This topic is for the appreciation of different types of music from different cultures, and is not to become a clone of the other music topics. This topic will be about the backgrounds of certain types of music, and will also be about what the music means and symbolises. This should not be about your favourite types of music, it will be about types you may not have heard, or heard of, and this will be an excuse to try it. I just hope nobody posts links to copyrighted materials, or other such things that are against the rules.
(PS. This topic has the approval of the moogle herself)
To give a little start, since most of the people here probably (except for the dutch people), never listened to dutch pop music… Hm, to not get you scared right away because of the strange language, lets start of with a bilingual one…
Bløf ft. Counting Crows - Holiday in Spain (edit: you should be able to find a live version video on youtube )
I really like this song, I believe this version of Holiday in Spain was released due to the death of their drummer…
Well, for myself, I never tried anything Rock/Metal kind of stuff, so if anyone knows anything good, feel free to post some recommendations ^^
[color=indigo]For heavy metal, I grew up listening to my older brother’s Judas Priest. The lyrics, now that I understand their meaning better, are often angry and cynical to the point of being absolutely bogus, but there are few things in music I like more than those excellent guitar melodies. I think sometimes that, despite being brilliant musicians, being all hardcore was just an image. I mean, one of their songs is about an evil train of death, among other things that just don’t make any sense.
I’m always trying to introduce myself to more classic music, so if anyone has any favorites they could share, I wouldn’t mind looking it up. We sing a lot of madrigals in choir, but I wonder sometimes if our director is telling us how to sing them correctly… sometimes I like how it sounds sung a certain way, but then he tells us to do it differently and I think it sounds enormously worse. I wonder if classic composers would fight over the interpritation of such complicated music around the time most of these pieces were written.
I really like the art of music in videogames. A composer friend of mine was comissioned by one of her pals to help with a videogame project he was doing, and he needed her to create some music. It seemed easy to her when she accepted it, but she ended up asking me a lot of questions… In most occassions, she’d describe to me what one area was supposed to be like, and I’d have to give her advice on how the music had to have a calm serenity for a resting area, a light, upbeat tone for a busy town, or a huge swell in tempo with driving instrumentals for battle. It goes to show you how much work goes into videogame music, and nothing’s cooler than when they get something just right; the water theme from Super Mario 64, for instance, is just perfect for aquatic stages, and I can’t hear enough of “Sky Sands” from Kirby’s Air Ride. It absolutely melts my heart when things just click so well.
Anyway, what I was leading up to was to ask people about songs they’ve heard that totally reminds them of certain environments or emotions, whether it’s from a videogame or not. I think that adds a lot to the idea of what some music really means, one of the general topics of this thread.[/color]
Jazz… man. Where to start. Its Americas classical music. The only way I can describe the way I feel about it, when I listen and play, is just “hip”. Tony Bennet said, “Jazz is spontaneous, honest, and natural, and it is a celebration of life itself.” I think there is some kind of jazz that anyone could possibly enjoy. It appeals to the inherently happy, the depressed, and the free, and the oppressed. It can be angry and celebratory at the same time, like blues before, and hip-hop after.
You can’t define jazz. You ask 50 people what they think jazz is, and you’ll probably get 50 different answers. Someone once told me, “[jazz is] better than sex, and it lasts longer.” It has gone through so many changes, for the backstreets of the Mississippi Delta, to the huge festivals of Tokyo. It went from a completely live music, to record deals, to obscure art form, back to popularity, and back to the waning period. Yet, its still preformed endlessly in hundreds, if not thousands of clubs and venues every day and night. It’s Americas only ever-changing art form.
Alan Lawrence summed it up the best in my opinion, “If it feels like jazz to you — It is jazz. That’s the beauty of this music!”
Recommended Listening
Recorded Sessions
Bootlegs
Go out and see/hear it live
Try it yourself
Hear its influences
Hear how life, both natural and unatural have influenced it
Well, I can’t say I really listen to many different kinds of music; mostly rock, although I also like some blues and other stuff. However, my guitar teacher has like a Ph. D or whatever in world music or something along those lines, and I’m always in awe everytime he plays flamenco. The most interesting music I’ve heard has been from him, when he takes some rare and obscure music genre and blurs it with rock. I’m sure there are plenty of musicians who do this, but they don’t make it to the radio, so if anyone has some listening suggestions I’d be open to it.
Other than that, I don’t think I have much to say about music appreciation without getting into my favorite bands and such (which I understand isn’t what this topic is about). I definately don’t listen tend to most popular bands, but everything is still in the same genre.
Anyone around here listen to any of these artists? All three of them are simply incredible. Ys, Begin to Hope, and The Crane Wife are currently my favorite albums. Oh, and Sufjan Steven’s ‘Illinoise!’ and Iron & Wine’s ‘Our Endless Numbered Days’. Amazing stuff. If you guys are into folk, or creative indie stuff at all, you should give all of these artists a listen.
Joanna Newsom’s Y’s goes beyond music for me, and into the realm of something…beyond. If I listen to a song from that album and immedatly follow it with a song from a different artist, that song seems less significant, and pales in comparison to Joanna’s work.
If you like Mrs. Newsom, check out CocoRosie. Also, Devendra Banhart, Vetiver, and Karen Dalton.
I love Regina Spektor! I just recently bought Begin to Hope, and it’s a fabulous album. Regina is just so creative and original. Her songs stay stuck in my head for days.
Haven’t heard of the other two artists, though I should probably look them up.
Just last night, I listened to the album Blue Alert by Anjani. Each song was so soothing and comforting and very creative. I’d recommend this album to anybody who enjoys rich female vocals and a relaxing atmosphere.
As most people here have probably figured out, I’m a huge Marilyn Manson supporter, and I think this thread is the most appropriate place to explain why.
Musicians are usually referred to as artists, but Manson gives the phrase a much more literal meaning, as every album he’s put out is truly artistic in nature. Every song of his can be interpreted in any number of ways, and is usually shrouded behind a “shock rock” facade to keep the closed-minded away. I highly reccomend those of you who haven’t given his music a chance to sit down and listen to an album, paying heed to every word.
I’d delve further, but like HebrewB said, this isn’t a “favorite band” thread lol
I agree, her music is just so completely different, so much deeper than a lot of other music. I think Sufjan Stevens is a worthy comparison though, his music also holds a wonderful depth, beauty and originality. Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll sure to check them out.
What are your favorite songs from the album sno? I think ‘On the Radio’ and ‘Samson’ are mine.
Oh, gosh, I have so many! Samson is my very favorite, though. It is so hauntingly beautiful. I just never get tired of it. On the Radio is stuck in my head practically every day (and I had to quote the lyrics in the Lyrics thread a while back). I also love Fidelity (of course), Hotel Song, Apres Moi, and That Time. Yeah, I just listed half the album. That’s how much I love her!
)
