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What Is Music?

As a final blog, I believe it would be most appropriate to explore my thoughts on what I personally view music to be, and how I think it has transformed over the years. I would also like to explain my view points on the diversity of music, and I have chosen a figure (or group) to do so. Through this course I have been able to identify and understand the evolution of music and its dynamics through the ages, its racial and gender influences, and its significance.

Music is something that is ever changing, with time and with condition. The adoption of musical style from other cultures is also really dominant, and that’s what makes music astonishing. Cultures exist to be explored, not necessarily to be appropriated, but rather be understood and be able to influence one’s point of view,

The figure (or group) I will be talking about today is called “Major Lazer”. Formally speaking, it is a name given to an American electronic dance music group, made up of three individuals. They are involved in various genres, some including: dancehall, house, reggae, reggaeton, soca, moombahton, pop,  trap and rap (Hoffman, 2018). They’re able to do this because they have various vocal contributions from artists belonging to these varied genres. My intention is to explain how the dynamic of music, and its influence in other cultures makes music truly wonderful.

Major Lazer

Major Lazer @ Rock im Park 2016 bypitpony.photography

Major lazer is an EDM act based around a Jamaican fictional character. It started in 2008 as a reggae/ dancehall project by Diplo (A famous Dj and producer, [far right in image above]) and Switch (A Dj, who left Major Lazer in 2011). In 2012, a producer known as Jillionaire joined the group (Middle in picture above), and in 2014, an MC known as Walshy Fire joined the group (Left in image above). (Hoffman, 2018).

Their first Album is titled, “Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do”, the album consists of majorly Jamaican dancehall music. After the album’s release, Major Lazer was commercially accepted amongst the reggae community and are often credited for changing the dancehall, reggae, and moombahton community and genres, making them more commercially accepted in the United States (Rhapsody editorial, 2009).

     Their second Album is titled, “Free the Universe“, and was released in 2013. It explored various genres and had vocal collaborators like Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Dirty Projectors’ Amber Coffman, Santigold, Peaches, Tyga, Flux Pavillion,Bruno Mars, Wyclef Jean, and Shaggy.

Their third studio Album is titled “Peace Is the Mission“, it was released in 2015 and also featured various artists, which made in top of the charts in various countries.

The Music

One of the most important aspect of Major Lazer, is their exploration of different genre and cultures. In their music videos, they tend to depict different cultures and values. For example, their video of the song “Lean On” depicts India.

"India is special and its beauty absolutely humbled me. When we toured there as Major Lazer, it was mind blowing to see our fan-base and we wanted to incorporate the attitude and positive vibes into our video and just do something that embodies the essence of Major Lazer. Major Lazer has always been a culture mashup and to us, India feels like some kind of special creature with one foot in history and one firmly in the future. The experience is something we'll never forget." 

- Diplo on making the "Lean On" video in India

(Major Lazer, 2015).

Other tracks such as  “Particula” and their most recent one “Let me Live” were filmed in the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa (Bein, 2017).

As a group, they pick up different aspects and cultures as they tour the world, and they try to interpret it in their music. This shows how music should be explored in our society.

Analysis

I’ll start off with one of their most popular songs, “Lean On”

     Lean On is produced by produced by both Major Lazer and a French producer known as DJ Snake, it has vocals by Danish singer MØ. It is an example of how Major Lazers’ sound has changed so much. From a very reggae way of music, to a dancehall style that doesn’t have a reggae undertone to it at all.

Now to a couple of former songs off of the first album “Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do”.

Listening to them, it is easy to tell the variation and difference in style and delivery. It is also very easy to tell the Jamaican Raggae/Dancehall influence in the older albums.

Now some more reggaeton/dancehall influence, from their EP “Know No Better“.

In listening to all these tracks, if the prominent dancehall vibe is removed, it would be very difficult to tell that they are from the same producer.

To sum it up, Major Lazer is a typical example of what and how music should be like. Music is made for enjoyment and its necessary for it to be dynamic, in order to reach various cultures and in order for it to be accepted through various platforms. Major Lazer has explored various genres and have been influenced by various artists and cultures and that is what makes them stand out in a positive way.

Since this is my last blog post, I’ll like to say that I enjoyed reading everyone’s blogs, and I hope music continues to influence everyone in a positive way. I’ll leave a music video of one of Major Lazers’  song influenced by African culture.

Enjoy!

 

Reference (Bibliography)

K. Ross Hoffman (2018). Artist Biography. All Music. Retrieved

from: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/major-lazer-mn0002036252/biography

Kat Bein (2017). Major Lazer’s ‘Particula’ Video Is a South African Disco Day-Dream: Watch. Retrieved

from: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/dance/7998342/major-lazer-particula-video

Major Lazer (2015).

Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqeW9_5kURI

Rhapsody editorial, (2009). Retrieved

from: https://web.archive.org/web/20100115060622/http://blog.rhapsody.com/2009/12/best-albums-of-2009.html

 

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The Great American Songbook

The “Great American Songbook” is a an official and recognized set of the most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century. It consists of the most known and lasting songs from the 1920’s to the 1950’s that were created for the Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musical film (The Great American Songbook Foundation, 2018).

As noted, the Great American Songbook existed in a time were the world was chaos, from the First World War to the Second World War, and to even when the United States faced the Great Depression. This means that for the songs to be included in the Great American Songbook, they must have been able to strongly influence the people of the United States and even the World in order to maintain such high standards. This is also the period of time were hipsters started to blossom, which meant that songs associated with hipsters also grew in recognition.

The contributors to the book are widespread, they include various artists from different backgrounds such as, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland, Billy Holiday, Lena Horne, Al Jolson, Dean Martin and even Frank Sinatra (The Great American Songbook Foundation, 2018). There have been conflicts among musical scholars on deciding what should be in the Great American Songbook or even what period of time it should be classified under, but this has not affected the significance of it’s existence. The Great American Songbook is not a physical booklet of the list of songs or lyrics, so it tends to vary depending on who is collecting and presenting them (Yagoda, 2015).

The Great American Songbook signifies the history of music in our society, its development and how it is accepted amongst it’s listeners. It shows the dynamic of “standard”(A song that remains popular well after its initial appearance songs that live on in recordings, films, and live performances) music and its influence. In today’s blog I will talk about one of the most iconic songs in the Great American Songbook, and how it still influences people today.

“Over the Rainbow”

"The Wizard of Oz" movie. "Over the Rainbow" by Judy Garland.

I added the video above to give everyone a clear image of the most recognizable version of the song [in my perspective].

The original song is composed by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Yip Harburg in the year 1939. It was composed for the movie “Wizard of Oz” and was to be sang by the above actress, Judy Garland. After the movie, it gained an enormous and lasting recognition around the world, and it won the Academy award for the best original song  and became a standard in the 20th century (Roberts, 2006). The song is also listed as number one (1) in the “Songs of the Century” list (CNN Entertainment, 2001). This means that it meets all the criteria for it being among the songs in the Great American Songbook.

Analysis of “Over the Rainbow”

In listening to the song, the manner in which it is sang is calm and intimate, like in a crooning way. It allows the listener to feel the meaning of the lyrics and understand them clearly, providing a imaginative visual avenue to interpret the words. It sounds similar to a lullaby, but the melody also makes it a song that people can possibly waltz to.

The lyrics, as serene as it appears to be, it is somewhat of an emotional declaration of dissatisfaction:

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.

This lyric that starts the song, straightforwardly shows the lack of certainty and confidence in the singer (in terms of the meaning). He/She appears to be thinking of what they have, or where they are as not being enough. The rest of the song also follows that pattern.

I’ll like to compare the original and a more modern version of the song, consider the above video of “The Wizard of Oz” movie, “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland as the original, while the video of a cover of the song below by Pentatonix is the modern.

The first song by Judy was sang and performed in 1939, while the other by Pentatonix was recorded in 2017, which makes it incredibly modern. Both of the songs have the same lyrics and flow, but it can be clearly seen that the modern Pentatonix version is an A Capella, which makes it stand out more tonally. The older version, Judy presents the lyrics in a kind of emotional manner, she keeps the intensity at a stable level (low) and the melody at a soothing pace, while the Pentatonix version seems to focus the energy on how their tones and intensity changes.

It seems that the Original [older] version is more famous than the modern one, or any other cover or version ever, the original has over eleven million views on youtube (11,000,000) and the Pentatonix version has about three hundred thousand views on youtube (300,000) . This is possible because the Judy version is the original, people loved the movie “The Wizard of Oz” and the song became iconic through it.

Conclusion

In my opinion I believe the songs were not added after the 1960’s because if it did, the significance of the Great American Songbook will be lost. The Great American Songbook is seen as a standard (not a musical term but as a basis of comparison) amongst artist that came after that time. It was a mashup of songs that identified the the condition of the United States. It might as well be known as the period and status of music from the 1920’s to 1950’s, just as how the renaissance is used to to describe art from the 14th to 17th century. Therefore, adding songs after that period will take away the meaning and struggle of the individuals who endured the troubling times.

Personally, I believe that musical style can never be irrelevant, because music is sound that brings about a level of satisfaction. It may become outdated as to what the world of music is heading to nowadays but its relevance is still strong. I would hope “someday” (lol like the lyrics of the song) an artist with love for classic music will compose a song that is as soothing and crooning as this song. “Wizard of Oz” is a very iconic movie as well, so there is no chance that it will be irrelevant in the near future, after all various artists are beginning to cover old songs, and nowadays artists are incorporating old songs as samples into their music.

 

Reference (Bibliography)

The Great American Songbook Foundation, (2018). Retrieved from:

https://thecenterfortheperformingarts.org/Great-American-Songbook-Inititative/About-the-Great-American-Songbook

Yagoda, Ben (2015). Have We Turned the Last Page in America’s Songbook?

Zocalo Public Square. Retrieved from: http://time.com/3916642/america-songwriting-history/

Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.).

London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 134

CNN.com/Entertainment (2001). Retrieved

from: https://web.archive.org/web/20070301125313/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/07/list.top.365.songs/index.html

 

 

This review is about my experience at the music festival called Fvded in the Park. I will provide an explanation of the event, such as the location it took place in, how long is has been occurring,  and the atmosphere. I will also explain in details on some of the performers (artists) and how I personally think their performance at the event went.

The festival took place on July 6th and 7th of 2018 in Vancouver, BC [in Surrey] (FvdedinthePark, 2018), and it opened from 1pm to 11pm on both days. It was an exciting and thrilling event, with performances from various artists from different genres . As a festival it was a very large space consisting of various stages, food trucks, open bars, and the basic washroom areas that is very needed for a festival. The event is open to all ages, but had restrictions to the bar areas, if an individual is of age, they’re given a special wrist band to show that they’re adults:

.

The amount of people at the festival was grand, I don’t know the exact number but it could be somewhat about a thousand (1000) people. the audience was filled with both male and female, and people of various ages. Different people of colour and caucasians alike. It was environment of freedom and joy of music. The vibe I got from the event was that of ravers (that’s based on what I could tell from talking to people and how others where dressed), and I would know because I’ve been to a number of raves myself. This means that the music played  is predominantly EDM.

EDM is electronic dance music , which is played a lot in festivals or nightclubs, and the “beats” are that to move your body to, not in a traditional dancing fashion but rather in the motion of the tempo. The dynamic in festivals are somewhat stable, which means that the intensity is at one level, high, at all times. The audience shouts and sing along and the performer does the same, which makes it an all-out loud experience.

I am an allrounder when it comes to music, as long as i can bop my head to it and feel the beat, then its good music. I visited the different stages to experience the variety in music. The stages with artists like KYGO were packed and filled with calm wonderful vibes of people bobbing their heads and singing along in unison. KYGO is known for some songs like:

While stages with artists like Future and Ferg were filled with an amazing crowd of uplifted vibes, with people in the audience shouting and singing along. Future is know for songs like:

I believe that listening to music should be something that excites you and make your blood rush, going to a festival allows you to experience this. To see the amount of people, of all ages (literally saw elderly couples), enjoy themselves and relate to the vibe of music is really amazing. To see the way that music has evolved through the ages, from Jazz that served as an avenue for rebellious white people (hipsters) in the 1940’s to music that is somewhat similar as to how it focuses on the beat like trap, really makes music a growing and amazing field of experience.

Proof of my Attendance

These are images of the event and the wristband that shows that I went to the event. The first image shows the main stage, and the image to the bottom shows a artist known as Nav performing.

I don’t take pictures of myself, but I would’ve loved to share a video if I could attach it without uploading it on youtube first.

Fvded

Fvded started in 2012 and was created for individuals who loved music with heavy bass such as what is commonly known as trap, future bass, dubstep and moombahton (DH Vancouver Staff, 2016).

Artist

To keep my blog less jammed, i’ll like to focus on one of the Artists that performed.

• NAV

“Nav”, also known by his real name as Navraj Singh Goraya, is a Canadian rapper and producer based in Toronto. He was born in Toronto Ontario to Punjabi parents. Nav’s career started out from SoundCloud where he relaesed a song called “Take me Simple”, and had a  large amount of listeners.

Since then his career has been steadily growing. He was involved in the writing of one of Drake’s (Drake is a popular artist, famous for songs like “God’s Plan”) famous tracks, “Back to Back”. He was eventually signed under Drake’s label (OVO Sound Radio) in 2016 (Guan, 2017).

Nav has then been involved with other artists such as “Metro Boomin”, “Travis Scott” and “The Weeknd”.  His involvement in Hip-Hop has opened the gates to success for him.

At the fvded event, Nav brought the crowd to life. He began his performance with “Freshman List” (which is the song linked above), it made everyone sing along and the crowd was shaky. In all honesty, his couple songs after that were not as interesting [to me], but he ended his performance amazingly and brought everyone back to the the right mood.

 

Reference (Bibliography)

Fvded in the Park, 2018. Retrieved from: http://fvdedinthepark.com/#

DH Vancouver Staff (2016). Daily Hive, Retrieved from:

http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/history-evolution-fvded-vancouver/

Guan, Frank (2017). Vulture. Retrieved

from: http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/who-is-nav.html

 

Hello everyone, just trying to get accustomed to using WordPress.

I guess I’ll start off by stating some basic facts about my involvement in music. This is the second music class I’m taking at University level. I enjoy listening and experiencing music, so I hope this will be a fun class for me. I also enjoy the history and deciphering of musical lyrics.

I’ll be satisfied if i finish this class with enough information and experience pertaining to music that i do not already have.

I look forward to reading and viewing others’ perspective on music as well.

 

Thank you.

Welcome to University of Saskatchewan. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!