"Chirpy Cheep Cheese" by Jeff Salamon
Summary: The article is a somewhat old intro to the Happy Hardcore genre which shines it in a somewhat negative light (as hinted in the title). The author describes the genre as being somewhat ‘gay’ because of its happy, sped up, female vocals while not exactly targeting a homosexual audience. The “helium [localed]” music is a mashup of several genres including disco, breakbeat, and many other genres while being a direct descendant (according to the author) of ‘kiddiecore’ and ‘jungle’ music. The music (was) largely underground, especially in the US, but started to gain popularity in the UK thanks to passing interest from fans of the jungle and kiddiecore genres.
Analysis/Reflection:While I agree with the author that the genre is somewhat ‘cheesy,’ I feel that the author is too harsh when describing the genre. One possible explanation for the authors harshness could be the lack of good happy hardcore songs back when he wrote the article (like he said, there were very few accessible happy hardcore tracks). That said, I greatly enjoy the genre, it being one of my favorites. I look past the cheese and enjoy the happy vibe that the music gives off, but I also understand that many people are not able to look past the ‘cheese,’ as with most underground music, and dismiss it as ‘bad’ because it is not mainstream. This reminds me of ‘the Science of Hit Music’ article I blogged about earlier, which describes this phenomena of people tending to favor music they know is liked by others.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Week 6 Blog
"Geeksta Rap Rising" by Brain Braiker
Summary: White rappers have been getting a bad.. rap (ha.. ha) since rap's original inception into popular culture, and this article gives the skinny on nerdcore and how the genre is standing on its own legs by keepin' it real. The article claims that, nowadays, the only white rappers taken seriously are the Beastie Boys and Eminem, thanks to people like Vanilla Ice who did not "keep it real," and thus plummeted downward into a hole that scared off any other would be white rappers. Nerdcore is different because the creators are true to themselves.
Analysis / Reflection: Nerdcore rap is a genre that I encourage because of its bashing down of stereotypes with the creation of arguably good rap by the kind of people who are the complete opposite of typical rappers. While I'm not a huge fan of nerdcore rap by any means (MC Chris is the only artist I listen to often), I think it's amazing that such a movement is occurring and I can only express my hope that the genre continues to progress. That said, I agree with the article in that it will be a while before such a genre dips into the mainstream. There are some notable artists in the genre, but none that are truly amazing. When I expose people to MC Chris, a common response is "Why is this guy rapping about candy," because they have come to expect rap music to comprise of traditional rap lyrics, and thus they don't take the genre even remotely seriously. Originally, I too would not consider myself a fan of MC Chris, but after some time the catchiness of the rhymes and the relatablility of the lyrics won me over and I am in love.
Summary: White rappers have been getting a bad.. rap (ha.. ha) since rap's original inception into popular culture, and this article gives the skinny on nerdcore and how the genre is standing on its own legs by keepin' it real. The article claims that, nowadays, the only white rappers taken seriously are the Beastie Boys and Eminem, thanks to people like Vanilla Ice who did not "keep it real," and thus plummeted downward into a hole that scared off any other would be white rappers. Nerdcore is different because the creators are true to themselves.
Analysis / Reflection: Nerdcore rap is a genre that I encourage because of its bashing down of stereotypes with the creation of arguably good rap by the kind of people who are the complete opposite of typical rappers. While I'm not a huge fan of nerdcore rap by any means (MC Chris is the only artist I listen to often), I think it's amazing that such a movement is occurring and I can only express my hope that the genre continues to progress. That said, I agree with the article in that it will be a while before such a genre dips into the mainstream. There are some notable artists in the genre, but none that are truly amazing. When I expose people to MC Chris, a common response is "Why is this guy rapping about candy," because they have come to expect rap music to comprise of traditional rap lyrics, and thus they don't take the genre even remotely seriously. Originally, I too would not consider myself a fan of MC Chris, but after some time the catchiness of the rhymes and the relatablility of the lyrics won me over and I am in love.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Week 5 Blog
"The Science of Hit Songs" by Bjorn Carey
Summary: An experiment was conducted to determine whether or not the listening habits of teens is affected by their peers in any significant fashion. The study was conducted and found that significantly different results came about when the amount of times a song was downloaded was visible. A conclusion was made that a plausible reason for the slippery slope of popularity is for the sake of filtering the large amount of songs available (since a proper amount of time wasn't given to listen to all of the songs). Parallels were drawn between the large amount of songs available in the sample and the seemingly infinite amount of music available today.
Analysis / Reflection: I believe this study to be an interesting look into the popularity levels of songs, and a good way to explain how popular music comes to be. When on the prowl online for music, there are only a few ways which music can be categorized - you have yourself the artist, the song name, and, sometimes through research of the artist, the genre. Song and artist names are hardly good ways to determine the quality of the song without previously knowing the song and/or artist and there can be a LOT of music for each genre out there. The only aspect of a song that may give some insight into the quality of the music is the number of times the song has been downloaded. If, for example, you are listening to an artist you have never heard of before on youtube, and are interested in hearing more from the artist, more than likely there will be more songs by the artist in the "related videos" pane, and if you have to decide between two songs, odds are that the one with more views is going to be the better song. The problem that comes from this is that by viewing that video, you are then adding another view to the count, and this is how the slippery slope is created.
Summary: An experiment was conducted to determine whether or not the listening habits of teens is affected by their peers in any significant fashion. The study was conducted and found that significantly different results came about when the amount of times a song was downloaded was visible. A conclusion was made that a plausible reason for the slippery slope of popularity is for the sake of filtering the large amount of songs available (since a proper amount of time wasn't given to listen to all of the songs). Parallels were drawn between the large amount of songs available in the sample and the seemingly infinite amount of music available today.
Analysis / Reflection: I believe this study to be an interesting look into the popularity levels of songs, and a good way to explain how popular music comes to be. When on the prowl online for music, there are only a few ways which music can be categorized - you have yourself the artist, the song name, and, sometimes through research of the artist, the genre. Song and artist names are hardly good ways to determine the quality of the song without previously knowing the song and/or artist and there can be a LOT of music for each genre out there. The only aspect of a song that may give some insight into the quality of the music is the number of times the song has been downloaded. If, for example, you are listening to an artist you have never heard of before on youtube, and are interested in hearing more from the artist, more than likely there will be more songs by the artist in the "related videos" pane, and if you have to decide between two songs, odds are that the one with more views is going to be the better song. The problem that comes from this is that by viewing that video, you are then adding another view to the count, and this is how the slippery slope is created.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Week 4 Blog
"Apple sued over hearing loss in iPod buyers" by Dan Goodin
Summary: Someone decided to sue Apple because of the potential hearing loss that its music players can cause when combined with the stock earbuds. According to the article, iPods (the branding given to Apple's personal MP3 players) are not statistically proven at being worse for your ears than any other type of music playing device, but still the devices had to be restricted from sale in France until a built in noise limiter prevented the audio put out to be above 100 decibels (anything above 85 is considered harmful to your hearing)
Analysis / Reflection: Apple may seem blameless in this affair, because users of iPods should be responsible for the volume levels at which they set their mp3 players, and that was certainly my first thoughts when I read the article, but my opinion quickly changed when I remembered my first experience with an iPod. It was so new and pretty and before I knew it, I was happily listening to my kickin' jams as I walked down the streets, wholly unaware of the hearing loss I was causing listening to my iPod at such a level. I was just an innocent sophomore in high school and I never came across a visible warning which told me that I could cause permanent damage to myself (and based on the volume levels at which my peers had their mp3 players, they certainly were unaware of such damage as well) so it wasn't long before I noticed my significantly decreased ability to hear people in conversations. This deeply upset me and I felt victimized. Since then I have done my research and purchased proper noise canceling headphones, but to this day, my hearing is nothing like it once used to be. I do not believe that it was 100% Apple's fault, but I do believe that the forgoing of proper warnings in their minimalistic packaging is something that should be punished
Summary: Someone decided to sue Apple because of the potential hearing loss that its music players can cause when combined with the stock earbuds. According to the article, iPods (the branding given to Apple's personal MP3 players) are not statistically proven at being worse for your ears than any other type of music playing device, but still the devices had to be restricted from sale in France until a built in noise limiter prevented the audio put out to be above 100 decibels (anything above 85 is considered harmful to your hearing)
Analysis / Reflection: Apple may seem blameless in this affair, because users of iPods should be responsible for the volume levels at which they set their mp3 players, and that was certainly my first thoughts when I read the article, but my opinion quickly changed when I remembered my first experience with an iPod. It was so new and pretty and before I knew it, I was happily listening to my kickin' jams as I walked down the streets, wholly unaware of the hearing loss I was causing listening to my iPod at such a level. I was just an innocent sophomore in high school and I never came across a visible warning which told me that I could cause permanent damage to myself (and based on the volume levels at which my peers had their mp3 players, they certainly were unaware of such damage as well) so it wasn't long before I noticed my significantly decreased ability to hear people in conversations. This deeply upset me and I felt victimized. Since then I have done my research and purchased proper noise canceling headphones, but to this day, my hearing is nothing like it once used to be. I do not believe that it was 100% Apple's fault, but I do believe that the forgoing of proper warnings in their minimalistic packaging is something that should be punished
Friday, October 16, 2009
Week 3 Blog
"Exposure to Degrading Versus Nondegrading Music Lyrics and Sexual Behavior Among Youth" by Steven C. Martino
Summary: This research piece is on the connection between the alleged correlation between lewd lyrical content in music and lewd behavior in youth. The article surveyed a large pool of youth and came to the conclusion that there did not appear to be any definable connection between highly sexual lyrical content and sexual activity in youth, however there did appear to be a higher rate of sexual activity in those who listened to music that was not only highly sexual, but degrading as well.
Analysis / Reflection: It is interesting to find out that there was no deep connection between those who listened to sexual lyrics more often (and thus, had sex on their minds more regularly), which I originally thought their would be. To find out that people who listen to sexually degrading lyrics more often do the dirty more often had me somewhat perturbed. To me it seems understandable that people with sex on their minds would be more interested in participating in sexual acts but to find out that those who idolize the objectifying of women are those who are breeding more often has me almost afraid for an Idiocracy-like future. Sure, sex sells, and sex often sells sex, but the objectifying of women should not sell sex. This study proves that sexually degrading lyrics inspire a decrease in morals and should fuel a fire that should try to bring an end to such an awful creation. One could argue that sexually degrading lyrics don't cause an increase in sexual behavior but rather the opposite, that those who are more sexually active are likely to consume music that is more sexually degrading, but if that is the case, why should it not be frowned upon that artists are marketing music that promotes the objectification of women to those who have more frequent sexual encounters with women?
Summary: This research piece is on the connection between the alleged correlation between lewd lyrical content in music and lewd behavior in youth. The article surveyed a large pool of youth and came to the conclusion that there did not appear to be any definable connection between highly sexual lyrical content and sexual activity in youth, however there did appear to be a higher rate of sexual activity in those who listened to music that was not only highly sexual, but degrading as well.
Analysis / Reflection: It is interesting to find out that there was no deep connection between those who listened to sexual lyrics more often (and thus, had sex on their minds more regularly), which I originally thought their would be. To find out that people who listen to sexually degrading lyrics more often do the dirty more often had me somewhat perturbed. To me it seems understandable that people with sex on their minds would be more interested in participating in sexual acts but to find out that those who idolize the objectifying of women are those who are breeding more often has me almost afraid for an Idiocracy-like future. Sure, sex sells, and sex often sells sex, but the objectifying of women should not sell sex. This study proves that sexually degrading lyrics inspire a decrease in morals and should fuel a fire that should try to bring an end to such an awful creation. One could argue that sexually degrading lyrics don't cause an increase in sexual behavior but rather the opposite, that those who are more sexually active are likely to consume music that is more sexually degrading, but if that is the case, why should it not be frowned upon that artists are marketing music that promotes the objectification of women to those who have more frequent sexual encounters with women?
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Week 2 Blog
“The Last Days of Brother Ray” by David Ritz
Summary: This is an influential piece on everyone’s favorite highly esteemed and highly controversial blind black piano player, Ray Charles. Ray Charles was a man who lived life to the fullest, and didn’t fear anything. He endured through pain that no mere man could endure while keeping his strong spirit. When the day was done and through, and Ray was finished with his reckless gallivanting through life, Ray Charles is a changed man, despite his claim that he can’t change.
Analysis/Reflection: Ray Charles is an inspirational man with an unmatched willpower. He was a blind and had many near-death experiences, yet he persevered on and became a legend. He made many a musical masterpiece and angered many in the process. He was simply a man who wouldn't care. He was THE Ray Charles, who was to tell him otherwise, who was to tell him to not be himself.
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