This week's theme isn't just starting. It's also stopping. And, in between, it's favourite songs that contain … a powerful pause
Music sweeps us up. Momentum builds, our ears adjust to its pitch, our heartbeat and breathing synchronises to its rhythm. We relax into it. We ride on its waves. We merge with it. But then suddenly, it stops.
And then it starts again. But just for a second, in that unexpected break, the heart leaps. There's a rush to the head, a whoosh in the ears. The body twitches, the brain is triggered. It's a hard-wired reaction, a green light, a trigger for fight or flight. And in that moment we are suddenly galvanised, and just a bit more alive.
It seems a simple musical trick, but is so hard to pull off with perfection. Some songs do it just once, others several times. But either way, part of this week's theme is to pick out the best examples of the powerful pause. That sudden or unexpected stop and restart doesn't have to trigger alarm. More often it can lift us, bring an emotional high, be a prelude to an unexpected phrase, bring a dramatic turn, a comic or tragic moment, a defining nuance.
Whether as a highly produced studio effect or an instinctive moment in performance, the powerful pause plays with our hearing brain, just as stop-start animation plays with the optic nerve. But how long should the moment be? A second, two seconds, longer, or much less? How best to capture that element of drama? How long is a Pinter pause? In theatre or film it's often exaggerated, but some judge it perfectly. Meanwhile, there's Nicolas Cage …
Other than hovering in the hopefully potent gap between starting and stopping, there's also room this week to nominate many great songs that play on either or both themes. For example, we can stop in our tracks, stop the rot, and stop at nothing to pull out all the stops. And some songs cry out to others not to start, or indeed stop. And as for specific starting-related phrases, I'll not embark on that list, or I simply won't be able to cease ...
So hey, ho, let's go! Please nominate your stop-start songs in time for last orders 11pm GMT on Monday 17 February and this week's most refined restarter and regular reader, magicman, will sift and capture those many stops, starts and pauses in a list to be revealed on Thursday 20 February.
To increase the likelihood of your nomination being considered, please:
• Tell us why it's a worthy contender.
• Quote lyrics if helpful, but for copyright reasons no more than a third of a song's words.
• Provide a link to the song. We prefer Muzu or YouTube, but Spotify, SoundCloud or Grooveshark are fine.
• Listen to others people's suggestions and add yours to a collaborative Spotify playlist.
• If you have a good theme for Readers recommend, or if you'd like to volunteer to compile a playlist, please email peter.kimpton@theguardian.com or adam.boult@theguardian.com
• There's a wealth of data on RR, including the songs that are "zedded", at the Marconium. It also tells you the meaning of "zedded", "donds" and other strange words used by RR regulars.
• Many RR regulars also congregate at the 'Spill blog.
by Peter Kimpton via Music: Electronic music | theguardian.com
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