I heard there was a secret chord ...
September 17, 2010 9:13 AM   Subscribe

I need to find some transition music. My best option so far is the first 40 seconds of the intro to Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, but it's far too short. Can you help me find something with a similar sound?

Here's what I'm looking for:

- instrumental - NO VOCALS
- one person on a guitar -- very minimal, nothing lushly orchestrated
- in the American idiom (so no flamenco, please)
- moody but not melodramatic -- sad but sweet is the emotional tenor I'm looking for
- an entire album would be awesome, a single song great, a clip of a song not enough

If you've got leads on an artist, album, or specific song, that would be super-awesome. Thank you!
posted by ourobouros to Media & Arts (20 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Daniel Lanois tracks on the Sling Blade OST. Particularly Track 3 and Track 7.
posted by caek at 9:24 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]


Andrés Segovia? Not American, but classical guitarist and really stunning. Fits the rest of your criteria.

Link to youtube
posted by pintapicasso at 9:25 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]


Not that similar to Jeff Buckley at all, but given the criteria you describe, is Jack Rose worth considering?
posted by .kobayashi. at 9:27 AM on September 17, 2010


Presbyterian Guitar by John Hartford? (Link is to a decent cover by a random YouTube user; there's a live version by the man himself up there, but it's too fast.)
posted by usonian at 9:34 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]


The track We, Emmanuel Light, Love Ocean (iTunes link, can't find on YouTube) by Robin Allender.
posted by caek at 9:34 AM on September 17, 2010


Philip Glass' soundtrack to Mishima, tracks 5 and 7, "Osamu's Theme" and "Kyoko's House." Electric guitar over strings and (in the former) a drum kit. Both are melancholy with a rising feeling of urgency toward the end. Not sure if this would work for you.

Stanley Jordan seems like a good option. His second album, Standards Vol 1, probably closer overall to the emotional quality you want with numbers like Because, Sound of Silence, and One Less Bell to Answer.

Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Lenny" off of Texas Flood.

Probably lots of stuff on Ry Cooder's soundtrack to Paris, Texas
posted by adamrice at 9:37 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]


We know that 40s is far too short, what would be "just right?"
posted by rhizome at 9:38 AM on September 17, 2010


Al Petteway! (I would suggest Sligo Creek outright but there might be too much of a Ken Burns association.)
posted by Rhomboid at 9:39 AM on September 17, 2010


That 40 seconds is a pretty amazing encapsulation of John Fahey's entire body of work. Red Pony, eg.
posted by carsonb at 9:41 AM on September 17, 2010


Kaki King sings through this one track, but the rest of her first album, Everybody Loves You, fits the bill pretty well.
posted by carsonb at 9:47 AM on September 17, 2010


A lot of people recommending solo roots/folk acoustic guitar here, which I understand is not what the OP is looking for. Jeff Buckley's Grace is a schmaltzy rock song with a very particular, modern atmosphere, played solo on an electric guitar (nothing wrong with that), not pre-war-style finger picked folk.
posted by caek at 9:57 AM on September 17, 2010


Would this help?
posted by Biru at 9:57 AM on September 17, 2010


Mick Turner might also work for you. I recommend the albums Tren Phantasma and Marlan Rosa, also the 7 Angels EP. Lots of contemplative guitar work, minor intrusions of understated percussion and some harmonica at times.
posted by carsonb at 10:03 AM on September 17, 2010


Something like this?
posted by swordfishtrombones at 10:08 AM on September 17, 2010


Norman Blake's version of Man of Constant Sorrow from the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack.
posted by Acton at 10:20 AM on September 17, 2010


Bill Frisell's album Ghost Town is all solo and has the mood you're looking for, I think.
posted by neroli at 10:33 AM on September 17, 2010


Iguazu (4:55) by Gustavo Santaolalla from the Deadwood soundtrack
posted by marsha56 at 1:04 PM on September 17, 2010


Try Leo Kottke. He does a lot of instrumental tunes. The only CD of his I have is Standing in My Shoes, which includes some vocal songs. But I see that there's something called Instrumentals: Best Of The Capitol Years, which, if I'm not mistaken, might be all instrumental.
posted by booth at 1:21 PM on September 17, 2010


The Daniel Lanois tracks on the Sling Blade OST. Particularly Track 3 and Track 7.

Along the same lines, check out Daniel Lanois' 2005 album Belladonna — most of the tracks are very similar to the sound of the intro to Buckley's "Hallelujah". Not all of them are just solo guitar, but most of them have the minimalist vibe I think you're looking for. Particularly good tracks for your purposes: "Sketches", "Telco", "Carla", "The Deadly Nightshade", "Dusty", and "Panorama".
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:40 PM on September 17, 2010


Randy Rhoads' Dee.
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 2:46 PM on September 17, 2010


« Older Iranian Jewish female singer, accompanies herself...   |   radically minimalist proposal Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.