These pieces of music that are full of discrepancies still feel very direct and purposeful. The vocals in particular often fall behind, but somehow also propel the song forward. I think this has something to do with intention. I’m going to assume that the intonation and rhythmic discrepancies in these pieces are not a mistake, since they are all recordings and recordings can be re-made is if, say, the drummer was accidentally on another planet the entire time. So, the discrepancies are intentional, or at least are being embraced by the musicians. I think that if these discrepancies weren’t being made with total confidence, they would sound more like mistakes.
This idea of making room for imperfection is something I’m learning about in my own performance. I am learning that there is no space for doubt or judgement between the intent to make a sound and the sound itself. I’m beginning to realize that what I consider to be technical “perfection”— singing the correct pitches at the right time with good vowels and consonants and breathing and phrasing etc etc etc, is practically impossible to achieve by trying to exert control over all those elements. My “best singing” actually comes from a place of hearing music and hearing my own voice within it, of believing that everything is working together the moment before it does. No matter how much I focus on taking a good breath, I invariably take a better one by simply “feeling the music.”
I haven’t really described any of the pieces here, but it feels more important to me to think about why the discrepancies are not mistakes in these pieces, and how despite their existing around pitches and beats, they still feel so unified. Though the songs are quite different, they all sound to me like people having fun, indeed, being human—I think this is key. I think that enjoyment of, or at least deep immersion in the musical process is more important than any ideal of “keeping time” or “perfect intonation.” Achieving these abstract forms is not what compels us—having fun, in my experience, is actually a crucial ingredient in “correct” playing.