Paul Simon Graceland

Honestly, after listening to two days of hair metal, pretty much anything was an improvement to my ears. It's not that I didn't like hair metal, because I can't deny that after about a minute I was singing along to "Jump", but its something I feel is better in small doses. But I REALLY liked Paul Simon Graceland. I felt that he really mixed the upcoming hip hop/ poppy era with the old south roots for his music. Also, although it was a little strange to me his changes of tempo and rhyming scheme, I think it made me pay attention and perk up when he would somehow fit 20 million words into one line. I think my favorite song of the album, although I like many, was "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes". I really like how the song was brought in by a spiritual sounding acapella beat from black men. I also really like Paul's voice, because it is very smooth somehow although it is also upbeat. I like how he incorporates the beginning singers back in to form very nice harmonies. My favorite part is how the song then takes a twist and brings the beat a little jazzier, but continues to have the same smooth and silky voice. I really like his incorporation back to the older black men music, because I really enjoyed that era and want to see more of it in newer music.

Justin Timberlake

Although he has been pretty much off the music radar for the past few years, recently Justin Timberlake came out with a new album. I've only heard one song from it, called "Suit and Tie", and honestly that is all I want to hear. I know many people who like Justin Timberlake, but I have never cared for him. I think it might be because of his voice and his obnoxiously poppy lyrics. Everyone always gives Justin Bieber tons of crap for having a high voice, but at least he sings well and uses it to his advantage, but Justin Timberlake has an even higher voice but it is more raspy and he never seems to hit any of the notes that he sings. Also, to me all of his songs seem to blend into a mesh of repetitive verses and nonsense about how cool he is.  I think he is a good actor, and funny on snl, but none of his hollow pumpy songs have ever appealed to me, and I don't think one will ever.

Slick Rick La Di Da Di

Although I saw a fair share of crazy weird music videos, the one that I really liked was the Slick Rick beatboxing La Di Da Di. I don't know why, but beat boxing has always fascinated me because it amazes me the power people have with just their voice. I liked it because it was different not being able to use autotune or computer generated sounds, and just to be able to make tons of different sounds and keep a very upbeat tune the whole time. Another thing that I really liked about what we listened to in general was the record scratching. I think the skills we can do with computers is cool, but something about the art of twisting and turning the records is really cool! I would really like to see a concert or something live or even learn how to do that, because I think it is really interesting and creates a super good and different sound from just plain records.

Spanish Music

Over spring break I went to Spain, and along with the fabulosity delicious food, antique buildings and different cultures, I saw the similarities and differences of the music. Although I knew it was silly, a little bit of me was expecting to see some chacha dancers and old Spanish folk music, but that is not what I heard at all. Of course I did not get the full the experience because I was living and getting the experience of a fellow teenager and not seeing the true cultural music, but it was still very interesting.  Of course they had their own music from popular singers of Spain, but what I thought was really funny is how much American music the youth listened to. On weekends when we went out to the discos and at teen places, over half if not more of the songs that I heard were songs popular in the US maybe 1 or 2 years ago. It was very interesting because for example one of the students had a sister that was singing a song in english but she didnt even speak it. It just shows the power of music

My Travel Music

So I realized today I may or may not have internet access while in Spain, so I'm going to have to wait until after Spring Break to blog about what I heard there. So this time I'm going to blog about what I plan to listen to on the journey. One of my friends has a habit where she always has to sleep with music playing, so she wears headphones every night. I don't know if it helps the pattern of sleeping, but I have never been able to do that. Music is one of the things that I find very hard to have in the back of my mind while other things are going on. I can even mindlessly watch tv when I do my homework, but something about the changing beats and lyrics of music; I can't really multitask with it unless I block it out completely. For this reason, I will probably not listen to too much music on the plane. However the music that I do listen to needs to have a certain vibe and feel. As I am sitting on a plane and not allowed to move, I could not handle an upbeat album. My travel music is similar to my homework music (if I can even do that) which is calm, soft, and even a little on the dull side. This usually brings me to country. By country I don't really mean the honkey tonk sort of deep Texas country, just a little modernized song with a slow melody and relaxing voices. Here are some of the songs I might include for travel.

Elvis Costello

In class when we looked at the Elvis Costello album cover, I was getting ready to listen to a peppy little nerdy singer with a soft, light voice. The very first song of the album, although very short, blew my expectations. It never ceases to amaze me how people's voices can be so different than expected. I really like the way he sang, and to me it almost seemed like he has a little but of a Texas drawl. He seems to kind of scoop is voice to deeper and more wholesome that gives it a bit more of an punky rock feel. I also like how his songs kind of follow stories and have kind of meanings, so it draws me into wanting to listen more closely to the letters. I also really like how he kind of tricks the listeners by pairing a more calm, lovey sounding beat and instruments with harsher lyrics so you really have to listen in to see what he is really meaning. Other than his voice and more poppy and upbeat songs, my favorite thing is probably how clever his lyrics. He hides what he means so you have to get his references to fully understand the music, and you can see he takes pride in his music. A song that stood out to me was mystery dance because it really sounded like Elvis Presley, and so I wonder if he was his inspiration for naming himself Elvis Costello.

The Police

Today in class we listened to The Police, and I definitely think they are my favorite "punk" band we have listened to. Generally, I don't even really like punk bands, because I feel that the kind of screemo, yelling sounds I think of when I think of punk songs. However although they are classified also in the broad division, I think their music was better, and probably one of my favorite bands we have listened to. The thing that really makes me like them is that although they have the high paced beat and jumpy vibe most punk rock songs have, I didn't feel that they compromised the quality of the music to get it. Sting managed to be able to sing (sometimes quite fast) but still keep it musical and sounding good. I really liked his manipulation of his voice, and along with the amazing talents of the other band members, I thought they were able to put together a very diverse but good group of songs and make a great album! I really liked them!!

Christina Agulara

Although she has had her fair share of psycho, drama queen moments, I can't deny that Christina Agulara has a phenomenal voice and a surprising black woman beat. I had never really heard of her before I watched the movie Burlesque, but when I did I was shocked by how powerful her voice was for such a small girl. Of course you can expect some autotune in Hollywood movies, but you can't fake the true soul she has in her voice. I was most impressed by how high and strong she could creshendo her voice to get. When I heard her other songs, I wasn't let down. Although I wasn't a huge fan of some of her poppy beat and lyrics, the amazing voice always kept me listening. So do I think she is the best artist of this generation? No. But I do think her voice is one that will be remembered.