"Sundown Syndrome" | ||||
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Single by Tame Impala | ||||
B-side | "Remember Me" | |||
Released | 30 June 2009 | |||
Recorded | March 2009 | |||
Studio | Toe Rag Studios (London) | |||
Genre | Psychedelic rock | |||
Length | 5:50 | |||
Label | Modular Recordings | |||
Songwriter(s) | Kevin Parker | |||
Producer(s) | Kevin Parker, Liam Watson | |||
Tame Impala singles chronology | ||||
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"Sundown Syndrome" is the debut single by Tame Impala, released as a single in 2009. Its B-side was a cover of the Blue Boy song "Remember Me". The title "Sundown Syndrome" refers to a neurological phenomenon called sundowning.
"Sundown Syndrome" was written by Kevin Parker in the key of E major in a mostly 6
8 time signature. It is based around the repeating chords of F♯m7 and G♯m7. [1]
The song begins in 4
4 with the two above mentioned chords, while the drums are loose and jazzy and have flange added to them. It then changes to 6
8 time with a looser strumming pattern. [2]
The verse comes soon after, with basic strums of the chords and occasional fills played on electric guitar. A kazoo then comes in, which some people mistook for a fuzz guitar, to play a solo in the E major scale over the same F♯m7, G♯m7 chord progression. [2]
Another verse featuring the same previous structure, and another kazoo solo in the same E major scale return again. This gives way to a chorus using the barre chord progression of D♭ major, G♭ major, E major, B major, G♭ major and D♭ major. The chorus is in 6
8 time, but switches to one bar of 4
4 at the end of every chord progression, and four bars of 4
4 at the end of every chorus. Parker's vocals are heavily reverbed and delayed to give it a spacy atmosphere. [2]
A bridge in 6
8 time comes next, with simple strums of the chords F♯m7, G♯m7, F♯m7, A major and E major. A heavily phased, jazzy guitar solo using the E major scale comes in over the F♯m7, G♯m7 chord progression. [1]
The chorus comes back, and then a variation of the chorus barre chord progression on a phased guitar is played by itself, this time with just D♭ major, G♭ major and E major with occasional glissando slides between the chords. After a few bars of the guitar on its own, the chorus vocals come back over the top with occasional quiet bass fills. The chorus then comes back to its original form with the full band, and is extended longer than before. [1]
The song ends the way it started, in 4
4 with the strumming of the F♯m7 and G♯m7 chords. A barred C♯ major chord with guitar feedback completely ends the song. [2]
Both "Sundown Syndrome" and "Remember Me" were recorded at Toe Rag Studios in London, UK with Liam Watson in March 2009. [3] Parker later recalled "There was no-one really doing any producing, we just played [Sundown Syndrome] how it was destined to be played and then Liam recorded it and just did his thing. We just wanted to do the Toerag thing basically and it was a really awesome experience, the sound he gets at Toerag are amazing its like no other studio in the world both visually and sonically." [4]
"Sundown Syndrome" was later featured on the soundtrack for 2010 film The Kids Are All Right [5] and was also included on the Ministry of Sound compilation album Chillout Sessions XII. [6] "Sundown Syndrome" and "Remember Me" were later re-released on the deluxe edition of Innerspeaker . [7] "Remember Me" came in at number 78 in the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2009. [8]
"Sundown Syndrome" was added to Tame Impala's set in 2009, and was played through 2010. In 2011, it was not performed as regularly. It was performed for the first time in several years at the Panorama festival in 2017. [9] A performance of "Sundown Syndrome" was filmed for the 2009 Summer Sonic Festival, [2] and a live version was later released on their live album Live at the Corner . [10]
"Remember Me" has been performed as far back as 2008, and is still occasionally played as of 2011 [update] . It was added to their set with the addition of Jay Watson on drums because the song fit his drumming style. [11] In 2010, Tame Impala incorporated a quiet outro where Parker loops his vocals and experiments with effects while Dominic Simper plays synth chords. Parker was an instant fan of the song when he saw a music video for it on Australian music television program Rage at the age of 11. [12]
An altered chord is a chord that replaces one or more notes from the diatonic scale with a neighboring pitch from the chromatic scale. By the broadest definition, any chord with a non-diatonic chord tone is an altered chord. The simplest example of altered chords is the use of borrowed chords, chords borrowed from the parallel key, and the most common is the use of secondary dominants. As Alfred Blatter explains, "An altered chord occurs when one of the standard, functional chords is given another quality by the modification of one or more components of the chord."
Jazz harmony is the theory and practice of how chords are used in jazz music. Jazz bears certain similarities to other practices in the tradition of Western harmony, such as many chord progressions, and the incorporation of the major and minor scales as a basis for chordal construction. In jazz, chords are often arranged vertically in major or minor thirds, although stacked fourths are also quite common. Also, jazz music tends to favor certain harmonic progressions and includes the addition of tensions, intervals such as 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths to chords. Additionally, scales unique to style are used as the basis of many harmonic elements found in jazz. Jazz harmony is notable for the use of seventh chords as the basic harmonic unit more often than triads, as in classical music. In the words of Robert Rawlins and Nor Eddine Bahha, "7th chords provide the building blocks of jazz harmony."
Jazz chords are chords, chord voicings and chord symbols that jazz musicians commonly use in composition, improvisation, and harmony. In jazz chords and theory, most triads that appear in lead sheets or fake books can have sevenths added to them, using the performer's discretion and ear. For example, if a tune is in the key of C, if there is a G chord, the chord-playing performer usually voices this chord as G7. While the notes of a G7 chord are G–B–D–F, jazz often omits the fifth of the chord—and even the root if playing in a group. However, not all jazz pianists leave out the root when they play voicings: Bud Powell, one of the best-known of the bebop pianists, and Horace Silver, whose quintet included many of jazz's biggest names from the 1950s to the 1970s, included the root note in their voicings.
"Sun King" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album Abbey Road. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it is the second song of the album's climactic medley. Like other tracks on the album the song features lush multi-tracked vocal harmonies, provided by Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
In jazz, a turnaround is a passage at the end of a section which leads to the next section. This next section is most often the repetition of the previous section or the entire piece or song.
"All the Things You Are" is a song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Jazz improvisation is the spontaneous invention of melodic solo lines or accompaniment parts in a performance of jazz music. It is one of the defining elements of jazz. Improvisation is composing on the spot, when a singer or instrumentalist invents melodies and lines over a chord progression played by rhythm section instruments and accompanied by drums. Although blues, rock, and other genres use improvisation, it is done over relatively simple chord progressions which often remain in one key.
In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads".
Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parker, Dominic Simper, Jay Watson, Cam Avery, and Julien Barbagallo. The group has a close affiliation with fellow Australian psychedelic rock band Pond, sharing members and collaborators, including Nick Allbrook, formerly a live member of Tame Impala. Originally signed to Modular Recordings, Tame Impala is now signed to Interscope Records in the United States and Fiction Records in the United Kingdom.
The I–V–vi–IV progression is a common chord progression popular across several genres of music. It uses the I, V, vi, and IV chords of a musical scale. For example, in the key of C major, this progression would be C–G–Am–F. Rotations include:
Musicians use various kinds of chord names and symbols in different contexts to represent musical chords. In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and its corresponding symbol typically indicate one or more of the following:
"I'm Not the One" is a song by the American rock band the Cars, from their fourth album, Shake It Up. It features Ric Ocasek on lead vocals, Benjamin Orr singing the 'you know why' phrase, and the whole group repeating "going round and round" as backing vocals throughout the song.
Innerspeaker is the debut studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala, released on 21 May 2010 by Modular Recordings. The album was recorded and produced by musician Kevin Parker at a remote beach shack in Western Australia during the summer of 2009, who also wrote every track on it except for the interlude after "The Bold Arrow of Time".
Lonerism is the second studio album by Australian musical project Tame Impala, released on 5 October 2012 by Modular Recordings. Like the band's debut studio album, Innerspeaker (2010), Lonerism was written, recorded, performed, and produced by Kevin Parker, with live member Jay Watson contributing on two tracks. Recorded mostly in Perth, Australia, and Paris, France, Lonerism builds on the psychedelic sound of its predecessor and features fewer guitars and more synthesisers and samples. Parker attempted to incorporate his love for pop music into his songwriting for the record through catchier melodies. Many tracks feature ambient sounds recorded by Parker with a dictaphone. The album's theme of isolation is reflected in the album cover, featuring an image of a fenced-off Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.
"Half Full Glass of Wine" is a song by Tame Impala, released in 2008 on their self-titled second EP. The song was later featured in the end credits for the show Entourage, season 7, episode 3 on July 18, 2010. "Half Full Glass of Wine" came in at number 75 in the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2008.
"Solitude is Bliss" is a song by Tame Impala, released as a single in April 2010. It was recorded during the sessions for the Innerspeaker album in 2009, and released as the first single from that album. The single features artwork from Australian artist Leif Podhajsky, who also created the artwork for Innerspeaker and the follow-up Lonerism. "Solitude Is Bliss" came in at number 33 in the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2010.
"Lucidity" is a song by Tame Impala, released as a single in 2010. It was recorded during the sessions for the Innerspeaker album in 2009, and released as the second single from that album. The single features artwork from Australian artist Leif Podhajsky, who also created the artwork for Innerspeaker and the follow-up Lonerism. "Lucidity" came in at number 74 in the Triple J Hottest 100 in 2010.
"Expectation" is a song by Tame Impala, released as a single in 2010. It was recorded during the sessions for the Innerspeaker album in 2009, and released as the third single from that album. The single features artwork from Australian artist Leif Podhajsky, who also created the artwork for Innerspeaker and the follow-up Lonerism.
"Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind?" is a song by the Australian band Tame Impala, released as a single in 2011. It was recorded during the sessions for the Innerspeaker album in 2009, and released as the fourth single from that album. The single features artwork from Australian artist Leif Podhajsky, who also created the artwork for Innerspeaker and the follow-up Lonerism.