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.
When a person thinks of ABBA, they most likely envision a group of four Swedes with voluminous 70’s styled hair, dressed in spectacular costumes, dancing emphatically on stage, having the time of their lives. This is why I appreciate them so much – the energy, positivity, lightness and uplifting emotion the songs bring out in listeners are infectious and inspiring. It feels so good to belt out “Lay All Your Love On Me,” twirl around to “Honey, Honey,” and it is a well known fact that no one stays quiet when “Dancing Queen” comes on over the speakers. It’s no wonder they’ve stayed popular over so many years; the feelings that their songs evoke in listeners are timeless.
While the group isn’t planning on touring (in person) any time soon, there is word that a futuristic “hologram tour” (yes, you read that right) is set to debut in 2019 or 2020. All I know is that I have to be there…
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 expect you all know the sound of trumpets. And I expect most of you know about a trumpet player’s personality as well…”
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, composed by Benjamin Britten, is an educational piece of music that combines the second movement of the Abdelazer suite, “Rondeau,” with commentary by Eric Crozier describing the instruments within an orchestra. Originally commissioned for a British educational documentary titled Instruments of the Orchestra, this piece is unique for its use of a common theme throughout each instrumental section and the conductor’s description of each section aloud before they play the theme.
Not only does each section in the orchestra perform its own perception of the theme, every individual instrument is highlighted in multiple variations throughout the 17-minute piece. Variation C is led by the clarinets when the narrator states “clarinets are very agile. They make a beautifully smooth, mellow sound.” In accordance with the description, Variation C is played in a moderato tempo where the clarinets have many slurred sixteenth-note runs to emphasize their smooth sound. The piece continues to highlight each instrument individually and multiple sections in pairs until it culminates in a triumphant ending led by the piccolos and flutes. The brass begins to play in half time, 6/8, compared to the rest of the orchestra playing rapid eighth notes in a 3/4 pattern, creating a dynamic between fast and slow that ends the composition in a glorious fashion.
Portrait of British composer Benjamin Britten circa 1949
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 have been listening to Sam Smith since my freshman year of high school, which was now five years ago! His talent is so pure and he can convey such strong emotion through his songs. I love how he has a blend of sad, raw songs and upbeat, happy ones. I guess it depends on your mood… Although, the songs are so good that I’ve found myself listening to his slower ballads even on cheery and sunny days!
I love to sing, so I appreciate any artist that goes above and beyond with their music. I like the type of songs you can sing along to and understand the words to. My favorite album of Smith’s is In The Lonely Hour. At times some of the lyrics seem a bit trite and overdone with repetitive melodies, but nonetheless it is still quit enjoyable even for Smith’s voice alone. He reminds me of Adele and Duffy, two other British singers whom I like.
“Stay With Me” became a radio hit, but one that didn’t get as popular (and should have) was the more lively tune “Money On My Mind” which I’ve definitely had stuck in my head on more than one occasion. I like that his music has a pop, yet soul, flare to it and does not need the kind of auto-tuning that many current pop stars use. His voice is so versatile that many other famous artists have featured him, including the electronic duo Disclosure. In addition, I was so happy to hear that he was singing the theme song for the recent James Bond movie Spectre.
Back cover of “In The Lonely Hour”
This album‘s focus was on a lost lover, something Smith seems to sing about a lot. I hope his next album will be about something different, but if not, I am content with the talent he exudes singing about past relationships.
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.
This special edition of Arachnophonia features contributions from students in Dr. Joanna Love‘s MUS 235 class: “I Want My MTV: Music Video and the Transformation of the Music Industry.”
To understand the importance of Prince’s CD album, or CDs in general, during the 1980s one must take a step back and look at the differences between our modes of listening to music today as opposed to the 1980s. In the 2000s CDs began to be phased out of popularity due to the improved technology that came about to form Itunes. This decade has seen an even bigger change transitioning from the Itunes format of music listening to streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Soundcloud. The concept of paying a monthly fee to gain access to a massive music library had not even come to fruition as a concept back in the 80s.
Created in 1982, CDs were the easiest method to listen to music to during that era. CDs were the most compact and easiest to transport at the time and as long as someone had a CD player or a car stereo then the stage was set. Getting a new CD in the 80s would be comparable to taking a kid to the candy store or getting a new video game in the modern era. I was never able to really experience the true atmosphere of a music store where shelves were lined with records and CDs as seen in movies like Wayne’s World but it appears to be very similar to going to the video store back in the 2000s to get the latest movie that had come out.
Music store in the 1980s
Since CDs were commonplace at the time and hundreds were displayed next to each other on shelves, it was also important that the cover art of the CD case and the design of the CD were eye-catching and could convince someone to purchase the album. Designed by art director Laura LiPuma and photographed by Ed Thrasher and Stuart Douglas Watson, Purple Rain’s album art has since become iconic and has been especially useful in defining an identity for the city of Minneapolis (where Prince was born and raised). The picture of Prince sitting on his purple motorcycle clad in his quintessential purple suit with smoke billowing out behind him is only further emphasized by the words “Purple Rain: Prince and the Revolution” in thick purple letters. This is also symbolic in the sense that this was the first time Prince included his band, “the Revolution,” in the album art. The photo is lined on both sides by beautiful flowers which can be tied back into the perception of androgyny in his music and fashion. The inside flap of the case is made up entirely of these flowers and their petals. The album art breathes mysteriousness and insinuates that seeing this movie will give you the full “Prince experience” in regard to his musical and acting abilities. The effects of this album art can still be felt in popular culture today with the city of Minneapolis “adopting” purple as their color and even blanketing the city in purple during the halftime performance at the Super Bowl last year after Prince passed away in 2016. In addition to this the basketball team located in the city, the Minnesota Timberwolves, have also created Purple Rain-inspired jerseys for this upcoming season.
The city of Minneapolis lit up in purple during the Super Bowl, Feb. 4, 2018
The album art of Purple Rain has also been differently portrayed by other artists using its major themes and elements. In 2016, hip-hop artist Future dropped an appropriately titled mixtape named Purple Reign, where the cover art to the album draws off of Prince’s style with the title of the mixtape in thick purple letters and a near dark background.
Future: Purple Reign mixtape art 2016
As far as relevance I wanted to research a topic for this assignment that was fascinating to me and the success of soundtrack albums in music especially piqued my interest after having watched the movie Purple Rain for class in early October. Overall, this CD album art was useful for the movie because it was an excellent marketing tool for Prince. As discussed previously, the compactness of CDs made it the most popular mode to listen to music with in the 1980s. With over 25 million copies sold worldwide, this can be translated as 25 million advertisements for a movie in marketing terms. The album art not only represented the contents (songs) inside the CD case but also signified the opportunity to see a good movie. The movie Purple Rain cost $7 million to make and achieved box office sales of $70.2 million while Prince took home the Academy Award for best original score. It was Prince’s entrance into the film industry and he went on to further direct, compose, and act in other classics such as Under the Cherry Moon and Graffiti Bridge.
The album art of Purple Rain also represents the precedent that Prince helped set that a soundtrack album can produce quality music. Until Purple Rain came out there was no real popularity in soundtrack albums besides other classic movies like Grease and Saturday Night Fever in the late 1970s. Since then there has been an explosion in popularity with soundtrack album especially within the last 20 years. Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem or The Real Slim Shady, put together a highly successful soundtrack album for his 2002 biopic 8 Mile. His song “Lose Yourself,” which is played in the ending scene as Eminem walks away down the street after winning the final battle, became a hit sensation and is often seen as one of his best pieces of work if not the best. Recently, “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth from the movie Furious 7 (Fast and Furious movie franchise) set streaming records for most streams in a week and in a day in 2015.
In summation Purple Rain and its album art helped usher in the popularity of soundtrack albums, give an identity to the city of Minneapolis, and promote Prince’s now classic movie Purple Rain.
This CD was released in 2005, though the music on it is timeless. Jack Johnson’s songs are relaxing, beachy, and easy to listen to. They remind me of a summer day but yet I play them all year round. This album was his third studio release, and many of his most popular songs are on it. Some of my favorites are “Banana Pancakes” (the name says it all), “Breakdown“, “Better Together,” and “Constellations.” I remember first hearing his music on the soundtrack to the Curious George movie when I was little, and ever since then Jack Johnson has been one of my go-to favorites. I’ve never met someone who didn’t like his songs! I hope he releases some new music soon!
