Highbrow Magazine - Music https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/music en An Homage to Classical Music and Its Influence on Film https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24484-homage-classical-music-and-its-influence-film <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 02/21/2024 - 16:23</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1classicalmusic.jpg?itok=syENBMHB"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1classicalmusic.jpg?itok=syENBMHB" width="407" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Any film is composed of multiple elements: from scripting to special effects, to costume design, and, of course, the all-essential music.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The crux of the matter is: Music in many ways is just as, if not more important, than the spoken word in various media. When <a href="https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/silentfilms/silentfilms-about.html" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">silent films</a> dominated the scene — from 1914 to 1929 — music literally replaced the spoken word, and was used to express the actors’ emotions and thoughts.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">When <a href="https://www.charliechaplin.com" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Charlie Chaplan</a> or <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000036/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Buster Keaton</a> would fall, embarrass themselves, speak to the pretty girl, or save the day, these actions were accompanied by a score. Music was either created specifically for the movie or derived from existing music, often of the classical genre.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1classicalmusic_depositphotos.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Even though we are long past the era of silent films, music still plays an important part in conveying emotional expression in films and other forms of media. Classical music is a hidden contributor to the plot and narrative of media, especially action-based films.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Obviously pop, rock, rap, rhythm and blues, and other more contemporary genres are also used frequently, and perhaps stereotypically. Pop might be regarded as more upbeat; rock might be considered as angry; while R&amp;B might be considered chill and laidback.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">However, even if the typical moviegoer doesn’t realize it, classical music has the same impact, despite the stereotypes that weigh it down. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2classicalmusic.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ludwig-van-Beethoven" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Ludwig van Beethoven</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Sebastian-Bach" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Johann Sebastian Bach</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a> — some of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/list/10-classical-music-composers-to-know#:~:text=The%20three%20composers%20that%20consistently,some%20of%20the%20most%20significant" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">most famous</a> classical composers — have created compelling, dramatic pieces that could rival any modern, beat-dropping song. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">These classical songs have helped set the tone of certain scenes in numerous movies throughout Hollywood history, and many viewers may not even realize that they populate scores of countless films.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">One classical piece in particular has lost its roots, and has been relegated to just a “theme” to a popular film: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Strauss" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Richard Strauss'</a><u>s</u> <a href="https://youtu.be/Szdziw4tI9o?si=qciWiE23VnmcrMZJ" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">"Also </a><a href="https://youtu.be/Szdziw4tI9o?si=qciWiE23VnmcrMZJ" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">sprach</a><a href="https://youtu.be/Szdziw4tI9o?si=qciWiE23VnmcrMZJ" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"> Zarathustra,"</a> or as it’s better known, the theme to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_2001" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em></a>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3classicalmusic.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Strauss’s piece is a perfect example for two reasons. One, this composition has been shrouded by the media it's used in, and has lost its original identity -- those who listen to it have no idea its origin is actually a great classical score.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Two, it serves as an example as to the breadth classical music can have when identifying key emotions and feelings. “Also sprach Zarathrustra” inspires awe, anticipation and adventure in listeners, as evident by the film it was originally used in, and in its latest iteration at the beginning of hit film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_4_nm_3_q_Barbie" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Barbie</em></a>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This emotional spurning also echoes the <a href="https://www.riphil.org/blog/the-story-behind-strauss-also-sprach-zarathustra" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">original meaning of the piece</a>, which was inspired by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Friedrich-Nietzsche" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Friedrich Nietzsche's</a> book, <a href="https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/zarathustra/summary/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Thus Spoke Zarathustra</em></a>. The story follows the journey of the character Zarathustra as he embarks on an adventure to find himself and return to his place of birth.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4classicalmusic.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Classical music also lends itself to nonadventure genre films, such as horror and thriller-based media. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000040/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_0_nm_8_q_Stanley" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Stanley Kubrick</a>, the director of <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em>, is well known for consistently using classical music in his films, including his horror masterpiece <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_3_dr" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>The Shining</em></a> and thriller <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120663/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_Eyes" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Eyes Wide Shut</em></a>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Kubrick used <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bela-Bartok" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Béla Bartók’s</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/Khao59UYqdo?si=vwhrK3hOq9M76AqZ" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">“Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta”</a> throughout the film, especially during scenes that inspire fear, such as when Danny is rolling down the hotel hall toward the blood-filled elevators, and when Jack enters the ballroom.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Classical music has also been used as the basis for other horror genres, such as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_q_Black%2520Swan" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Black Swan</em></a>, a film that follows a ballerina battling with a curious mental state who is playing the Black Swan in <a href="https://www.sfballet.org/discover/backstage/the-story-of-swan-lake/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">"Swan Lake,"</a> the music for which was composed by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pyotr-Ilyich-Tchaikovsky" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Tchaikovsky</a>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5classicalmusic.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Not only does Tchaikovsky’s piece act as the driving force of the film’s plot and narrative, it also emphasizes the tension and despair the main character feels as she tries to embody the Black Swan – a case in which the film and music feed off of each other.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">While classical music, at times, lends itself well to highly emotive films, it can also be used to inspire fantasy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">During <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0926084/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_8_nm_0_q_Harry%2520Potter%2520and%2520the%2520Dea" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1</em></a>, when the main characters — Harry, Hermione and Ron — reach a safehouse, there’s a brief scene where Hermione attempts to teach Ron how to play Beethoven’s “Für Elise.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Though Ron bumbles through her lesson, this song helps create a moment of safety and tenderness not only for the characters, but the audience too.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6classicalmusic.jpg" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Even if classical music is not audible in films, it has continuously influenced multiple film score composers -- including <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_q_John%2520Williams" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">John Willams'</a> <em>Star Wars </em>score and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000384/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Danny Elfman</a>, who is not only influenced by classical music, but has also <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2023/05/danny-elfman-legendary-film-composer-debuts-classical-work-at-loc/#:~:text=One%20of%20those%20was%20into,Sergei%20Prokofiev%2C%20his%20true%20inspiration" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">composed</a> great classical pieces. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Whether we can actually <em>hear</em> the classical cadences urging on the characters in films or not, the genre has thankfully not fallen prey to the stereotypes that surround it.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">If anything, classical music is one of the reasons we find certain movies so compelling – even if most of us do not realize it.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Ariana Powell is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Photo Credits: </em></strong><a href="https://depositphotos.com/stock-photography.html" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Depositphotos.com</em></strong></a><strong><em>; </em></strong><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Classical_music_composers_montage.JPG" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Wikimedia Commons</em></strong></a><strong><em>; </em></strong><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mozart_family_crop.jpg" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Wikipedia Commons</em></strong></a><strong><em>; </em></strong><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beethoven.jpg" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><strong><em>Wikimedia Commons</em></strong></a><strong><em><u>; Linnaea Mallette (<a href="https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=522963&amp;picture=man-playing-violin">Public Domain Pictures</a>). </u></em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/classical-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">classical music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/classic-music-movies" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">classic music in movies</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/beethoven" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">beethoven</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bach" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">bach</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/2001-space-odyssey" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">2001: a space odyssey</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/musical-scores" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">musical scores</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/movie-scores" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">movie scores</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/john-williams" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">john williams</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/danny-elfman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">danny elfman</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/listening-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">listening to music</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tchaichovsky" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">tchaichovsky</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/composers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">composers</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ariana Powell</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 21 Feb 2024 21:23:57 +0000 tara 13046 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24484-homage-classical-music-and-its-influence-film#comments ‘Roots of Fire’ Offers an Expansive Look at Why Cajun Music Matters https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24127-roots-fire-offers-expansive-look-why-cajun-music-matters <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 10/11/2023 - 14:53</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1rootsmusicfilm.jpg?itok=KYPQadqR"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1rootsmusicfilm.jpg?itok=KYPQadqR" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>AT A GLANCE</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Roots of Fire</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Directors: Abby Berendt Lavoi and Jeremy Lavoi</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Availability: Now playing in select theaters</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Critical rating: 3 stars out of 4</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Cajun music may not have the following of more popular American genres, but it has an infectious, earthy sound capable of transporting even those who don’t understand the lyrics (most often in French) to a heightened emotional state. As storied musician Jourdan Thibodeaux is quick to note in the documentary <em>Roots of Fire</em>, the music is also deeply rooted in Acadian culture.  </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In the film, Thibodeaux repeatedly states, “You’re either living your culture, or you’re killing your culture,” encouraging other Louisiana Cajuns to keep their traditions alive. This theme runs throughout <em>Roots of Fire</em>, a music documentary punctuated by outstanding outtakes from concerts but, ultimately, more interested in meditating on the difficulty keeping tradition alive in a nation that – increasingly – seems bent on homogeny. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2rootsmusic.jpg" style="height:377px; width:670px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">America, thanks in large part to its economic strength, has an outsize voice in worldwide pop culture, making it easy for subcultures and aging traditions to get swept into its melting pot. Thibodeaux and others make a compelling case for preserving our individual cultures, and filmmakers Abby Berendt Lavoi (director/producer), husband Jeremy Lavoi (director/producer) and Stephen Thorpe (sound producer) foster the conversation with gorgeous cinematography and a soundtrack that is always sharp and compelling. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Roots of Fire</em> will not make anyone an expert in Cajun music. Its mission is not to recount the history of the genre in painstaking detail, so anyone looking for that approach could be disappointed. That said, there are references to the history, all presented by a group of contemporary musicians who play traditional songs, but also drive the genre forward. In fact, the documentary has a wonderful section where Grammy nominee Kelli Jones (sometimes credited as K.C. Jones) says she isn’t interested in rehashing the past. Rather, she prefers to build on Cajun traditions, moving the music into the 21<sup>st</sup> century.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3rootsmusic.jpg" style="height:377px; width:670px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Anyone who has studied art and culture at even an elementary level understands that evolution is constant, and Jones and others demonstrate that – both sonically and intellectually – today’s Cajun music isn’t your grandpa’s … but it relies on the same root system, thus the film title.  Other musicians featured in <em>Roots of Fire</em> include Grammy-winning brothers Wilson and Joel Savoy and Grammy nominee Kristi Guillory. Each adds interesting thoughts to the cultural conversation -- as well as astonishing performance snippets that Thorpe captured with aplomb. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Clocking in at just 84 minutes, <em>Roots of Fire</em> is not the definitive film on Cajun music, nor do I believe it was meant to be. Rather, it’s an excellent entry point for anyone looking to learn more about the vibrant Cajun culture and the stunning music at its core. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4rootsmusic.jpg" style="height:377px; width:670px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Forrest Hartman is</em> Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief film critic.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/roots-fire" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Roots of Fire</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cajun-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cajun music</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cajun" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cajun</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jourdan-thibodeaux" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Jourdan Thibodeaux</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cajun-musicians" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cajun musicians</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/acadian-culture" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Acadian culture</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new films</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cajun-country" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cajun country</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/louisiana" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">louisiana</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music-documentaries" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">music documentaries</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Forrest Hartman</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-videos field-type-video-embed-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <div class="embedded-video"> <div class="player"> <iframe class="" width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yzSCwUFWcNY?width%3D640%26amp%3Bheight%3D360%26amp%3Bautoplay%3D0%26amp%3Bvq%3Dlarge%26amp%3Brel%3D0%26amp%3Bcontrols%3D1%26amp%3Bautohide%3D2%26amp%3Bshowinfo%3D1%26amp%3Bmodestbranding%3D0%26amp%3Btheme%3Ddark%26amp%3Biv_load_policy%3D1%26amp%3Bwmode%3Dopaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> </div> </div></div></div> Wed, 11 Oct 2023 18:53:06 +0000 tara 12667 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24127-roots-fire-offers-expansive-look-why-cajun-music-matters#comments Joan Baez: 60 Years of Sound and Still Counting https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24120-joan-baez-years-sound-and-still-counting <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 10/05/2023 - 17:23</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1baez.jpg?itok=yvRdNCOd"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1baez.jpg?itok=yvRdNCOd" width="324" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Joan Baez made a noise—a big one. Still shy of 20, when this legendary folk singer and protest activist adorned the cover of <em>Time</em> magazine, she could hit the purest notes anyone had ever heard or could remember. And we all know early stardom can be the harbinger of a shaky destiny. That veritable candle can burn at both ends, but it will not last the night.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">For Baez, now 82, the good news is that for over 60 years of performing, she outlasted that long night, coming out the other side to see another morning of an extraordinary life. That’s not only good fortune for her, but for Mira Navasky, Karen O’Connor, and Maeve O’Boyle, the directors of <em>I Am a Noise</em>. Through a rich pastiche of the singer’s own confessional narration; archival footage of the last half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century; interlaced with animation of Baez’s own drawings and performance clips—even the hypnotic, somnambulistic voice on tape of her own therapist — their film stands as one of the frankest stories of fame to be seen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">If this up-close and personal account veers dangerously close to a saga of obsessive navel gazing, it is saved by the treasure trove of memorabilia Baez has lent to the proceedings. A very young Joan is seen flirting and pouting her way through the California landscape her Mexican-American father chose to document. Roughhousing with her two sisters, bellowing out early tunes on her guitar, sketching and journal writing with a rare and prescient talent—it’s all here. As a research scientist in physics, the senior Baez exposed his family to parts of the world like Baghdad, where a social consciousness blossomed in the girls at an early age. It was there, according to Joan, before the voice developed.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2baez.jpg" style="height:419px; width:670px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This early raw talent was generously spread among the three sisters. Sister Mimi is seen performing songs with husband Richard Farina. Tragically, the promising future for this duo was cut short by Farina’s early death in a motorcycle accident. One of their more popular songs, “Pack Up Your Sorrows,” was written by the third sister, Pauline.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">When celebrity came -- Baez still kicking her mercurial self out of adolescent angst — it didn’t just knock but blew the door wide open. She confesses that at a certain point, trying to find her young self in this morass of public adulation, she thought herself to be the Virgin Mary reincarnated. Touring with the Farinas; falling into a lesbian relationship then out again; finding a soulmate in the unknown Bob Dylan and encouraging this gargantuan talent until his own fame broke open and he “broke my heart,” the viewer is shuttled into a tailspin of the times.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It was no surprise that an impressionable girl, raised by Quaker parents, became an unremitting activist. She met and married the dashing antiwar protestor David Harris, and for a few years, she sang to her legions while he spoke. “We Shall Overcome” became the mantra for a generation of peaceniks, but for Baez, their marriage couldn’t overcome the fact that he was several years younger, and she was “crazy.” Looking back, Baez makes an astute revelation: “I’m not very great at one relationship, but I’m great at 2,000.”  A son Gabriel was the fruit of this union, and it’s satisfying to see him accompanying her on the road and on her farewell tour as a drummer.  </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3baez.jpg" style="height:474px; width:670px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Her naïve desire to “save the world” was an authentic one, and we glimpse her holding hands with a grinning James Baldwin on one of her many marches, the iconic early ‘60s voice of Martin Luther King playing incessantly in the public’s mind. Getting arrested was just part of the bigger picture to Baez, a little enough price to pay. When the war was over, she continued to embrace such events as the 1986 Amnesty International Conference, President Reagan’s law granting amnesty to nearly 3 million illegal immigrants, yet largely considered unsuccessful because the strict sanctions on employers were stripped out of the bill for passage.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The film begins with a quote from Gabriel Garcia Marquez: “Everyone has three lives: the public, the private, and the secret.” Living in the constant glare of the public, it’s no surprise that the public and the private life for Baez often blended into one. But her secret life was another matter. How long can the psyche go on with the “bone-shattering task of remembering” without seeking help?  And what both Joan and her sister Mimi remembered about their young lives forms a disturbing chapter of abuse in the overall story. There are those who believe that intensive therapy can lead to a false memory syndrome. But according to Baez, if even 20 percent is true, it’s a tragedy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">A film about such a folk legend must include highlights of performances to satisfy the fans, especially those whose own lives have witnessed the messy, yet often glorious days that Baez’s own life reflects. These clips are golden moments, surely, with memorable songs performed by Joan and Mimi; one of Dylan’s hits sung by the pair at the height of their performing together; and on the Farewell Tour, “There But For Fortune” by Phil Ochs, sung by a mature Baez even as she felt the notes were a tad less pure.</span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4baez.jpg" style="height:670px; width:489px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Baez can lay claim to over 30 albums, the first three hitting gold and a sold-out performance at New York City’s Town Hall in 1961 at the age of 20. Through the years, the awards have piled up, most recently a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 and a Kennedy Center Honors Award in 2020.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It is the present Joan Baez that the filmmakers leave us with. Sitting in her Western landscape, the camera pulls out to reveal a setting sun, with the words of the great Robert Frost reverberating: “I have miles to go before I sleep.” If the fates are kind, we hope her journey continues another “Ten Thousand Miles.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Sandra Bertrand is</em> Highbrow Magazine’s <em>chief art critic.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Source:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Photo credit for Joan Baez and Bob Dylan image: Rowland Scherman (Public Domain, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joan_Baez_Bob_Dylan.jpg" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Wikipedia.org</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/joan-baez" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Joan Baez</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/folk-singers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">folk singers</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/folk-songs" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">folk songs</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bob-dylan" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Bob Dylan</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music-1960s" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">music of the 1960s</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/60s" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the 60s</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/civil-rights-movement" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">civil rights movement</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/singers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">singers</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/folk-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">folk music</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandra Bertrand</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-videos field-type-video-embed-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <div class="embedded-video"> <div class="player"> <iframe class="" width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dhcV1gEat_c?width%3D640%26amp%3Bheight%3D360%26amp%3Bautoplay%3D0%26amp%3Bvq%3Dlarge%26amp%3Brel%3D0%26amp%3Bcontrols%3D1%26amp%3Bautohide%3D2%26amp%3Bshowinfo%3D1%26amp%3Bmodestbranding%3D0%26amp%3Btheme%3Ddark%26amp%3Biv_load_policy%3D1%26amp%3Bwmode%3Dopaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> </div> </div></div></div> Thu, 05 Oct 2023 21:23:15 +0000 tara 12659 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24120-joan-baez-years-sound-and-still-counting#comments Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Is a Reminder That the Internet Is Not Real Life https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24097-taylor-swift-s-eras-tour-reminder-internet-not-real-life <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 09/21/2023 - 19:27</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1swift_depositphotos.jpg?itok=ApWlCVui"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1swift_depositphotos.jpg?itok=ApWlCVui" width="480" height="320" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>(Photo credit: <a href="https://depositphotos.com/stock-photography.html">Depositphotos.com</a>)</p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In the weeks leading up to June 16, 2023, when I attended the Pittsburgh leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, the online chatter about the 33-year-old singer had become draining.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The internet was ablaze with rumors about Swift dating Matty Healy, the lead singer of the English pop-rock band The 1975. Some Swifties – the term used for diehard Taylor Swift fans – berated the pop superstar for dating Healy, who’d become mired in controversy for appearing on a podcast whose hosts made racist comments about the rapper Ice Spice.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As the Pittsburgh leg of the tour approached, I wondered if I were about to dive headfirst into an angry mob of tens of thousands of Swifties.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">On the day of the show, Acrisure Stadium was mobbed with 72,000 people, but the Swifties in attendance were far from angry.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In that moment we became deeply connected by our shared love and admiration for Swift’s music. Sociologist Emile Durkheim described this phenomenon as “collective effervescence,” the unique surge in feeling when large groups of people come together for a shared purpose.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“It was rare, I was there, I was there,” Swift belted out during “All Too Well.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">I was there, too, as life events touched by Swift flashed by: sitting at my first desktop computer as a teenager in Kathmandu, Nepal, replaying “Love Story” on LimeWire; my first week in the U.S., during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, when Kanye West infamously interrupted Swift; how Swift’s eighth studio album, “Folklore,” brought me back to life after it seemed as if the world were on the verge of imploding in 2020.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2swift_depositphotos.jpg" style="height:673px; width:449px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p>(Photo credit: <a href="https://depositphotos.com/stock-photography.html">Depositphotos.com</a>)</p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Collective delusion</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The Eras Tour was not my first experience of collective effervescence. Nor was it the first time I felt such a strong disconnect between the online and offline worlds.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Right before the pandemic began, there was the painfully quiet fizzling out of the Bernie 2020 movement. As a volunteer for that campaign, I had the remarkable experience of connecting with other Americans who wanted a Bernie Sanders presidency.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">I especially appreciated how this role connected me to the people who make up the Nepali diaspora in the U.S. We hoped to improve our immigrant experiences, whether it involved no longer fearing the deportation of loved ones or easier access to healthcare.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">But then repeated news cycles about “toxic Bernie Bros” seemed to drain the movement’s momentum. Mainstream media outlets reported that Sanders’s base was made up of white male cyberbullies. Negative tweets had been amplified, and the words and behaviors of a few Sanders supporters all of a sudden were being portrayed as representative of an entire movement.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The contrast between what was being said online versus my own experiences was jarring: Here I was working to find transportation for 80-year-old Nepali grandmas who didn’t speak English but wanted to vote for Sanders.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Post-election analysis would show that the Bernie Bro trope was entirely constructed; there was no evidence to show that young white men made up a majority of Sanders’ supporters. The movement, in fact, consisted of a diverse coalition of people from marginalized races and genders.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1computeronline_depositphotos.jpg" style="height:535px; width:670px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p>(Photo credit: <a href="https://depositphotos.com/stock-photography.html">Depositphotos.com</a>)</p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>A vocal minority sets the agenda</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Online narratives distort real life more often than you might realize.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Research consistently shows that a small minority of people who have social media accounts post the vast majority of content.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In what’s termed the “90-9-1 rule,” 90% of users on these websites only “lurk” or read content, 9% of the users reply or re-post with occasional new contributions, and only 1% of the users frequently create new content.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Pioneered by Jakob Neilson, the 90-9-1 rule is one of many theories within internet studies that describe participation rates, and different scholars find support for different variations of this rule. Reddit, for example, has over 1 billion monthly active users, but according to a 2017 conference paper, an overwhelming majority of Reddit users are lurkers. X, the website and app formerly known as Twitter, had around 350 million users as of 2023; however, research from 2019 found that 75% of its users were lurkers.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In other words, most of the discussions happening on websites like Reddit and Twitter come from a vocal minority of users – whose posts are then curated and boosted by algorithms.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Nonetheless, in the past decade, the news media have increasingly constructed narratives about collective reality based on what happens in these websites.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Of course, toxic online behavior exists in all online communities. But it represents the words of a smaller minority of users within the already small minority of people who post content online. Media narratives that emphasize certain groups as toxic based on online behavior – whether they are describing fandom or politics – fall into the trap of confusing the internet with real life.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In the weeks when Swift was dating Healy, a vocal minority of Swifties came head-to-head with a vocal minority of Healy’s defenders. Then the celebrity pair ended their relationship, and collective attention moved on from that topic almost immediately.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Several weeks of nonstop debate, attacks, and hand-wringing ended up being utterly meaningless – except to social media companies that converted this brief obsession into clicks, engagement, and ad revenue.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">My forthcoming book, <em>Attention and Alienation</em>, brings renewed focus to an increasingly demystified phenomenon: The online attention economy maximizes profits by designing algorithms that boost engagement, particularly by promoting negativity and outrage.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1musiccrowd.jpg" style="height:450px; width:674px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p>(Photo credit:<a href="https://depositphotos.com/stock-photography.html"> Depositphotos.com</a>)</p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Oligarchy of the ‘extremely online’</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Sometimes the consequences of mistaking the internet for real life are dire.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Take reproductive health. Online rage about the Supreme Court’s decisions to overturn <em>Roe. v. Wade</em> peaked within a few days and people moved on to different topics.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Today, reports about reproductive healthcare take up very little news media space compared with garden-variety trending topics like “Barbenheimer” – the double blockbuster release of the movies <em>Barbie</em> and <em>Oppenheimer</em> on July 21, 2023.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In the real world, many people continue to suffer from lack of access to lifesaving reproductive healthcare across the U.S., while the online chattering class celebrates the radical feminism of the <em>Barbie</em> movie.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Perhaps it’s time to sideline social media and the internet when evaluating the nature of our collective reality. Reality exists outside of our devices, whereas social media algorithms push whatever keeps us tethered to the screen. There is little evidence to support the idea that online discourse represents collective experiences.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">That might be easier said than done: 94% of journalists say they use social media for their jobs.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">But as an internet researcher – and Taylor Swift fan – I am hopeful that experiences like the Eras Tour will wake up more people to the fact that human beings are more united than social media algorithms would have us believe.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1berniesanders_1.jpg" style="height:449px; width:673px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p>(Photo credit: Gage Skidemore,<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/48608392937"> Flickr</a>, Creative Commons)</p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Aarushi Bhandari is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Davidson College.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>This article was originally published in <a href="https://theconversation.com/taylor-swifts-eras-tour-is-a-potent-reminder-that-the-internet-is-not-real-life-209325" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">the Conversation</a>. It’s republished here with permission under a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Creative Commons license</a>.</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Sources:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--<a href="https://depositphotos.com/stock-photography.html" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Depositphotos.com</a></em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Gage Skidmore (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/48608392937" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Flickr</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/taylor-swift" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">taylor swift</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/eras-tour" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">eras tour</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/swifties" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">swifties</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bernie-sanders" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">bernie sanders</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/social-media" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">social media</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/online-fans" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">online fans</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/concerts" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">concerts</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/musicians" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">musicians</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Aarushi Bhandari</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 21 Sep 2023 23:27:13 +0000 tara 12451 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24097-taylor-swift-s-eras-tour-reminder-internet-not-real-life#comments Satchmo's Final Playlist: The Reel-to-Reel Tapes of Louis Armstrong https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24017-satchmos-final-playlist-reel-reel-tapes-louis-armstrong <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 06/08/2023 - 13:35</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1satchmo.jpg?itok=Xujw5gn0"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1satchmo.jpg?itok=Xujw5gn0" width="480" height="348" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"> In the six weeks leading up to his death in July 1971, jazz icon Louis Armstrong made nearly 20 reel-to-reel tapes in his Corona, Queens, home.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">He had been taping on and off, in his second-floor den, for decades. He dubbed this final series "Armstrong’s Personal Recordings."</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This burst of new activity around the reel-to-reel had come about as Armstrong had become too incapacitated to tour -- which kept him out on the road as many as 300 days a year -- and thus restricted to the house.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As Armstrong recorded reels of his favorite performances on record, directly from the turntable, he wrote down each song’s name on piece of paper in a binder, a diligent habit even as his handwriting grew weaker.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Perhaps, as he suspected, he was not long for this world. But, ever-industrious, he set out to use this downtime to document how he himself would want to be remembered.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">By then, he had been making records for 48 years. This summing up would be a Herculean effort. Did he plan on actually finishing it? Or perhaps, he would just continue on until he finally passed away, a never-ending project assessing his life's work.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Jazz had been re-imagined a number of times since Armstrong had helped create the genre. And the successive waves of beboppers, cool-boppers, hard-boppers, and the fusionists all saw Armstrong as old hat. But just getting to where Armstrong got to was itself an incredible feat.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It was important work, saving his own life’s music in posterity. Armstrong spent the final day of his life in his den -- July 5, 1971 -- dubbing albums to tape. That night, he died in his sleep.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2satchmo.jpg" style="height:573px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Happily, Armstrong did not anticipate that pretty much his entire catalog would be available on Spotify today. The museum actually made a playlist of the recordings, a fascinating tape-by-tape account by the museum's director of research Ricky Riccardi, of what Armstrong recorded.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In his den, Armstrong recorded album after album, direct from the turntable to the tape. Each tape was marked on the front cover, “Armstrong’s Personal Recordings” and each got a successive number, starting at #1.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This final series started out strictly about the music, though as it progressed, he’d wander off mission, including snatches of performances by another mysterious Louis Armstrong-like trumpet player, appreciations from his ex-wife, and other odd diversions.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">What music he decided to record first appears chaotic at first, at least from any sort of chronological perspective. Were they thematically linked? Was Armstrong DJing his own career?</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">He started the series off with his most recent peak, commercially, “Hello Dolly,” both a #1 single and #1 album of the same name from 1964.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">That song was recorded as a lark, at the behest of Armstrong's manager to promote the soon-to-be-unveiled "Hello Dolly!" musical starring Carol Channing. With a decade of film work behind him, Armstrong was still respected as a jazz pioneer and bandleader. But by then, but was drifting into the oldies circuit.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">But "Hello Dolly!" caught the public's imagination in a big way. The song bumped the Beatles off the top of the pops, as it were. The album, largely of snappy Broadway standards, felt quite contemporary for that time. He was in the game. In 1964, he was 63, the oldest person ever at the time to have a #1 record.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The tour guide at the museum told us that Armstrong listened to and liked all kinds of music. Of the Beatles, she said Armstrong dug them, that they had a “new beat,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3satchmo.jpg" style="height:274px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Each tape was long enough to hold multiple albums, so he included a smattering of other recent singles on this first reel. He also included the trumpet-less “Louis 'Country and Western' Armstrong,” which would be his last recorded album.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">He was proud enough of the album to include it early in his compendium. Nonetheless, time has shown this album as not one of his finest efforts.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Eugene Chadbourne pointed this out, and you can’t unhear it, that the backing band on this record has no interaction with Armstrong at all, whose vocals were recorded later, for health issues. Worse, and for God knows what reason, Armstrong does not play trumpet on the album.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">What’s funny is that, back at the den, when Armstrong was recording these albums to reel-to-reel, he may have been playing along with his trumpet as the record spun. But the reel-to-reel recorded directly off the turntable, so his playing wouldn’t have made it on tape.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">However awful, the album does contain his take on the Haight-Ashbury anthem, ”Get Together,” with Armstrong urging everyone to “love one another right now.” It has a weird but fun multi-generational vibe.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">From there, he took a detour back to the 1920s and recorded some 78 sides for his ailing buddy Zutty Singleton, back when Singleton drummed in Armstrong’s band.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“That was the real Louis,” Singleton told an interview captured in the museum post, “Going to all that trouble because he knew it would cheer me up—even though he also knew he was dying himself, and don’t let anybody tell you he didn’t.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Jazz fans tend to see this portion of Armstrong's work in the 1920s and 1930s, with the small bands as his best and ground-breaking work, each 78 side a tightly-packed composition with furiously competing instrumentalists all held under Armstrong's immediately identifiable trumpet or cornet. Here, he pretty much invented the jazz form of improvised solos.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4satchmo.jpg" style="height:300px; width:300px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In the decades that followed, he concentrated more on singing, and brought the scat style of singing into jazz. This was what brought him the fame and the movies.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">When assessing his own career, Armstrong clearly saw this early historic jazz work as a highlight, but he also valued his most recent forays into popular song. In Armstrong's estimation, his work only improved over time.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">One such inclusion is "We Have All the Time in the World," a lovely 1969 ballad he recorded for the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Decades later, it would be a top-5 hit in England and Ireland.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">He grabs the best sides from his work on Verve, Decca, and RCA. He includes a fair number of obscurities as well, such as two songs he recorded for an Italian label in 1967. He records "Hello Dolly" another three times. He gets 1968’s “Disney Songs the Satchmo Way,” another joyous upbeat album, which would be the last to feature his trumpet playing.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Also included in the mix is a 1964 smoking live show recorded in Circus Room of the Nugget Casino in Sparks, Nevada, when he was riding high on the success of “Hello Dolly.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Clearly, marking his territory as The Architect of Jazz was one thing, but Armstrong also wanted to be regarded as contemporary.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In his earlier sets of home recordings, Armstrong would line the front of the tape box with photos from his life, often of obscure origins. They were photos of him on the road, with other famous musicians, of his wife Lucille and family, and some of fans who had visited "pops" at home.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">When he started this set, he didn't decorate the boxes, presumably because he was still too weak. But by the fifth installment, the decorations had resumed. Sometimes he took older tapes, and repurposed them for this series, leaving the previous artwork intact.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5satchmo.jpg" style="height:446px; width:446px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">And here is when "Armstrong’s Personal Recordings" loses focus on the mission somewhat.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">He taped “Satchmo &amp; Me,” a spoken-word album from his second wife Lil Hardin Armstrong, who was instrumental in his career in the 1920s. It was she who taught him how to dress sharply (to hide his growing weight), and encouraged him to step out as his own bandleader.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">He included the most recent album from singer/actor Pearl Bailey, whose television show Armstrong appeared on (one of his last television appearances).</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It also includes two tracks from a then-11-year-old Douglas Grant, who would go on to play teenage acting roles in "Electric Company" and "Good Times" in the decade to follow. One of Grant's tracks, "That's Pops" turned out to be a dead-on impression of Armstrong.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">He also started recording compilation albums, showed off the best work of the dixieland and big band jazz, including his own. In Volume 4, he recorded “Porgy and Bess,” with Ella Fitzgerald, their third and final collaboration. There, he plays mostly a supporting role to Fitzgerald, with wonderful results.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The tapes, which started out to display Armstrong's own talents, drifted to the success of others, showing Armstrong as a people person, someone who clearly delighted in the success of others.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Hopefully, the public will finally get a chance to listen to the complete collection of these tapes. Armstrong's home is now a museum, and is opening a library across the street that will offer the chance to listen to them.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Artists should try to keep track of their work, but how to do so is always a good question. Some sort of indexing is required to keep the canonical record of the personal artifacts, which should include not only the art itself, but also the influences to the art. These tapes were Armstrong's attempt to do just that.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6satchmo.jpg" style="height:489px; width:652px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Armstrong undertook the tapings in phases, first in the early 1950s, and then again in the late 1960s, at the end of his career. Sitting at his expansive desk, Armstrong would write on a piece of paper a short description of every recording snippet he made. The tapes could hold multiple segments, and he filled each one up as he had time, writing a short description alongside each new segment, which were sequentially numbered.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Each tape was given its own sequential number, and each tape would get its own page. And each page was dated and stored in a binder, chronological. This way, he explained in a recording at the museum, he could always easily find the snippet he was looking for.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">He taped musical ideas, his listening parties, copies of his own albums, conversations with his wife Lucille and fellow musicians. Armstrong traveled the world. He was away from his home 300 days a year. And when he toured, he took his recording equipment with him. And at least one tape was too “salty” for public consumption. He taped everything he could. He taped his own albums, and by other musicians he respected. But he also taped his feelings, speaking bitterly of the racism he encountered in the industry.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">What a collection of recordings these must be. Here was the man who arguably invented the modern song form, documenting what caught his eye along the way. And Armstrong didn't miss much.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em><strong>By day, Joab Jackson writes about technology. At night, he searches for wisdom in the arts. To read more of Jackson’s writings, visit:  </strong></em><a href="http://joabj.com/Writing/Technique/" style="font-variant-ligatures:normal; font-variant-numeric:inherit; font-variant-east-asian:inherit; font-variant-alternates:inherit; font-stretch:inherit; line-height:inherit; font-optical-sizing:inherit; font-kerning:inherit; font-feature-settings:inherit; font-variation-settings:inherit; text-align:start; color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank"><em><strong>joabj.com/Writing/Technique/</strong></em></a></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Sources:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--New York Sunday News (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_Armstrong_1947.JPG" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Wikimedia</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Zacks (<a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/photography-reel-reel-to-reel-music-4142309/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Pixabay</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello,_Dolly!_%28song%29#/media/File:Hello,_Dolly!12.jpg" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Wikipedia</a> (Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello,_Dolly!_%28song%29#/media/File:Hello,_Dolly_single.jpeg" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Wikipedia</a> (Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Ellaandlouis.jpg" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Wikimedia</a> (Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Herbert Behrens <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_Armstrong_%281955%29.jpg" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">(Wikimedia</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/louis-armstrong" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Louis Armstrong</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/satchmo" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Satchmo</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jazz" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">jazz</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/louis-armstrong-recordings" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Louis Armstrong recordings</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/louis-armstrong-museum" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Louis Armstrong Museum</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jazz-musicians" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">jazz musicians</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jazz-recordings" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">jazz recordings</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/hello-dolly" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Hello Dolly</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ella-fitzgerald" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ella Fitzgerald</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Joab Jackson</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 08 Jun 2023 17:35:06 +0000 tara 11928 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/24017-satchmos-final-playlist-reel-reel-tapes-louis-armstrong#comments The Resurgence of Emo Music and Subculture https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/23289-resurgence-emo-music-and-subculture <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 02/09/2023 - 17:27</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1emomusic.jpg?itok=CiwHrIQb"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1emomusic.jpg?itok=CiwHrIQb" width="480" height="249" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Some credit the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/16/the-elvic-oracle" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">first</a><u> </u>rock ‘n roll song as Ike Turner’s 1957 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbfnh1oVTk0" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"Rocket 88,"</a><u> </u>sung by Jackie Brenston, and <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/the-original-rock-band-lithophone-music-8455333/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">others</a><u> </u>swear the origins go as far back as the mid-1800s with the formation of the Original Monstre Rock Band. Over the years, rock has progressed through multiple stages and subgenres: classic, glam, progressive, punk, alternative and ska, to name a few.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It has even paved the path for other forms of rock, such as rapcore, metal, and emo. The latter is a shortened version of the subgenre’s true nature: emotional. It <a href="https://www.masterclass.com/articles/emo-music-guide" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">originated</a><u> </u>in the 1980s with the band Rites of Spring and has since caused a cultural phenomenon -- one that influenced an obsession with long bangs and red highlights, caused a run on black hair dye, and sparked the style of black skinny jeans and oversized T-shirts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Those who became a part of this <a href="https://study.com/learn/lesson/emo-subculture-traits.html" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">subculture</a>, then and now, seem to resonate with bands and songs that exude angst, depression, and sadness, formed from self-doubt and frustration with society and oneself.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Emo became especially popular in the 2000 to 2010 with the formation of emo legends such as <a href="https://www.mychemicalromance.com/?frontpage=true" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">My Chemical</a><u> </u><a href="https://www.mychemicalromance.com/?frontpage=true" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Romance</a><u> </u>in 2001 and <a href="https://panicatthedisco.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Panic! at the Disco </a>and <a href="https://www.paramore.net/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Paramore</a><u> </u>in 2004.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2emomusic.jpg" style="height:488px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Songs like MCR’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRKJiM9Njr8" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"Welcome to the Black Parade,"</a><u> </u>P!ATD’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc6vs-l5dkc" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"I Write Sins Not Tragedies"</a><u> </u>and Paramore’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH9A6tn_P6g" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"Ignorance"</a><u> </u>have influenced millennials and Gen Z-ers alike. However, since hiding behind fringe isn’t really accepted in society, emos have had to “grow up.” As have emo bands apparently. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The emo <a href="https://www.mtv.com/news/hs1qs6/the-rise-and-fall-of-emo-why-you-shouldnt-be-ashamed-for-liking-emo-music" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">graveyard</a><u> </u>began with the fathers of emo, Rites of Spring, and has only grown bigger as other popular bands like <a href="https://andrewmcmahon.com/collections/something-corporate" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Something Corporate</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/officialofficialfinch/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Finch</a>, <a href="https://midtownrock.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Midtown</a><u> </u>and MCR have died out. Emo music began to fade only after a couple of decades, making way for the style of R&amp;B, pop, and hip-hop songs that currently grace the <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/billboard-explains-rb-hip-hop-biggest-genre-9613422/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Billboard</a><u> </u>charts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Some emo bands, like Paramore, <a href="https://theused.net/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">The Used</a><u> </u>and <a href="https://falloutboy.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Fall Out Boy</a>, however, have proved that emo music isn’t completely dead just yet, as more bands have started to rise from the grave.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Most notably MCR, who broke up in <a href="https://www.mychemicalromance.com/?frontpage=true&amp;page=85" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">2013</a>, tried to start a reunion tour in 2020, which had to be <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-live-reviews/my-chemical-romance-plays-reunion-show-in-new-york-city-1234590431/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">postponed</a><u> </u>multiple times due to COVID. The band then released their latest single, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kWUJkRvVs" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"Foundations of Decay,"</a><u> </u>a response to the 21st anniversary of 9/11, which was a key influence for the band's start.</span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3emomusic.jpg" style="height:406px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Midtown also played again for the first time since they broke up in 2005, opening for My Chemical Romance during their 2022/2023 reunion tour. The band additionally embarked on their own <a href="https://midtownrock.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Resurrection Tour</a><u> </u>in 2022.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Other bands like Something Corporate have announced that they will perform at the 2023 When We Were Young Festival -- their last tour was in 2010. Say Anything has also announced that they will performing at the festival. This comes <a href="https://www.altpress.com/say-anything-hiatus-is-a-real-boy-sequel-oliver-appropriate/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">five years</a><u> </u>after Max Bemis, the band’s frontman, released a 10-page <a href="http://eisley.com/SA/SAY_ANYTHING%E2%80%93%E2%80%93A_GOODBYE_SUMMATION.pdf" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"Goodbye</a><u> </u><a href="http://eisley.com/SA/SAY_ANYTHING%E2%80%93%E2%80%93A_GOODBYE_SUMMATION.pdf" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Summation"</a><u> </u>detailing a temporary hiatus for the band.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Live performances are one thing; however, releasing new music is another. Some past emo bands that haven’t officially “broken up” have resumed releasing albums, EPs, and/or singles starting around 2020. The Used released their album “Heartwork” in 2020, a three-year gap since their prior release in 2017.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><a href="https://allamericanrejects.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">The All American-Rejects</a><u> </u>released their album “Me vs. the World” in 2020, and “Stab My Back” in 2021. <a href="https://piercetheveil.net/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Pierce the Veil</a><u> </u>released two singles, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKiX0vjux9U" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"Pass the Nirvana"</a><u> </u>and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr2PWqeRWlQ" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"Emergency the</a></span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr2PWqeRWlQ" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline"> Contact"</a><u> </u>in 2022, and another single, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CwtboVfwlU" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"Even When I'm</a><u> </u><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CwtboVfwlU" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Not With You,"</a><u> </u>on Jan. 13.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4emomusic.jpg" style="height:652px; width:434px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">PTV previously released their “Today I Saw The Whole World” EP in 2017. A song from their album “Misadventures” was released in 2016.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Falling in Reverse, who have been consistently releasing music since their start in 2008, released a revamp and a reimagining of their two most popular emo songs, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nWmBJxW9q0" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"I'm Not A </a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nWmBJxW9q0" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Vampire"</a><u> </u>and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2cbhYihBWY" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">"The Drug In Me Is You,"</a><u> </u>in 2020 and 2021 respectively.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As enthused as elder emos probably are for the reunion of their favorite bands, along with new music, one question pops into mind: Why are these bands suddenly deciding to rejoin the music world? </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This could simply be the latest wave of reunions that have occurred over the past few years across rock genres. The <a href="https://jonasbrothers.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Jonas </a><a href="https://jonasbrothers.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Brothers</a>, <a href="https://tour.ratm.com/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Rage Against the Machine</a><u> </u>and <a href="https://www.pinkfloyd.com/home.php" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Pink Floyd</a>, to name a few, have reunited in the past five years, even if for brief tours only.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Artists like MCR and Midtown could potentially provide a sense of mental relief to their fans who grew up with or who have some form of mental and/or emotional attachment to their music.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5emomusic.jpg" style="height:594px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The artists could also be granting themselves the same form of mental relief, or possibly a sense of catharsis -- especially in our current political and social climate. A revival of what used to be could be a way to relive the glorious past.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The emo decades have impacted multiple generations. Emos still exist, spreading their angst and keeping businesses like Hot Topic and Spencer’s in business. A resurgence of emo music, and the emo lifestyle, could prove to be a good emotional outlet for current and future younger generations. As our society breaks down in the face of climate change, war and bias, American youths today are probably angrier and more confused than Gen Z and millennials were. Perhaps these emo artists have lessons to teach future generations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Ariana Powell is a contributing writer at </em>Highbrow Magazine.</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Sources:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Gerard Wasabi (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:My-chemical-romance-regreso-escenarios-concierto.webp" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Wikimedia.org</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Mojo-Jo-Jo (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:My_Chemical_Romance_lights.jpg" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Wikimedia.org</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Rufus Owliebat (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panic!_at_the_Disco_2011.jpg" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Wikimedia.org</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Vit Hassan (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vithassan/3505239856" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Flickr</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/emo-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">emo music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/emo" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">emo</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/emotional-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">emotional music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rites-spring" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">rites of spring</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/panic-disco" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">panic at the disco</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/paramore" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">paramore</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/my-chemical-romance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">my chemical romance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bands" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">bands</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rock-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">rock music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rock-fans" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">rock fans</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/midtown" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">midtown</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mcr" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">mcr</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rock-fashion" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">rock fashion</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ariana Powell</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 09 Feb 2023 22:27:25 +0000 tara 11658 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/23289-resurgence-emo-music-and-subculture#comments So What Makes a Great Cover Song? https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/230023-so-what-makes-great-cover-song <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 12/08/2022 - 16:56</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1songs.jpg?itok=QGA0N9Mg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1songs.jpg?itok=QGA0N9Mg" width="480" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Our culture is obsessed with the idea of originality. We want things, people, and ideas to be fresh, new and authentic. We prize individuality and like people pushing into unseen territories, at least in theory. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In practice, it seems mass culture is more than happy to gobble up slews of reboots, remakes, tropes and well-established IPs; mobs of Twitter users and Redditors ready to tear you to pieces if you dare suggest their favorite piece of media is anything but an original artistic masterpiece…but I digress.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Despite our tendencies to bemoan derivative works, we love them, and often don’t give the great ones enough credit. Often unappreciated in the artistic world is a great cover song.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">We may pretend we prefer the starving artist, a real Kurt Cobain type, brooding and writing raw emotional lyrics; but, there are plenty of terrific covers that challenge the originals in both quality and popularity.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2songs.jpg" style="height:488px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The most famous covers that come to mind are Johnny Cash’s versions of “Personal Jesus,” originally by Depeche Mode, and “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails. Cash’s cover of “Hurt” possibly being the most iconic of all time.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Both Cash covers deviate greatly from the original songs. Aside from fairly subtle piano accompaniment, Cash’s versions of both songs feature just him and an acoustic guitar. His low voice and the somber way in which he plays the songs contribute to how dark they feel.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Hurt” specifically has a lot of emotional weight to it to begin with, due to its themes of mental illness and self-harm. Couple that with Cash’s rich and raspy voice, and it’s easy to see how his version of the song became so iconic. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This is not to denigrate the originals, however, which in their translation into a more stripped-back “singer-songwriter” style, lost a lot of their coolest elements. The original Nine Inch Nails version of “Hurt” is a lot higher, with a progression that gives the song a sort of unsettling feeling. When paired with Trent Reznor’s breathier vocals, you get the same powerful song but with a more distinct and unsettling alt-rock feel.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3songs.jpg" style="height:425px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Similarly, Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” gets stripped of all its unique electronic elements and driving drum beat. While Cash's version gets rid of a lot of these elements, Marilyn Manson has a much more faithful rendition of the original song’s structure.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The Manson version of the song, however, adds crunching guitars, dissonant feedback and his eclectic singing, which serve to add to a harder, more rock-oriented version of the song.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">But if we are going to talk about what makes a good cover, we should also address what makes a bad one. A notable, recent example would be Weezer’s 2018 cover of “Africa,” originally by Toto.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Weezer’s cover inexplicably became immensely popular after its release. I say inexplicably, because to someone not familiar with the original song, the Weezer cover sounds essentially indistinguishable from the original, aside from Rivers Cuomo's distinct voice. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4songs.jpg" style="height:366px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The recording isn’t of poor quality or faithfulness to the original work. That's just it; it’s too faithful. Unlike Cash’s versions of “Hurt” and “Personal Jesus,” nothing is changed in a substantial way. Weezer’s cover seems redundant in a world in which Toto has already written “Africa,” and I say this as a fan of Weezer (and not one of the variety who says the only good albums are Pinkerton and Blue).</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Toto, in response to Weezer, made a less popular, far superior cover of “Hash Pipe,” a track off of Weezer's <em>Green</em> album. Everything Weezer's cover does wrong, Toto's does right. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">                                        </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Toto takes an already crunchy and heavy song and makes it sound even harder, most notably adding a cool guitar riff that accentuates the main groove and a well-placed stop right before the first verse of the song.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">While Toto’s cover doesn’t bend the genre of the original song, or alter its tone, the changes made enhance and differentiate it from the original in a unique way. In the interest of time, below is a list of more famous, and high-quality covers:</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5songs.jpg" style="height:397px; width:268px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <ul> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Come Together” covered by Aerosmith and later Gary Clark Jr  (originally by the Beatles)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Billie Jean” covered by David Cooke (originally by Michael Jackson)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Tainted Love” covered by Soft Cell (originally by Gloria Jones)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Hazy Shade of Winter” covered by The Bangles (originally by Simon and Garfunkel)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“99 Red Balloons” covered by Goldfinger (originally by Nena)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“War Pigs” covered by Cake (originally by Black Sabbath)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“I Will Survive” covered by Cake (originally by Gloria Gaynor)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Smokin’ in the Boys Room” covered by Motley Crüe (originally by Brownsville Station)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Valerie” covered by Amy Winehouse (originally by the Zutons)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“You Really Got Me” covered by Van Halen (originally by The Kinks)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Walk This Way” covered by Run DMC feat. Aerosmith (originally by Aerosmith)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Respect” covered by Aretha Franklin (originally by Otis Redding)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Love Buzz” covered by Nirvana (originally by Shocking Blue)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“How I Could Just Kill a Man” covered by Rage Against the Machine (originally by Cypress Hill)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“All Along the Watchtower” covered by Jimi Hendrix (originally by Bob Dylan)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“The Man Who Sold the World” covered by Nirvana (originally by David Bowie)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“I Fought the Law” covered by The Clash (originally by the Bobby Fuller Four)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“I Love Rock and Roll” covered by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (originally by the Arrows)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Twist and Shout” covered by The Beatles (originally by the Isley Brothers)</span></span></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6songs.jpg" style="height:647px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">An exceptional cover changes the original work in a significant way. A great cover gives a song a new and renewed life under a different artist. Genre-bending is an interesting way to do this. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Shifting a song to a new genre is one of the best ways to breathe new life into it. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is a punk rock supergroup that focuses exclusively on cover songs. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Forged partially from the somewhat ironic punk movement of covering pop music Me First and the Gimme Gimmes covers broad swaths of music, with songs like “Sweet Caroline,” “I Believe I can Fly,” “Jolene,” “I Will Survive,” “My Heart Will Go On” and even Broadway musicals with their cover of “The Phantom of the Opera” – all performed in a Punk Rock style.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">A number of musicians have had success with this same sort of formula. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/postmodernjukebox" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Postmodern Jukebox</a> is a band popularized through YouTube that covers popular music in styles such as swing and jazz, reimagining songs as if they were made in various decades, typically between the 20s and 60s.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/TenSecondSongs" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Anthony Vincent</a> is another musician who gained a lot of popularity doing songs in “20 different styles.” In these videos, he plays through a single song frequently switching the tone of the song to emulate how it might sound as performed by another artist. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/7songs.jpg" style="height:435px; width:656px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As of late he has also been doing full songs in the styles of other artists, the most recent one being a cover of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqZci4lLgyk" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">Britney Spears’ “Toxic” in the style of Korn</a>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Covers are not the only way quality derivative music has been made. Yes, the internet does indeed produce many wonderful things, including music mash-ups. Many of these are absurd, for comic effect, such as mashing up the anthem of the Soviet Union with All Star by Smash Mouth, others create genuinely terrific music. One example is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uwGu8SqnyA" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">this amazing mashup of more famous artists and songs than I can count, uploaded on YouTube by Dido (fan club)</a>. This song mashes Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Run DMC, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC and countless others into a flawlessly executed coherent song. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Derivative works are often unfairly denigrated. We all like originality, and there is no question that the reuse of existing ideas and tropes has become an increasingly frustrating direction that media (particularly film and TV) is taking. But it’s important to remember that a derivative work can be, and is, often good. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The adaptation and reworking of great pieces of art is something done by artists big and small, and many famous songs aren’t written by the artists who perform or popularize them. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Often unrecognized are the smaller artists, whether writing the next big song that will be popularized by someone else, or crafting something new and unique out of already great art. Just because something isn’t brand new doesn’t mean it isn’t incredible. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Garrett Hartman is a contributing writer at </em>Highbrow Magazine<em>. He is a California State University, Chico, student double-majoring in media arts design technology and Journalism/PR. A lover of pop culture, Garret enjoys a wide array of film, television, video games, and literature. However, as a drummer in a rock band and an alt-rock enthusiast, music holds a special place in his heart.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Sources:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Venita Oberholster (<a href="https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/es/view-image.php?image=153486&amp;picture=johnny-cash-collage-del-tributo-de-arte" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">PublicDomainPictures</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Heinrich Klaffs (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/heiner1947/4399080229" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Flickr</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Igor Tokarski (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Depeche_mode_-_barrel_of_a_gun_%281997%29.jpg" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Wikimedia</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Tom Britt (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/atgeist/9664781247">Flickr</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/johnny-cash" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Johnny Cash</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cover-songs" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cover songs</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jimi-hendrix" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">jimi hendrix</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aerosmith" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">aerosmith</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/nine-inch-nails" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">nine inch nails</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/gloria-gaynor" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">gloria gaynor</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/depeche-mode" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">depeche mode</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/michael-jackson" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">michael jackson</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/kurt-cobain" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">kurt cobain</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/weezer" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">weezer</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Garrett Hartman</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 08 Dec 2022 21:56:10 +0000 tara 11513 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/230023-so-what-makes-great-cover-song#comments ‘The Computer Accent’ Shows What Happens When AI Takes Over the Artistic Process https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/21962-computer-accent-shows-what-happens-when-ai-takes-over-artistic-process <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 11/18/2022 - 19:27</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1computeraccent.jpg?itok=_Yvnh030"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1computeraccent.jpg?itok=_Yvnh030" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In the age of globalism, innovation has become the norm. <a href="https://collider.com/impactful-sci-fi-movies-20th-century-ranked-on-how-accurate-they-were/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">The 20<sup>th</sup> century saw our great artists prophesizing a future where technology dictated our culture and society.</a> <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em> showcased Stanley Kubrick’s wonder and trepidation in artificial intelligence, whereas Ridley Scott’s <em>Blade Runner</em> foresaw a future where AI would become “more human than human.” What both directors understood is mankind’s innate fascination with technology as an expression of self. No documentary captures this phenomenon better than Sebastian Pardo and Riel Roch Decter’s <em>The Computer Accent.</em> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2computeraccent.jpg" style="height:650px; width:421px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Set in the world of electric music, <em>The Computer Accent </em>follows the Portland dance-pop band YACHT as they embark to create their seventh studio album. The kicker? The members hand over the creative process to artificial intelligence, as to better understand their musical style, interests, and along the way, gain a further sense of self-discovery. To achieve this, YACHT enlists the help of technologists, AI scientists, groundbreaking machines, data analysis programs, gadgets, and a plethora of other scientific mumbo jumbo to create the first musical collaboration between mankind and robot. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">While the high-concept endeavors of YACHT may be groundbreaking, it is easy to get lost in the minutia of science. <em>The Computer Accent </em>is forced to explain the history of computers, the language of coding, and the interplay of technology and art. As a result, the film loses focus; forced to explain millions of years of human evolution in 88 minutes. Yet, the fast-paced nature of the documentary allows these segments to come and go. For audiences wishing for a comprehensive breakdown of the technology utilized, <em>The Computer Accent </em>may be too broad to achieve a thorough understanding. Yet, where <em>The Computer Accent </em>comes to life is its philosophical musings of what art is and is not.</span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3computeraccent.jpg" style="height:366px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/boba-fett-luke-skywalker" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">As AI becomes readily more present in art, its execution has become the subject of much controversy.</a>  <em>The Computer Accent </em>is at its best when it weighs in on these critiques. The filmmakers and subject matter themselves are seemingly wrestling with this question. At one point, a member of YACHT exclaims, “This could be the next step or the conclusion of this band.” The uncertainty weaves a sense of wonder and discovery into the narrative structure, allowing the audience to embark on the journey alongside the band.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As <em>The Computer Accent </em>progresses, the film’s focus shifts from the music to the musician. In doing so, humanity is injected into the cold, numbers-based world of technology and data. It does not matter if AI music is art or not. Instead, <em>The Computer Accent </em>is a story about self-discovery and through its earnest exploration, offers a rewarding examination of the artist’s journey. </span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4computeraccent.jpg" style="height:650px; width:477px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em><strong>Ben Friedman is a freelance film journalist and a contributing writer at </strong></em><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong><em><strong>. For more of his reviews, visit bentothemovies.com, his podcast Ben and Bran See a Movie, or follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube: The Beniverse</strong></em></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/yacht" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">yacht</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/yacht-band" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">yacht band</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/dance-pop" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">dance pop</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/artificial-intelligence" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">artificial intelligence</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ai" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ai</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/making-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">making music</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/computer-accent" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the computer accent</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/films-about-music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">films about music</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ben Friedman</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Sat, 19 Nov 2022 00:27:23 +0000 tara 11466 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/21962-computer-accent-shows-what-happens-when-ai-takes-over-artistic-process#comments Tune In: The Art of the Videogame Soundtrack https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/20007-tune-art-videogame-soundtrack <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 06/10/2022 - 10:27</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/5videosoundtrack.jpg?itok=4-2uZCGY"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/5videosoundtrack.jpg?itok=4-2uZCGY" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Soundtracks are some of the most iconic tunes in pop culture. Think of the work of Danny Elfman or John Williams. Songs like the<em> Star Wars</em> theme are universally known, and all it takes is that first blasting note of the orchestra for the listener to imagine the yellow text crawling down from the top of the screen. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Impressive soundtracks like this have made a massive imprint on pop culture, becoming an integral part of how some of the most famous stories have been told. However, few would consider soundtracks as casual listening music. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Franchise fans may listen to the <em>Jurassic Park</em> opening, but these pieces are generally enjoyed as an accompaniment to the media for which they were created. Some films have pop music as significant parts of their soundtrack, such as <em>Top Gun,</em> with songs like “Danger Zone” and “Take My Breath Away.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This has become a common trend lately, with films like the <em>Guardians of the Galaxy </em>franchise having their soundtracks composed mostly of licensed music -- however, unlike <em>Top Gun</em>, these songs weren’t made for the film. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Videogame music has also had its own massive influence on pop culture. Think of the instantly recognizable music from the first <em>Super Mario Brothers</em>, and the music from <em>Sonic the Hedgehog's</em> first level “Green Hill Zone.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Music in videogames has come a long way since the sometimes abrasive, albeit unique, sound of chiptune melodies. With the capacity for digital storage ever expanding, games now have fully produced and professionally recorded music to accompany them. Modern games often get the same treatment films do with full orchestral scores.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This has led to some phenomenal music created specifically for games, music that really transcends its ties to videogames and stands on its own as enjoyable listening even for those who have little interest in the source material. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">A recent soundtrack that comes to mind are the tracks created for the “radio” in CD Projekt RED’s 2020 game <em>Cyberpunk 2077</em>. Often simplified to “Cyberpunk,” the game was a highly anticipated project based off of a tabletop role-playing game from 1988. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2videosoundtrack_super_mario_bros-wikipedia.jpg" style="height:400px; width:292px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Part of the game’s soundtrack is composed of pop songs that have been created to be heard over the radio in game. When traveling in cars or just traversing around the world, players will hear fictional radio stations broadcasting music that was created specifically for the game. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As a means of building the world, the game features music created by a wide variety of artists. While many of the real-world artists are presented under fictional band names, some notable artists who created and or performed music for Cyberpunk are: Refused, Run The Jewels, A$AP Rocky and Grimes. Grimes’s music is presented under the fictional popstar Lizzy Wizzy, a character she voices in the game. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">There are 31 songs, three volumes, of original radio music for Cyberpunk spanning genres, creating a wide variety of interesting songs. One standout -- “Resist and Disorder” by “The Cartesian Duelists” (real world artist: Rezodrone) -- blends electronic, hard rock and a driving industrial rhythm. The song feels heavy with an insanely catchy chorus that breaks up the sound before bringing it back down to the crunchy guitar riff that serves as the song’s base.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Like most of the songs on the “Cyberpunk” radio, the lyrics don’t feel constrained simply to the world of the game. Many of the punk and anti-corporate ideals expressed in the music seemn just as relevant to the real world, as they do the fictional sci-fi dystopia.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Someone who isn’t necessarily a fan of the source material, could thoroughly enjoy, and connect with, this music. Music in Cyberpunk isn’t held hostage to its medium. Most songs don’t refer to videogames or make allusions to fictional slang or terminology. This doesn’t stop the music from characterizing and building the game world in a believable way.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Arguably the greatest music in Cyberpunk is the music of the fictional band Samurai. Samurai is a key part of the story of <em>Cyberpunk 2077</em>, with one of the main characters, Johnny Silverhand (portrayed by Keanu Reeves), as a guitarist and lead singer of the group. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Samurai’s music is performed by real-world Swedish punk band Refused, and the songs are terrific. “The Ballad of Buck Ravers” is a punk song about a corporate office worker being pushed over the edge by mindless work that inevitably gets him nowhere. “Never Fade Away” is another song exploring the idea of love lost, but not forgotten. The song features a catchy chorus almost reminiscent of ‘80s classic rock, contrasting but still complementing the harder tone of the rest of the song. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Chippin’ in” is a hard rock song that plays with the double meaning of the gambling term with the transhumanist ideas of microchips and cybernetic implants, which serve as a key theme in cyberpunk. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1keanureeves_anna_hanks-wikimedia.jpg" style="height:600px; width:419px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Cyberpunk’s radio music was made specifically as pop music, it was further from the traditional soundtrack in that sense; however, there are other games that emulate pop music as a part of their backing tracks and to great success.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Atlus’ Persona series has a long history of soundtracks, with the most recent entry into the series <em>Persona 5</em> having some of the best music yet. <em>Persona 5</em> has what would best be described as jazzy tunes with lyrics beautifully sung by the Japanese vocalist Lyn. Her vocals combined with the incredible combination of heavy bass lines, synth and string accents make for some tracks that are unforgettable. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The songs perfectly capture the vibe of a lounge singer in a smoky jazz bar. The silky vocals and catchy melody in a song like “Last Surprise” and “Life Will Change are enjoyable, even for people who don't like videogames. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Being a fan of punk and hard rock myself, the soundtrack for a game like <em>Persona 5</em> is hardly the kind of music I would identify with my general music tastes. However, this soundtrack’s quality transcends genre preferences altogether. While not every track is accessible as casual listening (it still is a soundtrack after all), there are an outstanding number of terrific tracks to choose from.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The Devil May Cry series is another franchise that blends pop elements into its backing tracks. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Devil May Cry has a heavy emphasis on hard rock -- relevant to the over-the-top action and character of its main protagonist, accented with electronic elements. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The songs that really steal the show in the Devil May Cry games are the battle tracks that play during combat encounters in the game. The fifth game’s battle tracks stand out as they achieve unique sounds from the songs in the rest of the franchise, as well as helping to provide insight into the characters they play for.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Devil Trigger” is the battle theme for one of the game’s three protagonists Nero. “Devil Trigger” stands in stark contrast to the series norm with a sound that can almost be described as EDM. The song has an explosive, energetic attitude to it that matches the chaotic action associated with Nero’s fighting style. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The female vocalist gives the piece an overall pop feel; however, under the surface, a solid hard rock base accompanied with hard rock backup vocals is reminiscent of songs from earlier games in the franchise. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3videosoundtrack_rice_digital_dot_co_uk.jpg" style="height:400px; width:282px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The best song from <em>Devil May Cry 5</em> is “Bury The Light,” which is the battle track for longtime series antagonist Vergil, who was released as a playable character in conjunction with the special edition of the game in 2020. <a href="https://twitter.com/composercasey/status/1308203035856760833?lang=en" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">The song topped the Apple music soundtrack chart in september 2020 and ranked #7 of all September 2020 when it was released</a>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Bury the Light” is an epic orchestral metal song. The song accents its heavy metal core with electronic and orchestral elements, such as its electric violin opening. The lyrics are sung by Victor Borba, and capture the character of Vergil, a man (half demon) on a quest for power that has gone too far to be stopped. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Narratives and themes aside, a lot of videogame music is all about fun. While there’s an almost infinite supply of music that deserves to be recognized, that's an ambitious task for this article. However, I think the point stands that there is a lot of terrific art created around the world, much of it overlooked in the mainstream. If nothing else, I compel you to listen to something you normally wouldn’t, videogame or not --  maybe you’ll find something new worth appreciating.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Author Bio:</span></span></strong></p> <p><em><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Garrett Hartman is a contributing writer at </span></span></strong></em><strong><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Highbrow Magazine.</span></span></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Sources:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Super Mario Bros. (</em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Super_Mario_Bros._box.png" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Wikipedia</em></a><em>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Anna Hanks (</em><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keanu_Reeves_2013_(10615146086)_(cropped).jpg" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Wikimedia</em></a><em>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Rice Digital (</em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Persona_5_cover_art.jpg" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>Wikipedia</em></a><em>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/danny-elfman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">danny elfman</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/john-williams" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">john williams</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/movie-soundtracks" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">movie soundtracks</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/star-wars" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Star Wars</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/videogames" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">videogames</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/videogame-soundtrack" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">videogame soundtrack</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cyberpunk-2077" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cyberpunk 2077</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/persona-5" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">persona 5</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/devil-trigger" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">devil trigger</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/playing-video-games" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">playing video games</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Garrett Hartman</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 10 Jun 2022 14:27:16 +0000 tara 11137 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/20007-tune-art-videogame-soundtrack#comments Music Journalist Ben Fong-Torres and the Glory Days of ‘Rolling Stone’ https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/19997-music-journalist-ben-fong-torres-and-glory-days-rolling-stone <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 06/02/2022 - 18:07</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1rollingstonefilm.jpg?itok=qunrku_6"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1rollingstonefilm.jpg?itok=qunrku_6" width="480" height="323" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As the child of Chinese immigrants, journalist Ben Fong-Torres knew all too well the cruelty of racism. <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/mccarthy-numbed-with-fear-chinese-americans/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Anti-Chinese sentiment grew in America when China entered the Korean War as an ally to North Korea.</a> Fong-Torres felt the isolating effects of being “different.” It was through music that he found solace and an identity.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In the documentary <em>Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres, </em>Fong-Torres recounts the feeling of flipping through the jukebox at his father’s restaurant stating, “Inside jukeboxes, there was no segregation…Rock and Roll was an equalizer.” Music gave voice to the disenfranchised as a form of protest. These principles of rock and roll shaped Fong-Torres’s writing sensibilities, making him a rockstar journalist within the music industry – and half a century later, the subject of filmmaker and journalist Suzanne Joe Kai’s documentary. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2rollingsstonefilm.jpg" style="height:340px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Kai’s documentary succeeds in not only recounting the extraordinary career of its subject but serving as a time capsule for the early history of rock. In telling Fong-Torres’s story, Kai tells the history of <em>Rolling Stone</em> and music’s role within the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam counterculture. While the film chronicles his first 20 years as a writer and senior editor for <em>Rolling Stones</em>, much of its runtime is dedicated to the Vietnam War era. Here, icons like Jim Morrison, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix reign supreme – and in San Francisco, where Fong-Torres gets his start as a writer. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Like a Rolling Stone</em> showcases the coalition between music and politics. Like so many songwriters of the era, Fong-Torres utilized his writings as an act of protest, striking a chord with readers and songwriters alike. He provided an outlet for figures like Ray Charles to voice his disgust with police brutality and Country Joe McDonald to call out politicians’ stances on the war in Vietnam.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3rolllingstonefilm.jpg" style="height:600px; width:400px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Fong-Torres recounts the early beginnings of <em>Rolling Stone. </em>He recalls sitting down with The Doors’ frontman Jim Morrison. Here, archival audio is provided by Fong-Torres, which chronicles his interview with Morrison. Kai never over-indulges in archival footage. Instead, she keeps the focus on Fong-Torres. She utilizes these audio clips to demonstrate Fong-Torres’s thoughtful and attentive skills as an interviewer. She displays Fong-Torres’ best quality, his extraordinary ordinariness. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The documentary grounds its subject in his humanity. The filmmakers never portray him as a larger-than-life rockstar journalist, but as a man doing his job with due diligence. At its core, the film is a love letter to journalism. As an Asian journalist, Suzanne Kai pays tribute to a man who paved the way for Asian-American journalists, and through recounting his testimony, she is able to examine American culture then and now.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em><strong>Ben Friedman is a freelance film journalist and a contributing writer at </strong></em><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong><em><strong>. For more of his reviews, visit bentothemovies.com, his podcast Ben and Bran See a Movie, or follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube: The Beniverse.</strong></em></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rolling-stone-life-and-times-ben-fong-torres" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">like a rolling stone: the life and times of ben fong-torres</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/fong-torres" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">fong torres</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rolling-stone-magazine" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Rolling Stone magazine</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rock-and-roll" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">rock and roll</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music-critic" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">music critic</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/1960s-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the 1960s</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/1970s" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the 1970s</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Music</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rock-journalism" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">rock journalism</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/musicians" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">musicians</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/music-industry" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">music industry</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/new-documentaries" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">new documentaries</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ben Friedman</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 02 Jun 2022 22:07:06 +0000 tara 11124 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/19997-music-journalist-ben-fong-torres-and-glory-days-rolling-stone#comments