in the Hip catalogue. GS plays a huge role in making that my favourite Hip album, from the hypnotic groove of Grace, Too, through the funky bass line in Thugs. The thin, metallic sound of the drums in that latter song stand in stark contrast to what is really a monstrous bass line. I wouldn't call it his best bass part (I would reserve label that for Grace, Too), but can't think of a Hip song that GS "propels" better than Thugs.

Yawning or Snarling is another DFN song where GS really shines. There are several lines in that song that evoke temperature (throbbing bladder of light/glaring bladder of light/t-shirts off/chilled to the tips of your fingers) and it's really Gord's bass part that makes me "feel" those temperatures.

jesus lord, after reading yer comment I am listening to 'day for night' right now & hearing a whole new album, lol. I wish I had more skill at distinguishing bass from guitars, because I realize there is so much going on there but I can't tell who's doing what.

Part of what pulls me into their music is the way in my favourite songs they're telling at least 2 stories at once, like a lie but also the truth, or maybe the backstory & an unexpected future, maybe what the character says but then also what she's actually thinking, etc. Like all their great songs have currents & undercurrents. I've always attributed that to Gord's skill with words & delivery, but I realize some of that sense of story-&-understory may be about the musical collaboration of the two Gords--Gord S is using his bass to deliver a narrative that compliments & contradicts Gord's voice, & the other way around as well, Gord is singing with & against the baseline.

Endlessly fascinating, this band. I've just hit the part in 'thugs' where the smoke spontaneously combusts into allout fire, lol, so I'm gonna go crank it. If any other tangents or ideas cross yer mind, please do add them here. I definitely realize I want to try to track down some interviews where Gord S does a lot of talking & see what he has to say about the sound they create together.

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - carebread - 08-08-2017

Put It Off, for sure.

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - spottrax - 08-09-2017

Sinclair's bass parts are the unsung strength of The Hip. Nice to see a thread devoted to it. Talent and super-creative, it defines the band in so many ways....

My Fave's:

1) Springtime in Vienna
2) At Transformation
3) Grace Too (try playing it correctly sometime....it's badass!)
4) Escape At The Hand For The Traveling Man
5) Gems

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - rocketsan22 - 08-09-2017

No sh!t, "Streets Ahead" - infectious groovy bass line

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - thebends - 08-10-2017

Yawning or Snarling.

Captures so much of the mood of Day for Night. The intro bass riff quickly immersed by Robs guitar slide and then Pauls understated but perfect fitting support. Then the lyrics:

One day in El Paso
The cops go into the crowd
Under a glaring bladder of light
And the music is so loud
And the tourists take their T-Shirts off
A busload of kids gives you the finger
Afternoon when the sidewalk's hot
And the shadows too chilly to linger
Walk past damaged goods and ugly trends
Past a strawman making a purchase
Downtown where the river bends
They're just waiting for you to resurface
Take a look at this photograph
Clearly his teeth were bared
He coulda been yawning or snarling
The story was never clear
One night in El Paso
The cops go into the crowd
Under a throbbing bladder of light
And the music is just so loud
And the tourists turn their TV's off
And a bat sees a bug with the sound of a linger
Night time when the shadows cough
And you're chilled to the tips of your fingers
Walk past damaged goods and ugly trends
Past ol' strawman making a purchase
Downtown where the river bends
They're just waiting for you to resurface
Take a look at this photograph
Clearly his teeth were bared
He coulda been yawning or snarling
He coulda been anywhere

Genius!

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - Tthip - 08-10-2017

thebends Wrote:Yawning or Snarling.

I love this song. Definitely my top ten of Hip tunes

Re: Gord Sinclair Questions: - chagrinfalls - 08-10-2017

I've fallen into the baseline....& I don't wanna swim.

I've been working my way thru the songs you all have suggested, & I can't tell if I've lost perspective or found it: it's starting to seem like a lot of their...best songs? most popular songs? my favourites? the songs with legs...derive a great deal of their power & mystery from the contributions of Gord S.

Yesterday I was tidying up my bedroom with 'Yawning or Snarling' playing next door in the livingroom (on repeat, of course, lol). I put my hand up onto the wall to reach the high shelf & realized the wall was vibrating. It was Gord S. And I was hearing--or feeling--him & his bass with my paw. Gord S on the bass is delivering vibration--invisible but impossible to miss nonetheless. & in that vibration, the bass is a stand-in for another human voice. The same way I feel Gord S's bass rumbling thru my sternum, I also feel Gord's voice there--& my own. To me, that makes some of their songs at least an audible conversation--a dialogue--between 2 voices--Gord's vocals & Gord S's bass.

I've been thinking more about what exactly that voice from Gord S is saying. Thematically--& maybe this is the 'magnet theme' in the Hip, for me--I feel like this is what Gord S's bass says to me in the songs I love most:

YOU DON"T KNOW THE HALF OF IT.

Like whatever narrative Gord is exploring vocally, Gord S's bass is swimming just under the surface of it with the haunting backstory or the frightening outcome or the story Gord is so enigmatically hinting at. "Don't let it frighten you", Gord S's bass says, "but there's something in the water". The bass is the language & voice of the unknown. I mean, it could be a shipwreck down there in the depths, or a mermaid. Maybe a perfect pearl. But it could also be, in songs like 'Scared' & 'Grace Too' & 'Locked in the Trunk of a Car', crimes & horror & fear & pain beyond your capacity to imagine.

Considering how much some of these songs carry their undercurrents, dwell beneath the surface, it starts to feel like this isn't an accident:

[Image: CphNDFQWcAAwDPc.jpg]

It kinda sums up "what lurks beneath the surface", which is that running magnet theme in so much of their work. & hard to imagine I could listen to 'Grace Too' thousands of times without realizing, but I think Gord S is delivering a whole lot of that reference to what's unknown or unknowable.

I love the way the band & their songs contain so many secrets, can hold onto them for years & then release them, or you stumble upon one, or uncover one, when you're not expecting it.