Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today we’re featuring a selection of 25 songs by artists under the age of 25 as curated by Music Library student assistant Eliana (class of 2024).
A playlist featuring the next generation of artists: 25 songs from 25 artists all 25-years-old or younger.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today we’re featuring a collection of punk/rock music curated by Music Library student assistant Deisy (class of 2024).
Sometimes, you just want to lay on the ground and let all the emotions run through you. At that moment you put on some of your favorite punk/rock bands to drown in your feels! This playlist was made with the intention to scream, cry, laugh, and contemplate life.
Our exhibit highlights items (both physical and streaming) from UR’s collection as well as information about traditional Chilean instruments and dance. It also includes thumbnail biographical info on several Chilean musicians.
Here’s a little info on the music with some links to items in the library’s collection and a few video clips for good measure!
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The traditional music of Chile is a rich mixture of Spanish and Pre-Columbian influences.
Some of the traditional instruments commonly used in Chile include Andean instruments such as
* The charango – a small stringed instrument of the lute family. It was traditionally made from armadillo shell, but is more commonly made of wood today. It has 10 strings.
The Cueca is considered to be the “most traditional music and dance of Chile” and is officially the country’s national dance. While cueca’s origins are not entirely certain, indigenous, African and Spanish influences are evident.
It is a partner dance which is indented imitate the courtship of a rooster and hen. Men usually wear a traditional Chilean cowboy costume while women traditionally don a flowered dresses with an apron.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Chilean songwriters like Victor Jara and Violeta Parra used the tonada as a foundation of the “Nueva Canción,” explicitly political music that blended Chilean folk music with progressive politics, similar to the way Bob Dylan and Joan Baez led a political folk revival around the same time in the U.S.
The foundations of nueva canción were laid by Violeta Parra (1917-1967) who was a popular folk singer-songwriter and musicologist who researched and recovered the poetry and songs of rural Chile.
Víctor Jara (1932-1973) was a legendary Chilean folk singer and political activist who also pioneered nueva canción. His activism led to his murder by the Pinochet dictatorship in 1973.
Jara’s life and work continue to be celebrated by Latin American artists as well as globally known bands like U2 and The Clash. The 2018 documentary film The Resurrection of Víctor Jara is a great introduction to his life and legacy and is available to UR students, faculty and staff as a streaming video resource.
Here’s a trailer for the documentary:
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Claudio Arrau (1903-1991) was a Chilean pianist known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire, especially the works of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms.
He is widely considered to be one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century.
Here are a couple of library resources about his life and work:
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.
Rocky Raccoon illustration by Jim McHugh of mcillustrator.com (used with permission of artist)
I was first introduced to “Rocky Raccoon” in middle school during a guitar lesson. My teacher gave me the song to learn because I was gaining more interest in The Beatles and he thought it was a fun one. This further introduced me to some of the more eclectic and trippy songs among their lengthy discography.
The Beatles were an English rock band during the 1960s. Although their music is still very prevalent today, the band was only together for approximately a decade. Throughout this period, they produced numerous albums which were all regarded very highly by their global audience. “Rocky Raccoon” was one of many songs on The Beatles’ “White album” which was released in 1968.
Throughout the years, “Rocky Raccoon” has remained one of my favorite songs by The Beatles and is definitely one of my favorite songs to play on guitar. What I like most about the song is the chordprogression. It’s written in a way that you could just keep playing it over and over. It may just be a silly song about a raccoon; however, the chord progression is what makes the song in my opinion.
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.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today we’re featuring a playlist of Broadway tunes curated by Music Library student assistant Kinme (class of 2022).
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.
If you’re any fan of Disney, or of musicals, there can be a 95% guarantee – if not 100%, that you have heard of Alan Menken. Menken, born in 1949 in Manhattan, is a composer and songwriter who has worked tirelessly since 1972 to give the American public and worldwide audiences the pleasures of listening to his incredible musical abilities, writing songs for some of our favorite Disney movies, musicals, and shows.
Just the sheer variety of different types of films/musicals and the musical talent to be able to write completely original songs with varying styles is incredible. And all of them were absolute hits. This incredible discography is beyond fascinating. Just imagine – currently in New York, Little Shop of Horrors is playing again Off-Broadway. Aladdin is on Broadway. The Little Mermaid live action remake is coming out in 2023. The Hunchback of Notre Dame’s live-action remake is in the works. That is four – yes four – pending or active projects that have Menken’s name attached to them.
Parsons Music Library has had the privilege to house the Alan Menken Songbook, with scores for piano, voice, and guitar. Some of his most popular pieces are held in this 188 page score.
Songs that are included are “Sante Fe” (Newsies), “Somewhere That’s Green” (Little Shop of Horrors), “Proud of Your Boy” (Aladdin), “Go the Distance” (Hercules), “A Change in Me” (Beauty and the Beast) and a variety of other classics.
As you play, listen, or read the scores for all 28 songs included in the songbook, you can feel the different styles and the creativity needed to write songs for such Disney-esque plots. Nothing Disney has come out with has ever been less than imaginative – it takes an even more imaginative person to bring those creative tales to life through song. And that is all achieved through Menken’s song writing abilities.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today we’re featuring a collection of Bollywood music from the 2000s curated by Music Library student assistant Kiran (class of 2024). Editor’s Note: since Bollywood songs are often from films, I’ve linked to some titles that are available to check out in the library catalog so you can see them in their full context if you want!
Bollywood music has always been a staple of my childhood. On my way home from school, my grandmother would put in a CD with over her favorite songs and we would listen to new ones every day. I love how upbeat it is and the variety of instrumentation used. It is so different from Western music, but just as good in my opinion. These songs are from the early 2000s to 2010.
Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today we’re featuring a collection called “Duck, Fish & Spongebob” curated by Music Library student assistant Naron (class of 2023).
Naron says that the theme of this playlist is “Instrumental Music with clean rhythm(some singing, but singing is not the major part)” and that it is “a collection of instrumental music that speaks about different little drops of emotions in life.”
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.
This book is an amazing introduction into the physics of acoustics, as well as all types of musical instruments. It may come as no surprise that scholarship on the physics of instruments has become much more popular as technology has been developed that allows us to answer questions about instruments in detail. Fletcher summarizes this scholarship in a cohesive and reader-friendly way, providing the physical background information needed to understand topics such as the physics of a horn, how a bowed string behaves, the importance of the violin body, etc. I find this to be a great example of the way that music interacts with all subjects and how applications of sciences to the musical arts allows us to have a deeper understanding of what we are doing when we play an instrument.
