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« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 9, 2010 by admin in Music
Sunday, May 9th, 2010Id’ like to teach the world to sing, but it sounds like they already know how.
The Britlin Losee clip that started it all |
If you saw the video at left on its own, you might just think “Aw, what a silly sappy little fangirl with a sweet voice”, or, if you’re a weepy little crybaby like me, you might actually tear up a bit. She does have a lovely little voice, and she seems like she’s on the verge of crying as she does her introduction and then sings an a capella piece. But what makes the whole thing more touching is that her simple, unsolicited video clip inspired American choral composer Eric Whitacre to assemble his Virtual Choir (clips below), which is a project that uses 285 singers from 12 countries to perform his work. So what’s so inspiring about that? Well, it’s all done through YouTube! On his how we did it page, he describes how a friend sent him the Britlin Losee clip, which inspired the rest. Although the inclusion of Whitacre “virtually conducting” a couple hundred YouTube clips floating in darkness detracts a bit from the video production (it lends a slightly “John Tesch” vibe), the resulting music is gorgeous, and embodies the sort of thing that’s rarely achieved but always hoped for via the web: international sharing of creativity, passion, harmony, and beauty. It also proves something that I’ve always believed but am willing to ascribe to my perceptual disorders, which is that everyone has a song in them. I am almost always hearing a choir in my head, and this music sounds like part of it. Now I know what some of the people look like! More clips below. Read the rest of this entry »
Movie Reclamation Mashups – Scavenging Film To Make Music
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 3, 2010 by admin in Music
Monday, May 3rd, 2010Editing artists like Pogo and Tasman Richardson are creating a cool new genre in which film sounds are scavenged to make music. Now we just need a name for it.
There’s definite shortage of terminology when it comes to describing one of my favorite forms of pop media, i.e.: the mashup. We’ve touched on the genre of music that for lack of a better term is called a “mashup” before, and pointed you to cool artists like Kutiman, who kind of takes it to a new level by creating very musical video collages with elaborate resampling of music tutorials and demos from YouTube. But there’s not only a definite shortage of terminology for discussing this form of expression, some would question whether or not it’s even music. Especially in the case of work by either Pogo or Tasman Richardson. Pogo has recently been getting some attention for his musical video collages, most recently Skynet Symphonic (video below) which is assembled primarily from using selected non-musical sounds from the movie Terminator 2 to make music. A purist of this genre might say Pogo “cheats” a bit by adding synth lines and pitch-controlling the samples to make things more “musical”. For something a little more “hardcore”, both in terms of using pure editing to get results, as well as the resulting musical style, you might check out Tasman Richardson’s work, like Vader Lives (clip below) which is – as Richardson puts it – a “Breakcore homage to the Dark Lord Himself”. Richardson has a body of work stretching back to 1996 which can be found in quicktime on his site or on his YouTube channel. He has also created a term for the type of media he’s creating and defined it in his Jawa Manifesto (1.2MB PDF). The only other artist I’m aware of that does this with any finesse is Robin Koerts, who has done remixes using Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction (also below). If you know of any others creating this kind of work feel free to share. Read the rest of this entry »
Janelle Monáe – Video For “Tightrope” From “The ArchAndroid”
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on April 27, 2010 by admin in Music
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010Janelle Monáe is an utterly mind-blowing talent that is sure to change the face of popular music in 2010. My hyperbole is seriously no match for what she does in the video for “Tightrope”
Imagine if Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince, Shirley Bassey, James Brown, Grace Jones, and Rihanna had a daughter, and Outkast produced her. Scratch that. I don’t think there are really words to describe what Janelle Monáe is up to. Her vocal delivery effortlessly slips between sultry, R&B ballsy, and almost childish in the span of single verse. She moves like there’s no such thing as gravity, and she has a keen sense theatricality. Oh. And she’s gorgeous. I’ll just shut up now. Watch the video. I’ll try to say something useful below.
Robyn With A Why
[ Comments Off ]Posted on April 21, 2010 by admin in Music
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010How and why I finally succumbed to the Europoptasticalness of Robyn
 Swede Dreams Are Made Of This |
Make that three whys. Why, why, why do I like Robyn
I’m With The Brand: Musicians As Corporate Groupies
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on April 14, 2010 by admin in Music
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010You know it’s over when Iggy Pop Licenses “Lust For Life” to Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines
If you’re a working musician who understands anything at all about how the music industry works and want to earn a decent living, you’ll quit your job right now and start a record label. Oh wait. That doesn’t even work anymore. So what’s a penniless musical genius to do these days to make a living? Well, if you’re Radiohead or Nine Inch Nails – the two acts always cited when talking about making a fortune online with your music – you’re all set. But the fact is that these are pretty exceptional cases, and both acts had a major label deal before their success on line. In reality, there probably are a lot of acts out there that are happy with what they’re making if they self-produce, choose the right distribution channels, and remember that oft-forgotten secret ingredient, HAVING FANS. We’ve come a long way since the days when the typical artist/label arrangement meant the band would sell a couple million units, the label would make a mil, and the band would end up 50 grand in debt. If you think that’s an exaggeration, read this classic piece by Steve Albini (probably best known for producing Nirvana’s In Utero) that breaks it down in detail, or this quick Wikipedia entry about “recoupment”. To get an idea of how many songs an artist has to sell these days – and how – before they make US minimum wage, check out this handy infographic. So while it’s possible these days to make some kind of living as a musician, how does one make “superstar” money? Well not by being Lady Gaga selling tunes on Spotify, that’s for sure. No, much like any other art-meets-business activity, whoring yourself is probably the best solution. Devo was one of the early geniuses of this, building their brand as anti-corporate rebels while making fistfuls of money as savvy and willing team players with Warner. More recently, according to this Wall Street Journal piece, we’d have to tip the hat to Black Eyed Peas. Apparently will.i.am pitches his band-slash-brand to major sponsors like BlackBerry with PowerPoint presentations. Yes, it’s hard to tell the band from the brands these days. In fact, try this clever FastCompany quiz to see if you can tell the names of the bands from those who name the brands. Read the rest of this entry »