STYLES
Progressive (Prog) Rock Vs. Punk






King Crimson's "Starless" (1974) is the archetypal (perhaps ultimate) Prog song. Note the elaborate structure; the favouring of epic sound textures - the mellotron being a much-valued instrument in the genre; the use of counter-melody; the reappearance of musical motifs in various parts of the song; the variations in time signature and exploration of non-standard metre (eg. the section beginning at 4.30 is in 13/4); the general emphasis on technical virtuosity. Note, perhaps, the pomposity!

The Buzzcocks' "Boredom" (1977) was one of the tracks on the first independently released punk record, the Spiral Scratch E.P.  Note the musical features: basically the opposite of everything listed above. Although it's a little bit simplistic to characterise punk as an oikish backlash to the overly ornamental style of Prog, that's the line that tends to be trotted out by most critics and music writers, even today.

LISTENING ANALYSIS (TASK 6, SUPERSONICS)

Studio chat not edited out at the end. Why? What effect does leaving it in have on the track as a whole?





Recorded outside, so lots of noise on the recording (eg. a distant aeroplane). Why do this? Why not edit it out?





Guitar noise was originally made by Jonny Greenwood as a kind of protest, because he didn't like the song, and so tried to ruin it by playing something "wrong". It became an integral part of the arrangement.

2min 27 - the vocal melody and chord sequence is (possibly accidentally) plagiarized from...


"The Air That I Breathe" by The Hollies (written in 1972, twenty years before "Creep".






First line comes in halfway through the intro... a mistake? Why not edit it out?
Also, check the lyrical "error". In the first verse he has a "plan", but in the chorus he doesn't "know what to do". Wow, some plan.





Massive reverb on sibilant sounds.





Massive reverb (and delay) on sibilant sounds (and cymbals). In the New Order song it seems a more suitable and deliberate use of the effect (in my opinion), while in the George Michael song it seems distracting (again, in my opinion.)





Extreme distortion on instruments and voice, drums panned heavily to one side. Suitable for the song? Also, check the backing vocal edit - on the word "evolution" a second voice is punched in mid-word singing "...tution". Tiny error, but now try unhearing it.





Check the tuning of the bass. But it's been sampled by Nas, Kendrick Lamar, Ice-T and others - so how much of an "error" can it be?




The line at the end of the verse "You shout it while you're dancing on the dancefloor" - the word "the" is stretched out over three notes. Very clumsy lyrics? But maybe that stupid-sounding lyric is appropriate for the theme of the song.





The climax of the song - the vocal goes up an octave and Bowie can only deliver the line in a scream. "Wrong" vocal technique. But this loss of vocal control creates a moment of intensity, which is heightened by the unorthodox use of room mic'ing.





Even classical musicians make mistakes! Check the edit at 2'03.





The guitars are out of tune with each other and the electric piano. But these tuning /intonation errors create a chorus effect that makes the overall texture very dense and attractive.

Hip Hop (Live)

Sugarhill Gang - "Rapper's Delight" (1979)
Kurtis Blow - "The Breaks" (1980)
The Roots "You Got Me" (orig. 1998)
Outkast - "Hey Ya" (2004)
Kendrick Lamar - "Poetic Justice" (2013)

DECADES PROJECT - OVER TO YOU

Below is a table relating to the eight Decades Project lectures you've had this half term.

The titles link to Powerpoint information and videos. In each box, please write: 
1) ONE piece of information that relates to a purely musical or sonic aspect (eg. how a ninth chord is formed / what gated reverb is etc.) 
2) Also write about ONE aspect that has a wider cultural, social or political context (eg. the relationship of funk rhythms to African music in the context of the 60s Civil Rights and Black Power movements.) 
3) Finally, write about an aspect that can be compared or contrasted with a more recent equivalent (eg, the use of vocal runs in modern Pop and R&B compared to Stevie Wonder's use of melisma on Talking Book.)

Please download the table from the link below, add your answers and then post on your blog when you've finished.

The link to the table is HERE. 

BLUES

FMP Referral interview

Some of you have to come in for a “Viva Voce”. This is an interview in which we discuss your FMP problems and give you a chance to make up some of the ground that lies between you and a pass.

You have to be really prepared for this. It will be recorded so you can upload it to your blog.

Here are the questions that you need to have prepared. Note particularly numbers 8, 9 and 15. You MUST show evidence of research that isn’t just linking to a nice YouTube video. Feel free to write down your answers to these – maybe even upload them to your blogs. You don’t need to learn it by heart!

PROJECT PROPOSAL v. REALITY

1.       What was your project idea?

2.       Why did this idea suit your skill set?

3.       In what ways would doing the project be useful for you?

4.       What form was your collaboration to take?

5.       Why do you think your project didn’t go as planned?

RESEARCH

6.       Give examples of two artists or groups whose work relates your own.

7.       Why have you chosen these?

8.       What critical or analytical material about these artists or the ideas associated with their work have you found (i.e. books or academic papers?)

9.       Find two specific extracts from the critical or analytical material you’ve found about your chosen artists. How and why do these extracts relate to your own work?

 

EVALUATION

10.   What was your finished product?

11.   What were the differences between the actual finished product and what you had imagined it would be when first proposing your project idea?

12.   How and why did these differences occur?

13.   List some of the positive things and the negative things about your finished product.

14.   Give at least one example of how your working process influenced your final product.

15.   Give at least one example of how your research influenced your final product.