On Leaks, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Leak

by Neto

A large leak...kind of...

It has been a big couple of weeks for leaks.  Radiohead and Weezer both experienced song leaks last weeks with varied results.  Radiohead’s song, “These Are My Twisted Words”, was a very good song reminiscent of Kid A, which is my favorite Radiohead album by far.  Weezer’s leak a few weeks ago was less successful musically.  “The Girl Got Hot” was just more run of the mill Weezer from the Green Album rather than brilliant Weezer from Pinkerton (will we ever see that Weezer again?).

More telling than the quality of the songs, though, was the reaction to the leaks or the almost non-reaction.  Leaks have become almost commonplace these days.  Its the price of doing business in these modern times.  And both bands seem to have come to terms with that.

Nervous Energy

by Belle

I’m not naturally a performer, but there is an element of performance to being a musician.  So I have attempted to transform my nervous energy into stamina for singing and playing music onstage.  Usually, the crowd is nonexistent or mostly intoxicated if I was lucky enough to play on a weekend evening.  Perhaps the most nervousness comes from playing at open mic opportunities, when some of the crowd is actually listening!

I can’t say I ever feel comfortable or at ease on stage.  But I still value music performance, because I believe it is an opportunity to share.  I spend a lot of time working on songwriting in the privacy of my own living room with a notebook and a guitar.  The process is not really complete until I share the song with a few listeners.

Following Your Dream!!

by Luxi Lauri

What is it that makes an artist truly an artist?

There are some “9 – 5” workers who might not take you seriously if you say you want to make a living off of singing, acting, painting or dancing.  Artists are often made to feel like second class citizens in a world that favors people with concrete jobs.  This could be crippling to an artist’s identity, but never the less, they must succeed. Looking within and being true to your dream is the only way to do it. The actor, dancer, painter, writer, and singer were put on earth to express and stimulate the emotions of their audience. This is such an important task for an artist to embark on.

Being in Los Angeles for these past three weeks has shown me the meaning of faith and dedication to one’s craft. I have been to an actor’s workshop at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, concerts in the streets, clubs and even at Spiritual Centers. Everyone that I have seen and spoken to has extreme passion and confidence in what they are doing. How else are you supposed to live in this world without doing and creating what you love? It does not matter how old you are, where you live or what you ultimately want to do, as long as you follow your journey.  There is always a way out of ‘no way’. Use all the resources you have in your community, seek guidance from the internet, authors and classes. There is always information available for your craft.

Soul Doubt

by meandthestereo

I didn’t think any photos included in this post would actually accentuate how I feel. The words pretty much speak for themselves. I decided, instead, to put some of my favorite YouTube videos of songs from bands I really enjoy that have either ’sold out’, according to some people, or have faded away.

It seems now I finally understand. Selling out is that one, final crime, isn’t it? Oh, but it never hurts the musician; it only hurts the fans. Countless bands have never sold out. Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd claim that they have not. Dylan only recently could be suspected of it. But so many bands have, and they know it. Let’s define selling out as simply as possible:

Selling out: When a musician or band uses their music to gain money or some other item.

Coffee and Music

by meandthestereo

First of all, let’s settle this issue:

I am NOT addicted to coffee.

Nay, I can stop whenever I want. I just don’t want to! Now, we aren’t here to discuss the harmful or beneficial effects of coffee on the body and mind, but to discuss the associations attributed to the ideas of Coffee and Music. It is something that has constantly tickled my brain into thinking, and I have a few bones to pick with the idea of the perfect musical/coffee atmosphere.

Let’s discuss the ‘image’ of a coffee shop, café, lounge or whatever you’d like to call it. Specifically, we are concerned with a place that primarily sells coffee drinks, pastries and some other small snacks or perhaps some lunch. It is commonly associated with this type of establishment that you are going to have a pleasant time, isn’t it?

Geeky Music

In which meandthestereo rambles on about the musical loves of geeks and debates his own geeklyhood:

I can’t normally tell other people this (they laugh, undoubtedly), but I can tell you, internet (can’t I?), that I am indelibly in love with geeky music.

I can only speak for myself, but in doing so, I tend to label myself as being ‘geeky’, but that’s only a small fraction of who I am as a whole. Take a look:

Is ‘meandthestereo’ a Geek?

Has ‘Pop’ Music damaged music?: Revisited!

by Neto

I was really taken aback by the previous two articles on this site about Pop music. When meandthestereo suggested this article, I thought I was going to have to be Pop music’s sole defender. But since everyone else has been so lenient on pop music, I get to play devil’s advocate and point out the many legitimate problems with the Pop music genre and the effect it has had on the music industry as a whole.

In the previous paragraph, I used the term “music industry” on purpose. While I look up to the ideal of music being judged solely on its merits and being a creative process completely free from the constraints of capitalism, we cannot ignore that music as an industry affects what we get to listen to and, on a long enough timeline, affects the kind of music put out. You can’t deny that many people who went into punk bands may not have done so had someone not put the music of The Ramones or The Sex Pistols on vinyl and sold it to aspiring musicians everywhere. In my opinion, this is where most of the problems with Pop music come from. In a perfect capitalist world, the top musical talent should float to the top, but if you believe in capitalism, I have some land in Florida I’d like to sell you.

A 2nd Response: Has Pop Music Damaged the Purpose of Music?

by Belle

Has Pop music negatively influenced the course of music in general?  I hope not, because I love Pop music.  I think I got my definition of using the term Pop music from a Michael Stipe interview that I have a vague memory of in the back of my mind.  I can’t find the interview (I just searched a bit), but I could’ve sworn that Michael Stipe said something about R.E.M. creating Pop songs, and R.E.M. being my all-time favorite band, it has given me positive connotations with the term.

I think Pop music is able to translate its message, whatever that may be, easily to many, many people.  You’re allowed to interpret.  You’re even allowed to sing the words wrong, guessing at unintelligible syllables and creating your own sentences that go along with the catchy melody, and then interpret this patchwork song with any meaning you really chose.  Maybe you think it’s about the songwriter’s own breakup, or maybe you personally identify with it.  Maybe, as Better Than Ezra lyricizes about in one song, a Pop song identifies with a particular memory or time period of your life.

Topic: Has ‘Pop’ Music damaged the purpose of music?

by: Renato

The definition of music varies according to cultural and social context.  Music ranges from what are considered organized compositions through improvised styles of music to aleatoric (based on chance) forms. So, where in all of this does “Pop” music fall?  Short for “Popular”, pop music hasn’t been a genre for long, and it has always fallen under the “Rock” genre.  The Beatles first crossed the rock/pop line with hits like All You Need Is Love, Hey Jude, and Yesterday.  A lot of these songs were intentionally “poppy” in a sense that they were geared toward an audience that liked these songs: young people.  Paul McCartney knew this and continued to write songs of this nature (if you notice the poppy Beatles songs are mostly written by Paul, while the weirder songs are mostly written by John).

Looking further back, the Pop line was crossed in Elvis’ days when he was swinging his hips for the ladies whilst singing Jailhouse Rock.  But, we’ll stick to the Beatles since they made a slightly bigger impact on music (Elvis purists, we can discuss who made a bigger impact later).  In their later years, when they were experimenting, the Beatles discovered such skills as harmonization, guitar feedback, classical inspiration, artificial double tracking, close miking of acoustic instruments, sampling, direct injection, synchronization, and backward tapes.  Many of these same skills would then be adopted by popular musicians today. Although the reason why artists today should be criticized for techniques like sampling is because the way they use it is more of a lazy way. They sample an entire song and just put in their own lyrics, completely ripping off the original musician.

One more thing on the history of Pop Music: