What first grabs me about this song is the way it builds. The track starts with a single xylophone (or a keyboard imitating those pling-plang sounds) that seems in the midst of being played, making the beginning a smooth transition from the silence that had occupied my room before I turned on TV on the Radio’s latest release, “Will Do.” As the song continues, more instruments and Tunde Adebimpe’s voice join the xylophone-like sounds, creating the complete sound that typifies every track by TV on the Radio. The lyrics are comforting and personal, which is no way uncommon for Adebimpe (check “Young Liars” and “Wear You Out”). If this song is any indication of what the rest of the album is going to be like, I am more excited than I thought I could be for its release on April 12 via Interscope. The album is called Nine Types of Light, and you can listen to this particular track at stereogum.com.

Music Videos

Music Videos can be weird, but they can also be hilarious and awesome. What makes them super exciting? Muppets. Yeah, that’s right. Muppets were an integral part of an unofficial video done for “Dance Yrself Clean,” with Kermit singing lead vocals, not that that is super surprising. I mean, that’s just how he rolls. The best part? A large section of the video is of Kermit and friends performing from a balcony for the sidewalk and window folk in a British seaside town called Brighton. Why this did not go down somewhere on Prin campus, I’ll never know. The townsfolk do seem to love it, though. Wouldn’t you? Walking down the street, being British (drinking tea and eating crumpets), and then, BAM—Kermit appears and starts singing a brilliant song by that James Murphy chap of that good ol’ LCD Soundsystem. Love it. Watch it at pitchfork, and you’ll love it too. You can also check the Muppets out in ESCORT’s video “All Through the Night,” or slow it down with LCD Soundsystem’s other video with the Muppets, “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.”

If Muppet’s aren’t your thing and epileptic seizures are, check out Kanye West’s new video for “All of the Lights.” It’s a trip.

If that doesn’t cut it, what about hitting up the Radiohead vibes? See Thom Yorke dance to “Lotus Flower” in black and white and a bowler hat. I mean, I want to join his dance party. Especially if we’re listening to his tunes, old or new. The new album is called King of Limbs, and you’ve probably already heard it or at least about it. In all honesty, I have not yet had the time to listen to the album in its entirety. I will therefore not form an opinion since it would be solely based on their past releases and the excited responses that people I know have had to it. I’m ready to become a part of the party people are having over it. Want to join me?

Getting out from under the rock

In case you haven’t noticed, I respect a good cover. One that gives a nod to the original artist while allowing their own sound to infiltrate it and make something new. You’ve gotta love that kind of appropriation. Well, apparently an all-girl group called Girl Crisis has been making covers that have been strictly in video form for some time now. The women come from various bands, and yet their voices seem to flow together, leaving no one sound louder or more forceful than the rest. The videos make the viewer feel voyeuristic. The cheap-looking recordings seem similar to home movies from the 70’s, and the living room setting makes them feel even more like a moment captured at an eclectic dinner party. This and their voices give the covers a subtle eerie feel, but it’s more beautiful than scary.  The latest song they covered was Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.” However, they have done various other covers including Chris Isaac’s “Wicked Game,” Nirvana’s “Come as You Are,” and Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit.” Watch their videos at stereogum.com or on YouTube. Don’t worry about finding a favorite, they’re all good.

Dum Dum Girls — I Will Be

Ever hear of Grand Ole Party? It was a tight three-piece group that featured the fairly normal combo of drums, bass, guitar, and vocals, except that the drummer, Kristin Grundred, also performed lead vocals as she rocked out on her kit. The band was I.N.S.A.N.E. But sadly, good things do come to an end. Luckily, the break-up came after their sole album, Humanimals went public. Now Grundred has a new band called Dum Dum Girls. This band’s influences include the Ramones, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Patti Smith. The name itself is an homage to a Vaselines album and the Iggy Pops song “Dum Dum Boys.” Oh, and they can play. Swell, eh? Grundred, or “Dee Dee,” as she is known in this group, sings the lyrics with a level of nonchalance popular with the post-punk crowd years before her (check “Jail La La” and “Everybody’s Out” chorus: “My baby’s better than you”) as Bambi and Jules provide the bass and guitar and Sandy pounds a steady drum beat. See their black tight wearing, leather jacket rocking, and deep red lipstick applying ways for free at the Billiken Club in St. Louis on Wednesday, February 23. Their second album, He Gets Me High, is dropping on March 1.

The Black Keys — Brothers

Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have done it again. It is more than likely that you have already heard a quarter or so of Brothers due to heavy radio play of “Tighten-Up” and a few TV show previews and phone commercials that used a couple of their songs. Opinions on selling-out aside, this is a great album that certainly ranks with their five other studio albums. If you haven’t listened to the full album, I suggest you do so. Pay attention to “Unknown Brother” and “Everlasting Light” in particular.

LCD Soundsystem — This Is Happening

I’d like to think that at this point James Murphy is in need of no introduction. I sincerely hope that somewhere between “Daft Punk is Playing At My House” and “Someone Great,” a friend, sibling, or Internet pastime has opened your eyes to the electronically infused tracks that are LCD Soundsystem. If no bells are currently ringing to alert you of a possible contextual relationship between you and this group, please right yourself. To do so you can begin by shaking your body to the sick beats of Murphy’s latest album This Is Happening, which should make you want to dance without being likened to the raver kids still busting out to techno. This is not in any way like techno. In the couple months or so leading up to the album’s release, it was available for free streaming on the artist’s website, gaining a level of buzz around new tracks like the opening “Dance Yrself Clean” and “Pow Pow.” Overall, it is a great album, and although I would not consider it any better than Sound of Silver (check “All My Friends,”) there is still no sign of a bad track.

Girl Talk — All Day

Love it. Greg Gillis is the man behind the computer, doing all the slicing of the pre-existing songs, and he is simply awesome at it. The album is a major nod to top 40, but it’s a nod worth joining in on. The album is a free and easy one-track download of the best mash-ups found on Girl Talk’s website.

Individual songs worth listening to:

Horse Feathers’ cover of Nirvana’s “Drain You”

The folk-y tone of this slowed-down cover finds new meaning when accompanied by a cello, tambourine, acoustic guitar, ukulele, and violin. Download at killrockstars.com and check their original material while you’re there.

Crystal Castles and Robert Smith’s cover of Platinum Blonde’s “Not In Love”

I feel like it is songs like this that keep me from frequenting clubs since this is what I would want to dance to and I do not think any St. Louis clubs would deliver. It’s a bit of a downer lyrics-wise, but the hyped Crystal Castles beats that encompass The Cure front man’s quintessential melancholy moan is awesome on way more levels than one. Download it at rcrdlbl.com

Local Natives — “Airplanes”

Listen to this song. After that, watch the music video and if the end of it confuses you then I have one word for you: compost. Also check out their song “Wide Eyes” and their acoustic cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Cecilia.”

Far Eastern Movement — “Like a G6”

Yeah. You heard me. I do like this song and I do think that being fly like a G6 would be super chill. So step off if you are hating on my….never mind. Happy Birthday “Girls FM.”

There is something that is silly and fun about this mildly repetitive song. I think it’s the mad vocals that are both boyish and high pitched. You can get it at Rcrdlbl.com.

Laura Marling — “Devil’s Spoke”

The pure quality of this Brit is simply divine. With an acoustic guitar and drums played by palms and fingers, not sticks, this song seems far from “My Manic and I.” However, it just shows that the musical skill and style of Marling is not contained to any one genre.

So that was some of my 2010. Keep listening to the music, friends.

I’m a fan of Girl Talk and Diplo, and I like the way they adapt, remix and mash-up their music. However, I’m kind of tired of remixes as a whole, especially since most of them lack the authenticity that was portrayed within the original track. I guess I am a bit of a traditionalist in this respect. I cannot even listen to whole remixes anymore. You may not agree with me on this, but let’s compare some recent remixes and consider how good they are when they’re not bending songs to complement their own needs.

Spank Rock “Tell Me What It Look Like” vs. the Todd Edwards Remix

photo // spankrock.net

Mr. Edwards may be a big time producer who is partly responsible for Daft Punk’s “Face to Face” number one spot on the billboard chart in 2004, but he is out of his league when dealing with Spank Rock. The angelical vocals and electronic back-beat do not make any sense coupled with Naeem Juwan Hank’s rough lyrics. The repetitive gibberish from this other-worldly female becomes more jarring than the explicative dropping done by Spank, and the confused nature of the house electronics creates a dichotomy that is in no way enjoyable. (For a good remix of Spank Rock and other musicians, check out Diplo’s Decent Days and Nights.)

Florence + the Machine “Heavy in Your Arms” vs. the C-Berg Remix

photo // florenceandthemachine.net

Everyone needs to stop trying to remix Florence Welch. Besides the xx remix of “You’ve Got the Love” off of Lungs, the attempts to make a remix worth listening to have just been depressing. These remixes are especially depressing because this artist does not need her concepts re-imagined because these “re-imaginings” often butcher anything that was once good about her songs. Case in point: “Heavy in Your Arms.”  This song hails from the Twilight soundtrack (yes, it does make me a little bit more than sad to know that some of the most important musicians are opening their veins for the biting saga that will never end), which may be why no one over the age of 12 has heard it. The song itself is eerie and foreboding from the beginning (pre-vocals) and escalates as the chorus rolls around and the accompaniment swells. For some reason, the remix attempts to make the song even creepier by adding horror movie-like comparable beats over and underneath the vocals. This convinces me that listening to this song in the dark would not be the best idea. The remix’s resemblance to music on Halloween film soundtracks undercuts the gripping lyrics.

Final summation? Remixes have a high margin of error in my mind. Subjective or not, some things just are not as good as the original. So the next time you get stoked about a new rendition of your favorite hit, consider that it may be just as awful as these remixes. Be cautious in order to prepare yourself for the slaughtering of the original song’s integrity.

On a lighter note…

It’s funny how new singles related to forthcoming albums often remind me more of the previous songs by a particular group than their current sound. I mean, what can you really say about an album that has not dropped yet when you have only one song to talk about? Not much. Any premature notions that I may have about the new album would most likely become totally irrelevant after hearing the album in its entirety. That is, unless the album is just a concept album, but even then, concepts intermingle to a point that one song can surely not represent everything that will be said. So let’s look back instead of forward, and let this new release remind us of how awesome a particular band has been previously.

Cold War Kids is coming out with a new album in January of 2011 that will be called Mine Is Yours. Will poignant togetherness be considered? It could happen.

Song that you can listen to and/or download: “Louder Than Ever” http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Cold_War_Kids/track/Louder_Than_Ever

photo // coldwarkids.com

Reason why this album may be worth listening to: Did you ever hear their 2008 album Loyalty to Loyalty? Maybe “Something is Not Right With Me” rings a bell. That song is the pop end of a narrative-filled introspective album that involves the lead singer, Nathan Willet, taking on several different personas. The best persona is his embodiment of a woman who is summarizing the unhealthiness of her relationships with the men she loves in the song “Every Man I Fall For.” The rest of the album dips in and out of seriousness and understandability, but the stressed vocals and varying instrumentation is enough to feel a level of anticipation for what the next album could hold within its tracks. For a teaser of this album to be and their upcoming tour dates visit the band’s website, http://www.coldwarkids.com/.

photo // thethermals.com

Who was ready for W6? Me, that’s who, and do you know what goes well with excitement? I’ll give you a clue. It’s not hearing the disappointing news that Sufjan Stevens will not be dedicating to any of the states you grew up in (sigh). Since I assume that news has left you as disheartened as it left me, I won’t make you guess anymore. The correct answer is summed up below.

The independent record label killrockstars does not often disappoint. With an artist list that includes Elliott Smith (may that lovely tattoo-of-Ferdinand-sporting, sad, sad, singing man rest in peace), Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, and Stereo Total (yeah, we’ve digressed to name dropping), there are high expectations places upon every album they release to be nothing less than freak out fantastic. The Thermals’ fifth album “Personal Life” that came out early last month does not break from the krs trend. This album, their second with krs, is filled with songs that connect genuine declarations of feelings, drummed up, and bass-full instrumentals that give the lyrics a sense of meaning without the heaviness of the lo-fi indie kid crying about the last girl that broke his heart. So it’s not the album you listen to if you want to Bon Iver it with your feelings.

The lead singer, Hutch Harris, has a zany and off-kilter voice that puts him closer in sound to The Mountain Goats John Darnielle then the Ben Gibbard types which gives each song a sense of authenticity and humor over the sad and mellowness that is often attached to indie men. Plus Hutch Harris looks like he and that Lonely Island guy (Jorma Toccone, anyone?) could be twins which is a little more than amusing. Mix that in with Kathy Foster’s mass of curls and complementary vocals and grounded bass riffs, it is a party that’s worthy. Foster was the co-founder of The Thermals and only other consistent member of the group. There has been a rotating door of drummers and extra guitars (Harris takes care of the guitar parts as well as the vocals). Westin Glass (a member of the group since 2008) was on percussion for this album and his ability to manipulate his kit strongly and subtly should not go unnoticed (listen: Never Listen to Me: http://hypem.com/search/never%20listen%20to%20me/1/ ).

For a visual of The Thermals, check out their video for I Don’t Believe You which features both Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney (this is the second time I am mentioning this band. If you do not know who I am talking about, you should correct that by checking out their album Dig Me Out to resolve your ignorance) and Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse (appreciate). The video can be seen here.  To buy the album hit up the killrockstars website here or for just a couple of downloads from this album and previous ones check out their page atbetterpropaganda or RCRD LBL (definitely download “Now We Can See” from the album of said name and check out the video for the full experience of The Thermals and their stunning attractive unattractiveness). For more on krs, download the free sampler they put out a while back.

Who wants to go to a show?

Well if you do, I have a suggestion. Janelle Monae with Of Montreal at the Pageant on the 21st of this month, seriously. Yeah, seeing Of Montreal would be filled with indie fun and bizarrely named songs, but in this case the opener, Janelle Monae, could potentially be the main event. This chick took Barney’s advice and suits up (except for her video Cold War-link where she is possibly in the buff) and rocks a hairstyle that looks like she has wrapped her hair on top of her head in an old-school microphone that resembles the ones that Elvis sang into. Combine all of that action with her skilled dance moves (she can do the moon walk forward in the video Many Moons) it is epic, and I can only imagine that seeing it live makes it even more awesome. Oh, and I almost forgot, her voice is a gorgeous alto and her lyrics are poignant, so there is no down facing side to this coin. Watch the videos she has out and you’ll understand. And if she doesn’t do it for you, go to the show for Of Montreal, they do bring the crazy fun.

Feel better? Eh, smile, kid. You’ll get there. If you need extra help, check out Stereogum’s free mixtape of the 40 best bands of 2010.

Artist – Ben Folds & Nick Hornby / Album – Lonely Avenue

photo // benfolds.com

Yeah. That’s right. Nick Hornby, the writer of several novels including High Fidelity – a music-saturated telling and retelling of the narrator’s experience with women in comparison to his record collection – got together with Ben Folds, the ever-talented singer and piano-tickler (he seriously knows his way around the keys).  Once these two were in close proximity, they made an album with songs about not knowing people as well as you thought, a blues musician, and the Alaskan kid who got Palin’s daughter preggers (it’s called “Levi Johnston Blues,” and it should be listened to immediately). The album came out very recently, so go forth and listen, because two writers of this caliber do not make an album everyday.

Artist – Cee Lo Green / Album – Lady Killers / Song – “F*** You”

photo // ceelogreen.com

Do not be repelled by the title. Although the strategically placed asterisks may hold a certain degree of aggression, do not be fooled. Yes, this musician who is responsible for songs like “Crazy” from his time with Gnarls Barkley is not currently enthused about the termination of his relationship with a particular female, but can you blame him? After listening to his interpretation of her reason for ending it, I would also consider cursing in the general direction of her and her new boyfriend. However, this is not an angry song.  The Motownesque tune has a cheerful melody and encouraging backup singers who are oddly uplifting. It is difficult to resist the urge to shimmy in time to the tambourine or at least keep time through snapping or foot tapping. The good vibe instrumentation combined with the receptivity of this grave expletive adds a sense of humor to an otherwise sad and unfair state of affairs. So turn up the volume and use a different word while you sing along if you’re not into the one he uses.

Artist – Chromeo / Album – Business Casual / Song – “I’m Not Contagious”

photo // chromeo.net

Ever since the Jewish/Arab combo Dave 1 and P-Thugg started making music, someone has been dancing. The lyrics in their songs are by no means deep or meant for a late night ponder of subtly. Instead they are merely something to chant as you two-step. For instance, the chorus of “Night by Night” (she says I’m [not romantic]/ I say she’s [too dramatic]/ I tell her while we’re at it we can work it night by night) is sung as a call and response between the two, which they have their audience sing at their shows. And that’s the purpose of electrofunk—to make you want to dance. Chromeo has got it down, so check out this album as well as the ones before it, and if you really want a trip, look up the video of “Don’t Turn the Lights Off.”

Artist – Johnny & Jenny / Album – I’m Having Fun Now / Song – “Big Wave”

photo // sfcritic.com

Former child star Jenny Lewis has a trail of musically inclined boyfriends, who include Blake Sennette, her co-founder Rilo Kiley, and Conor Oberst (he’s the guy from Bright Eyes, ‘nuff said). Her not-so-new-beau is a not-so-known singer/songwriter named Jonathan Rice, who she’s been touring and collaborating with during her solo time with the Watson Twins and her 2008 album Acid Tongue. Unlike Lewis’ past projects, this album appears unfocused with tracks that do not fit in the same album. Breezy summer songs are alongside jarring tracks of introspective and at times it seems inauthentic. I would suggest buying individual tracks over committing to buying the entire album.

Oh, and just in case you were under a rock last May, check out The Black Keys album Brothers and listen to it all the way through.

Cook’s first love was visual art, and when he was eight or ten years old he loved to draw and wanted to design shopping malls so that he could create “really awesome escalators.” While attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he painted his first mural in Northampton, MA. The mural still stands today.

After a Quiet Time talk in Sylvester, Junior Jodie Maurer and guitarist Alex Cook discuss music and its effect on their lives. - photo / Amber Dahlin

Cook began playing guitar and writing songs as a young teenager, and in the last couple of years songwriting has become the focus of his work. After making six albums of his own songs, he began writing “God songs” exclusively in 2008. He said, “[I]t all became much more compelling and important to me when I [had] songs that would actually really help people and really be inspiring.”

This new phase of Cook’s life began in the fall of 2007, when his prayers led him to spend the first four hours of every weekday “doing nothing but being creative.” He said that, being a painter, he assumed this would mean making new paintings, but on the first day what came out was a song. Over the next five months, Cook wrote twenty-five songs about God. He said he had never been able to write about God in an honest way so he just hadn’t done it, but it suddenly became very natural.

Cook said, “More and more, I don’t really draw hard line distinctions between [different forms of art] … I see huge connections between the idea I’m expressing in a particular mural and the idea I’m expressing in a song.” When asked if he has missed painting since beginning his recent focus on music, he said, “I don’t, because I’m with the ideas that I love. I’m happy to know that I’ll be painting again some day, but it all comes from the same place. I’m companioning with ideas.”

Asked why he paints murals, he answered, “It’s a silly but a simple and profound reason.” He had always feared showing paintings and being judged at galleries, where a very small percentage of the population sees the art that Cook feels is meant for everybody. He said, “It occurred to me that the way to completely circumvent that was to paint murals, because if I can contrive a way to get my painting up on a wall, then there’s nothing that can stand in the way of everybody seeing it.” He also said it felt like shooting himself in the foot to show in galleries where so few people would see his art.

When painting that first mural in Northampton, Cook was about to start with the roller on the wall when he was overcome by a paralyzing fear of displaying the creative process in public, which he had only ever done within what he called the “sanctity of a studio.” After praying for a few moments, he realized that it wasn’t about him, but rather about giving a gift, and the fear was replaced with excitement and ease. He said, “I learned so much from that mural about community, and that became the next ten years of my life, figuring out how art actually does feed communities.”

His website, www.stonebalancer.com, and the murals themselves are Cook’s only form of advertising, so he makes sure to put the web address on his murals. His murals come about through a mixture of asking the owners of walls he likes and being commissioned to paint a mural. He said that when he’s working under a commission, he talks with the commissioner about what the mural should look like, but when he is not getting paid, he demands complete freedom.

The first job Cook turned down was a commission to paint a mural of Disney characters at a gym. He said it just wasn’t his thing, and that it came down to where his priorities lay.

In 2004, Cook started a mural-painting program for teenagers called Art Builds Community, and a lot of his work consists of designing murals and then facilitating their execution with a group of people.

While painting a mural in Boston, Cook had set out a bucket for donations. At one point, a man walked by with a baker’s cart and offered him a pie because he didn’t have any money on him. Cook said, “[In] what other job do you get paid with lemon meringue pies?”

This past fall, Cook toured with The Blessing Tree, a trio of Christian Scientists based at Camp Bow-Isle in British Columbia. The new quartet met at a Christian Science summit in Victoria and then played thirty shows between Vancouver and San Diego, followed by twelve shows on the East Coast, beginning Cook’s current tour.

Junior Jodie Maurer, an art major and the president of Principia’s Christian Science Organization, asked Cook about how he keeps his thought receptive to making art in a given location. In his answer, he shared the concept of voice with a capital “V.” He said, “It’s not just the voice that keeps you safe and happy but the voice that says ‘this is what you are about, this is what your job is, this is what you need to do to play your part in saving other people’s lives.’ … The concept that such a Voice exists just nailed me right in the heart – and that it was talking to me! And of course, if it’s talking to me, that means it’s talking to everybody.”

myspace.com

My friend’s band served as the house band for the evening, and while on their breaks a DJ spun classic hip-hop songs from Eric B & Rakim, Kurtis Blow, and Grandmaster Flash. There were also MCs who performed their rhymes, poetry, and monologues, while graffiti artists painted on canvases to the music. There were booths of people selling clothing, jewelry, mix tapes, and food during the competition. There were dozens of break-dancers that were there to compete, ages five to forty-five. Everyone gathered in a circle while each age group competed. The MC from my friend’s band, e. Sik, yelled with excitement as the dancers expressed themselves through amazing levels of flexibility, style, and grace. e. Sik urged the spectators to give their support to everyone who participated and the competition left me astonished that people living in my community were able to put on an event like this. I left the competition feeling inspired. For the 18 years that I had lived in Marina I had never seen a community event quite like this one. It made me think about the origins of hip-hop and how block parties, similar to the event my friend had helped to put on, were frequent in the communities of New York City in the 70s.
These days, with commercialized rap that exploits the materialistic aspects of what was once a sub-genre of hip-hop, “Gangsta Rap,” it is hard to remember that the art form of hip-hop was cultivated not through sex, violence, or drugs, but through communities. Jon Getzschman, a hip-hop artist (Jonathan Toth From Hoth) and Prin alum, who did his history capstone on the history of hip-hop, feels that the record industry is partly to blame for the confusion.
“‘Commercialized radio rap,’” says Getzschman, “is the negative stereotype of how the larger record companies have systematically sought out only hip-hop which will make them money.”
Unfortunately, this mainstream projection of hip-hop has led many to make stereotypes about the art form itself. Although hip-hop emerged from certain areas in New York’s five boroughs where crime was pervasive, hip-hop was a solid foundation for building a sense of community in many neighborhoods. People would gather to listen to DJs spin their favorite songs and the MCs hosting the events began to create their own personalities, delivering limericks, monologues, and onomatopoetic words, similar to scatting in jazz. The development of ego in hip-hop came out of friendly competition and the desire to provide the audience with a quality experience – one that was packed with lyrical wit and dramatics. Despite the strong animosity and disregard for community in a song by 50 Cent – a commercial artist -, Getzschman sees the Internet as a solution to bring back the essence of hip-hop, and further sees it as a means to promote unity among listeners.
“The Internet is curbing the negative traits of the bigger record companies,” says Getzschman. “When the World Wide Web can get (artists) everywhere, it leads to a new breed of fans who sniff out commercialism – the chaff – to seek and find sustenance in heartfelt art – the grain.”
He continues: “I don’t see it so much as a ‘hip-hop verses rap’ thing. It’s more like ‘pop music verses the underground.’”
Besides contributing to the public community, hip-hop has served as a sort of focal point, or a community of musical genres. Through sampling, or borrowing sounds, rhythms, or melodies from older records, hip-hop has brilliantly appropriated many different musical styles into one art form. Sampling has allowed some artists, popular or not, new life. For example, Eric B. and Rakim’s 1988 classic song, “Microphone Fiend,” is driven by a rhythm sampled from the 1975 hit, “School Boy Crush,” by the Scottish Funk group, Average White Band. This sampling aspect of hip-hop has preserved and celebrated many styles of music, and has spawned a sub-culture of record collecting, or “digging,” which is another whole community itself.
Hip-hop has also helped develop a bridge between music style and genre that was traditionally divided into “white” and “black” music categories. These categories have become more unified over the past three decades, and there is less of a divide between the expectations we might have of a white artist or a black artist in the pop music realm. From Debbie Harry rapping in Blondie’s “Rapture” to Run DMC collaborating with Aerosmith on the remake of “Walk This Way” to the Beastie Boys to Eminem to Damon Alburn’s whimsical cartoon pop pastiche, Gorillaz – hip-hop has been crucial to the creation of an artistic community where there aren’t racial boundaries.
Most importantly when one looks at any form of musical expression – hip-hop aside – it takes a community of people to create something really inspiring. It takes a songwriter to arrange the notes, vocals, and harmonies. It takes at least one person to vocalize and/or play these musical notes. It takes a producer and/or engineer to make sure the sound levels are correct in order for the piece to be pleasant for the listener. And it takes an audience to receive and interpret the melodies and message from the performance. If I learned anything from my experience with hip-hop and attending that break-dance competition last winter break, it’s that an individual always has something to give for a greater good. All music is a community of expression.

Maybe not a lot – I’m sure my jabbering on indie rock, gangster rap, and various Top 40 acts isn’t exactly Sentinel-caliber reading material for the folks out there trying to “enter into their closets.” But here’s the thing: the majority of the Prin community, the students and even a select group of staff and faculty, enjoy this stuff – from Vampire Weekend to Jay-Z to Lady Gaga. In the past four years of writing I have always thought it important to report on the music enjoyed by the community we are all praying for.

So, in my efforts to retain my loyal group of four, or three (Dad?) consistent readers, I dedicate my last quarter of this column to this practitioner and others for their prayerful devotion to our community. Thank you for reminding us that it is not our iPod earbuds keeping us bubbly and joyful, but our unwavering connection to the one Mind, always sound and harmonious.

College Rock: An Overview

One thing music fans might not be aware of when seeing U2 perform grandly at the Super Bowl or in IMAX theaters in 3-D is that the band’s ascent into superstardom is largely due to their popularity on independent college radio stations. The Irish band’s politically driven 1983 album, War, spoke to many young tastemakers attempting to evade the glitzy, overdone pop from Duran Duran, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, and even Michael Jackson. Had it not been for these satellites of dedicated music aficionados, Bono and Co. may not have made it to 1987 when The Joshua Tree and all the other fan favorites began to pulverize stadiums worldwide. Thus, the term “college rock” was patented to describe the music approved by student DJs and their faithful listeners.

Suddenly bands that were normally only able to play small shows in dive bars and the art districts of their cities were finding major radio play on the college music circuit. R.E.M., the Athens, Georgia-based band, most famous for the heart-wrenching song “Everybody Hurts,” got a firecracker start strictly from the co-signs of many college DJs. The Minneapolis, Minnesota punk bands The Replacements and Husker Du found many college-age audiences and helped spread the DIY band sentiment across the nation. Even experimental bands, such as the noise-fused New York band Sonic Youth and the Scottish distortion-heavy brother duo The Jesus and Mary Chain, were able to find faithful followers through college radio. Other notable 80s rock groups such as Pixies, The Smiths, The Cure, and Violent Femmes were generously helped by frequent airtime on these stations.

In many cases, college rock radio stations helped catapult bands to major label contracts, or from the perspective of the dedicated fans, to “sell out.” By the 90s the “grunge” rock of Nirvana and Pearl Jam, bands that sounded similar to what had been played on college radio during the 80s, became mainstream. Since many “college rock” sounding bands were no longer being promoted through college radio stations, “alternative” became the umbrella term for most of the rock that was popular but could be classified as a subgenre of rock (i.e. grunge, punk, metal, etc.). For awhile, college rock radio stations still thrived, helping bands like Pavement and Guided By Voices to find fanship, but by the late 90s “college rock” had been replaced by the term “indie” or independent rock. This term is still widely used today, but like “alternative,” “indie” is more of a general term for bands that may have gotten their start independently and now play to wider audiences.

Currently, classifying music is very confusing. In the age of digital music, blogs, and podcasts, umbrella terms such as “alternative” and “indie” now apply not only to its literal and more obvious meaning of music that is outside of the mainstream, but it also applies to the individual’s taste – one that is “independent of” or an “alternative to” his taste, her taste, and even your taste. Digital music players such as iTunes have allowed listeners to make their own playlists and share them with their friends. Add the fact that both independent and mainstream music are spotlighted on many independent blogs everyday, making the college radio station’s promotion method seem embryonic.

Still, it is undeniable that the numerous college DJs and appreciators that helped develop the original category of “college rock” has been highly influential in getting the word out on some of pop music’s overlooked gems to a world of listeners who were ready to hear something “alternative.”

Hopefully, this gives a better sense of why college students have been and continue to be influential to the culture of sharing music. Next week we will discuss the importance of hip-hop and how to distinguish it from rap.

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Is Ke$ha’s smash hit “TiK ToK” just of rip-off of other pop songs?

This week I wanted to address a topic that has recently been popping up on blogs and in my conversations with other music journalists. The other day someone was singing the chorus to “Tik Tok,” the breakthrough song from new party pop princess, Ke$ha. I cringed as I thought of the first time I heard it – I was in a friend’s room doing homework when I heard the eerie Gameboy synth that opens the song, with a bratty teenage girl imitating a hip-hop vocal delivery.

There was the shameless one-line co-sign from rap mogul P. Diddy (“Ay, what up girrrl?”) – a sure sign of the song’s desire to reach a broad audience through Diddy’s popularity. There was the AutoTune on Ke$ha’s vocals – a trendy accessory for the contemporary singer. A confusing lyric: “And now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger / But we kick ‘em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger” (Dare I ask if Ke$ha has seen Mick lately?). The song sounded fun, sparky, and destructive-on-purpose with Ke$ha’s trenchant voice, sounding edgy since white girls don’t usually pull off the rap aesthetic well (save for Debbie Harry). All of these features made Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” a surefire hit and the perfect fixture for a successful dance party.

I would’ve happily joined the Ke$ha party had it not been for one other thing that was hard to ignore (and this is the point of my article where I run the risk of sounding like a music snob): all the elements described above that made the song successful were a total rip-off of the French-based, electro-skank sensation, Uffie.

But who cares? Who the heck is Uffie, right? “Tik Tok” is a fun, upbeat song. Period. So what? I was thinking the same thing, until I heard another song by the G-rated electronic singer-songwriter Owl City. The song is called “Fireflies,” and like Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok,” if you’re into anything remotely Top 40, you’ve probably heard it recently on somebody’s iPod or computer. Again, “Fireflies” is another example of an infectious song, bursting with warm starburst melodies – yet, when referring to my Rolodex mind of pop genres, it massively fails with its flagrant similarities to another electronic pop band, The Postal Service.

At first I couldn’t decide why I was offended: perhaps this was merely a side-effect of my above-average consumption of music. I understand that this isn’t the first instance of bands sounding alike, or even identical. Dozens of bands ripped off the Beatles when they were still making music, and bands continue to do it today: this process is how pop genres are invented.

I kept digging for why Ke$ha and Owl City’s music bothered me. Was it merely their pop sensibilities that annoyed me? No, because both songs are insanely catchy and if I didn’t know what I know, I probably would have them on blast till 3 a.m. every night. Was it their declining record labels that are milking the heck out of any aesthetic that generates audience approval on the Internet (a recent example would be Rihanna’s music video for her song “Rude Boy,” which has many similarities to M.I.A.’s music video for her song “Boyz”)? Partly, but a dying industry that is attempting to take from the same medium that took and continues to take away sales from said industry through file sharing is ironically understandable.

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A scene from the music video for Rihanna’s “Rude Boy,” which closely resembles the video for M.I.A.’s song “Boyz.”

I came to the conclusion that this whole notion of copycatting in music is really a problem for the musically obsessed journalists, bloggers, and fans like me who can’t get around the fact that style is largely subjective – especially in music. In our post-modern viral culture, there is a fine line between subtly borrowing and blatantly imitating. It started with hip-hop in the early 80s, and has branched out into a messy assortment of subgenres that all share the common link of composing songs using samples of other records. This has made the role of a music critic all the more difficult, blurring the question of what aspects of a song to pay the most attention to – its level of originality, its cultural significance, its authenticity, or its ability to speak to the average listener’s inherent, personal concept of “good.”

Furthermore, this culture of appropriation has made the grounds for respecting a pop artist very ambiguous. While Ke$ha and Owl City may have scored points in the area of mass appeal, what makes them culturally significant is that their appeal is tied to their appropriation of fundamental elements from other artists, thus making them less original and authentic (which to the credit of both artists is hard to achieve when you are contracted to commercial record labels that feed what the consumer wants). Based on what I value in music, I do not respect artists like Ke$ha and Owl City. However, someone who is solely invested in what makes these artists appealing is free to respect them as if they were Nelson Mandela.

While I am disappointed that certain aesthetics developed by lesser known artists are being annexed for heavily advertised artists like Ke$ha and Owl City, it is wrong to be miffed by the latter two artists and their popularity. For me, this experience was a nice reminder about what makes entertainment culture great. What it all boils down to is that people value their own ability to like what they like for whatever reason. Even the snarkiest college music journalist can’t take that away from you.

Download These Songs

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Joanna Newsom – “Go Long”

Northern California’s most famous indie harpist just released a two-hour, three-disc album called Have One On Me. “Go Long,” one of the many gems within the lyrical masterpiece, is a woeful ode to a lost lover, and represents Newsom’s quirky approach to classical composition. Channeling an intimacy akin to folk recluses Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, Newsom lightly weaves spiral staircase harp harmonies against her distinctly Lisa Simpson voice. This is a rare instance where skillful musicianship and crafty songwriting are equally impressive and alluring.

Stay Gold featuring Damien Adore and Spank Rock – “Back Seat”

Are you upset that Jersey Shore is over? Get your dose of fresh trashiness with this gooftroop of Swedish synth-poppers that liken true love to backseat parking lot parties. Lines from MC Spank Rock like “my love is real, so I cop a feel” will blissfully bring you back to the good old days when Snookie was out on the dance floor doing cartwheels in high heels and a mini skirt. 

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Gorillaz featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def – “Stylo”

Damon Albarn, aka Britain’s most outrageous pop chameleon, continues to rule the world with his experimental “cartoon band.” The first cut from the highly anticipated album, Plastic Beach, is a smattering of Albarn’s dexterity in composing spacious synth for Womack’s soulful and refreshingly AutoTune-free pipes, and Mos Def’s unstoppable, swagger-injected flow. The song serves as a snapshot of Albarn’s awesomely diverse collaborations on Plastic Beach with artists like Lou Reed, members of the Clash, Snoop Dogg, and The National Orchestra for Arabic Music.

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Can you believe it was just two years ago that East Coast troubadours Vampire Weekend redefined the parameters of the Internet as a tool for independent success? Paired with a genteel collection of African-pop influenced songs, the band has scampered to unprecedented top 20 spots on the U.S. and U.K. charts. It was incredible how influential a role blog buzz played in the band’s success, helping them rapidly nab a performance on Saturday Night Live. Credit our skyrocketing consumption of music for letting us forget how young a career the indie four-piece has had.

But skeptics have said their path to success via blogs was sure to backfire on them. Bands such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Tapes ‘N Tapes were highly praised for their first albums, but then harshly shunned by bloggers for their second albums. The same fate was predicted for Vampire Weekend.

Enter Contra, Vampire Weekend’s second and even more adventurous album than their first, which is very telling (Do you know any other successful bands that write songs about the use of a comma in grammatical conjunctions?). The success of Contra can be attributed in part to arranger and multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, and his recent dalliances with his permissive synth-pop side-project, Discovery. The sugarcoated nature of Discovery’s album LP, along with Batmanglij’s intentional use of newly kitsch auto-tune, permeate Contra. Tracks like “Diplomat’s Song” and “California English” are always fun and jaunty on purpose, with Batmanglij’s ambivalence toward digital touch-ups coming across as endearing instead of contrived. The frequent high-brow references to “all-things-privileged East Coast lifestyles” are also less distracting when packaged in Batmanglij’s colorful arrangements, despite the fact that the opener, “Horchata,” brazenly rhymes the rice drink with balaclava, Aranciata, Masada, and Tokugawa.

These references have polarized listeners, as Vampire Weekend is often dismissed as pretentious due to their Columbia University educations and privileged media personas. In spite of this, Ezra Koenig, the band’s frontman, has chosen to embrace this bourgeoisie perception of his group. What makes Contra significant for Vampire Weekend and the institution of pop music is that it makes its creators out to be decent people. The stigmas attached to the yuppie are annulled here: Vampire Weekend shows they can make authentic, jocular music that transcends aristocratic commentary. Contra is their lobbying force as an essential part of culture.

Download These Songs

Private – “My Secret Lover”

Who would have thought that one of the most infectious songs to hit the European underground dance scene would be inspired by a smash hit from … Mark Morrison? One might not remember Morrison’s 1997 R&B hit “Return of the Mack,” but this Dutch group flawlessly channels the Michael Jackson-inspired vocal recitals and irresistible New Jack Swing rhythms. Check out the equally amusing remix by Diplo at Maddecent.com.

Beach House – “Zebra”

2010 already has a front-runner for album of the year with the release of Teen Dream, Beach House’s third and most concentrated work. The chamber pop duo’s chef-d’oeuvre opens with an illuminating song threaded by guitarist Alex Scally’s delicate picking and opera-trained vocalist Victoria Legrand’s lily-white voice eerily exclaiming, “Any way you run, you run before us.” Catch the Baltimore natives on the concert circuit for a guaranteed stellar performance.

Surfer Blood – “Swim”

This Florida four-piece is the latest band to reap the benefits of blog hype, and for good reasons: their first single is flooded with the best aspects of 90s and early 00s rock, incorporating harsh guitars and angsty yet benign melodies reminiscent of Weezer, the Shins, and Sum 41. Never underestimate the potent influences of ninth grade and pop punk.