What Does Music Look Like?
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Drugs and Music
Members of rock bands were known to be hard drinking, party-all-night characters who experimented with drugs, and as rock music became more popular and band members became more well known, fans of the music became influenced by the lifestyle. Like I said in my post about psychedelic art, some musicians encouraged fans to take drugs during concerts to add to the listening experience. The band Grateful Dead has become a kind of icon for this, being referenced in popular culture. For example, from the show Family Guy: http://youtu.be/dcynsJ8sWLI
Jerry Garcia from Grateful Dead said "For some people, taking LSD and going to Grateful Dead shows functions like a rite of passage..." (http://ehsanatphys.wetpaint.com/page/Music+%26+Pop+Culture). The point was to take hallucinogenic drugs and "trip" while listening to the music; a popular notion is that the best music was written by musicians when they were under the influence and when they got clean, the music wasn't as good. I personally don't understand this from my experience watching the film Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny where "tripping" doesn't get them anywhere. This is a song Jack Black sings while suffering the effects of "magic mushrooms": http://youtu.be/n2WqYidC_0Y and a scene where the two characters get high with a bong fashioned from the devils horn and press record on a voice recorder to record what they play while under the influence: http://youtu.be/CPbSEW-xhdQ
Drugs in music was also seen as a way of rebelling against mainstream music. Marilyn Manson's song 'This is the New Shit" is perfect for explaining a desire to rebel against mainstream music. It's lyrics include "everything has been said before, there's nothing left to say anymore" which talks about the repetitive, shallow nature of mainstream music, it all sounds the same, its meaningless. "Sex sex sex" is rather self explanatory, "and don't forget the violence, blah blah blah got your lovey-dovey sad-and-lonely" talks more about the over-used themes of music. A smart lyric from the song is "stick your stupid slogan in" which talks about the commercial nature of mainstream music, to me the song is about how everything meaningful in music has been done and so music started to become vapid, the only goal was to make money not decent music.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Movie Score
The music is light and comical to match the exaggerated clown-like movements and facial expressions of the character. At the moment he notices the sleeping lion the music creates a shrill sound, as if to startle the audience like he is startled. It then strips down to low plucks of a guitar in time with his steps as he tip toes away.Another example of the music reflecting the picture, it heightens in pitch at the drama.My favourite part is when the man and women begin to interact, the music takes on a romantic, waltz-like tone, perhaps even feminine to imply a romantic interest.
A more contemporary example of film score is Resident Evil. The music you hear in Charlie Chaplin is vastly different because not only would it not fit to the movements but the mismatched emotion and ambience would make it seem comical or stupid. Because the Resident Evil films are supernatural/action/thrillers the music had to reflect that. I listened to the score composed by Marco beltrami and Marilyn Manson. The main theme song of the film is: http://youtu.be/x8FhcOHXa-M which I feel sums it up well.
Manson translated his work on rock songs into score, so there are unmistakable heavy guitar elements with a melodic feel and droning sound textures (which are very important for the tension, all used to enhance a scene). He took three main elements from the film to incorporate into the music, one was a childish feel because of the Red Queen (The red hologram of a little girl that speaks for the super computer controlling the underground building). Manson is a fan of childrens music and so drew inspiration from imagining Alice (Alice in Wonderland) in the menacing world of Resident Evil filled with decay and biological warfare. The connection is clever, the main characters name is Alice and the super computer, a "homicidal bitch" as Alice refers to her in the second film, is called the Red Queen. For the introduction of the Red Queen, when she first appears, you can hear her theme song which is a childish waltz-like melody.When she comes in again later, when it is clear they have no way out, the theme takes on a darker, more menacing tone. The second element Manson took from the film was an extreme coldness from the sterile, biological side of the story. This is apparent throughout the whole film in the form of sound textures that act as ambient sound, however they verge on music the way they are played. The third element relates to the modern action vibe of the film, a fascist military element. The film is cut in a fast extreme way, is lit in an extreme way and this makes the action scenes the most exciting. The music in these scenes is very electronic, metallic, cold, emotionless, violent. Director Paul W. S. Anderson described it in a behind the scenes interview as violent and relentless like the zombies themselves, the zombies "keep coming and coming and coming... the music keeps going and going and going and it doesn't change." An example from the film of sound textures used to create tension and suspense, to create a cold, emotionless, ambience is http://youtu.be/LQG2buCXigM. The Red Queen's introduction can be seen here http://youtu.be/ssxFf0iCo8Q, it is a long clip but it is great to see and listen. If you want to skip to the action scene it is about 5 minutes and 50 seconds in.
Not Myself Tonight
Again, homosexuality seems to be becoming the norm, these scenes between Aguilera and another bound slave suggest lesbian sex. The lyrics of this song talk about becoming a different person on the dance floor, it definately has a club nature. But when you read between the lines and watch the video the signs of mind control are strong. "When I wake up, I'll go back to the girl I used to be, but baby, not tonight," It is like she is saying when she wakes up to reality she will go back to being a normal, acceptable woman but tonight she is asleep, has no will.
Link to video: http://youtu.be/wt-tHcQR67Y
Music Videos - Predictable
Cross cut with the singer/protagonist walking down the street is the band performing the song in a dark, warped (very Tim Burton) room with buckets all over the floor to catch rain drops so you know it is run down, worn. The lighting has a blue tinge, like thunder lighting up the room through the windows. This gives a cold, stormy feel, like a metaphor for his inner turmoil.
Nirvana - Nevermind
Nevermind turned a nation of teens onto alternative rock, the album is known as one of the best rock albums of all time. Their music has a definitive rock/grunge sound with influences like Led Zeppelin and the Pixies. While late lead singer Kurt Cobain has said his lyrics don't mean anything, are collected from poems, that they are not important, many songs were written to reference his personal experiences and emotions. For example in the song "Heart-Shaped Box" he conveys his relationship with Courtney Love through lyrical themes of pregnancy and the female anatomy. The band, as with most rock/grunge/metal bands, is also known for being anti-establishment which explains this cover. The idea for the cover came to Cobain and former drummer Dave Grohl after they watched a television program about water births. They took the idea to Robert Fisher who then looked for an image of a water birth to put on the cover, unfortunately the images he found were far too graphic to put on display and so sent a photographer to a pool for babies to take photos. After deciding on attaching a dollar bill to the fish hook the cover was done. The reception of the album cover wasn't all good though, there were concerns that the baby's penis was visible and that people would interpret the image as dangerously close to pedophilia.
(http://cnettv.cnet.com/making-nirvana-nevermind-album-cover/9742-1_53-6870.html)
There are many opinions about what the symbolism of this cover is. Maybe it doesn't have a meaning, maybe it's an inside joke. My interpretation of the newborn baby swimming towards a dollar bill, and I'm sure I'm right, is that from the moment we are born, money is God. Life is all about money and the quest for it, the need for it. The fact that the dollar bill is on a fish hook represents someone elses control over it, it is up to them whether we achieve it or not. These themes of lost innocence and materiality fit right in with Nirvana's musical and lyrical style. It is a little scary to look at yet it has humour.
Psychedelic Art
Shepard Fairey
These covers are all for rock bands, yet you can tell that the first two are heavier than the third. The Suicide Machines' Battle Hymns shows a strong man in solid black and white weilding a hammer, with black engulfing a whole half of his face making him look dark and intimidating. The green of the background reminds me of army green which works with the word battle in the album title. When looking at the album title text it looks like the text used in the army aswell. So this album carries a sense of brute, bold force and strength. Sepultura's Nation cover has strong thick fists in the air, with silhouettes behind so you get the sense that there are many, like a nation or army rising up together. The colourful pattern in the background gives me the idea that there are emotions or thoughts or screams from all different kinds of people coming from all different directions. So even though the pattern is sharp, it has a riotous feeling. Switchfoot's New Way to be Human is much more softer in imagery, the bold red and black reflects the rock sound yet the beautiful pattern of the fingerprint is both intricate yet simple and delicate.
Looking at Faireys work has inspired me to emulate his style, to create simplistic illustrations that match the energy of the music and use colour to communicate the genre. This makes me wonder what his work would look like if he responded to girly pop music or country music.