Parsons Playlists: Autumnal Mellow

Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today’s playlist is curated by Music Library associate Melanie and features some autumnal music.

Autumnal Mellow

It’s the autumnal equinox, which means that fall is officially upon us, so here is a playlist of some mellow tunes that make me think of the fall season.

Justin Hayward – “Forever Autumn”

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – “Autumn in New York”

Ben Folds Five – “Don’t Change Your Plans”

Harry Nilsson – “Everybody’s Talkin'”

Nat King Cole – “Autumn Leaves”

John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman – “Autumn Serenade”

The Neighbourhood – “Sweater Weather”

The White Stripes – “We’re Going To Be Friends”

Vince Guaraldi Trio – “Great Pumpkin Waltz”

girl in red – “We Fell in Love in October”

Billy Joel – “Vienna”

Bob Dylan – “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”

Neil Young – “Harvest Moon”

The Moldy Peaches – “Anyone Else But You”

Carole King – “It’s Too Late”

Sting – “La Belle Dame Sans Regrets”

Paul McCartney – “Calico Skies”

King Harvest – “Dancing in the Moonlight”

Lindisfarne – “Lady Eleanor”

Dee Clark – “Raindrops”

Vince Guaraldi Trio – “Thanksgiving Theme”

Sting – “Soul Cake”

Van Morrison – “Moondance”

The Zombies – “Time of the Season”

Here is a link to the whole playlist on YouTube:

And here it is on Spotify:

Parsons Playlists: Party Like It’s 200x

Welcome back to Parsons Playlists! Today we’re featuring a collection of popular music from the first decade of the 21st century, curated by Music Library student manager Abby (class of 2021).

Per Abby, here’s some “Popular music from 2000-2009 for all your guilty pleasure jam session needs”:

“Bulletproof” – La Roux

“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga

“Makes Me Wonder” – Maroon 5

“Hot N Cold” – Katy Perry

“Viva La Vida” – Coldplay

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

“Down” – Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne

“Somebody Told Me” – The Killers

“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” – Beyoncé

“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys

“Since U Been Gone” – Kelly Clarkson

Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

“Dog Days Are Over” – Florence + the Machine

“Seven Nation Army” – The White Stripes

“Disturbia” – Rihanna

“Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” – Daft Punk

“Till I Collapse” – Eminem ft. Nate Dogg

Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger

“Sk8r Boi” – Avril Lavigne

“Fireflies” – Owl City

“One, Two Step” – Ciara ft. Missy Elliott

“Party in the U.S.A.” – Miley Cyrus

“I Gotta Feeling” – Black Eyed Peas

Owl City - Fireflies

“So What” – P!nk

“Crazy In Love” – Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z

“Yeah!” – Usher ft. Lil Jon and Ludacris

“Hollaback Girl” – Gwen Stefani

“Replay” – Iyaz

Iyaz - Replay

“Hips Don’t Lie” – Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean

“Temperature” – Sean Paul

“Toxic” – Britney Spears

“Shake It” – Metro Station

“Beautiful Girls” – Sean Kingston

Spotify playlist:

YouTube playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU94rco57Zex74BH2Slptk6FS6baxqjnj

Some 2000s singles

Arachnophonia: “It Might Get Loud”

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.

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question or to additional relevant information from around the web.

Today’s installment of Arachnophonia is by student manager Cole (class of 2021) and features the music documentary film It Might Get Loud. Thanks, Cole!

It Might Get Loud (2008)

It Might Get Loud movie poster

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.

The Summit - production still

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.

An added bonus of the film’s three stars is consequentially broad appeal. If you are a fan of guitar-driven music, you’ll likely enjoy what’s offered here. It Might Get Loud is available to check out as a DVD from the Parsons Music Library and also from Boatwright Memorial Library. It is also available to stream online for those on the University network.

It Might Get Loud guitar poster

Parsons Playlists: Halloween 2020

Welcome to the third installment of Parsons Playlists, back after a hiatus and featuring a Halloween playlist from Music Library Associate, Melanie Armstrong.

Halloween 2020

Melanie says: “Since Halloween 2020 is going to be a bit … different, I – your friendly neighborhood Music Library Associate – made a playlist in that vein.
I’ve left out some of the more obvious Halloween playlist picks (like “Thriller“, or “Spooky“, or “Ghostbusters“), and hope you’ll enjoy this idiosyncratic selection! I’ve included some songs for the Halloween blue moon (the first Halloween blue moon since 1944) among other things.”

Otis Redding – “Trick or Treat”

Billie Eilish – “Bury A Friend”

billie eilish

The Cramps – “I Was A Teenage Werewolf”

Missy Elliott – “Get Ur Freak On”

Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On

The Marcels – “Blue Moon”

(This doo-wop version is arguably the most famous version of “Blue Moon”, but it was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934!)

King Harvest – “Dancing in the Moonlight”

blue moon

Electric Light Orchestra – “Strange Magic”

Squirrel Nut Zippers – “Hell”

Vintage Halloween Dance

Van Halen – “Runnin’ With The Devil”
(in tribute to Eddie Van Halen who passed away this month)

Talking Heads – “Psycho Killer”

The Police – “Murder By Numbers”

Halloween dogs

The White Stripes – “Little Ghost”

Louis Armstrong – “The Skeleton in the Closet”

Le Squellette Joyeux

The Divine Comedy – “The Happy Goth”

They Might Be Giants – “Dead”

Groovie Ghoulies – “(She’s My) Vampire Girl”

Black Cat and Jack O'Lantern

Yoko Ono – “Yes, I’m A Witch”

Eels – “My Beloved Monster”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer stake

Billy Joel – “The Stranger”
(a song about masks feels EXTRA appropriate at the moment … plus fun with metaphors!)

R.E.M. – “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”

And here it all is as a Spotify playlist for you:

Plus here’s a bonus (not available on Spotify) cheese-tacular Halloween artifact from the 1980s featuring the inimitable Tim Curry:

We sincerely hope that everyone has a safe & fun Halloween (despite the particular weirdness of 2020).

jack o lantern

YouTube playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU94rco57Zew8nvrzDii5yoNOsWmj69_s