Category: Music Discourse (Page 7 of 14)

Literary Songs

November 17, 2011 / aftertheshow

Here are 4 good “literary songs” — songs inspired by/about/thematically similar to works of literature.

“Cemetery Gates” by The Smiths: about Keats, Yeats, Wilde, plagiarism, “‘Ere thrice the sun done salutation to the dawn” (Shakespeare’s Richard III), and prose and poems

“Lost Girls” by Tilly and The Wall: about Henry Darger’s “The Story of the Vivian Girls…” and 19,000 pages

“Hey There Ophelia” by MC Lars: told from the perspective of Hamlet from Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”

“Ketchum” by Ben Lee: about Ernest Hemingway

Using Music to Learn Vocabulary: Part 3

November 11, 2011 / aftertheshow

Part 3 of After The Show’s “Using Music to Learn Vocabulary” has arrived!

1. Vagrancy: “Difference is Time” by Jason Boesel / Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band

Vagrancy is the state of wandering the land of an itinerant person without a home or regular employment.

2. Apocryphal: “Smarter” by Eisley

Apocryphal means erroneous or fictitious; of questionable authorship or authenticity; false.

3. Jonestown: “Highs and Lows of Being Number 1” by Jenny and Johnny

Jonestown, or the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, was a cult led by Jim Jones. In November 1978, 918 people in Jonestown died in a mass-suicide / mass-murder.

4. Garish: “Get Well” by Noise Addict

Garish means obtrusively bright and showy, loud, or gaudy.

5. Watershed: “Watershed” (an unfinished, unreleased demo) by Hanson

A watershed is a ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems; a critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point.

Changes at Daytrotter

November 6, 2011 / aftertheshow

Daytrotter announced that it’s changing from a free site to a paid membership site.

It will only cost $2 a month, and you’ll get member benefits like no more ads and live streaming sessions as the bands play.

I think another benefit of membership should be more accurate artwork. Daytrotter’s artwork always manages to make the band members look extremely ugly.

See examples of Daytrotter’s depiction vs. real photograph below:

Pete Yorn:

Pete Yorn does not really have strange facial rashes and a lopsided face:

Best Coast:

Beth of Best Coast is not really an angry Native American with blood stains on her cheeks:

Juliette Lewis:

Juliette Lewis doesn’t really look like a frumpy cat-lady:

Rural Alberta Advantage:

The band is not really that plain/ugly-looking:

Holly Miranda:

Holly Miranda is not, and has never been, an obese redhead, as Daytrotter’s image implies:

School of Seven Bells: “Windstorm” Analysis

October 25, 2011 / aftertheshow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF6PQFL8Hfo

“Windstorm,” a song on School of Seven Bells’ sophomore album, is one of the most unique-sounding songs in my iTunes library.

The distorted melody that begins the song announces immediately that this song is different — it’s unrecognizable and hard to tell if a machine, guitar on overdrive, or human voice is producing this hook.

The vocals initially sound like they’re not in English but in some other more ethereal and musical language.

Entering the song unexpectedly in the first verse (0:35), the drums are heavy on the snare and sound like they could be played on a drum machine.

The chorus’s lyrical repetition and sparse instrumentation contributes to the song’s ethereal, chant-like feeling.

Sonically, the zenith of the song for me is at 2:35, when two separate vocal arrangements overlap (chorus + verse) creating a musical round that evokes feelings of prayer and meditation.

Live version of “Windstorm” below:

VH1 Save the Music: Family Day NYC

October 23, 2011 / aftertheshow

Today — Saturday, October 22, 2011 — was VH1’s Save the Music Foundation “Family Day.” This free interactive musical expo featured performances, food trucks, and activities for children at The Anderson School on New York’s upper west side.

Check out this interview that Parenting Magazine did with Taylor Hanson to promote Save the Music’s Family Day in New York.

Photos and 3 videos from Hanson’s performance at Save the Music Family Day by After The Show:

Yellow Bird Project

October 18, 2011 / aftertheshow

Yellow Bird Project is an organization that partners with indie rock musicians to create and sell t-shirts to benefit an array of charities, each chosen by the musicians.

In addition to the original t-shirt designs, Yellow Bird Project has two books out — the Indie Rock Poster Book and the Indie Rock Coloring Book.

Bands involved in the project include:

Andrew Bird, Au Revoir Simone, Beach House, Bon Iver, Devendra Banhart, Laura Veirs, Metric, Ra Ra Riot, Rilo Kiley, Stars, Tegan and Sara, and Whispertown 2000.