Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
As a girl whose father crafted her music taste, you would think my favorites would be The Beatles or The Eagles, Jimi Hendrix, or even Led Zeppelin. Instead, my father decided to raise a young girl who only listened to melodramatic psychedelic rock music like Janis Joplin.
Sitting in the back of my dad’s car, he slipped his Pearl CD into the player and told me, “This is what good music is, so, listen closely.”
The raspy and powerful voice of Janis shook my world, and I couldn’t get enough. We listened to the entire album and I knew Janis was the perfect artist for me. I even started dressing like her. I had just gotten glasses and was admittedly embarrassed, but once I saw the funky big frames Janis had, I got myself a pair and didn’t feel as worried about how I looked.
The last song my dad showed me was “Mercedez Benz.” The song was a stark difference from everything else on the album-it seemed more casual, and it was a cappella; every other song had a backing band.
After the song was over, my dad told me the horrid news: Janis died of a heroin overdose three days after this first and only recording of “Mercedez Benz.” Three months after her death, her album Pearl was released, her second solo album.
Despite the unfinished nature of the album, it does not even begin to sound that way. Her confidence and remarkable songwriting skills take her far in the album.
The opening of the album “Move Over” is a funky welcome to the album but fits the band (the Full Tilt Boogie Band) and Janis well. The song may be about a breakup but it’s also a song of female empowerment, she’s taking back the reins of her own romantic life.
One of my other favorites on this album is “Cry Baby.” It’s dramatic and passionate and just shows off her voice so well. The song is loud and head-banging at times, but it’s also sorrowful. That’s the power of Janis, she may be the queen of rock, but she’s also the queen of the blues.
Pearl and Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits are both available as CDs in Parsons Music Library. I highly recommend picking up both as her Greatest Hits also includes music from her first two albums with Big Brother & The Holding Company.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020, American singer-song writer Taylor Swift released her 8th studio album titled folklore. This album was vastly different from anything she had produced previously, drawing in a new crowd of indie folk fans.
While Swift’s usual songs are written about events that took place in her personal life, folklore takes a different route: each song tells a fictional story with the same cast of characters throughout the album. The tracks “cardigan”, “betty”, and “august” all center around a love triangle between the characters Betty, James, and Augustine. Most of these songs include only Taylor Swift‘s vocals, however the track “exile” features the band Bon Iver as well.
If you are interested in anything Taylor Swift, learning more about this love triangle, or are already a fan of indie folk music, I’d recommend checking out this CD today from Parsons Music Library. You can find the item here: folklore.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia (“Arachno” = spider / “-phonia” = sound) is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
Farwell Yellow Brick Road – The Closing Chapter on Elton John’s Magical Journey
For people in my generation, Elton John was the singer we grew up listening to when our parents were tired of listening to 2010s pop and Disney Channel stars. He (and songwriting partner Bernie Taupin) were the masterminds behind the
music & lyrics we somehow all knew even if we didn’t recognize the name. Needless to say, Elton John has been an influential artist on multiple generations and continues to be one of the biggest names in the music industry.
This year, he took to the stage one last time and began his very last world tour. John, now 75, has played over 3,500 concerts since his career took off in 1969. The “Farwell Yellow Brick Road” tour began in 2018 and was halted due to COVID-19. In early November of 2022, John completed the North America leg at Dodgers Stadium, as a nod to one of his earliest shows in which he performed in a bedazzled Dodgers uniform. He will continue touring in Europe this summer with about 60 shows left before he takes his final bow.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today we’re featuring a playlist of music by Japanese R&B/hip-hop artist Joji, curated by Music Library student manager Brianna (class of 2024).
George Kusunoki Miller, who goes by the musical pseudonym Joji, is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and comedian. He began his career in entertainment on YouTube, releasing comedic rap songs under the name “Pink Guy”, and various other videos where he would often star in multiple roles. In 2015, he retired from his YouTube career and began making the music he had always wanted, now going by Joji. When asked how this was different from his previous musical career as Pink Guy, he said “I guess that’s the difference, Joji’s just me.” His debut album Ballads I made him the first Asain-born artist to reach #1 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in 2018. His most recent release from 2020, titled Nectar, reached a peak of #3 on US Billboard 200. Here is a compilation of my favorite songs from Joji.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today we’re featuring a selection of songs with Funky Bass Grooves as curated by Music Library student manager Christian (class of 2023).
Parsons Playlists: Funky Bass Grooves
A playlist of some great songs with dangerously funky bass lines.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
Harry Styles’s self-titled debut album marked the transition in Styles’s career from popular member of the boy band One Direction to his own solo work following the hiatus and eventual separation of the teen musical group. During his time in One Direction, Styles amassed an enormous fanbase from around the world, and the split of the group shocked these fans. Zayn Malik was the first member to separate from the group, which may have led to the eventual collapse of the group as a whole, and he started to release his own music in 2015, creating his own solo album in 2016 titled Mind of Mine. Eager and attentive fans turned their attention to the other members of One Direction to anticipate which teen sensation would begin releasing their own music next. Harry Styles would soon find that both himself and his music would become the spotlight of these fans, as his self-stardom rose above all other members and continues to this day.
Harry Styles would lead this craze, as Styles’s first solo album connected well with varying audiences. The album was teased with the release of its first single, “Sign of the Times,” in April 2017, projecting a combination of soft rock and pop music into a wistful ballad that was a completely new sound for Styles. This single is famously accompanied by its music video that was released a month later in May 2017, in which Styles flies over a body of water quite majestically. The full album would follow this video with its release four days later, meeting the anticipation of fans.
Harry Styles would achieve a new musical direction for the artist, as fans and critics were surprised with the range of musical styles incorporated throughout the album. Songs featured throughout the work include a mixture of pop, British pop, rock, and soft rock styles, being influenced by famous and innovative artists like Queen, Elton John, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, and the Rolling Stones. Overall, I enjoy how each song on the album feels different and refreshing, never becoming too stale in their approach and delivery. There are 10 tracks on the album, and some stand-out pieces to me include “Only Angel,” “Ever Since New York,” and “From the Dining Table.”
Lyrically, “Only Angel” is a strange dichotomy between the love Harry Styles has for himself and love for the girl he references as “angel.” He begins the song by singing “Open up your eyes, shut your mouth and see/That I’m the only one who’s been in love with me,” expressing to listeners that Styles is confidant in being himself and that rampant tabloid exposure on all of his romantic partners are typically blown out of proportion, and he seems to be telling his audience and the media that his public relationships are often misunderstood. This is then contrasted with the chorus of “She’s an angel, only angel/She’s an angel, my only angel,” in which Styles is turning his attention towards his romantic partner that he refers to as an angel. What I particularly like about this song is not the lyrics however, but more towards the production of the Rock pop composition of the piece. This song comes across to me as a modern-day pop version of Elton John.
“Ever Since New York” is a tribute to Styles’s late stepfather who passed away following a battle with cancer, after Styles was delivered the terrible news of the affliction while staying in a New York hotel. The song deals with Styles’s grief in the aftermath of his stepfather’s passing, and the feelings he carries with him about how people try to support him, by singing “Oh, tell me something I don’t already know.” This emotional ballad is characterized by the driving force of the instrumentation, which upon initial hearing does not immediately indicate to the listener that this is a song about missing someone who has tragically passed away. However, Styles chose to allow the production and orchestration of this piece to be more gospel-like in nature with a sonic depth of sound surrounding the lyrics, indicating that Styles did not intend to make this piece overly dramatic but rather a strong remembrance of his late stepfather.
Finally, “From the Dining Table,” is another emotional love song but directed towards Styles’s lost love and longing for a past relationship. This final piece to the album relates to the first piece of the album, “Meet Me in the Hallway,” in numerous ways. First, both subjects of the song and lyrics are reflections on a past relationship, in which Styles implies that he put more effort into it and that he is the one who still cares for the lost romance, indicated by the chorus line “Why won’t you ever be the first one to break?” Another connection is that both song titles refer to a sense of home, in which it can be implied that Styles and his partner were living together, and he is referring to significant places in the home that meant something in their relationship. Finally, both songs feature similar instrumentation, characterized by an acoustic guitar and emphasis on Styles’s vocals. The change in orchestration is different across both songs, but the similar feeling of vocals paired with acoustic guitar only emphasize the feeling of longing and desperation that Styles is singing about.
Overall, this album is a great listen and while it may not be perfect in my eyes, it certainly won the hearts of many fans that were longing for more music from the most prominent member of One Direction.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
What happens when three of the most influential guitarists alive, each from different eras of popular music, sit down for a day to swap stories and riffs? That’s the question at the heart of Davis Guggenheim’s 2008 documentary It Might Get Loud, starring Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin), The Edge (of U2), and Jack White (of The White Stripes). Although the three musicians come from differing backgrounds and generations, the film explores the three men’s lives as they’ve revolved around their shared fixation: the electric guitar.
In proportion to the total runtime, footage of the three’s meeting, dubbed “The Summit,” is relatively sparse. Instead, the film documents each of the musicians in and around their respective homes, piecing together their personal narratives, playing and recording styles, and musical philosophies. The film crew follows Jimmy Page to Headley Grange, a former workhouse-turned-recording studio whose interior acoustics can be heard on Led Zeppelin IV. The Edge visits the secondary school in Dublin where he co-founded U2 with his childhood friends. The film opens on Jack White assembling a rudimentary one-string guitar from plywood and a glass bottle on the porch of his Tennessee farmhouse. Guggenheim constantly moves between these three strands, allowing the guitarists to tell their own very different stories while revealing the subtle similarities in their lives that drove them all to the electric guitar.
My favorite moment in the film comes when The Edge delves into his playing philosophy. Known for his extensive use of reverb and delay, The Edge is sometimes criticized for playing his pedal board more than his guitar. Hearing him explain his methodology reveals the sheer creativity at work in creating his sounds, despite not “shredding” in the same vein as White and Page. At one point, The Edge plays the riff to “Elevation,” in which his guitar undulates between an indefinite number of notes. He then strips the effects and reveals the riff to be simply two notes, the space between filled with reverb, delay, and distortion. While this style of play rubs some the wrong way — such as those who consider effect pedals “cheating” to hide technical deficiencies — the great strength of It Might Get Loud is in capturing the dialogue between three pillars of guitar styles. In the film’s introductory sequence, Page admires The Edge as a “sonic architect,” a powerful compliment coming from the man most often placed beside Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton in conversations of electric guitar greatness.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
One of my favorite albums (and singers) is Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me.This might sound odd, but it’s what I most frequently listen to when cooking or baking — it’s the perfect rainy day music.
Her tone is so soft and sweet and her songs are very melodic. I love that intertwines jazz and blues because it’s hard to find that type of music now. Jones was a lot more popular in the early 2000s — I was first introduced to the album when my mom and dad would play it in our house when I was in elementary school.
She has lots of awards and has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. In the beginning of the 2000s Billboard deemed her the top jazz artist of the decade. She has won nine Grammys and writes her own songs as well as plays the piano.
Norah Jones at Bright Eyes at Town Hall 29 May 2007 (credit: Yaffa)
Come Away With Me is the album that kick started her career and launched many of her songs into popularity. The album is a fusion of jazz with country, blues, folk and pop. It was certified diamond, meaning that it sold over 27 million copies. This album alone was enough to win Jones five Grammys, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist. My personal favorite songs from the album are “Don’t Know Why” and “Shoot the Moon,” but all of the songs are so unique and enjoyable in their own way. I tend to listen to a lot of mainstream pop because it’s always on everywhere and I want to stay up-to-date on all the trending music, however, this is a nice change of pace from that. I think it’s important to listen to a wide range of artists and music, and Norah Jones is the kind of singer that I believe almost everyone would like.
Some other singers that mirror her musical vibe are Diana Krall, Corinne Bailey Rey, Alicia Keys, Adele, and Duffy. I’d say her style is a bit more laid back and the songs aren’t as fit for blasting on the radio, but her songs are written about similar themes and use little auto-tuning or electronics.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
I’m fascinated by the vocal talent of musicians and for some reason, I discover a lot of artists that I enjoy through listening to covers of their songs by a cappella groups on YouTube. I had no idea who George Ezra was until I listened to the Trinitones perform a mash-up of “Barcelona,” “Budapest” and “Paradise” over a year ago. The all-male group surprised me with their impressive talent, but also with the arrangement of the songs. I was familiar with the song “Budapest” because it had been playing on radio stations at the time, but the artist behind the song had escaped my familiarity. After listening to Wanted on Voyage however, George Ezra has become a frequent artist on my Spotify playlists.
Wanted on Voyage is Ezra’s debut album released in the UK in 2014. He had first been discovered by Columbia Records in 2012 from his videos on YouTube performing his own original songs. After being contracted to work for Columbia Records, Ezra found inspiration for his album in 2013 when he traveled by train across Europe, writing about the places he visited and the people he met. From this collection of memories, Ezra sat down and penned the songs for the album, immortalizing his journey.
The album gained many positive reviews on release, attributing the success to the relatively simple composition of the songs that are dramatically enhanced by Ezra’s ability to sing. A vital characteristic to Ezra’s music is his voice, which is naturally lower than many popular artists. The pitch of his voice adds flavor to his songs that make it appear as if these songs only fit the register that Ezra is able to perform in. Some highlights of the album for me are “Budapest” and “Barcelona,” which is not a surprise considering these are the songs that led me to George Ezra’s music. The mix between Ezra’s incredible voice and the instrumentation and production on both tracks really drives home the idea of why I enjoy his music so much. Another track I enjoy is “Did You Hear The Rain?” which was released as the first single from the album.
Wanted on Voyage is a fantastic album that does not try to create complicated music. The purity of the instrumentation and vocals shine through on every track. George Ezra actually filmed a Mahogany Session video for “Budapest,” which is a video series that allows artists to acoustically perform some of their most famous songs for the world to gain a more intimate view of the artist. This particular video is great, because I honestly cannot tell the difference in the quality of Ezra’s singing between the video and the recorded song from the album. Wanted on Voyage truly shines as Ezra’s first step into the musical world and it manifested a popularity around him that still holds true to this day.
Editor’s note:Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library‘s collection.
To me, John Mayer stands as one of the most interesting musical icons of my childhood. Originally making his name as a pop-rock singer-songwriter, Mayer garnered attention early in his career for his guitar ability (he attended Berklee College of Music’s guitar program for two semesters). After the success of his 2001 debut Room for Squares (for which he won his first Grammy) and 2003’s Heavier Things, Mayer pivoted when he released Try! (2005), a blues record released under the moniker of the John Mayer Trio. With his most acclaimed album, Continuum (2006), Mayer sought to unite his earlier pop-rock stylings with his recent efforts in blues.
Though for whatever reason, it’s Mayer’s first album, Room for Squares, that I find myself listening to more often than his more acclaimed and successful releases. I fully agree that Continuum is a masterfully executed record that showcases the best of his songwriting ability. And Where The Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles (2008) might be my favorite live album of all time. But there’s something wonderfully innocent about Room for Squares absent in his other works, like the lovable arrogance with which Mayer scoffs at those who doubted his decision to drop out in “No Such Thing”:
“I want to run through the halls of my high school
I want to scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there’s no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you’ve got to rise above”
And then immediately doubts himself in “Why Georgia”:
“’Cause I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life
Am I living it right?”
Or maybe it has more to do with the fact that, to me, the album itself is seems distanced from the controversy-plagued, self-proclaimed “ego addict” that Mayer eventually become known as. Contrast this with his 2003 acceptance speech for his first Grammy award (for “Your Body Is a Wonderland” off of Room for Squares), in which Mayer remarked “this is very, very fast and I promise to catch up,” and you might begin to appreciate the sort of unspoiled innocence of Meyer’s debut, and indeed, his early career as a whole. Regardless, Room for Squares remains an often stunning debut (see: guitar part on “Neon”) from a man who would go on to change the landscapes of both pop and blues music.
John Mayer playing live at Tower Records in Atlanta, Georgia 2001