Monday, 21 April 2014

POMO Mixtape


1. Dreaming - Au5 & Fractal
2. Shock Of The Lightning - Oasis
3. Like I Roll - Black Stone Cherry
4. Lose Yourself - Eminem
5. Remember The Name - Fort Minor
6. Echo - Bad Meets Evil
7. Dead Man Walking - The Script
8. Don't Hold The Wall - Justin Timberlake
9. Love Locked Out - Lawson
10. Showdown - Pendulum

11. Butterflies And Hurricanes - Muse
12. Up In The Air - Thirty Seconds To Mars
13. Nightcall - London Grammar
14. Blue Shift - Lemaitre
15. Lost In The Echo - Linkin Park
16. Civilian - Wye Oak
17. Titanium - David Guetta Ft. Sia
18. Sleepwalking - The Chaingang Of 1974
19. The Show Must Go On - Queen

Monday, 10 February 2014

Postmodernism and Music [NOTES]

My chosen artist for this task is Eminem, and I'll be looking at all his past work as well as his current work. I will also add who he has collaborated with as well as some of the music he has sampled from.

Homage
Does your chosen artist use other people music in a respectful way? Are they bringing a potentially overlooked or forgotten style to a new audiences?

LINK: Eminems 'Rap God' pays homage to Hotstylz 'Lookin' Boy' Feat. Yung Joc in both lyric and video form.
Ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu4iYTrJbwk&list=PLA88A379899167805
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbGs_qK2PQA

LINK: Eminem's 'So Far...' pays homage to Joe Walsh's 'Life Been Good' by using the guitar rift that plays throughout Life's Been Good.
Ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXWvKDSwvls
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbGs_qK2PQA

LINK: Eminem's 'Rhyme or Reason' pays homage to The Zombies 'Time of the Season' by sampling parts of the song.
Ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c1ZB446bq4
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnPWPv7wCHo

LINK: Eminem's 'Sing for the Moment' samples Aerosmith's 'Dream On'
Ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZfZ8uWaOFI
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4hAVemuQXY

LINK: Eminem's 'Without Me' pays homage to Malcom Mclarens 'Bufallo Gals' lyrically and melodically.
Ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yf2CIA7Q2M
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkUvmDQ3HY

LINK: Eminem's 'Love Game' and Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders 'Game of Love'
Ref: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RgXQSd9ojA
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdZHuPsomd4

Eminem is simply trying to bring an old style of hip-hop to a new audience, as he is very respectful to the songs that he samples from. We can suggest this because it pops up in one of his latest songs.


Pastiche
Does your chosen artist use other peoples music in order to mock it and its fans? Are they attempting to damage the ‘authority’ of a style of music? 

With his latest album, 'Marshall Mathers LP 2' he simply is trying to 'reapulstry' the hip-hop industry by sampling rock from the era. We can suggest that he doesn't want to make a genre of music look bad because he makes the effort to rap in the style that the song is sung.

However, there are multiple songs in his albums like the latest Bad Meets Evil album, where he will make reference to individual music artists such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. This is more a dig at the artist rather than their actual genre of music.

Bricolage
Does your chosen artist use music from different time periods or genres? Does this change the ‘meaning’ of the original song?
  • Punk rock
  • 80's rock
  • Underground rap
Intertextual References
Does your artist reference other songs (lyrically, melodically, stylistically, visually) in their work?
There are endless amounts of references in Eminem's music that have to be looked up to fully appreciate his music to the full. You even have to look at the lyrics because of the pace he raps at. But he makes most reference to his personal life; before he became a rapper, while he was living with his mum, about his past partners and about his dad.

LINK: Eminems 'Rap God' pays homage to Hotstylz 'Lookin' Boy' Feat. Yung Joc in both lyric and video form. In Rap God, Eminem uses the lyrics:

"Little gay looking boy
So gay I can barely say it with a 'straight' face looking boy
You're witnessing a mass-occur like you're watching a church gathering
And take place looking boy
Oy vey, that boy's gay
That's all they say looking boy
You get a thumbs up, pat on the back
And a "way to go" from your label every day looking boy
Hey, looking boy, what d'you say looking boy?
I get a "hell yeah" from Dre looking boy
I'mma work for everything I have
Never asked nobody for s***
Git out my face looking boy
Basically boy you're never gonna be capable
of keeping up with the same pace looking boy, cause..."


'Looking boy' to pay homage to the title of  Hotstylz' 'Lookin' Boy'In the Rap god music video another could be where the camera zooms into the TV at the start of the Hotstylz video, whereas it zooms out of the TV in Eminem's video. Eminem also, selectively, samples 'Lookin' Boy' for part of 'Rap God'.

LINK: Eminem's 'So Far...' pays homage to Joe Walsh's 'Life Been Good' by using the guitar rift that plays throughout Life's Been Good. He samples more of the song to use in 'So Far...' and to respect the music, he raps in the way that the song would be sung and he makes the rest of the track fit around what has been sampled.


LINK: Eminem's 'Rhyme or Reason' pays homage to The Zombies 'Time of the Season' by sampling parts of the song and Eminem has rapped in between the pieces of music that have been sampled. He also raps to the tune and style of the original version. Also, the titles of both song rhyme when they are put together:
'Time of the Season' 'Rhyme or Reason'. This is a song where Eminem fits in an intertextual reference seamlessly by using the sampled piece of music to lead onto his lines. Example:
"Whats your name?" "Marshall" "Who's your daddy?" "I don’t know him, but I wonder"
He also sings the original lyrics in some places, probably, to show homage to the original artist.

LINK: Eminem's 'Sing for the Moment' samples Aerosmith's 'Dream On'. This is a slightly older song that he has sampled another song for. Like 'Lifes been Good' Eminem has taken the guitar rift to put in the chorus of his song. There's an intertextual reference to the time that this song was produced, as Eminem raps about how people feel and the truth basically.
'To get they hands on every dime you have, they want you to lose your mind
every time you mad
So they can try to make you out to look like a loose cannon
Any dispute won't hesitate to produce handguns
That's why these prosecutors wanna convict me, strictly just to get me off
of these streets quickly
But all they kids be listenin' to me religiously, so i'm signin' cd's while
police fingerprint me
They're for the judge's daughter but his grudge is against me
If i'm such a fuckin' menace, this shit doesn't make sense Pete
It's all political, if my music is literal, and i'm a criminal how the fuck
can I raise a little girl
I couldn't, I wouldn't be fit to, you're full of shit too, Guerrera, that
was a fist that hit you...'
Again, the lyrics refer to the situation at the time and his own personal experience about what was going on.

LINK: Eminem's 'Without Me' pays homage to Malcom Mclarens 'Bufallo Gals' lyrically and melodically. At the start of 'Without  Me', the lyrics 'two trailer park girls go around the outside...' Similarly, in 'Bufallo Gals' starts with the lyrics 'First Bufallo Gal goes round the outside...' Again, with all the songs he has sampled Eminem has used the style that the original was done in. 

LNK: Eminem's 'Love Game' feat Kendrick Lamar pays homage to Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders 'Game of Love'. He does this on two ways: he plays with the words of the original and makes it his own 'Game of Love' 'Love Game' and he samples the guitar rift, bass line and vocals, so it fits in with his style of rapping.

Consumption
How does your chosen artist wish their music to be consumed? Is there an artefact (object) that accompanies their music? 
As it seems, Eminem wants his music to be consumed in a number of ways. As with all his albums, there have been a few tracks that have music videos. Some of these are : 3AM (Relapse), Without Me (The Eminem Show), Rap God (Marshall Mathers LP 2), We Made You (Relapse), Real Slim Shady (Slim Shady LP).
With most of the albums he does as a CD, there is always a lyric book so that you can actually see what he is saying. Its a chance for his audience to appreciate the work of the artist further than just the song.


  • MP3 Download w/ digipak
  • CD w/ Extension book
Creation
How does your artist create their music, are they a musician, a songwriter, a composer?
Eminem uses a bricolage style, sampling specific parts from different tracks and adds his own beats within that sampled piece of music so he doesn't technically create his own music to a certain extent. However, he is a songwriter because all of his raps are very complex with many intertextual references dotted around the place.

Performance
Does your artist play 'live'? Is there a 'show' to accompany? Is there a 'style' to their videos? What if any interaction is there with their audience?
Eminem has done various live shows to please his fans, one most notably being 'The Eminem Show' which he produced himself along with the studio album.


"Although he typically collaborates with various rappers under Aftermath Entertainment and Shady Records, such as Dr. Dre50 CentD12Obie Trice and alsoYelawolf, Eminem has collaborated with many other artists, including RedmanKid RockDMXLil WayneMissy ElliottJay-ZDrakeRihannaNicki Minaj,XzibitMethod ManJadakissFat JoeSticky FingazT.I., and Young Jeezy among others. Eminem rapped a verse in a live performance of Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" remix at the 2006 BET Music Awards on June 27, 2006. Eminem was featured on Akon's single "Smack That" which appeared on his album Konvicted. He was featured on Lil Wayne's hit song "Drop the World". He is featured on the lead single of 50 Cent's fifth studio album Street King Immortal titled "My Life".
Eminem is also an active rap producer. Besides being the executive producer of D12's first two albums,Devil's Night and D12 World, he has executive produced Obie Trice's Cheers and Second Round's on Me as well as 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre.[181] In addition, Eminem has produced songs by other famous rappers, such as Jadakiss' "Welcome To D-Block", Jay-Z's "Renegade" and "Moment of Clarity" Lloyd Banks' "On Fire", "Warrior Part 2", and "Hands Up"Tony Yayo's "Drama Setter"Trick-Trick's "Welcome 2 Detroit", and Xzibit's "My Name" and "Don't Approach Me".[182] Most of The Eminem Show was produced by Eminem himself, with co-production from longtime collaborator Jeff Bass.[183] He split the production with Dr. Dre on Encore. In 2004, Eminem was the Executive Producer of 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with 2Pac's mother Afeni Shakur.[184] He produced the UK No. 1 single "Ghetto Gospel" which featured Elton John.[185] He has produced "The Cross" off Nas's album God's Son.[186] On August 15, 2006, Obie Trice released Second Round's on Me. Eminem produced 8 tracks on the album. He was featured in the song "There They Go".[187] Eminem produced some tracks on Trick-Trick's album, The Villain. He is also featured in "Who Want It".[188] Eminem also produced four songs onCashis's 2013 album The County Hound 2.
With regard to the productions on his own records, Eminem is seen as having an unusual style in that rather than write to beats he typically starts with an idea of how he wants his song to be structured based on the lyrics and then creates music according to that.[189] A notable exception to this was the song "Stan", which came from an idea and scratch track produced by Mark the 45 King.[189] After not significantly contributing production for his own records on Relapse and Recovery, on 2013's The Marshall Mathers LP 2 Eminem produced a significant amount of the album. He spoke on producing his own songs saying, "Sometimes, I may get something in my head, like an idea or the mood of something that I would want, and I'm not always gonna get that by going through different tracks that other people have made. They don't know what's in my head. I think maybe it helps, a little bit, with diversity, the sound of it, but also, I would get something in my head and want to be able to lay down that idea from scratch."


Tuesday, 28 January 2014

How is Inception Postmodern?


The Sound:

  • The theme song 'Dream is Collapsing' by Hans Zimmer has been specifically made for the film, a soundtrack, which is typical of any film, but in some scenes in the movie they have slowed it down so as to give a multi-sensory experience to the film. This technique has also been used with the song 'Je Ne Regrette Rien' from the French artist Edith Paif-Non.
  • Not only have slowed this music down to give a slow and distorted sound effect, but they have also mixed the two tracks together in a way that they create one song even though they are from different genres. I feel that the use of technology to mix these two pieces makes the film postmodern, as it is creating something new out of what already existed.
  • Linking with the film, they have also slowed down diegetic sound within the film along with the appropriate sound, again, to give a multi-sensory feel to the audience about the dream  how actions and time in reality are perceived in the dream.
The Film:
  • Straight away, I feel this film is postmodern because its different from any other film.You don't just sit there and watch it, it captivates you in its inception so you actually have to think about it to stay up to date with whats going on.
  • The whole concept of the film. In modern times, people couldn't or wouldn't have thought about the whole idea of inception. Its different and its a new idea, and the film itself employs deeper thought into the theory of inception, which I feel is a postmodern feature.
  • In the film they have used CGI technology to simulate what happens outside the dream. For example, towards the end of the film they drive the van off the bridge after the first 'kick' and they illustrate that in the film by putting the actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt in antigravity.
  • The way all the characters address each other by their surname and not by their forename, I think is a postmodern feature. This is because the end credits show the surnames of all the characters as well, so there is continuity.

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

Death Of Uncool!

My 20 Track Shuffle:-

Queen - The Show Must Go On (Rock)
Eminem - Rhyme or Reason (Hip Hop/Rap)
Paramore - When It Rains (Punk Rock)
Guns n Roses - Civil War (Rock)
Bad Meets Evil - Echoes (Hip Hop/Rap)
Muse - Hyper Music (Indie Rock)
All Time Low - Guts (Punk Rock)
Muse - The Gallery (Alternative Rock)
Queen - Innuendo (Rock)
Alter Bridge - Come To Life (Rock)
Lawson - Brokenhearted (Alternative/Indie Pop)
Bad Meets Evil - Take From Me (Hip Hop/Rap)
Alter Bridge - We Don't Care At All (Rock)
Muse - Sing For Absolution (Alternative Rock)
Black Stone Cherry - Drive (Rock)
Guns n Roses - Yesterday (Rock)
Bruno Mars - It Will Rain (Pop)
Bad Meets Evil - Fast Lane (Hip Hop/Rap)
Black Stone Cherry - Reverend Wrinkle (Rock)
Muse - City Of Delusion (Alternative Rock)

This list is an illustration of what postmodernism is. It shows a set of music that is diverse, not just in music and artist but in culture as well. Every aspect of these artists is different from each other.