Spiky

Costello says Bacharach's melodies are 'angular'. To that extent, it would appear, 'angular' can be a good thing.

i often like to think of spiky as angular as implying a sort of thinness of sound, like an opposite of rich or sumptious.

Lack of reverb, emphasis on high midrange, closed hi-hat as opposed to ride cymbal, usually singer sounds like a pussy

Elastica!

For "angular", I think of bands who are interesting rhythmically, but are intentionally stiff & without the same swing of most blues/r&b- derived rock and roll. kind of "funky (not funky)", if you will. wire, gang of four, devo, six finger sattelite, the monks, the music machine, early talking heads, early fugazi, lots of post-punk.

But I think this is one of those descriptive terms - like "warm" or "textural" or "swing" - with only vaguely commonly agreed upon definitions when applied to music.

Spiky means "lots of attack, little decay", no?

spikey = weird harsh noises interjecting. angular = yeah, that funky (not funky) thing, or sometimes something which comes at a melodic right angle, like it just... where'd that key come from? The VU had an angular guitar solo on What Goes On.

And a spiky one on I Heard Her Call My Name.

Spiky = that guitar thing ("wukunk-kunk!") before the chorus in "I'm a Creep, I'm a Moron" by The Radio Heads?

Wire, Television and 'Before Hollywood'.

That's a crunch, not a spike, fritz.

ahhhhh!

Are AC/DC crunchy too?

What is "Textural"? Carole King?

Anything with a bit of echo on.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts are crunchy. But then they're chunky, too.

The Feelies are angular, aren't they? And the Fire Engines.

Angular to me = a lot of post rock...it just changes direction quickly, it's not smooth or round, but jagged and square. I think Green Magnet School, Engine Kid and Polvo are good examples.

Spiky, Primal Scream Xtrmntr maybe?

I think "spiky" and "angular" are effective words because they describe the attitudes behind the music along with the ways in which the instruments are used to express those sentiments.

I always associate spiky music with 77-era punk. Sharp, angry sentiments are matched by short blasts of jabbing music. Guitar, bass and drums combine to make repetitive and abrupt patterns.

Angular music goes off on a tangent from what the audience expects. The musicians might introduce an unusual chord change or a sudden change in rhythm. Such music is often matched by an awkward and contrary worldview ( such as in post-punk).

Spiky music can be monotonous and annoying in the wrong hands, especially if the anger of the band seems unconvincing (e.g. punk by numbers). Angular music can sometimes be frustrating instead of challenging. For example, "Before Hollywood" by the Go-Betweens is an album I've tried to like, but the musicians try too hard to go against their normal instincts. The Go-Betweens flair for Sixties- style melody is undercut by difficult post-punk rhythmic changes. The songs do not satisfy.

This is interesting. Most people use "angular" to refer to sound, usually to guitar tone. This is how I usually use it as well; I think Gang of Four exemplify "angular," and that a lot of "post-punk" of today tries to do the same (hellooooo, Washington, D.C.!). To me it means guitarists who use individual strings or pairs of strings rather than strummed chords, playing syncopated or asymmetrical figures rather than chord sequences.

I probably wouldn't call much post-rock angular, although it's interesting that you describe it that way, James, seemingly applying the term to form rather than sound (i.e. sudden shifts in the structure rather than in the notes and rhythms). Just out of curiosity, what post-rock are you thinking of specifically?

Angular=staccato, presence of unpredictable rhythms/notes. I've seldom heard Wayne Shorter's tenor style be described without using "angular" at least once.

I hate the word "spiky" used referring to Elvis Costello.

I think the XTC or Auteurs songs that have been called "spiky" are the ones I like least, as well.

rock = not spiky

webern = spiky when no singing
xenakis = spikier (when piano only involved)
cecil t = spikiest

postrock is not spiky, although Polvo are

Robert Quine.

who I've been told buys a new guitar pedal almost every day from a certain Village guitar shop.

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 12 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

The Go-Betweens flair for Sixties- style melody is undercut by difficult post-punk rhythmic changes.

I once heard Robert Forster say that the Go-Betweens were the Monkees meets Patti Smith.

In Forster's head only.

I've always associated the term "angular" with the shape of a riff (or vocal melody, though that is rarer). For example, if you looked at the music for "Larks Tongues in Aspic pt II" or, say, a Ruins tune, graphically, it would be filled with lots of "steep" angles, due to the drastic changes in direction within the phrases.

Or, to reference another current thread, take Rush's "YYZ". The opening melody could be described as angular for the same reason. It bounces between the tritone interval, creating melodic angles. Am I the only one to think of the term in this way?