By pejepeine
Iva Bittová & Pavel Fajt’s brief, brilliant Morning Song, from Fred Frith’s Step Across The Border soundtrack leads us off with the strangely nostalgic sound of an electric alarm clock, which started every day for many of us last century before ringtones and smartphone jingles turned up. Iva's startling violin solo is like a vivid half-waking dream before the snooze function kicks in.
Equally nostalgic, but still every bit as powerful, is the pealing of church bells, which has alarmed, alerted, warned, summoned, celebrated, tolled tribute and exorcised demons for centuries. At 9.45am on the morning of Sunday May 2nd 1982, Virginia Astley recorded the bells at South Stoke, Oxfordshire – later using them as ambient noise on the title piece from her 1983 album From Gardens Where We Feel Secure.
From rural idyll to urban frustration with Charles Mingus’s honking, parping, wailing, impressionistic vision of George Gershwin’s standard A Foggy Day – a tune which starts out getting held up repeatedly in the snarl of fogbound traffic, before finding an empty lane and sailing merrily past the chaos, with Mal Waldron and Mingus both having fun with fantastic solos.
Sirens sound brilliant, of course, but if you haven't got one a theremin will do just fine, as The Daybreakers, garage punk kids from Iowa, demonstrate on Psychedelic Siren – an exhilarating raw, rough blast of energy.
In Frank Tashlin’s knockabout rock´n´roll comedy The Girl Can’t Help It, Ray Anthony and his Orchestra are forced to find a part for mobster’s girlfriend Jayne Mansfield. This hilarious clip features her showcasing her particular vocal talent on Rock Around The Rockpile, with a brilliant visual gag as a bonus.
The Wailing Souls’ Mr Fire Coal Man is a Studio One roots classic whose simple chugging rhythm, plaintive harmonies and righteous message are given urgency by a hand-cranked fire siren
B.T. Express’s second single Express announces itself with a train whistle before giving us a groove that’s perfectly poised between brassy late-70s funk and string-driven disco.
On Amadou and Mariam’s La Realite, the whoop of police cars forms a percussive backdrop to an urban existence that seems to be borne stoically. “It is necessary that while some sleep, others are watching. It's the sad truth But ... let's dance together.”
There’s no such acceptance in Jorja Smith’s Blue Lights , an angry, powerful song that samples Dizzee Rascal and references Mobb Deep’s equally bleak hip hop classic Shook Ones Pt II. “Blue lights should pass you by,” she pleads. But when they don’t, do you run or not?
The Steve Miller Band’s Song For Our Ancestors begins with an atmospheric abstract tapestry of deep, echoing foghorns until a guitar and organ emerge out of the mists with a stately instrumental seascape.
Ivor Cutler’s Little Black Buzzer features Ivor singing fifteen syllables of Morse code to communicate the three syllable message: “I Am Here.”
John Murphy’s In The House, In A Heartbeat nods to police sirens and cardiograph beeps, and proved such a brilliant accompaniment for the climactic scene in 28 Days Later that it was used extensively and just as effectively in the sequel.
We round off with morse blasts, staccato alarm sounds and alarms in Damaged Bug’s Cone, a cleansing torrent of dissonant energy.
The Sound The Alarm A-List Playlist:
Iva Bittová & Pavel Fajt – Morning Song
Virginia Astley – From Gardens Where We Feel Secure.
Charles Mingus – Foggy Day
Daybreakers – Psychedelic Siren
Ray Anthony and his Orchestra – Rock Around The Rockpile
The Wailing Souls – Mr Fire Coal Man
B.T. Express – Express.
Amadou & Mariam – La Realite
Jorja Smith – Blue Lights
The Steve Miller Band – Song For Our Ancestors
Ivor Cutler – Little Black Buzzer
John Murphy – In The House, In A Heartbeat
Damaged Bug – Cone
Ring My Bell B-List Playlist:
The Sweet – Blockbuster
I was obsessed with this as a little boy, and it was the siren that made it the best song in the world. Sure, it steals the riff from The Jean Genie, but Bowie didn’t have an air raid siren. Or Steve Priest batting his eyelashes in a Prussian helmet, for that matter.
My Friend The Chocolate Cake – Sirens
Swooning string sirens arrive half way through this evocative, strangely ominous description of Australian wildfires. The line “We stay out half the night to hide from sleeping in our homes” brings home the constant danger as well as the intolerable heat.
Sands – Listen To The Sky
English psych that starts with the surprisingly jaunty sounding tale of the death of pilot Bertie, pauses to recreate a full-on Blitz with sirens, then segues into Holst’s Mars The War Bringer. Yes, Sands, I think we get the point.
Pink Floyd – Time
Starts off with a symphony of alarms and chimes before settling into a perennial blues-rock ballad about hanging on in quiet desperation before the Great Gig In The Sky.
Lal and Mike Waterston – Winifer Odd
The absurd ballad of strange Winifer, who waited for death but got picked up by a police car instead.
Willie Royal – General Alarm
Instrumental reggae version of Cymande’s Britfunk classic The Message, leading off with a splendid submarine squawk
Julia Holter – Horns Surrounding Me
Holter’s strange, urgent, big city love song pulses to the rhythm of dissonant traffic horns
Beyoncé – Hold Up
Beyoncé manages to borrow from Andy Williams, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and, in the video, artist Pipilotti Rist for this hit from Lemonade. But here at the Song Bar it's all about that air horn.
Rihanna - Man Down
Rihanna goes one further, with a siren throughout this confession song. Plus airhorns
Bjork – Alarm Call
No alarm noises in this.Just Bjork, who naturally sounds like a kettle whistle or a biohazard alert.
Missy Elliot - Pass That Dutch
Whistle blasts and a centrally-featured Viper car alarm stand out on as Missy bosses another Timbaland grab bag of noises.
Basement Jaxx – Red Alert
A trimphone ringtone sent them running for the nearest dancefloor in the 90s.
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - Dub Three
Errol “ET” Thompson brings his doorbell and cuckoo clock into the studio for this bonkers dub excursion on the Rockfort Rock riddim.
Verckys et L’Orchestre Veve – Mama Djele
A chiming, rousing guitar motif gives way to call and response vocals while Verckys has a fruity old honk on his sax. Then it’s just bass, drum, vocals and, erm, an air raid siren.
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Beep, rattle and wail: songs featuring alarm and alert sounds. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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