Melodica Watch May 2011

Annoying, unfairly discounted (man, instrument, respectively)

During my brief period of melodica-ownership, I noticed most people reacted to it as kind of a joke. Fair enough, I suppose; it’s got these silly little keys, and sounds kind of honky and funny. And given the way I played the melodica, it kind of was a joke.
    But the melodica in the right hands is a wonderful, dynamic little instrument. Sure you can’t tune it, but to banish it to “quirky for the sake of quirky” along with instruments like the moonshine jug or the timpani is only doing yourself a great disservice. I’m going to stop short of saying that a mutual love of the melodica brought reggae musicans and post-punk musicians together, resulting in the white-hot dubstep of today-- but that’s probably true if you’re willing to overlook things like chronology.

Four songs I’ve been listening to lately that prominently feature the melodica: 

1.    New Order—Love Vigilantes. from Low-Life
2.    Bob Marley- Sun Is Shining. from African Herbsman.
3.    Television Personalities—A Day in Heaven. from Mummy You’re Not Watching Me
4.    Gang of Four- 5.45. from Entertainment!

NOTE: GANG OF FOUR WAS CAUGHT BY SOUNDCLOUD AS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. AS SUCH IT DOES NOT APPEAR ON THIS MIX. MY BAD. SORRY, GANG OF FOUR
Melodica Watch 5/31 by benj