MUSC2700 Beyond Rock

Third exam, second essay, and final marks.

2006-11-23T18:28:00.000-08:00

Student#....Essay 2......Exam 3....Mark......Grade

41076884......27..........5.5.......67.........5
40763338......45...........7........90.........7
41197163......40...........7........80.........6
41178975..... DNS..........3........27.........1
40986511......11..........5.5.......50.........4
41180969......45...........4........86.........7
40774071......35..........3.5.......73.........5
41001916......32..........6.5.......76.........6
41239205......24..........3.........54.........4
40556428......37..........5.........76.........6
41187025......15..........0.........32.........2
40554330......45..........5.5.......87.........7
40277732......32..........3.........65.........5
41000414......43..........7.........87.........7
41187119......38..........4.........73.........5
40254274......37..........4.........71.........5
41212981......35..........3.5.......71.........5
40793586......42..........6.5.......81.........6
40975515......35..........6.........75.........6
40902203......37..........5.........70.........5
40793894......38..........6.5.......78.........6
41215496.......0..........0.........26.........1
40999294......33..........5.........74.........5
40547480......38..........4.........77.........6
41207594......DNS.........0.........25.........1
40754550......42..........6.........81.........6
41181902......35..........5.........72.........5
41002856......40..........4.5.......78.........6
40536466......37..........4.........72.........5
41216578......45..........6.5.......92.........7
40503002......33..........5.........67.........5
41203626......42..........6.........83.........6
41209945......16..........4.........46.........3
41008474......45..........7.........92.........7
40518958
41195301......38..........4.........71.........5
40536466......DNS.........0.........23.........1
41201547......40..........3.........74.........5
41210017......35..........6.........72.........5
4116907.......38..........4.5.......78.........6
40109048......42..........5.........82.........6
40780643......DNS.........0.........20.........1
40961620......33..........0.........51.........4
40778127......40..........0.........74.........5
40996323......33..........0.........57.........4
41139695......15..........6.5.......56.........4
40982997......35..........5.........73.........5
41193213......40..........2.5.......70.........5
41267141......32..........5.5.......72.........5
40764643......43..........5.........85.........7
41003983
41198786......40..........5.5.......82.........6
40254416......37..........2.........62.........4
41292620......DNS.........0.........29.........1
41219261......DNS.........0..........9.........1
40778350......38..........3.........76.........6

Any discrepencies may just be a case of blog formatting error (it was hard to get this to look right), so if you think there is a problem, before you have a heart attack email me at c.messenger@uq.edu.au

Missing essays Pt.2

2006-11-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

Marks are due in a few days, and I have not received essays from the following:

Brooks, Murray
Hoelscher, Daniel
Nathan, Matthew
Phillips, Patrick
Winslett, Richard
Zahnow, Anastasia

I hate failing people, so if you're on this list (and you haven't dropped the course), I suggest you email me something resembling an essay. That way there is a slight chance you may still be able to scrape a pass.

Essay pick up

2006-11-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

If you ask very nicely at the School of Music office, they will return your marked essay for MUSC2700. Be polite, because essay handling is not part of their job; I asked them to as a special favour.

If you handed your essay in late (i.e. after 11am on Monday the 6th), don't ask for it, because I haven't marked it yet. I'll get the late essays to the office by the 28th. Apart from Shan and Scott, if you emailed me your essay it is also there to be picked up.

If enough people want (i.e. leave comments), I will post all your assessment marks here under your student numbers.

Death metal, doom metal...soccer metal.

2006-11-16T17:10:00.000-08:00

In Lincoln, England, Greenbank Football Club Under-10s have signed a sponsorship deal with Motörhead. The team now wear an all-black jersey featuring the Motörhead skull logo, and run out on to the pitch accompanied by 'Ace of Spades'.

Missing 1st essays

2006-10-29T21:01:00.000-08:00

I don't recall receiving 1st essays from the following students:

Matthew Johnston
Richard Meredith
Toby Patterson
Scott-John Pointing
Evan Setiawan
Anastasia Zahnow

If this is you, or if you know whether or not the student has dropped the course, please contact me at c.messenger@uq.edu.au

Final lecture notes, week 13

2006-10-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

‘Indie’ and ‘Australia’

Last week: Indie as industry/style:

‘After money, credibility is the most precious commodity in circulation. As far as the majors are concerned, once you buy that the rest is easy.’ (Wark 1993: 108)
Geoffrey Hull: independents are ‘development area’ for major labels.
Hibbert: ‘new aesthetic’ + satisfies desire for social differentiation (cultural capital)
DIY: demystifying record-making process, but production usually does not meet radio/TV standards
Indie must perpetually seek out new sounds, ‘artistic elsewhere’: Athens, Georgia/Minneapolis/ Boston/Manchester/ Seattle/Iceland etc.

Noise rock/Post-rock/Math rock:

Post-rock: Tortoise, Mogwai, Godspeed! You Black Emperor etc.
Re-emergence of prog-rock, but ‘in a world where punk had happened’.
New York ‘No Wave’: Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth; ‘inspired by the intensity of punk’
Math rock: Polvo, Slint

Lo-fi:

Beat Happening, Guided By Voices, Sebadoh, Smog, Cat Power, Will Oldham etc.
Production values/musical style/often just ‘home recordings’
Much post-Nevermind ‘alternative’ music still conformed to industry production standards
Lo-fi: coarse sounds, hum, static, tape hiss, amateurish playing, off-key singing, ‘slacker music.
Art v. commerce debate: aesthetic choices, conscious reaction against prevailing standards of production, economic necessity?
Grajeda: lo-fi as ‘feminisation/domesticifation’ of masculine processes of music production/technological perfection
Avant-garde: ‘making strange’, foregrounding the apparatus

Australian Independent Labels and Globalisation:

Independent labels: for some, protection against cultural imperialism; but subject to international music economy.
Until 1950s, no local labels or recording stars
1970s: pub circuit/oz rock
Most pub rock bands signed to foreign-owned labels, thus these companies tightened hold on local music.
Marcus Breen: local indies a ‘working class challenge to the middle class respectability of the mainstream music industry’.

‘Glocalization’:

Australia’s recording industry sub-branch of global entertainment complex; foreign corporations control over 80% of local market (95% if you don’t count Festival as Australian).
Local artists signed to foreign-owned labels expected to contribute to global balance sheet; A&R look for those acts that display most international appeal.

Case study: Half a Cow:

Nic Dalton (Plunderers/ Lemonheads) began in bedroom, 1980s.
Local distributors: Polygram, Festival, MGM.
Various OS independent deals
Publishing arm: Moo Chewns

Dealing with the devil:

Indies need marketing and promotion muscle; majors want instant ‘indie cred’.
Polygram/Mercury deal: HAC pressured to supply product for company’s other media arms, movie soundtracks.
OS Polygram had first right of refusal; HAC waits nine months before dealing with other OS labels.
Currently distributed by MGM.

Consultation

2006-10-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

Turns out I will be on campus this Monday (the 30th), so if anyone requires consultation, email me at c.messenger@uq.edu.au

Post-punk independent labels

2006-10-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

Alternative Tentacles: established 1979 San Francisco by Dead Kennedys; run by former vocalist Jello Biafra. Artists—Alice Donut, Butthole Surfers, No Means No.
Amphetamine Reptile: est. 1986 Washington State by Marine Tom Hazelmyer. Artists: Halo of Flies, Helmet, The Melvins, The Cows, Helios Creed, Chokebore.
Au Go Go: est. 1979 Melbourne by Bruce Milne & Philip Morland. Artists: Scientists, God, Magic Dirt. Australian releases for Big Black and Sonic Youth.
Bar/None: est. 1986 Hoboken, New Jersey. Artists: They Might Be Giants, Yo La Tengo, Architecture in Helsinki.
Beggars Banquet: est. 1977 UK by independent record store chain owners Martin Mills and Nick Austin. Hits with Gary Numan ensured security. Subsidiaries: 4AD, Mo Wax, Matador, XL, and Wiiija. Artists: The Charlatans, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, The Pixies, Cocteau Twins, Go-Betweens, M/A/R/R/S, The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx.
Big Cat: est. 1990, UK. Artists: Foetus, Cop Shoot Cop, Pavement, Grandaddy. Bought by V2 in 1996.
Blanco y Negro: est. 1983, UK, by Geoff Travis (ex-Rough Trade), as Warner subsidiary. Artists: Everything But The Girl, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Catatonia.
C/Z: est. Seattle 1985 by Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale; taken over by Skin Yard bass player Daniel House. Artists: The Presidents of the United States of America, The Melvins, Built to Spill, 7 Year Bitch, Hammerbox. Suffered several dodgy arrangements with Sony and BMG.
Cooking Vinyl: est.1986, UK. Artists: Billy Bragg, Michelle Shocked, The Bluetones, Ryan Adams.
Creation: est. UK 1984 by Alan McGee. Artists: Jesus & Mary Chain, Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Swervedriver, Slowdive, House of Love, Teenage Fanclub, Oasis, Super Furry Animals. Sony bought 49% of label in early 1990s; McGee sold out in 1999.
Dischord: est. Washington, D.C. 1980 by Ian MacKaye, Jeff Nelson & Nathan Strejcek. Artists: Minor Threat, Embrace, Scream, Jawbox, Shudder to Think, Dag Nasty, Lungfish, Fugazi.
Domino: est. UK 1993. Artists: The Magnetic Fields, Lou Barlow, Stephen Malkmus, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand.
Drag City: est. Chicago 1989 by Dan Koretzky & Dan Osborn. Artists: Pavement, Royal Trux, Smog, Will Oldham, Jim O'Rourke, Silver Jews, Will Oldham, Pajo, Joanna Newsom.
The Elephant 6 Recording Company: est. Denver, Colorado/Athens, Georgia. Artists: The Apples in Stereo, Beulah, Elf Power, The Essex Green, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control.
Epitaph: est. 1981 Hollywood by Brett Gurewitz (Bad Religion). Artists: L7, NOFX, Offspring, Rancid. Subsidiaries: Anti (Tom Waits), Fat Wreck Chords (Less Than Jake).
Factory: est. 1978 Manchester by Tony Wilson. Artists: Joy Division, New Order, Durutti Column, Happy Mondays.
Fast Product: est. Edinburgh, Scotland 1977 by Bob Last. Artists: Human League, Gang of Four, The Mekons, Scars.
Fire: est. London 1986 by Clive Solomon. Artists: Pulp, Spacemen 3, Everclear, Neutral Milk Hotel.
Flying Nun: est. 1981 Christchurch, New Zealand by Roger Shepherd. Artists: The Clean, Sneaky Feelings, The Bats, The Chills, The Verlaines.
Food: est. 1984 UK by Andy Ross & David Balfe. Originally Rough Trade distribution; 1994 EMI took over and folded into Parlophone. Artists: Blur, Idlewild, Jesus Jones, Dubstar.
IRS: est. 1979 US by Miles Copeland III. Artists: REM, Go-Gos, The Fleshtones, Wall of Voodoo, Camper Van Beethoven. Sold to EMI/folded.
Kill Rock Stars: est.1991 Olympia, Washington by Slim Moon. Artists: Bikini Kill, Lung Leg, Sleater-Kinney, The Decemberists.
Lookout!: est. Berkeley, California 1987 by Larry Livermore & David Hayes. Artists: Bratmobile, Pansy Division, The Donnas.
Mammoth: est. 1989 Carrboro, North Carolina. Artists: Squirrel Nut Zippers, Juliana Hatfield, Chainsaw Kittens, Machines of Loving Grace, The Melvins. Became part of Atlantic Records in 1993; bought by The Walt Disney Company in 1998, who shut it down in 2003.
Matador: est. 1989 New York by Chris Lombardi. Artists: Pastels, Pavement, Nightmares On Wax, Modest Mouse, Liz Phair, Lynnfield Pioneers, Guided By Voices, Guitar Wolf, Interpol, Yo La Tengo, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Chavez, Mogwai, A.C. Newman, The New Pornographers, Belle & Sebastian, Cat Power, Preston School of Industry.
Merge: est. Chapel Hill, North Carolina 1989 by Mac McCaughan &Laura Balance (Superchunk). Artists: Butterglory, Lambchop, Polvo, Portastatic, Spoon, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, The Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel.
Murderecords: est. 1992 Canada. Artists: Sloan, Eric's Trip.
One Little Indian: est. 1985 London. Artists: The Sugarcubes, Kitchens Of Distinction, The Shamen, Björk.
Play It Again Sam: est. 1983 Brussels, Belgium by Kenny Gates & Michel Lambot. Artists: Young Gods, Sigur Rós, Mogwai, Soulwax.
Postcard: est. 1979 Glasgow, Scotland by Alan Horne. Artists: Orange Juice, Josef K, Aztec Camera, The Go-Betweens. Label motto: ‘The Sound of Young Scotland’. Went bankrupt in 1982.
Righteous Babe: est. 1990 Buffalo, New York by Ani DiFranco.
Rough Trade: est. 1978 London by Geoff Travis (out of Rough Trade Record Shop). Folded in 1991; relaunched 2000. Artists: The Monochrome Set, Young Marble Giants, The Raincoats, The Fall, Television Personalities, The Smiths, The Sundays, Scritti Politti, Galaxie 500, James, Belle & Sebastian, British Sea Power, The Fiery Furnaces, The Libertines, The Strokes, Super Furry Animals, Babyshambles.
SST: est. 1978 Lawndale, California by Greg Ginn (Black Flag). Artists: Black Flag, The Minutemen, The Descendents, Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü, Bad Brains, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Soundgarden, Negativland.
Sarah: est. 1987 Bristol, UK by Clare Wadd & Matt Haynes. Artists: Heavenly, The Orchids, Even As We Speak, The Field Mice.
Shimmy Disc: est. 1987 New York by Kramer. Artists: Bongwater, Daniel Johnston, Galaxie 500, King Missile, Boredoms, Ween, GWAR.
SpinART: est. 1991 New York. Artists: Apples in Stereo, Augie March, Frank Black, Vic Chesnutt, Eels.
Sub Pop: est. 1986 in Seattle, Washington by Bruce Pavitt & Jonathan Poneman. Artists: Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Afghan Whigs, Combustible Edison, Low, Lubricated Goat, Red House Painters, Red Red Meat, Screaming Trees, Seaweed, Sebadoh, The Walkabouts, The Wipers, The Shins, Death Cab For Cutie, Hot Hot Heat, Iron & Wine. Now 49% owned by Warner Music Group.
Sympathy for the Record Industry: est. 1988 Long Beach, California by Long Gone John. Artists: Hole, The Muffs, International Noise Conspiracy, The Von Bondies, Rocket From the Crypt, Billy Childish, Turbonegro, The Dwarves, Suicide, The Gun Club, Man or Astro-man?, Redd Kross, The White Stripes.
TVT: est. 1985 in New York by Steve Gottlieb (for classic TV theme compilations). Artists: Nine Inch Nails, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Guided by Voices.
Taang!: est. 1981 Boston, Massachusetts. Artists: Dickies, Exploited, Lemonheads, Hard Ons.
Thrill Jockey: est. 1992 in New York by Bettina Richards. Artists: Tortoise, Trans Am, Tom Verlaine, Eleventh Dream Day, Califone, Giant Sand.
Too Pure: est. 1990 London by Richard Roberts & Paul Cox. Artists: PJ Harvey, Stereolab, McClusky, Scout Niblett.
Touch and Go: est. 1981 Chicago, Illinois. Artists: Butthole Surfers, Calexico, Girls Against Boys, The Jesus Lizard, Killdozer, Quasi, The Rollins Band, Seam, Shellac, Slint, TV on the Radio, Urge Overkill, Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Twin/Tone: est. 1977 Minneapolis, Minnesota. Artists: The Replacements, Babes in Toyland, The Jayhawks, Soul Asylum, Ween. Closed 1994.
Wiiija: est. 1988 Notting Hill, London. Artists: Cornershop, Huggy Bear, Free Kitten, Therapy?, Le Tigre, Anjali.
Zoo: est. 1978 Liverpool by Bill Drummond & David Balfe. Artists: Big In Japan, The Teardrop Explodes, Echo & the Bunnymen.

Best gig rider, ever

2006-10-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

Click here if you ever intend to book Iggy & the Stooges for a gig

Some indie/alternative etc.

2006-10-12T00:23:00.000-07:00

Buzzcocks - 'What Do I Get?' (1978)

Joy Division - 'Transmission' (1979)

The Birthday Party - 'Junkyard' (1981)

The Fall - 'Eat Yerself Fitter' (1983)

REM - 'So. Central Rain' (1984)

The Smiths - 'Hand in Glove' (Live 1984)

Jesus and Mary Chain - 'Never Understand' (1985)

Husker Du - 'Makes No Sense at All' (1985)

The Replacements - 'Bastards of Young' (Live 1985)

Sonic Youth - 'Teenage Riot' (1988)

My Bloody Valentine - 'You Made Me Realise' (1988)

Dinosaur Jr - 'No Bones (1988)

Stone Roses - 'Elephant Stone'(1988)

Pixies - 'Monkey's Gone to Heaven (1989)

Ride - 'Vapour Trail' (1990)

Teenage Fanclub - 'Starsign' (1991)

Pavement - 'Here' (1992)

Liz Phair - 'Fuck and Run' (Live 1994)

Guided By Voices - 'The Official Ironmen Rally Song' (1996)

Neutral Milk Hotel - 'Holland, 1945' (1998)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 'Maps' (Live 2004)

Steve Albini

2006-10-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

In 1993 musician and producer Steve Albini had a bit of a whinge about the music business in

The Baffler

Riot Grrrl Manifesto

2006-10-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

BECAUSE us girls crave records and books and fanzines that speak to US that WE feel included in and can understand in our own ways.
BECAUSE we wanna make it easier for girls to see/hear each other's work so that we can share strategies and criticize-applaud each other.
BECAUSE we must take over the means of production in order to create our own meanings.
BECAUSE viewing our work as being connected to our girlfriends-politics-real lives is essential if we are gonna figure out how [what] we are doing impacts, reflects, perpetuates, or DISRUPTS the status quo.
BECAUSE we recognize fantasies of Instant Macho Gun Revolution as impractical lies meant to keep us simply dreaming instead of becoming our dreams AND THUS seek to create revolution in our own lives every single day by envisioning and creating alternatives to the bullshit christian capitalist way of doing things.
BECAUSE we want and need to encourage and be encouraged in the face of all our own insecurities, in the face of beergutboyrock that tells us we can't play our instruments, in the face of "authorities" who say our bands/zines/etc, are the worst in the U.S. and
BECAUSE we don't wanna assimilate to someone else's (boy) standards of what is or isn't.
BECAUSE we are unwilling to falter under claims that we are reactionary "reverse sexists" AND NOT THE TRUEPUNKROCK-SOULCRUSADERS THAT WE KNOW we really are.
BECAUSE we know that life is much more than physical survival and are patently aware that the punk rock "you can do anything" idea is crucial to the coming angry grrrl rock revolution that seeks to save the psychic and cultural lives of girls and women everywhere, according to their own terms, not ours.
BECAUSE we are interested in creating non-hierarchical ways of being AND making music, friends, and scenes based on communication + understanding, instead of competition + good/bad categorizations.
BECAUSE doing/reading/seeing/hearing cool things that validate and challenge us can help us gain the strength and sense of community that we need in order to figure out how bullshit like racism, able-bodyism, ageism, speciesism, classism, thinism, sexism, anti-semitism and heterosexism figures in our own lives.
BECAUSE we see fostering and supporting girl scenes and girl artists of all kinds as integral to this process.
BECAUSE we hate capitalism in all its forms and see our main goal as sharing information and staying alive, instead of making profits or being cool according to traditional standards.
BECAUSE we are angry at a society that tells us Girl = Dumb, Girl = Bad, Girl = Weak.
BECAUSE we are unwilling to let our real and valid anger be diffused and/or turned against us via the internalization of sexism as witnessed in girl/girl jealousism and self-defeating girltype behaviors.
BECAUSE I believe with my wholeheartmindbody that girls constitute a revolutionary soul force that can, and will, change the world for real.
Bikini Kill (1991)

Cibo Matto - 'Sci-Fi Wasabi'/'Earth Threat' (Live)

2006-10-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

Shonen Knife - 'Redd Kross'

2006-10-07T19:32:00.000-07:00

Bikini Kill - 'Suck My Left One' (Live 1992)

2006-10-04T00:13:00.000-07:00

Essay Two Criteria

2006-10-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

Extended musical analysis essay
Due Date: Friday, 3 Nov 06 16:00
2500 words
Weight: 50%

Task Description: examine a post-1977 band, performer, CD, film or music DVD, located within one or more of the following contexts: industry, culture/society, politics, history, musicology/genre, technology, economy, nation, ethnicity, postmodernity.

What the essay is:

Yes, it’s just a bigger version of the first essay. You have the option to perhaps expand on issues that you explored in your first essay, applying similar analysis to an entire CD, discography, career etc. Alternatively, you can start all over again with new contexts, performers, genres etc.

Common mistakes in essay one:

a) Writing off the top of one's head. Remember that research is crucial: your friends may be impressed that you have an encyclopedic knowledge of techno/death metal/indie rock/Backstreet Boys etc., but a university essay requires intelligent research, which should be appear in the essay in the form of correctly referenced quotations or paraphrasing.

b) Not adequately establishing one's context. Several students simply jumped into musical analysis and began throwing around terms like 'postmodernism' or 'music industry production standards' without explaining what the terms meant (that's where the research comes in). Think in terms of structure: outline your context/s; place your subject (CD, band etc) within that context; then bring the two together with examples of musical/textual analysis.

What the essay isn’t:

a) A lazy album review. Remember that this course doesn’t really care whether or not you like or dislike your chosen performer or recording. The fact that you may consider Wolfmother’s CD to be ‘heaps awesome’ is irrelevant; Wolfmother only becomes an appropriate choice once you locate a context relevant to the course with which to analyse their work.

However:

Your subjective response to your chosen CD/band/DVD etc (eg., the ‘heaps awesomeness’ of Andrew Stockdale’s, erm, vocal technique) can provide a route to relevant contexts. For example, several critics have noted that Stockdale’s vocals are reminiscent of early 1970s heavy metal and progressive rock acts; perhaps this is what you mean by ‘heaps awesomeness’, and in this way your initial subjective evaluation could thus provide the beginnings of a research program via which you might ask things such as:

"Has the band played into this/attempted to capitalise on this postmodern connection? Do their guitar riffs, instrumentation, production, videos, artwork etc. also hint at early 1970s influences? If so, why might they be drawing on these associations? What label are they on? Is it independent or a major? What type of audience are they seeking/have they attracted? What might it mean that this audience is possibly too young to know or care about early 1970s rock? Have other similar bands helped make their success possible? Are they part of a movement? Are they a reaction against a previous musical trend?"

The most crucial part of the process comes next: researching the relevant contexts. All of those points I make above are merely assumptions/hunches on my part. They wouldn’t make it into my essay unless I was able to provide a contextual framework via a review of relevant literature (don't forget that I have provided a list of recommended readings in a previous post, which are divided into categories: industry, technology, video, charts, copyright, politics, textual analysis, gender, postmodernism, Australia, as well as several genres; note also that those categories are fluid and can, and most probably will, bleed into each other)

b) It is also not a compilation of stuff you copied and pasted from Wikipedia. Sigh.

For further help, please see the previous posts ‘Essay hints, tips and cheat codes’ and ‘Another essay tip’.

Please indicate on the cover sheet whether or not you require detailed comments, as some students never bother to pick up their essays. If you just want a mark, please let me know.

All written assessment items should be presented with a cover sheet. Details to be shown on the cover sheet include name, student number, course title, course code, assignment topic, date and time submitted. Cover sheets can be downloaded from

here

Ensure that course code and tutor’s name (Cory Messenger) are clearly marked.

The general essays submission box is outside the School of Music Office, Room 429, Level 4, Zelman Cowen Building (not in the Michie Building).

Good luck, and don't be afraid to impress me.

World music

2006-09-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

World Music Institute

Strongbad explains death metal

2006-09-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

Homestarrunner

History of electronic instruments

2006-09-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

This looks like quite a comprehensive website about

electronic instruments

Where are they now?

2006-09-10T22:51:00.000-07:00

Odin

Block 2 Exam

2006-09-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

A reminder that next week's (week 9) lecture/workshop will include the Block 2 exam.
Questions will centre on the readings from weeks 6 to 9, as well as general knowledge and listening skills. And maybe a question on Odin, I'm not sure yet ("Odin! Odin! Odin!").

Metal

2006-09-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

Judas Priest - 'Breaking the Law'

Iron Maiden - 'Run to the Hills'

Van Halen - 'Hot For Teacher'

Quiet Riot - 'Cum On Feel The Noize'

Twisted Sister - 'We're Not Gonna Take It'

Slayer - 'The Anti-Christ'(Live)

Metallica - 'One'

Guns 'N' Roses - 'Paradise City'

Kiss - 'God Gave Rock and Roll To You'

Sepultura - 'Arise'

Week 7 Lecture notes: Hip Hop

2006-09-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

Hip hop as a musical form

Simon Frith: too much emphasis on lyrics can get in way of understanding musical form
Funk: credited as formal basis of hip hop, but also ‘pre-encoded’ with political/social significance.
Mathew P. Brown: black empowerment embedded in funk

From funk to hip hop

Black music = communal artistic expression; thus funk ‘critically ghettoized’ as mere dance music, not art
African-American culture original postmodern art: repetition + rupture, techniques inherent in African formal techniques; surface in gospel, blues, jazz, funk…hip hop
Thus sense of community encoded into funk and its derivatives; overrides misogynistic/‘black-on-black violence’ rhetoric of rap lyrics
Common lyrical themes: urban decay/black under-class (Sly & the Family Stone/ Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five)

Non-NY hip hop

(Murray Forman, ‘"Represent": race, space and place in rap music’)
Late 1980s regional rap - the South: 2 Live Crew (Miami), The Geto Boys (Houston); Northwest: Sir Mix-A-Lot (Seattle); California: Digital Underground, Tupac (San Francisco); Ice T, N.W.A. (LA)
Leads to East Coast/West Coast rivalry

Rap labels

Entrepreneurship: self-management; own record labels; talent scouting
Greater creative control/increased returns
Labels: Def Jam, Tommy Boy, Jive, Skyywalker (2 Live Crew), Ruthless (Easy E), Rhyme Syndicate (Ice T), Death Row
Majors launch rap labels

The 'posse' business model

Death Row Records, began in 1992 by Suge Knight & Dr Dre
Records: Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Tupac Shakur
Organizational structure based localized ‘posses’
1996-1997: Suge arrested; Tupac killed; FBI investigation; Dre & Snoop leave
Chuck D: posse formations response to fragmenting effects of capitalism
Laurie Gunst: influence of Jamaican crime posses/musical traditions

Posses and musical style

Posse influential element in emergence of regional sounds
G-funk (LA) : Dr Dre’s The Chronic (1992), Boo Yaa Tribe, Above the Law, Compton’s Most Wanted etc.; ‘laid-back’ influence of George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Gap Band
Brian Cross: representative of late arrival of hip to West Coast; more smooth funk influence
Verses cacophonous East Coast jams (Bomb Squad/Public Enemy); no cars--'Walkman music', less bass
Miami: ‘booty bass’ from car culture

'I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop a you dont stop...'

2006-09-02T21:01:00.000-07:00

Sugar Hill Gang - ‘Rapper’s Delight’

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five – ‘The Message’

Run DMC – ‘It’s Tricky’

Beastie Boys commercial for License to Ill

Stetsasonic – ‘Talkin’ All That Jazz’

De La Soul – ‘Me Myself and I’

Queen Latifah - ‘Fly Girl’

Public Enemy – ‘911 is a Joke’

Ice-T – ‘I'm your Pusher’

NWA – ‘Straight Outta Compton’ (Warning: many, many swears)

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien – ‘Mistadobalina’

A Tribe Called Quest - ‘Bonita Applebum’

Beck – ‘Where It’s At’ (Live)

Wu Tang Clan – ‘C.R.E.A.M.’

MTV

2006-08-31T18:45:00.000-07:00

Interesting New York Times article on the current state of

music video

To read it, you may have to register (which I recommend anyway, as it's where they keep a lot of actual news, as opposed to whatever it is that The Courier Mail thinks they're doing).

Technical error

2006-08-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

I've just realised that I had this blog set up so that only those with their own Blogger accounts could post comments.

I've corrected that oversight, so those of who have have been simply itching to interact, lo' these many weeks, may now do so.

(But please keep the swears to a bare minimum)

Fugazi

2006-08-27T02:11:00.000-07:00

Sharing the hate

2006-08-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

More love

2006-08-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

Pavement - 'Major Leagues'

Sharing the love

2006-08-24T02:08:00.000-07:00

Sebadoh - 'Skull'

Essay submission

2006-08-23T00:40:00.000-07:00

Cover sheets can be downloaded from

here

The general essays submission box is
outside the School of Music Office, Room 429, Level 4, Zelman Cowen Building.

Another essay tip

2006-08-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

If you're having trouble getting started on a song, here's another way to approach it: think of a potential track as merely being representative of a certain aspect or aspects of post-1977 popular music. It doesn't have to stand as the ultimate explanation of, say, the relationship between popular music and technology; it only has to display a certain amount of representative traits, of which you have been clever enough to indentify and analyse in the appropriate context.

For example, Alper posits 'Living on a Prayer' as being representative of several issues circulating within 1980s commercial music (heavy metal, gender etc), and outlines them accordingly. Katz presents 'Praise You' as an exemplar of issues of technology, copyright and race.

Neither reading offers a definitive theory explaining everything we need to know about popular music; each instead unearths and proposes interesting connections between music and context, which would be a good way to approach this first essay.

Essay hints, tips and cheat codes

2006-08-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

* Collect cohesive ideas into readable paragraphs

* Introduction, conclusion (write both last): clearly state your intentions/argument/methodology etc., in the introduction.
Sum up the essay's findings in the conclusion. It's only 1000 words, so keep them brief.

* Please study the difference between commas (,), colons (:), and semi-colons (;).

Example:

Several problems often come to light during the marking of essays, a few of which are as follows: firstly, the use of semi-colons where commas would be more appropriate; secondly, the use of semi-colons where colons would be more appropriate; and, thirdly, a lack of commas in many longer sentences.

* Write 1980s, 1990s—not 80s, 90s, or eighties, nineties

* Songs: ‘Sabotage’, ‘Root Down’
Albums: Ill Communication
Band: Beastie Boys

* Italics/underline for book, film, album & journal titles. Consult a UQ or MLA style guide.

* Double or 1.5 space; in-text references (not footnotes); indented quotes are single spaced, but note that they don’t require italics or quote marks or a smaller font

* Journalism students: this is not a journalism class. Please present your work in a format appropriate for an analytical essay.

* Referencing Websites

Note: internet research, other than online databases in the UQ system or the rare refereed online journal, is only appropriate for the odd fact. Wikipedia-style sites are not acceptable, as there is no onus on them to verify their information. Also, unless you are specifically making a point about fan cultures and their relationship to your chosen music (not that that is the focus of this course), there should be no need to research amateur sites and blogs.

Otherwise:

If you can locate an author name and year, use them in the in-text reference:

According to the All Music Guide, The Brian Jonestown Massacre's debut LP Methodrone was 'shoegazer-influenced' (Ankeny 2006).

If not, use a shortened version of the site's name: (allmusic.com)

Depending on the amount of citation information you can find, the listing
in the bibliography would look like one of these:

Ankeny, Jason 2006, 'The Brian Jonestown Massacre' , Allmusic, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll, Accessed 22 May.

or

'The Brian Jonestown Massacre' 2006, Allmusic, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll, Accessed 14 August.

or

Allmusic 2006, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll, Accessed 14 August.

(Cheat code: on your keyboard, enter the following letters: w,r,i,t,e,a,g,o,o,d,e,s,s,a,y,f,o,r,c,o,r,y)

Week 5 Readings

2006-08-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

Please note that the second reading on music video (Carol Vernallis, ‘Connections among music, image, and lyrics’) is not where it should be in the course reader. It was accidentally placed after the two readings on punk rock.

Essay One Criteria

2006-08-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

This essay is first and foremost a research project. Most of the research will involve constructing your relevant context or contexts; the other key aspect of research is, of course, choosing and analyzing your musical text (song, or song and video). I would suggest that it might be simpler to choose one of the contexts covered in weeks two to five: postmodernism, gender, technology, industry or video. Several of the readings thus far have suggested templates suitable for your own research and analysis: Alper on postmodernism, Walser on gender, Katz on technology, and Vernallis on video. Also, please consult the list of further reading below for additional research avenues.

Obviously there are two basic methodologies available: one, choose a song/video, analyze it carefully via repeated listening, and see if relevant contexts emerge. This is the type of work we have been attempting in the workshops, on Christina Aguilera, Pavement, Kylie, Sonic Youth, Ronan Keating, Smashing Pumpkins and Guided By Voices. Most likely, all of the above contexts may appear relevant, but as this is only a 1000 word essay, choose the one around which you feel you can construct the most convincing argument

The second methodology—and the one, I would argue, that could lead to a more substantial essay—would be to thoroughly research one of the contexts, and then analyze a song accordingly. This may involve listening to several songs until you find one that adequately reveals its connections to the chosen context.

For those who intend to incorporate the analysis of the video associated with your track, I must stress again the importance of remembering that it is best to think of the video as a supporting text for your song (unless you think you have located a track that you believe was custom-designed to suit visual representation, as many argued about 1980s music). So, in short, you must effectively link the video back to the song and the context you have chosen—a textual film studies analysis of a video is not enough.

Things to remember: you are not writing a street press review or any other type of magazine-style article. This is a properly researched and referenced analytical essay. Lazy internet research is not acceptable, other than for unearthing some necessary facts (names, dates etc.) from official record company or performer websites. Also, you may feel you already know a lot of information about your song and its writer/performer etc, but please remember that you don’t get marks in essays for having a good memory (that’s what exams are for); a good essay displays intelligent research as well as the ability to synthesize that research into a cohesive and well-structured argument.

Lecture / Workshop Schedule

2006-08-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

Block 1: Music Industry, Technology and Analysis

Week 1 Introduction/Workshop: General discussion

Week 2 Postmodernism and Music Analysis/Workshop: Analysing music and video

Week 3 Technology/Workshop: Discussion of essay one

Week 4 Industry/Workshop: Discussion of lecture and set readings

Week 5 MTV and Music Video/Workshop: Block 1 exam (6%)

Essay one due Friday 25 August (1000 words; 30%)

Block 2: Music Styles and Genres

Week 6 Punk/Workshop: Discussion of lecture and set readings

Week 7 Hip Hop/Workshop: Discussion of lecture and set readings

Week 8 Metal/Workshop: Discussion of lecture and set readings

Week 9 Dance and Electronica: Workshop: Block 2 exam (7%)

Mid semester break, 25-19 September

Block 3: Outside the Mainstream

Week 10 World music/Workshop: Discussion of essay two

Week 11 Feminism and rock/Workshop: Discussion of lecture and set readings

Week 12 Indie Rock/Workshop: Discussion of lecture and set readings

Week 13 Australian Independent Labels and Globalisation/Workshop: Block 3 exam (7%)

Essay two due Friday, November 3 (2500 words; 50%)

Weekly Readings

2006-08-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

Please note: this list includes sections from
Rock Music Styles: A History as well as articles from the course reader.

Week 1, 24 July: Introduction

Hesmondhalgh, David and Negus, Keith. “Popular music studies: meaning, power and value.” Popular Music Studies. Hesmondhalgh, David, and Negus, Keith, eds. London: Arnold, 2002. 1-10.

Billboard. ”Billboard musical milestones.” November 27, 2004. 16-17.

Week 2, 31 July: Postmodernism and Music Analysis

Alper, Garth. “Making sense out of postmodern music?” Popular Music and Society. 24.4 (2000): 1-14.

Walser, Robert. “Forging masculinities: heavy metal sounds and images of gender.” Sound and Vision: The Music Video Reader. Frith, Simon, and Goodwin, Andrew, eds. London: Routledge, 1993. 153-179.

Week 3, 7 August: Technology

Coleman, Mark, “Sudden death of the record.” Playback: From the Victrola to MP3, 100 Years of Music, Machines, and Money. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2003. 155-176.

Katz, Mark. “Music in 1s and 0s: the art and politics of digital sampling.” Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. 137-157.

Week 4, 14 August: Industry

McCourt, Tom, and Rothenbuhler, Eric, “SoundScan and the consolidation of control in the popular music industry.” Media, Culture & Society. 19.2 (1997). 201-218.

Burkart, Patrick. “Loose integration in the popular music industry.” Popular Music and Society. 28.4 (2005). 489-500.

Week 5, 21 August: Music Video

Charlton, “Chapter 21: MTV and superstars of the eighties.” 331-339.

Negus, Keith. “The production of video.” Producing Pop: Culture and Conflict in the Popular Music Industry. London: Edward Arnold, 1992. 93-100.

Vernallis, Carol. “Connections among music, image, and lyrics.” Experiencing Music Video: Aesthetics and Cultural Context. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.175-198.

Week 6, 28 August: Punk

Charlton. “Chapter 17: Punk rock and new wave.” 267-283

Thompson, Stacy. “Market failure: punk economics, early and late.” College Literature. 28.2 (2001). 28-64.

Moore, Ryan. “Postmodernism and punk subculture: cultures of authenticity and deconstruction.” The Communication Review. 7 (2004). 305–327.

Week 7, 4 September: Hip Hop

Charlton. “Chapter 20: Hip hop and rap”. 317-329

Lipsitz, George. “Diasporic noise: history, hip-hop, and the post-colonial politics of sound.” Popular Culture: Production and Consumption. Harrington, C. Lee, and Bielby, Denise D., eds. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2001.180-199.

Katz, Mark. “The turntable as weapon: understanding the DJ battle.” Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. 114-136.

Week 8, 11 September: Metal

Charlton. “American heavy metal.” 244-253.

Walser, Robert. “Mysticism and postmodernism in heavy metal.” Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1993. 151-171.

Harris, Keith. “‘Roots’?: the relationship between the global and the local within the extreme metal scene.” Popular Music. 19.1 (2000). 13-30.

Week 9, 18 September: Dance and Electronica

Charlton, “Chapter 24: Major trends of the eighties and nineties.” 345-365.

Hesmondalgh, David. “International times: fusions, exoticism, and anti-racism in electronic dance music.” Western Music and Its Others: Difference, Representation, and Appropriation in Music. Born, Georgina, and Hesmondalgh, David, eds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. 280-304.

Monroe, Alexei. “Thinking about mutation: genres in 1990s electronica.” Living Through Pop. Ed, Blake, Andrew. London: Routledge, 1999.146-158.

Week 10, 2 October: World music

Guilbault, Jocelyne. “World music.” The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock. Frith, Simon, and Straw, Will, and Street, John, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 176-192.

Frith, Simon. “The discourse of world music.” Western Music and Its Others: Difference, Representation, and Appropriation in Music. Born, Georgina, and Hesmondalgh, David, eds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. 305-322.

Week 11, 9 October: Feminism and rock

Daugherty, Rebecca. “The spirit of '77: punk and the girl revolution.” Women & Music Annual (2002). 27-35.

Schilt, Kristen. “‘A little too ironic’: the appropriation and packaging of riot girl politics by mainstream female musicians.” Popular Music and Society. 26.1 (2003). 5-16.

Week 12, 16 October: Indie Rock

Frank, Tom. “Alternative to what?” Popular Culture: Production and Consumption. Harrington, C. Lee, and Bielby, Denise D., eds. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2001. 94-105.

Hibbett, Ryan. “What is indie rock?” Popular Music and Society. 28.1 (2005). 55-76.

Week 13, 23 October: Australian Independent Labels and Globalisation

Young, Greg. “Communication Australian pop music.” Media International Australia. 79 (1996).103-114.

Letts, Richard. “Appendix 1: Australia” The Effects of Globalisation on Music in Five Contrasting Countries: Australia, Germany, Nigeria, the Philippines and Uruguay. Music Council of Australia Report of a research project for the ManyMusics program of the International Music Council, 2003. 21-33.

Course profile update

2006-07-31T17:42:00.000-07:00

For those of you still getting lost in the maze of UQ web sites, see if you have more success with this link:

MUSC2700 Course Profile

Or paste this into your address bar:

https://www.courses.uq.edu.au/student_section_loader.php?section=1&profileId=412

Or click 'profile' at this page:

MUSC2700 Beyond Rock

You may need to be already signed in online as a UQ student (ie, logged into mySI-net).

For those who doubted Xtina's professional credibility...

2006-07-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

It must be hard to work the faders with those press-on nails.

Course outline

2006-07-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

The address for the course profile is https://www.courses.uq.edu.au/

If you're still having trouble finding it, email me (c.messenger@uq.edu.au) and I'll send you the Word version.

Timetable and Course Materials

2006-06-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

Lecture

Time: Monday 12-1pm
Location: Room 213 Richards Building (Building 5)

Workshop

Time: Monday 1-2pm
Location: Room 213 Richards Building (Building 5)

Set Text

Charlton, Katherine, Rock Music Styles: A History (4th ed), McGraw-Hill, New York.

Course Reader - available from the Uni Copy Centre, UQ Student Union Complex, St Lucia Campus.

MUSC2700 Beyond Rock

Third exam, second essay, and final marks.

Missing essays Pt.2

Essay pick up

Death metal, doom metal...soccer metal.

Missing 1st essays

Final lecture notes, week 13

Consultation

Post-punk independent labels

Best gig rider, ever

Some indie/alternative etc.

Steve Albini

Riot Grrrl Manifesto

Cibo Matto - 'Sci-Fi Wasabi'/'Earth Threat' (Live)

Shonen Knife - 'Redd Kross'

Bikini Kill - 'Suck My Left One' (Live 1992)

Essay Two Criteria

World music

Strongbad explains death metal

History of electronic instruments

Where are they now?

Block 2 Exam

Metal

Week 7 Lecture notes: Hip Hop

'I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop a you dont stop...'

MTV

Technical error

Fugazi

Sharing the hate

More love

Sharing the love

Top 100 videos

Essay submission

Another essay tip

Essay hints, tips and cheat codes

Week 5 Readings

Essay One Criteria

Lecture / Workshop Schedule

Weekly Readings

Recommended reading/further research

Course profile update

For those who doubted Xtina's professional credibility...

Course outline

Timetable and Course Materials