gaming music

I personally have never gotten into Rock Band or Guitar Hero. I gave Guitar Hero a chance, but (sob story:) my finger was broken as a small child and was, unfortunately, never treated; so, my finger grew crooked--which I didn't know until I tried to play Guitar Her0--causing me not to be able to hit that one key on the guitar. :( It bothers me sometimes though that people only listen to certain songs because they are in the games, but I also realize that it is a good way to spread good music around. So, I have mixed feelings and definitely am a little bias because of my finger haha.

internet radio!

I love Pandora! It's definitely a great tool for finding music that appeals specifically to your own tastes. I first learned about it, I think, two years ago. I've been using it since then. I've got about three different stations that I listen to. Pandora isn't the only tool I use on the internet. I also use LaLa which lets you listen to an entire song once and for first time users you can create a library of 25 songs for free and it holds it in your library on LaLa, but when that's done you have to start buying them. Internet streaming and radio is definitely a cool tool that this age has created.

music as just mp3s

I definitely feel that the digital age is creating a transition in music to just focus on single songs/mp3s. Society has definitely shifted its mindset and demands access to what it desires instantaneously. This is unfortunate for musicians because people are more interested in single songs and the "one hit wonders" than they are in the entire album produced. I personally find that I lose certain songs in my library, so the songs significance to me has diminished because it's just a lost file in the computer.

music in television shows

In the television show, Supernatural, music is played to heighten emotion and create a bond between characters. The music is consistent to one genre: classic rock. The show is about two brothers avenging their mother's death from a demon that killed her when they were little, so they hunt all supernatural entities. During one of the episodes, every time this one particular spirit appeared, House of the Rising Sun by The Animals would begin playing in the radio in their car. Other various classic rock tracks will play whenever they are driving in their 67 Chevy Impala after showing up a supernatural being in an episode as they drive off to the next job. Whenever they go drinking in bars, music is always playing. And ofcourse, whenever they are hunting a supernatural being, the creeping music plays to heighten the viewers' feeling of suspense and terror.

music &places

When music is encountered at parties, it's usually something that's popular or something that can easily be danced to. When I go to parties, I like to request/ put on the music myself and it's usually something electro (lately it's been We Love Animals by Crookers feat. Soulwax and Mixhell). The music at parties is what makes the party good. If you cannot dance to it or if you can actually hear yourself think, then it's just a little more awkward than is comfortable..

5 favourite songs

1. shakin' all over -the guess who

2. easy wind -grateful dead

3. from the ritz to the rubble -arctic monkeys

4. paranoid -black sabbath

5. soul kitchen -the doors

honorable mentions:

put a penny in the slot -fionn regan

strip my mind -red hot chili peppers

venus in furs -velvet underground and nico

1. I love this song. It evokes this 60s vibe that just makes me want to start dancing and moving with the sound. The song makes me feel as if I'm there with the band while they're playing. I first heard this song in the film about one of Andy Warhol's muses, Edie Sedgwick, the IT girl of the time--the film is Factory Girl with Sienna Miller in it (one of my favourite films). When I hear this song, I immediately participate in it

2. Oh, the Grateful Dead :)--one of my favourite bands. I like this song in particular because of the lyrics. "Easy wind, cross the Bayou today, cause there's a whole lotta women, mama, out in red on the streets today. And the river keeps a talkin' but you never heard a word it said. Gotta find a woman be good to me, won't hide my liquor, try to serve me tea. Cos I'm a stone Jack baller and my heart is true, and I'll give everything that I got to you, yes I will." Also, love the Dead jamming out ofcourse. This song reminds me of my high school photography teacher cos he was also a big Deadhead. So I just get a nice feel from the memories associated with it.

3. I love the Arctic Monkeys, so I've got all of their stuff (I actually buy their albums). I think they are mad awesome with their lyrics; they are crafty and rather witty. I have this song memorized and frequently sing it to myself.... I love the band's sound a lot. This song is off their first album, so this sound is what I generally associate them to, but they've changed a whole lot. Their lyrics only get better, but I enjoyed their original overall sound loads better; however, their new sound allows them a lot more room to lyrically win.

4. Paranoid by Black Sabbath=win. I love to drive to this song. It just makes the road feel smoother and makes everything a little more exciting. I also like to listen to this song before a soccer game to get me hyped up. So I think this is song is smooth and captivating in sum. I love the sound of Black Sabbath generally.

5. The Doors! I love the Doors. I wish I were Jim Morrison. I like this song in particular for the lyrics. "..The cars crawl past all stuffed with eyes; street lights share their hollow glow; your brain seems bruised with numb surprise--still one place to go, still one place to go. Let me sleep all night in your soul kitchen, warm my mind near your gentle stove; turn me out and I'll wander, baby, stumblin' in the neon groves. Well your fingers weave quick minarets, speak in secret alphabets, I light another cigarette: learn to forget, learn to forget..." Ahh. I love it. I love their sound. This song is awesome. This is another song I feel really involved in. I can just move to this one and feel the words and see the images. It's beautiful to me.

negative feelings

Okay, a song I really loathe would be Second Chance by Shinedown. It is lame and cliche. "My eyes are open wide; by the way I made it through the day; I watch the world outside; by the way I'm leaving out today"... way to emo? yes.. The only redeeming quality of the song is the reference to Halley's Comet which is somewhat poetic but the image barely lingers in the song as it focuses back on being overly emotional. The chorus is utterly sickening, "tell my mother, tell my father; i've done the best i can; to make them realize; this is my life; i hope they understand; i'm not angry, i'm just saying; sometimes goodbye is a second chance." This is absolutely overkill lyrically. The sound of the song is mediocre and the lyrics do not improve it. This song is the sad product reflecting the movement of rock merging with mainstream.

buying &selling music

I love the fact that music is much more easier to access thanks to the internet. YouTube, Pandora, LaLa, Last FM, random blogs... I love their existence; something new to hear or just an extended selection (lives and whatnots) of a particular artist is just pretty much a couple clicks away. I don't think ripping and sharing files over the internet is bad--in a lot of cases, I probably would never have discovered certain artists and bands. I feel that the internet helps a lot of bands substantially, especially with their initial debut album and getting noticed. If I love an album enough, I will purchase it in the flesh. I don't want to buy what I do not want to have.

daily life& music

music in my daily life..

I mean I guess I experience music in my daily life as sort of just a constant that kind of keeps me going from place to place in my mind or throughout the day. It's like how I function. I've always got it playing. I'll start off with it on my computer, then put it on my iPhone without headphones (haha obnoxious for other people) or if I feel a little too self aware I'll put on headphones and jam out. I have to be listening or thinking about music or else it just gets too quiet. Not that I'm like drowning out thoughts or like particulars of my life, but like music helps provoke thoughts not hinder them--it just like functions how it wants to in that moment that I hear it.

interpretation of music as a part of culture

I mean music is definitely a part of culture but it's not the only thing. In class we kind of suggested the chicken and the egg relation. It's a circle, there isn't a true start. It's just like on the way through the whole idea of culture--just flowing to something, that identity. And yeah, the circles are all overlapping like of culture, genres, etc.

music as an art form

This is difficult to explain. Music is definitely an art form. But songs are truly art when the music speaks without words or when the words just hit you in multiple ways with the flow of the music, or if some large idea just comes at you from hearing something. Pink Floyd's "Great Gig In the Sky" is sort of a nice example as a fluid sound of art; and The Flaming Lips' cover of it adds that electronic extra layer of art to it. I also think Sound Tribe Sector 9 can sort of access the music speaking sometimes element which is really rad. Or maybe The Grateful Dead's "Tastebud".. I feel like I just move with the music and the words like I can just feel them. Oh but, Lady Gaga's music videos.. that's a whole other aspect haha.

music and culture

My music culture I suppose should be something influenced by where I grew up and what surrounds me daily.. well, I grew up in the South--born in Atlanta , raised in Birmingham--but I don't really identify myself with Country music.. I actually don't like it very much at all. Haha but, my favorite song when I was little was Song of the South by Alabama.. so, I guess that reflects where I was raised although whenever I heard it, the song put me to sleep.. My parents took me to the concert (apparently) and I slept through that too.

Anyway, that song is nostalgic but I don't go out of my way to hear it.. I hear a lot of Pop around me (most people do) but I don't really get into it as much as other genres.. so that's kind of like an outside culture in relation to its significance (or lack of) to me..

The music I listen to is sort of graffiti ish--just a collage. I associate driving anywhere with more of classic rock, and just like earlier forms of rock. Indie is for chilling in the morning or late at night, or just more personal listening. Sex Pistols and Rage Against the Machine find my ears before soccer games or just like while I go running. Electro gives me something to dance to. Jam music and Psychedelic music is for chilling with friends. But I'm just in to actively looking at/for all types of music and just making them a part of me via the internet through blogs and file sharing.