“ape MAJOR,” by The Fosbury Flops (a Vardaman Ensemble/Harvey Girls side project), drops in with a chattering synth effect which fades in and out of the mix throughout its duration, but it’s the clipped and gently flanged vibraphone that washes in over the opening half-minute that is the track’s raison d’etre. This staccato line (not too far removed from the namesake sound of Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga) doesn’t intrude so much as it makes itself at home and lets the listener know that the next 13 minutes will be fully within its calming control, so that when a bass-drum beat stops by for a visit a fourth of the way through the track, you know that a pleasant gathering of friends is taking place.
Harmonic progression is hinted at with tones just barely coming and going so that, once the bass notes join (with an emphasized eight-note “bump-bump” on the percussion at the front of each measure), the alternating V – I (G and D majors, respectively) chord structure makes perfect sense. For the next eight minutes, the only change in the proceedings is the sound of the accompanying tones gaining confidence as the staccato synth foundation wavers just enough to invite neighboring 6ths and suspended 4ths (and at one point, possibly a flatted third, though with sounds this subdued, one can’t be quite sure) over to introduce their friends. Near the end, the chattering becomes more incessant and, with few additional effects, informs the group that the night has reached its end everybody must soon go home. Despite the sounds used, this is one of the gentler and more inviting instrumentals I’ve heard in some time.