"Jay-Z"

"Peer Comment"

Johnny,

Marvin Gaye was indeed the “Prince of Soul” as you stated in the opening of your blog. His style was very smooth and flowed with impeccable soul and rhythm. I enjoyed your section on Marvin’s interests and inspirations in writing the song “What’s Going On.” It is touching how there are still artists out there who are willing to write about true concerns of theirs such as “Gaye's brother's accounts of his experience at the Vietnam War,” as you said. It is sad how now the only topics written about in music seem to be sex, drugs, and paper chasing. You did an excellent job captioning the troubles Marvin encountered during the process of having his music produced and distributed. Great work!

-Patrick

Link to Post 

"Igor Stravinski"

Igor Stravinski was a modern twentieth century classical composer. Igor originated from Russia where he studied music under the greatly established Rimsky-Korsakov. Around his time as a composer many other styles were beginning to form, and Igor remained on the forefront of many. Igor was known for his wild fast pace constantly changing music style. The arts of writing, composing, and filmmaking were all finding more ways to explore human emotion during this time period.

            Igor had the privilege to learn his skills in composing and musical studies from a master, Rimsky-Korsakov. Igor decided to compose an orchestral piece for his master’s daughters wedding called “Fireworks,” to show his appreciation. Unfortunately Rimsky died before he could hear the piece, but a ballet company owner heard it and was impressed with Igor’s talent in composing. Igor was then hired to score music for two ballets,  “The Firebird” and “Petrouchka.” Both became popular mainly due to their brilliantly composed music.

            In later years Igor came to produce what was considered the greatest piece of the twentieth century, “The Rite Of Spring.” This composition was an initial flop when revealed but its never before heard transitions from a slow soft piece to a violent aggressive piece sparked a new interest in experimentalism. Igor never again created anything like it in his career. His experimentalism however, set an example for all other composers of the time. Other composers followed in Igor’s footsteps and went on to also create new innovations in music.

            Shortly after in his career Igor lead the forefront of neo-classism. Neo-classism referenced works from the early nineteenth and eighteenth centuries. Neo-classism was about making something new of something old. Igor created many great neo-classic pieces sometimes even influencing them with jazz elements and other various modern genres.

            Following neo-classism, Igor once again switched styles. His focus was now on serialism, which was composing with no tonal center. Serialism was the sort of music you would typically find in plays or films, which follow emotions instead of set musical tonal centers. Igor without a doubt had a wild career, constantly changing on a whim.

            The impression that Igor’s music had on me was very out of the ordinary. It was easy to hear how he evolved and changed as a composer during his career. As a professional I would say that his sound and his changing methods are inspiring. His unconventional arrangements with sometimes no tonal centers and rapidly changing pace are very interesting and innovative to hear. Igor made me realize that if music does not constantly keep evolving, changing, and trying new things then it will slowly fade out. It is possible for a time to come when people will loose interest in music if it does not continue to change.


Sources for "Igor Stravinski" post on (10/22/11):   

Biography of Igor Stravinski 1

Biography of Igor Stravinski 2

"Peer Comment"

Sammy,

            Reading your post I was able to further extend my knowledge on the band “Kraftwerk”. I was unaware that Kraftwerk would replace their members quite frequently as you stated in your post, very interesting! The constant replacement of individuals could perhaps be dude to frequent changes in technology, which made the band feel like they needed to keep up with the technology curve by having up to date knowledgeable members of every new innovation. Your arrangement of topics was very insightful and helped to keep the post flowing. Just like you, “My favorite work from them was in the album Techno Pop, released in 1982.” Techno Pop had a great funky sound to it, which I enjoyed. Excellent job on your post, very well written!

-Patrick

 Comment Link

"Daft Punk"

Daft Punk consistes of two French musicians, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. The duo became popular around the late 1990’s and created the fusion of house and synthpop. Daft Punk is recognized for creating songs thought of as essential in the French house scene. Ironically the pair was influenced by The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys the same as many other great artists. Daft Punk headed the front of elaborate entertainment in musical concerts.           

One characteristic of the group was that they would perform elaborate shows at their concerts, wearing advanced technology full-face helmets with LED graphical displays and effects. The group always incorporated visual effects with their music to create a unique experience. Daft Punk also focused on story line components associated with their musical creations. A second characteristic of the group was that they were very experimental with electronic music, combining synthpop and house. Daft Punk was the first to fuse the two genres and benefited greatly from it, receiving a Grammy for their album “Alive” in 2007.

Daft Punk composed 24 tracks for the hit movie Tron: Legacy, released in 2010. The band collaborated for 2 years with Joseph Trapanese on the films score before it was finally ready. An 85-piece orchestra was implemented in the scores and was recorded live at a studio in London. The musical reach of Daft Punk is clearly far beyond only house and synthpop. Following the release of the movie, both members of Daft Punk were awarded the rank of “Knight” in France into the “Orde des Arts et des Lettres.” The “Orde des Arts et des Lettres” is a serious Order of France in recognition of significant contributions to the arts.

My professional opinion of Daft Punk is that the duo is flawless. The mix of every individual track fully immerses the listener into the song, taking the listener captive by all of the musical elements. Their songs all “breathe” and have a feeling of life to them. The songs sound like they are pumping like a human heart, which makes it near impossible to not start to bob your head while listening. The fuse of house and synthpop is very subtle and smooth. I have personally attended a Daft Punk show in Atlanta and I can also vouch for their impressive theatrical performance, and extensive light shows. I enjoy every aspect of the dynamic duo that come to create Daft Punk.


Sources for "Daft Punk" post on (10/17/11):  


Daft Punk Biography


Orde des Arts et des Lettres

"Kraftwerk"

Kraftwerk is an electronic music band that originated in Germany. Original members, Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider, created Kraftwerk in 1970. This band is credited with being the sole pioneer of electronic music. The original line up of Kraftwerk consisted of four unique men, Ralf Hutter, Florian Schneider, Wolfgang Flur, and Karl Bartos. All members of Kraftwerk played electronic instruments such as synthesizers and drum machines. The band recorded and produced their music at Kling Klang Studio on Germany, which was located in a large warehouse with lots of open space. The band would usually center every album on a topic, and each song would consist of catchy melodies with repetitive rhythms.

            Kraftwerk has released a total of 12 albums in their musical career. Between 1974 and 1981, five of the twelve albums were released. These albums were, Autobahn (1974), Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man Machine (1978), and Computer World (1981). The first of the five, Autobahn was a huge success both in European countries and the United States. This record had a twenty-minute long song taking up the entire front side of the record.  The album was picked up by a radio station in Chicago and broadcasted its way to fame in the United States. All of the Kraftwerk albums from 74’ to 81’ were each centered on a unique topic. Autobahn in 74’ was about automobile travel on the Autobahn, and Radio-Activity was about radio and nuclear activity. Trans-Europe Express was a flop upon the initial release. It took some time before the album was appreciated and received higher rankings.

            Kraftwerk was a very unique band in both style and music. Kraftwerk would perform at shows live wearing suits looking very professional. Their style was a trademark of their group. A characteristic of the band was that they would always center their albums on a central theme for each. With the use of a single topic per album, the band was able to portray a musical story about each theme. A unique characteristic of Kraftwerk was their musical composition. The band used only electronic instruments such as synthesizers and drum machines, and even would sometimes use custom designed vocoders to process vocals. Their trademark song structure utilized simple repetitive rhythms, and catchy melodies.

            This band struck me as very unique. They are not at all what I would have imagined had started pop music and electronic music. However, I did enjoy listening to them. As a professional I would say that the mix of the band was also unique in that it seemed to be the first time that all processed electronic instruments were used along with vocals. Kraftwerk definitely has a sound un-heard in any other band. I liked their electronic instruments and would absolutely put some of the bands songs on my personal iPod.

Sources for "Kraftwerk" post on (10/16/11): 

Kraftwerk Biography

Kraftwerk Resources

"What's Going On" Podcast

"Peer Comment"

John,

I enjoyed your analysis of the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" album and found it to be very insightful. I too thought that this album was a very real representation of pure musical creativity instead of just following trendy musical formats. Pet Sounds was a very innovative album with many never before heard characteristics. I agree with you that the use of the Theramin was brilliant and definitely gave the Beach Boys a unique sounding instrument to set them apart from the rest.  Orchestras and choirs and abstract instruments such as dog whistles, and bicycle bells were also used creatively in the album.  Your post was very professional and I enjoyed reading it. Great job, John!

-Patrick Culver

Link to the initial comment post

"What's Going On"

Marvin Gaye was a small 90-pound scrawny artist and musician. Lyricist Al Cleveland wrote a protest song about an event Renaldo Benson had witnessed for him to perform. Unfortunately none of the four tops at the time were interested in it. Benson finally decided to give Marvin Gaye the song to perform and on their first practice of it he was sold on it. Marvin was a very spiritual individual and a rebel in his music career prior. He was an excellent piano player as well as an amazing vocalist.

            The lyrics for this song were initially sparked when Renaldo Benson witnessed violent interactions between protestors and police in Berkeley while on a tour. Benson started to question in his mind, “What’s going on?” The violence he saw in the park that day led him to seek the help of songwriter Al Cleveland who he worked with often. With the help of Cleveland, a song was successfully written to express the issues Benson had encountered. The song was continuously morphed to eventually cover the issues of the protestors beating, Marvin Gaye’s appreciation of his brother serving in Vietnam, sorrow for Gaye’s singing partner Tammi Terell who had been killed brain cancer, violence on the streets of Detroit, and the shootings of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.

            Marvin Gaye continuously was butting heads in the studio with his producer, and brother in law, Berry Gordy. Gordy did not like Marvin’s protest songs and did not want to release them, but instead thought Gaye should focus on his love songs. Gordy liked for Marvin to stay in the normal production side of Motown but Marvin refused and was constantly finding ways to be different and innovative. Gordy literally stated that “What’s Going On” was the worst song he had ever heard and was refusing to release it.

            One of the things that set “What’s Going On” apart from all the other albums coming out of Motown of the time was that Marvin used multi-layered lead vocals in his songs. The initial creation of this effect was a mistake by Gaye’s engineer, Ken Sands. The mistake however, ended up being Gaye’s signature sound. Another very unique thing in Gaye’s album was that he used amateurs for the background arrangements. Gaye invited some of his friends from the Detroit Lions football team to come in and record some of his backgrounds.

             My personal and professional opinion of Marvin’s album was that it was soothing and smooth to listen to. The vocals sounded amazing through out each track and had a unique character and mood implemented in the songs. I found Marvin’s style and lyrical content to be creative and fun to listen to. The album was very well produced and its sound is no question to its success.


Sources for "What's Going On" post on (10/10/11):


The story of "What's Going On"


Biography of Marvin Gaye

"The Velvet Underground & Nico"

The velvet Underground is a rock group formed out of New York City. The band did not receive much commercial success during their time, but were named by critics as on of the most important groups of the 1960’s. The band named them selves after a book called “The Velvet Underground”, a book about a secret sexual subculture. The group had a unique style and very provocative lyrics in some of their songs. Their first album “The Velvet Underground & Nico” was named the 13^th greatest album of all time and was highly acclaimed. Their style was very relaxed, exotic, and poetic.

 Both John Cale and Lou Reed contributed greatly to their group’s works, and lived together in the bands early years. Lou Reed was best known as a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the band. Lou Reed also had an amazing solo career, which lasted for decades. Lou was the Velvet Undergrounds main songwriter. Lou wrote about subjects not commonly examined in rock in roll, such as drug culture and sexuality. John Cale was known as a producer, songwriter, musician, and a composer. Cale was best known for his rock music although he also worked in other genres such as classical and drone. After leaving the band, Cale went on in his solo career to create about 30 entire albums. Lou Reed and John Cale were the two co-founders of The Velvet Underground.

 Andy Warhol supported, promoted, and produced the “Velvet Underground & Nico.” Andy gave the band their own control over their creative image and style. It was Andy’s suggestion that the band featured the German singer Nico in their album. Andy helped to get the band a recording contract with Verve Records. Andy made the band part of his multimedia road show “Exploding Plastic Inevitable”, which they played the music for. Andy Warhol provided numerous opportunities for the group through out their career.

The Velvet Underground had many unique characteristics, which set them apart from other bands of their time.  One unique trait about the band was their drummer. Their drummer, Maureen Tucker, played mostly on the tom toms and the bass drum rarely ever using the cymbals. One night at a venue, Tucker’s drums were stolen so he then used garbage cans as his drums, giving the band a unique sound. The second unique characteristic of the band was that they were a combination of music and art. The band represented many creative artworks and were the first combination/ representation of art and music together. The artistic image of the group attracted a unique audience to accompany their unique look and sound.

      I found The Velvet Underground to be a creative innovative band. I enjoyed their simplicity of their drum arrangements that allowed me to focus more on other aspects of the songs such as the individuality abstract sounds of the different instruments, and interesting stories being told in the lyrics. I have not heard a band that I would be able to say, “sounds like The Velvet Underground.” The originality of their sound sets them apart from all bands of their time. I enjoyed the feel and listening to this bands songs.



Sources for "The Velvet Underground & Nico" post on (10/9/11):


Over-view of The Velvet Underground


Artwork of the band

"Revolver"

The Beatles started out as a traditional English rock band and were the typical teenage heartthrob group. With the creation of their seventh album, “Revolver”, the style and focus of the music and lyrics shifted. The Beatles were a four-piece band consisting of members Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Richard Starkey (Ringo). They started out very mainstream prior to revolver where George Martian started experimenting with effects and different techniques.

            The Beatles started experimenting with drugs such as LSD while in the process of making “Revolver.” LSD was a key factor in some of their songs abstract lyrics and concepts such as the lyrics in “She Said She Said.” Lennon at some point stated that parts of the lyrics for that song were directly taken from his conversation with Peter Fonda while on an LSD trip.

             In the making of “Revolver” many different techniques and unusual equipment were used, essentially making the actual studio an instrument in many of the songs. Effects such as large hardware tape loops were used for backing melodies. At points, the tape loop machine had tape loops so big that they even ran out of the studio for some of the effects. Creative pieces of the studio such as bass amps were even used as microphones to track sounds for certain songs creating a unique never before heard sound. During the lead-in to the album there is a verbal count down to make the listener aware of the studio environment as a piece of the musical content.

            New and creative innovations were used in the production of the “Revolver” album. One of the two techniques I will mention particularly stood out to me because of its creativity in what was used to make it happen. A bass guitar cabinet was used as a microphone to record the bass for one song, giving the bass a low-end motorcycle sound. Many different vocal processing also was used in the creation of the tracks.  The second innovative technique used was the use of automatic double tracking (ADT). Double tracking consists of two linked automatic tape recorders, which create and automatically doubled vocal track.

            “Revolver” had a very interesting impression on me. I was at times confused by the abstractness of the lyrics, but enjoyed all the funky effects. The over all sound of the album is second to none of it’s time. I was impressed with some of the sounds the Beatles were able to create musically provided their time period and equipment. I’m not personally a big fan of rock, but I now have a curious interest in it because of “Revolver.”

Sources for "Revolver" post on (10/1/11):

Wikipedia over-view of "Revolver"

Beatles Names