Podcast #2

Peer Comment #3

Garrett,

I had no idea that Trent Reznor literally just picks a new group of musicians to play each album with him - that there is no real Nine Inch Nails other than Trent! This is a super interesting fact. They are most definitely one of the defining and shaping bands of the industrial rock genre, but also huge influences in the 1990s. I like that you said that NIN helped to bring electronic music to metal listeners. Not only is that true, it is an amazing feat to accomplish! This was a really well-written blog and very informative. Good job!

Steven Albini

            Steven Albini is a musician, audio engineer, and music innovator – but should also be known as an extremely successful producer. He was known to insist on “only receiving engineer or ‘recorded by’ credit,” when working with bands. This already makes him a unique individual in the music industry – where your name and your profession makes or breaks you. He is known for heavily miked sound, with abrasive guitars, and loud drums. Basically, he is known for being a very raw producer.

            Growing up in Montana, Albini felt bored – apparently this resulted in inspiration for his own music. He began to play bass and was exposed to punk rock, then forming a band for a short time.  He enjoyed listening to The Ramones, The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, and many others. When moving to college in Illinois, he began to record bands.

            Albini then formed his band Big Black in 1982. They played aggressive punk rock, however they used a drum machine rather than a drum kit – which looks to be a beginning of industrial rock. Albini also had extremely open lyrics with the horrors of society being dominant.  They had a very strong impact on the development of independent/underground rock, breaking up in 1987. Albini’s band Shellac, formed in 1992, still is a band today.

            In 1987, Albini broke through as a producer (even though he has never received royalties for anything he records or mixes) with the Pixies’ album Surfer Rosa. This album had the Albini-touch with abrasive guitars and extremely loud drums and bass. This album is known for being a bridge between post-punk and 90s alternative rock. Albini’s next huge project was Nirvana’s famous In Utero. This album used “30 microphones for Dave Grohl’s kit and employed a battered, partially broken Fender Quad tube amp for distortion.” In Utero hit number one, yet made Nirvana credible in the independent market again following Nevermind.

            Other bands that Albini worked with are huge influences on my own musical taste. These include Bush, Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, PJ Harvey, The Stooges, Veruca Salt, Joanna Newsom, Jawbreaker, etc. As a listener and student in the music production field, Steve Albini is someone I admire and hope I end up like. Not only is he extremely humble, he is a master of some really awesome music (and that even sounds like an understatement). He helped shape the indie and grunge scene and still has an effect on it today.

Peer Comment #2

Marvin,

You could tell that you were passionate about Marvin Gaye’s work in the 60s and 70s. You clearly showed the relationship between Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Marvin Gaye to begin the creation of What’s Going On which no one else I saw mention in their blog. I would suggest maybe explaining a little more about Marvin himself rather than focusing on all of the people who ended up working on What’s Going On. Overall however, I believe you did a great job explaining Marvin Gaye’s start in Motown up to the release of What’s Going On. Your blog was extremely well-written and full of valuable information for someone who is not familiar with music history or Marvin Gaye. Excellent job!

Björk - Electronic Artist and Innovator

             I decided to focus on Björk for someone who helped electronic innovation. As a wild musician known now to create crazy-sounding music, she helped to bring electronic and dance music back in the 90s in a whole new way. This can be seen on her album Post that was released in 1995. It is said that it was one of the first albums to use trip hop. It included deep industrial beats as well. But what Björk did was include classical instrumentation along with it, making it very unique.

             After Post though, she decided to solely go along the route of experimentation and bizarre song structures. This helps open the eyes and ears of growing musicians to know that they don’t have to fit inside a specific genre. She projects her electronic love in twisted ways that make it so beautiful. Even the glorified front man of Radiohead, Thom Yorke has said that one of Björk’s songs (Unravel) is his favorite song of all time. That is one of the biggest compliments you could receive, at least in my opinion. Her latest song “Crystalline” is a fantastic example of pushing the envelope when it comes to mixing electronic music with whatever else she experimentally puts into her songs. A quote from Wikipedia says, The song was composed using complex breakbeats along with only one of several specialized instruments custom built for the project, the "gameleste", a celesta modified with elements of gamelan.” This means she’s not just settling for instruments already out there. She enjoys creating new ground in the music land. She’s not just an inspiration to those who enjoy electronic music only, but anyone with an open mind in art.

            I personally enjoy Björk. Of course I won’t sit down and listen to her albums every day (you almost need to be in a certain mindset or mood), but I love as a listener and future producer that she isn’t afraid to go outside absolutely any boundary when it comes to music. She tries far more new things within her music than most successful musicians. I believe she will continue to influence many people’s process of writing and let them know it’s okay to be different. Her use of electronic instruments is outstandingly interesting and downright good.

Kraftwerk - Electronic Music

The music of Kraftwerk is simply electronic. They are considered to be one of the first full-on electronic bands and helped to shape a lot of other electronic artists with their pioneering into musical technology. Their image is contradicting in that they dressed in suits and had slicked hair. This was in a way, a comedic association with let’s say The Beatles or other early pop groups that all dressed the same. However when Kraftwerk did so, it almost made them seem as if they were a “seriously fun” band. Their music was usually conceptual and focused on things in Germany’s society.

            They released several albums between the years 1974 and 1981. Their first record Autobahn was their first album to not just be experimental rock with classic instruments. As they had always been trying to create or find new technology to make new types of sounds and instruments, they implemented synthesizers, a vocoder, and their electronic drums on this album. This was the beginning of their line of conceptual albums as well. They did financially well from Autobahn and from then on, did the writing, producing, and recording for their albums (except for some help from others on later ones). The next album was Radio-Activity – another conceptual album. It did not do as well as Autobahn did in the UK and America, but it was successful in Europe. Their next album was Trans-Europe Express, again being a conceptual album that focused on the celebration of Europe and how reality and image differ greatly from one another. This album did much better than their previous one. Their next album, The Man-Machine, did well in Europe. In 1981, Computer World was released 3 years after The Man-Machine. The song “Computer Love” was released as a single, but came with “The Model” from The Man-Machine as the A-side. This song ended up being the band’s best selling record in the UK.

            Kraftwerk’s music certainly gives the honor of them being the biggest influence on electronic music. There really wasn’t much of that around until they started doing it. David Bowie wanted to incorporate electronic music into his own after hearing them. I also believe “I Feel Love” by Diana Summer wouldn’t have been created if it hadn’t been for Kraftwerk. They were the guys that first started building their own electronic instruments before others did. They were considered to be way ahead of their time, and that’s why I believe they are the ultimate influence on electronic music. Another great example of Kraftwerk still being around, you can find in Coldplay’s song “Talk.” The entire “Computer Love” riff was “stolen/borrowed/whatever” for “Talk” and I guarantee not many people know that.

            I believe Kraftwerk is incredible for the time period that they were in. It’s a shame that most kids who are into the growing popularity of electronic and dance music, don’t even know who they are. As both a listener and amateur producer, this band is crucial to listen to and understand where the roots of dance came from.

What's Going On

Marvin Gaye started out as just another Motown artist – not standing out or unique in any way, just going with the flow of that genre at the time. He knew he wanted something more than just plain old Motown, but instead a refreshed, newer version of it.  What’s Going On would be just that, but definitely after many obstacles.

With racially rooted riots, protests, and sheer violence in the United States, and the Vietnam War also taking place, America needed a powerful uniting anthem. Not only did the actual song “What’s Going On” become one but so did the same-titled album contains many more songs that tell the story of “a black soldier returning home from a white’s man war,” says Charlie Moss in his article. It was the first song to really say, in modern terms, “come on everyone, why can’t we just get along?”

After recorded in 1970, Marvin had trouble getting What’s Going On off the ground. Berry Gordy thought it was too much for the public – especially put into a Motown single. In response, Marvin refused to continue recording with Motown until the song would be released. According to Charlie Moss, Gordy gave in and released the song in 1971.

This album is set apart but from other soul recordings of its time in several ways. To go without mention, the lyrics were almost him preaching about the problems of the world and how we should all work together, rather than singing about love and marriage. The other characteristics that made it unique were that it wasn’t solid studio perfection. The song’s introduction (the alto-sax warm up) was a complete accident. He also accidentally doubled his vocals – which even though it was an accident, he continued to use it to brand himself in that type of music. He also decided not to use the typical Motown back up singers, and a choir instead.

As a listener, I think he is extremely talented and I love his production and music. However, his lyrics don’t raise the feelings in me that they probably should. I blame that due to our world becoming quite worse. As a producer I love it because I like when music is made without every single flaw being fixed. Art is supposed to be messy and unconfined. I absolutely adore that he kept the sax warm up in as well as his accidental vocal double. The cracks in the ceiling are what end up making the ceiling beautiful and special.

The Velvet Underground & Nico

Combining music, film, and artwork, The Velvet Underground & Nico are not only one of the most interesting bands of their time, but even now as well. They have a unique type of music that never leaves you bored. It could be considered a mix of psychedelic music and just good old rock. Part of “The Factory” movement, produced, promoted, and supported by Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground & Nico not only created music, but were used by Andy as some sort of artistic experiment. It was like the people in Andy’s life were his dolls and he wanted to make them just the way he wanted them to be. Within The Velvet Underground & Psychiatrists article, Andy is quoted saying, “a famous fashion model and now a singer,” referring to Nico. It was all about image. As wonderful as the music was, the whole thing was pretty bizarre.

If The Velvet Underground & Nico were The Beatles, John Cale and Lou Reed (they both co-founded The Velvet Underground) would be the Lennon and McCartney of the band. Lou Reed, a principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, wrote songs about drug culture and sexuality – things that weren’t really talked about in rock and roll or music at the time. This made him obviously that “badass” lyricist of the band. John Cale also wrote. His true talent was his ability to play many instruments. These two gentlemen had a falling out due to artistic differences, but they were.

The Velvet Underground & Nico was one of the most unique albums of that time period. Like I said earlier, the lyrics were pushing the boundaries more than most albums at the time. Secondly, it was one of, if not the first band to be paired with art and film making it not only audibly interesting, but visually as well.

I really enjoy The Velvet Underground both as a listener and as a producer. They played around with their music in a way that made them just so special and different. I feel it ended up getting a little ridiculous because of Andy Warhol, but for the most part, the music is such an impact on types of music we hear today.

Peer Comment #1

Lance,

I absolutely love the way you describe Revolver in the last paragraph of your Beatles blog. I too agree that the album is an adventure and that it really does make you wanting more. I guess I’m puzzled at the part about Revolver being released today and not doing well within the industry. I actually have a few friends that listen to current bands that are bizarre and write with many interesting instruments and such. I believe that Revolver would do well in our time period because of just how wonderfully crafted each song is. I suppose we’ll never know! Good job on your blog!

-Kat Hansen

Podcast #1

Revolver

The Beatles, to me, will always be the biggest and best band of all time. Their music and charisma categorize them in their own special place where no other band can lay a finger on them. Originally quite “put together” and always singing about love and relationships, the foursome with their mop top hair were an instant sensation. Beatlemania thrived off of hit songs such as “Hard Day’s Night” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” These early songs were very simply styled and sung. Soon, however, they began to create a new and interesting path for themselves after the folk-driven Rubber Soul.

The introduction of marijuana, LSD, Timothy Leary’s work, and eastern music were huge influences on the very electric-driven rock album Revolver. LSD and marijuana influenced McCartney and Lennon’s lyrics extensively. This is the first album where The Beatles rarely speak about love, but instead society and the many issues it faces.

The drugs also influenced the music itself by using new techniques such as ADT (automatic double-tracking/artificial double-tracking), reverse guitar, looped effects, and Lennon’s voice being routed into a Leslie speaker – making it look like the music was on drugs. These techniques could be viewed as The Beatles using the studio as an instrument itself. It was new to use techniques like this – probably one of the first examples of how we’ve learned to record today. They also used new instrumentation in the creation of their songs with the use of sitars and other eastern-cultured instruments, which began to change the music of The Beatles entirely.

For me, Revolver is not only one of the best (if not the best) albums of all time; it is the best album that The Beatles released. I love all of their music very much, but I believe that Revolver really let the entire band have some freedom in their cooped up world of Beatlemania. They were experimenting and creating masterpieces. As a listener, I adore it – if you look at my list of favorite bands, they all use weird and bizarre forms of recording and instrumentation, just like this album. As a professional, I love it even more. It shows how complex the world of recording was and what it has come from. Revolver really opened the doors to the world of rock and I will always love it.

Pet Sounds

The Beach Boys are a staple in the book of rock. One of the first bands to make the genre mainstream, The Beach Boys’ sense of “California love” spread like wildfire. The surf rock vibe took over and they became one of the biggest names in the business. With Surfin’ Safari, they not only spread the sport of surfing, but also hot rods with songs such as “409.” “I Get Around” and “Surfin’ USA” are some of the first big hits that most people today could still sing off of the top of their heads.

Brian Wilson is known to be the brains behind the band due to his composing, producing, and arranging – as well as his position as the leader of the band. Doing and being all of these things in a band makes one very powerful, like a motor to a vessel. Phil Spector and The Four Freshmen heavily influenced him in the beginning. This was what brought out the many vocals in the Beach Boys as well as the production techniques (which mimicked Spector’s). After being introduced to the drug culture, Brian ended up composing the majority of Pet Sounds, one of the most influential albums of all time.

With hits such as “God Only Knows,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” Pet Sounds explored a whole new vibe of music. Brian focused on different types of instrumentation, implementing a Theremin and other wacky sound effects from things such as whistles, dogs, and bicycle bells. He also brought in organs, harpsichords, and things such as ukuleles. Although The Beach Boys were known for many vocal harmonies, Pet Sounds had even more than usual. There were no more songs about surfing and hot rods, but instead love and emotional concepts. In 1966, this was a new-sounding album that led into the psychedelic rock realm.

The listener and the professional within me fight about this album quite often. As a professional, I know that this is one of the most influential albums on rock music. Many bands today would never even exist if it hadn’t been for The Beach Boys, let alone Pet Sounds. However, as a listener, this is not my favorite band or album. I believe this is because I was a very big Beatles fan first, but who really knows. Deep down I know that I should, in fact, love it, and maybe it will grow on me. The producer in me hopes that it will.

References

Bjork. (2012, December 04). Wikipedia. Retrieved April 14, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjork

Glueck, G. (n.d.). The Velvet Underground & The Psychiatrists. Andy Warhol. Retrieved April 14, 2012, from http://www.warholstars.org/warhol/warhol1/andy/loureed.html

Howard, D. N. (2004). Sonic alchemy: Visionary music producers and their maverick recordings. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard.

Joe Harvard. (2008). The Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico (33 1/3 Series). Retrieved April 14, 2012, from http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAudiobook?id=296005812&s=143441
Kraftwerk. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved April 14, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraftwerk

Moss, C. (2009, January 29). What's Going On: Marvin Gaye's Liberation from the Motown Sound. PopMatters. Retrieved April 14, 2012, from http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/69381-whats-going-on-marvin-gayes-liberation-from-the-motown-sound/
Paul Ingles, "Everything was Right: The Beatles' 'Revolver'," May 2006.
Steve Albini. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved April 30, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Albini

The Bob Edwards Show: Interview with Peter Ames Carlin, Author of "Catch a Wave:  The 
            Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson," August 13, 2009.

Welcome!

My name is Kat Hansen and I hail from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Finding comfort in music rather than people growing up, I have hoped to make a career out of it. My musical interests are so spread out that it's difficult to lump them into one group. I believe that my broad taste lets me understand music on a different level than others that are focused on one genre. Some of my favorite bands are Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Metric, Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks, and The Beatles. I hope to be able to amplify my own songwriting with my degree in music production. I'm not sure where it'll take me yet, but I'm excited to find out!