United States on Music Theory Print

Acid house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Acid house’s minimalist sound combined house music’s ubiquitous programmed four-on-the-floor 4/4 beat with the electronic squelch sound produced by the Roland TB-303 electronic synthesizer-sequencer. The sound is commonly produced by raising the filter resonance and lowering the cutoff frequency of the synthesizer, along with programming the 303’s accent, slide, and octave parameters, to create variation in otherwise simple bass patterns. “Exploration of texture” is preferred over melody; “a refusal of the metaphysical priorities of western music discourse”. Other elements, such as synthetic strings and stabs, were usually minimal. Sometimes tracks were instrumentals, such as Phuture’s “Acid Tracks”, or contained full vocal performances, such as DJ Pierre’s Pfantasy Club’s “Fantasy Girl”, while others were essentially instrumentals complemented by the odd spoken word “drop-in”, such as Phuture’s “Slam”.

Acid rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definitions#

“Acid rock” is loosely defined. In 1969, as the genre was still solidifying, rock journalist Nik Cohn called it a “fairly meaningless phrase that got applied to any group, no matter what its style”. The term was originally used to describe the background music for acid trips in underground parties in the 1960s (e.g. the Merry Pranksters’ “Acid Tests”) and as a catchall term for the more eclectic Haight-Ashbury bands in San Francisco. The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia believed that acid rock is music you listen to while under the influence of acid, further stating that there is no real “psychedelic rock” and that it is Indian classical music and some Tibetan music “designed to expand consciousness”. The term has often been deployed interchangeably with “psychedelic rock” or “psychedelia”, particularly during the genre’s nascence. However, the distinction between the heavier “acid rock” and the more general or inclusive genre of “psychedelic rock” has been well established. Additionally, music critics later retroactively labelled the bridge between acid rock, hard rock and early heavy metal acts as “heavy psych”. When defined specifically as a hard rock variant of psychedelia, acid rock is distinguished as having evolved from the 1960s garage punk movement, with many of its bands eventually transforming into heavy metal acts. Percussionist John Beck defines “acid rock” as synonymous with hard rock and heavy metal. The term eventually encompassed heavy, blues-based hard rock bands. Musicologist Steve Waksman wrote that “the distinction between acid rock, hard rock, and heavy metal can at some point never be more than tenuous”.

African-American music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Historic traits#

Most slaves arrived in the Americas from the western coast of Africa. This area encompasses modern-day Nigeria, Mali, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Gambia and parts of Sierra Leone. Many of the characteristic musical forms that define African-American music have historical precedents. These earlier forms include: field hollers, beat boxing, work song, spoken word, rapping, scatting, call and response, vocality (or special vocal effect: guttural effects, interpolated vocality, falsetto, melisma, vocal rhythmization), improvisation, blue notes, polyrhythms (syncopation, concrescence, tension, improvisation, percussion, swung note), texture (antiphony, homophony, polyphony, heterophony) and harmony (vernacular progressions; complex, multi-part harmony, as in spirituals, doo-wop, and barbershop music). American composer Olly Wilson outlines “heterogeneous sound ideals” that define traditional and common patterns in African music, such as the use of timbre, pitch, volume and duration, and the incorporation of the body in making music. His findings include uses of call-and-response and the importance of interjections from the audience to express satisfaction or dissatisfaction. These heterogeneous sound ideals are also found in many other types of music. White people sometimes taught black slaves to play Western instruments such as the fiddle and violin. Since white colonizers viewed indigenous African religious practices that included drumming and dancing as idolatrous, the enslaved individuals conducted their music-infused religious ceremonies in private. During the eighteenth century, the slaves’ informal assemblies in praise houses and brush arbor meetings featured songs and chants such as the ring shout, a circular dance accompanied by chanting and handclapping. On occasion, the participants would enter into ecstatic trances. Paul Oliver, a Blues historian and historian of African American music and Samuel Charters, an American music historian, have suggested that the essential elements of the blues originated in the Sahel region of West Africa, brought over by Africans via the slave trade. Whereas the African slaves who were brought to South America and the Caribbean were largely from percussion based cultures in southern coastal west Africa (like southern Nigeria), central Africa and Bantu speaking parts of Africa, and lacked in many elements that created the blues, many of the slaves brought to North America were from the Sahel region and were much more familiar with stringed instruments basing the banjo on string instruments from the Sahel like akonting. Charters found that many Sahelian slaves were from Muslim cultures and favoured stringed, melodic, and melismatic solo singing, which differed from the drum-based group chanting music of other African regions. These traditions, which were sometimes permitted by plantation owners who feared drums as a tool of rebellion, thus evolved into the blues. The historian Sylviane Diouf and ethnomusicologist Gerhard Kubik identify Islamic music as an influence on blues music. Diouf notes a striking resemblance between the Islamic call to prayer (originating from Bilal ibn Rabah, a famous Abyssinian African Muslim in the early 7th century) and 19th-century field holler music, noting that both have similar lyrics praising God, melody, note changes, “words that seem to quiver and shake” in the vocal chords, dramatic changes in musical scales, and nasal intonation. She attributes the origins of field holler music to African Muslim slaves who accounted for an estimated 30% of African slaves in America. According to Kubik, “the vocal style of many blues singers using melisma, wavy intonation, and so forth is a heritage of that large Sahel region of West Africa that had been in contact with the Islamic world via the Maghreb since the seventh and eighth centuries.” African-American music is also influenced by European music and Native American music.

Afro-punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The term originated from the 2003 documentary Afro-Punk directed by James Spooner and Matthew Morgan. But, Afro-punk music has been around since the mid-70s with Pure Hell. Pure Hell was the first all-black punk band that originated in Philadelphia, PA. In addition, black people have been intertwined in the punk scene since its birth in the 1970s, with black-led bands such as X Ray Spex having connections and associations with key figures in the scene such as Johnny Rotten. During the late 90s, a series of feminist black punk concerts, under the moniker “Sista Grrrl Riots”, were performed in response to the lack of intersectionality found in the punk Riot Grrrl subculture. In the early 21st century, Afro-punks made up a minority in the North American punk scene. Notable bands that can be linked to the Afro-punk community include: Death, Pure Hell, Bad Brains, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Kennedys, Fishbone, Wesley Willis Fiasco, Suffrajett, The Templars, Unlocking the Truth, Rough Francis, MAAFA, Rebelmatic, WinterWolf, Meet Me at the Altar and The Paradox. In the United Kingdom, influential black musicians associated with the late 1970s punk scene included Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex, Don Letts, and Basement 5. Afro-punk has become a movement, comparable to the early hip-hop movement of the 1980s. The Afropunk Music Festival was founded in 2005 by James Spooner and Matthew Morgan.

Akron Sound

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In the late 1970s, following the international success of local band Devo, talent scouts combed the city. Soon, several compilation albums promoted the Akron Sound, a multifaceted music scene led by the Waitresses and Rachel Sweet, and many artists of regional prominence including the Numbers Band, Tin Huey, Liam Sternberg, Bizarros, and Rubber City Rebels. Local clubs that featured these bands included the Crypt and the Bank.

Legacy#

Photos, recordings, and artifacts are collected at The Akron Sound Museum in downtown Akron.

Alaskan hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Alaska as a whole has seen a steady increase in population across its metropolitan areas since the late 1970s. Despite the predominantly white ethnic background; communities of African-Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics have seen a notable rise as they emigrate from the continental United States in search of stable employment.

First wave#

In parallel with Alaska’s cultural renaissance, crime began to grow in numerous pockets of Anchorage in the 1990s and 2000s. As was similarly the key influence in such genres as gangsta rap and hardcore hip-hop, artists such as ‘Out Tha Cut (ODC)’, ‘Baydilla’ or ‘Joker the Bailbondsman’ with ties to known drug traffickers began to see a flourishing first wave scene of underground hip-hop among Anchorage’s black population in the late 1990s. The growth in the scene was ever present as Anchorage’s crime began to increase with the growth in population. By the late 2000s, Anchorage’s rap scene began to decline as federal attention began to shift towards numerous arrests in connection to crimes ranging from drug trafficking and murders.

Alternative metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

One of the main characteristics of alternative metal and its subgenres are heavily downtuned, mid-paced “chug”-like guitar riffs. However, funk metal bands often use a more conventional riffing style influenced by 1980s thrash metal. Alternative metal features clean and melodic vocals, Examples include alternative metal bands associated with the nu metal movement, such as Korn and Deftones, who have been described as having “bipolar vocals”. Jonathan Gold of the Los Angeles Times wrote in 1990 “Just as rock has an alternative, left wing-bands like the Replacements and Dinosaur Jr.-so does metal. Alternative metal is alternative music that rocks. And alternative metal these days can reach 10 times the audience of other alternative rock. Jane’s Addiction plays an intense brand of ’70s-influenced arty metal; so does Soundgarden. In fact, the arty meanderings of Sabbath and Zeppelin themselves would be considered alternative metal.” Houston Press has described the genre as being a “compromise for people for whom Nirvana was not heavy enough but Metallica was too heavy.” The first wave of alternative metal bands emerged from many backgrounds, including hardcore punk (Bad Brains, Rollins Band, Life of Agony, Corrosion of Conformity), noise rock (Helmet, the Jesus Lizard, Today Is the Day), Seattle’s grunge scene (Alice in Chains, Soundgarden), stoner rock (Clutch, Kyuss), sludge metal (Fudge Tunnel, Melvins), gothic metal (Type O Negative), groove metal (Pantera, White Zombie) and industrial (Godflesh, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry). These bands never formed a distinct movement or scene; rather they were bound by their incorporation of traditional metal influences and openness to experimentation. while Primus were influenced by progressive rock, and funk and Faith No More mixed progressive rock, R&B, funk and hip hop. Fudge Tunnel’s style of alternative metal included influences from both sludge metal and noise rock.

Alternative pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Alternative R&B

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

“Alternative R&B” was once used by the music industry during the late 1990s to market neo soul artists, such as D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and Maxwell. There has been a variety of discussion about the differing genre terms, with several critics describing the music under the broad category of “alternative R&B” or “indie R&B”. The term “hipster R&B” has been commonly used, as has the term “PBR&B”—a combination of “PBR” (the abbreviation for Pabst Blue Ribbon, a beer most recently associated with the hipster subculture) Three years later, amazed and distressed at how far the term—meant as a joke—had traveled, Harvey wrote an extensive essay about it for Pitchfork. Slate suggests the name “R-Neg-B”, as a reference to “negging”. The genre has sometimes been called “noir&B”. However, the terms are often criticized for “pigeonholing” artists into hipster subculture and being used in a derisive manner.

Alternative rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Record companies usually sign contracts with those entertainers who are thought to become the most popular and generate the most sales. In the past, these bands were able to record their songs in expensive studios, and their works were then offered for sale through record store chains that were owned by the entertainment corporations, along with eventually selling the merchandise into big box retailers. Record companies worked with radio and television companies to get the most exposure for their artists. The people making the decisions were business people dealing with music as a product, and those bands who were not making the expected sales figures were then excluded from this system. Before the term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sorts of music to which it refers were known by a variety of terms. In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term alternative to describe the groups he was writing about. In 1979 Dallas radio station KZEW had a late night new wave show entitled “Rock and Roll Alternative”. “College rock” was used in the United States to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the college radio circuit and the tastes of college students. In the United Kingdom, dozens of small do it yourself record labels emerged as a result of the punk subculture. According to the founder of one of these labels, Cherry Red, NME and Sounds magazines published charts based on small record stores called “Alternative Charts”. The first national chart based on distribution called the Indie Chart was published in January 1980; it immediately succeeded in its aim to help these labels. At the time, the term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records. By 1985, indie had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, rather than simply distribution status. The use of the term alternative to describe rock music originated around the mid-1980s; at the time, a music industry term for cutting-edge music was new music. In 1987, Spin magazine categorized college rock band Camper Van Beethoven as “alternative/indie”, saying that their 1985 song “Where the Hell Is Bill” (from Telephone Free Landslide Victory) “called out the alternative/independent scene and dryly tore it apart.” David Lowery, then frontman of Camper Van Beethoven, later recalled: “I remember first seeing that word applied to us… The nearest I could figure is that we seemed like a punk band, but we were playing pop music, so they made up this word alternative for those of us who do that.” DJs and promoters during the 1980s claim the term originates from American FM radio of the 1970s, which served as a progressive alternative to top 40 radio formats by featuring longer songs and giving DJs more freedom in song selection. According to one former DJ and promoter, “Somehow this term ‘alternative’ got rediscovered and heisted by college radio people during the 80s who applied it to new post-punk, indie, or underground-whatever music.” At first the term referred to intentionally non-mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by “heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave” and “high-energy dance anthems”. Usage of the term would broaden to include new wave, pop, punk rock, post-punk, and occasionally “college”/“indie” rock, all found on the American “commercial alternative” radio stations of the time such as Los Angeles’ KROQ-FM. Journalist Jim Gerr wrote that alternative also encompassed variants such as “rap, trash, metal and industrial”. That summer, Farrell had coined the term Alternative Nation. In December 1991, Spin magazine noted: “this year, for the first time, it became resoundingly clear that what has formerly been considered alternative rock—a college-centered marketing group with fairly lucrative, if limited, potential—has in fact moved into the mainstream.” In the late 1990s, the definition again became more specific. However alternative music has paradoxically become just as commercial and marketable as the mainstream rock, with record companies using the term “alternative” to market music to an audience that mainstream rock does not reach. Using a broad definition of the genre, Dave Thompson in his book Alternative Rock cites the formation of the Sex Pistols as well as the release of the albums Horses by Patti Smith and Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed as three key events that gave birth to alternative rock. Additionally, Rhys Wiliams of Loudersound observed, “musical genres collided more in the 90s than in any other decade, making ‘alternative’ rock ever harder to define.” Until the early 2000s, when indie rock became the most common term in the US to describe modern pop and rock, the terms “indie rock” and “alternative rock” were often used interchangeably; while there are aspects which both genres have in common, “indie rock” was regarded as a British-based term, unlike the more American “alternative rock”.

American art song

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

18th-century American art song#

Francis Hopkinson (1737–1791), Philadelphia native and signer of the Declaration of Independence, is usually considered the first important American song composer. His most famous song is “My Days Have been so Wondrous Free”, and his Seven Songs for the Harpsichord were composed in 1788 and dedicated to George Washington. Other 18th-century American song composers * Peter Von Hagen (1750–1803), Dutch born * Alexander Reinagle (1756–1809) * Benjamin Carr (1768–1831), English born * Gottlieb Graupner (1767–1836), German born, arrived in the U.S. in 1795 * Oliver Shaw (1779–1848)

American fiddle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Fiddle playing distinguished from violin playing#

Some folk fiddlers distinguish “fiddle” from “violin”, though this is far from universal - many classical violinists refer to their “fiddle”. Nevertheless, a few common differences may be observed;

Instrument#

Generally, the setup of the instruments is different: * Fiddle bridge top may be slightly flatter * String action height may be lower * Strings more often steel than synthetic or gut * Fiddle more commonly set up with pickup * Fiddle more commonly set up with four fine tuners; violinists more likely to use a single tailpiece E tuner

American folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early American folk music#

Most songs of the Colonial and Revolutionary periods originated in England, Scotland and Ireland and were brought over by early settlers. According to ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl, American folk music is notable because it “At its roots is an English folk song tradition that has been modified to suit the specific requirements of America.” Therefore, many American folk songs, such as those documented by the American folklorist Francis James Child in his catalogue of ballads known as the Child Ballads, can be traced back to their pre-colonial origins in the British Isles. For example, “Barbara Allen” remains a popular traditional ballad originating in England and Scotland, which immigrants introduced to the United States. The murder ballad “Pretty Polly”, indexed by another scholar of American folk music, George Malcolm Laws, is an American version of an earlier British song, “The Gosport Tragedy”. The oldest surviving folk song of local Anglo-American origin is the ballad “Springfield Mountain” dating back to 1761 in Connecticut. The typical instruments played in early American folk music were the fiddle, the guitar, the mandolin, the mouth organ, the fife, and the dulcimer, although guitars went through a significant change as the previously popular English guitar was replaced around the 1830s by the Spanish guitar. In addition to ballads, American colonials also imported numerous English country dance tunes, mainly jigs, reels, and hornpipes, which were played during community dances or contra dances. Some dance tunes as well as dances themselves were also adapted from Irish and Scottish sources. The musical collections Howe’s 1000 Jigs and Reels, Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, and 1000 Fiddle Tunes contain many of the dance tunes Americans and their colonial predecessors danced to for nearly two centuries. Popular dances that rose to prominence in America in the nineteenth century, which could be set to traditional dance tunes, were quadrilles, mazurkas, barn dances, redowas, marches, and polkas. Unlike the Northeast and New England, the Southeast had significant influence from African-American music and as a result instruments such as the banjo were widely adopted. However, English traditional music was still present in the Southeast with older Child ballads such as “Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor”, “The Maid Freed from the Gallows”, “Fair Margaret and Sweet William”, “The Wife of Usher’s Well”, “The Two Sisters”, and “Matty Groves” surviving alongside some English ballads also played in the Northeast like “Barbara Allen”. Popular broadside ballads in the Southeast were “Pretty Polly”, “Pretty Little Miss in the Garden”, “Knoxville Girl”, “Jack Monroe”, “The Sailor Boy”, “Awake, Awake You Drowsy Sleeper”, “Rich Irish Lady”, “The Nightingale”, “The Girl I Left Behind”, and “The Miller’s Will”. Notable songs written in Appalachia include “Little Mohea”, “John Hardy”, and “Omie Wise”. Unlike in the Northeast, Southeastern ballads of English origins tend to be appreciably altered with their lyrics shortened and smoothed out, reducing the number of stresses per stanza. Folk songs in the Midwest largely reflected the tastes of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. However, there were some ballads uniquely popular to the Midwest such as the broadside ballad “Mary of the Wild Moor” and the locally produced ballads namely “The Little Brown Bulls”, “Fuller and Warren”, “Charles Guiteau”, “Canady-I-O”, and “Paul Jones”. Many folk songs were also produced that were unique specifically to the Great Lakes region, evoking the area’s nautical culture. These include “It’s me for the Inland Lakes”, “Loss of the Persian”, and “The Buffalo Whore”. Farther west in states like Iowa, Kansas, the Dakotas, and Nebraska regional songs included “The Little Old Sod Shanty on the Claim”, “The Lane County Bachelor”, “Comin’ Back to Kansas”, “The Dreary Black Hills”, and “Dakota Land”. The famous “Ballad of Jesse James”, which celebrated the titular bank robber’s life, first appeared in Springfield, Missouri. Few Child or broadside ballads have been found in the Northwestern United States as the documented folk songs in the area are usually work songs connected to relatively recent folk experiences within the mining, lumber, and other industries of the nineteenth and twentieth century. Similar to the Northwest, older traditional ballads were far less common in the Southwest, with only “Barbara Allen” and “Lord Randal” being regional favorites. Popular local songs and ballads were, among others, “Texas Rangers”, “The Yellow Rose of Texas”, “Joe Bowers”, “Sweet Betsy from Pike”, “Ho for California!”, and “Buffalo Skinners”. Some songs entered the folk tradition through the flourishing American popular music industry. One such popular song that became a folk tune was “Old Dan Tucker” written by Dan Emmett.

American Indian opera

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Significance#

Unlike the “American Indianist” attempts to create operas with American Indian themes (see selected list below), with librettos written and music composed by non-Indians, The Sun Dance (1913) was a collaboration in which Zitkala-Sa contributed some of the music and libretto. For years, she received no credit. She had studied classical music. After teaching music and studying violin at Boston’s New England Conservatory of Music, Bonnin worked with Hanson in Utah to compose an American Indian opera. Bonnin performed and transcribed “Sioux melodies”, to which she and Hanson added harmonies and lyrics. Because American Indian melodies had been an oral tradition, trying to adapt them to use in an opera was, according to Warburton, “like forcing a proverbial square peg into a round hole.” Bonnin and Hanson successfully managed the transition. Ute singers and dancers performed in the opera, although the major roles were performed by European-American singers with opera training. But Hanson is generally credited as composer for the opera, and Tara Browner describes Zitkala-Sa as a contributor.

American march music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The true “march music era” succeeded in the United States from the 1850s to the 1920s, and persisted through the 1940s as it slowly became shadowed by the coming of jazz in the U.S. Earlier marches by Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven tended to be parts of symphonies or movements in suites. Despite its age and history and its popular performance in the U.S., European march music generally is not thought of as typically American music.

American patriotic music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Colonial Era#

Written by Founding Father John Dickinson in 1768 to the music of William Boyce’s “Heart of Oak”, “The Liberty Song” is perhaps the first patriotic song ever written in America. It contains the line “by uniting we stand, by dividing we fall”, which was an overture to the feelings of common blood and origin the Americans had while fighting the French and Indian War, and also the first recorded use of the sentiment. Additional songs gained prominence in keeping with British and American unity, namely “The British Grenadiers” and “God Save the King”. However, with the War of Independence, the tunes of the last two were combined with new lyrics while “Yankee Doodle”, long a tune and lyric addressed to the unique American population descended from the British, became widely popular. Political and cultural links between the colony and Great Britain perhaps explains the ongoing popularity of the two former tunes, despite the war for independence. “Hail Columbia” was written for George Washington’s inauguration. It served as an unofficial national anthem until 1931. It is still the vice presidential anthem today.

American primitive guitar

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Development#

John Fahey used the term “American primitive guitar” to describe the style of composition he developed in his releases from the 1950s onwards. Fahey employed traditional country blues fingerpicking techniques, which had previously been used primarily to accompany vocals, on solo guitar, in combination with nontraditional harmonic and melodic material. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, other musicians would become associated with the genre, including Leo Kottke. The style is similar to some forms of 20th-century classical music (particularly Minimalism), and the classical music of India. Besides Fahey, other notable representatives of this genre include Kottke, Robbie Basho, Bob Hadley, and Peter Lang, who released recordings on Fahey’s Takoma Records label. In the 1970s and 80s, some of the musicians of the genre have integrated new-age guitar techniques and have come to be broadly categorized into the New Acoustic genre. Potentially because the new age guitarist William Ackerman cited Fahey, Basho, and Kottke as influences, critics began to associate Fahey with new-age music. Fahey himself rejected any influence upon or responsibility for the genre, referring to it derisively as “hot tub music” and feeling that any association with New Age meant that he had failed as an artist. Peter Lang, a guitarist associated with the genre, described American primitive guitar, writing: “. . . The New Age people call it Folk; the Folk people call it New Age, but it is really neither. It’s transitional. The style is derived from the country blues and string band music of the ’20s and ’30s, however much of the music is contemporary. Fahey referred to it as ‘American Primitive’ after the ‘French Primitive’ painters, meaning untutored.”

American rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The foundations of American rock music are in rock and roll, which originated in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its immediate origins lay in a mixing together of various black musical genres of the time, including rhythm and blues and gospel music; in addition to country and western. In 1951, Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed began playing rhythm and blues music for a multi-racial audience, and is credited with first using the phrase “rock and roll” to describe the music. There is much debate as to what should be considered the first rock and roll record. One contender is “Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (in fact, Ike Turner and his band The Kings of Rhythm), recorded by Sam Phillips for Sun Records in Memphis in 1951. It has been argued that “That’s All Right (Mama)” (1954), Elvis Presley’s first major single for Sun Records was the first rock and roll record, but, at the same time, Big Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle & Roll”, later covered by Bill Haley, was already at the top of the Billboard R&B charts. Other artists with early rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gene Vincent. Soon rock and roll was the major force in American record sales and crooners, such as Eddie Fisher, Perry Como, and Patti Page, who had dominated the previous decade of popular music, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed.

Americana music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definition#

The term “Americana music” was defined by the Americana Music Association (AMA) in 2020 as “…the rich threads of country, folk, blues, soul, bluegrass, gospel, and rock in our tapestry.” A previous 2016 AMA definition of the genre included rhythm and blues, with additional comments that Americana music results “in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw. While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band.”

Anti-folk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In the United States#

Antifolk was introduced by artists who were unable to obtain gigs at established folk venues in Greenwich Village such as Folk City and The Speakeasy. In the mid-1980s, singer-songwriter Lach started The Fort, an after-hours club on NYC’s Rivington Street on the Lower East Side. The Fort’s opening coincided with the New York Folk Festival. Because of this, Lach dubbed his event the New York Antifolk Festival. Other early proponents of the movement included the Washington Squares, Cindy Lee Berryhill, Brenda Kahn, Paleface, Beck, Hamell on Trial, Michelle Shocked, Zane Campbell, John S. Hall, Roger Manning, Kirk Kelly, and Block. The original Fort was shut down in 1985 by the police, and because of this the club moved locations several times, including East Village bars Sophie’s and Chameleon, before settling in the back room of the SideWalk Cafe starting in 1993. Events have also taken place in the band shells in Tompkins Square Park and Central Park.

Appalachian music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

First immigrants: from the British Isles#

Immigrants from Northern England, the Scottish lowlands, and Ulster arrived in Appalachia in the 17th and 18th centuries (with many from Ulster being “Ulster Scots”, whose ancestors originated from parts of Southern Scotland and Northern England, including Cumberland), and brought with them the musical traditions of these regions, consisting primarily of English and Scottish balladswhich were essentially unaccompanied narrativesand dance music, such as reels, which were accompanied by a fiddle.

Art pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Art pop draws on postmodernism’s breakdown of the high/low cultural boundary and explores concepts of artifice and commerce. The style emphasizes the manipulation of signs over personal expression, drawing on an aesthetic of the everyday and the disposable, in distinction to the Romantic and autonomous tradition embodied by art rock or progressive rock. Sociomusicologist Simon Frith has distinguished the appropriation of art into pop music as having a particular concern with style, gesture, and the ironic use of historical eras and genres. Central to particular purveyors of the style were notions of the self as a work of construction and artifice, The Independents Nick Coleman wrote: “Art-pop is partly about attitude and style; but it’s essentially about art. It is, if you like, a way of making pure formalism socially acceptable in a pop context.” Cultural theorist Mark Fisher wrote that the development of art pop evolved out of the triangulation of pop, art, and fashion. Robert Christgau wrote in The Village Voice in 1987 that art-pop results “when a fascination with craft spirals up and in until it turns into an aestheticist obsession.”

Art rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

In the academic perspective of music critics, such as those for The New York Times, high art and pop music had increasingly engaged with each other throughout the second half of the 20th century. Historically, the term has been used to describe at least two related, but distinct, types of rock music. One usage refers to groups who rejected psychedelia and the hippie counterculture in favour of a modernist, avant-garde approach defined by the Velvet Underground. Essayist Ellen Willis compared these two types: Art rock frequently intertwines with “serious music”. Critic John Rockwell described the term as referring to wide-ranging and eclectic tendencies in rock music. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that “art rock” was frequently applied to strains of experimental rock music, including work by Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, Brian Eno, the Velvet Underground, and Frank Zappa. According to AllMusic, art rock is “more challenging, noisy and unconventional” and “less classically influenced”, with more of an emphasis on avant-garde music, depending on what was considered avant-garde at the time of the term’s use. “Art rock” is used synonymously with progressive rock They both describe a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility, Common characteristics include album-oriented music divided into compositions rather than songs, with usually complicated and long instrumental sections and symphonic orchestration.

Athabaskan fiddle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

In a sense, there are two main beginnings of Alaskan old-time music: the original introduction of fiddle music in 1847, and Alaska’s version of the great folk music revival in the 1970s. Athabaskan fiddle music has been cultivated in relative isolation from mainstream American country music. According to several accounts, the first fiddler on the Yukon River was a Hudson’s Bay Company employee named Antoine Hoole, who was among a trading party who established Fort Yukon, Alaska in 1847. His French Canadian influence likely helped spread the Anglo-Celtic music and dance tradition to the local Indians (First Nations and Métis), a rich tradition that continues today as a unique style of old-time music known as Athabaskan fiddle music. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, fiddle music blended with aboriginal singing and dancing and melodic choral singing of hymns introduced by Anglican and Catholic missionaries. This music developed largely in isolation, with only occasional injections of new influences, and today is its own unique style. Athabaskan old-time fiddling music represents a fusion of traditional Athabascan instrumental and vocal music with the songs and violin tunes brought to the region in the late 1840s by Hudson Bay Company traders from their homelands in Scotland, Ireland, the Orkney Islands and French Canada. The popular Gwich’in tune, The Red River Jig, almost certainly came from the Red River area of southern Manitoba. The gold rush such as the Klondike (1896–1899) of Canada and Nome (1899–1909) and Fairbanks (1902–1905) of Alaska in the latter days of the 19th century and early 20th century saw another wave of musical influences as the prospectors’ waltzes, jigs, schottisches, foxtrots, two steps, and square dances (running sets) were incorporated into this unique musical style.

Atlanta blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

External links#

“Southern Blues” in “Acoustic Guitar Magazine”

Atlanta hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In the 1980s and early 1990s Atlanta’s hip-hop scene was characterized by a local variant of Miami’s electro-driven bass music, with stars like Kilo Ali, MC Shy-D, Raheem the Dream, and DJ Smurf (later Mr. Collipark). produced by DJ Toomp; Jones was signed to controversial Southern hip-hop label Luke Records, run by Luther Campbell aka “Uncle Luke”. Arrested Development won a Grammy Award in 1992 with “Tennessee”, while Kris Kross won with their hit song “Jump”. The group Tag Team released their debut platinum certified album Whoomp! (There It Is) on July 20, 1993, spawned by their hit single of the same name. However, Organized Noize and Dungeon Family “cornerstone” Rico Wade, who even produced albums for Outkast, Goodie Mob and Future, was considered to be a major architect of Atlanta hip-hop. Numerous aspiring musicians and artists would in fact record music in the studio which was located in the basement of Wade’s mother, and which became known as the “Dungeon.” i.e. Southwest Atlanta, plus territory extending into the adjacent cities of College Park and East Point. The term “SWATS” came into vogue around 1996, initially made popular by Outkast and Goodie Mob. From the late 1990s to early 2000s, record producer Lil Jon became a driving force behind the hip-hop subgenre known as crunk, known for its upbeat and club-oriented hip-hop sound. Record producers L.A. Reid and Babyface founded LaFace Records in Atlanta in the late-1980s; the label eventually became the home to multi-platinum selling artists such as Toni Braxton, TLC, Ciara. It is also the home of So So Def Recordings, a label founded by Jermaine Dupri in the mid-1990s, that signed acts such as Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Xscape and Dem Franchise Boyz. The success of LaFace and SoSo Def led to Atlanta as an established scene for record labels such as LaFace parent company Arista Records to set up satellite offices. In 2009 The New York Times noted that after 2000, Atlanta moved “from the margins to becoming hip-hop’s center of gravity, part of a larger shift in hip-hop innovation to the South.” Atlanta hip-hop’s pop breakthrough—everyone from Jermaine Dupri to OutKast to Lil Jon—involved the blend of various distillations of hard-core sounds from the West, bass beats from Florida, and styles and images from the North. Producer Drumma Boy called Atlanta “the melting pot of the South”. Producer Fatboi called the Roland TR-808 (“808”) synthesizer “central” to the Music of Atlanta’s versatility, used for snap, crunk, trap, and pop rap styles.

Avant-funk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Artists described as “avant-funk” or “mutant disco” have blended elements from styles such as funk, punk, disco, freeform jazz and dub. Reynolds described avant-funk as “difficult dance music” and a kind of psychedelia in which “oblivion was to be attained not through rising above the body, rather through immersion in the physical, self loss through animalism.”

History#

Early acts who have retrospectively been described with the term include German krautrock band Can, American funk artists Sly Stone and George Clinton, and jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Herbie Hancock’s 1973 album Sextant was called an “uncompromising avant-funk masterpiece” by Paste. Jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman led the avant-funk band Prime Time in the 1970s and 1980s. Guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer, who performed with Coleman in the 1970s, was described by The New Yorker as “one of avant-funk’s masters.” According to Reynolds, a pioneering wave of avant-funk artists came in the late 1970s, when post-punk artists (including A Certain Ratio, the Pop Group, Gang of Four, Bush Tetras, Defunkt, Public Image Ltd, Liquid Liquid, and James Chance, as well as Arthur Russell, Cabaret Voltaire, Talking Heads, DAF, and 23 Skidoo) embraced black dance music styles such as funk and disco. Reynolds noted these artists’ preoccupations with issues such as alienation, repression and the technocracy of Western modernity. The artists of the late 1970s New York no wave scene, including James Chance, explored avant-funk influenced by Ornette Coleman. The 1981 album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Brian Eno and David Byrne was described as a masterpiece of avant-funk by Paste. The New York label ZE Records released the influential compilation Mutant Disco: A Subtle Discolation of the Norm in 1981, coining a new label for this style of hybridized dance music blending punk and disco. Later groups such as Skinny Puppy, Chakk, and 400 Blows represented later waves of the style. By the mid-1980s, avant-funk had dissipated as white alternative groups turned away from the dancefloor.

Baltimore club

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Early promoters of Baltimore club included Scottie B and his colleagues at Unruly Records. The Ensoniq ASR-10 keyboard sampler, released in 1992, was used to produce many tracks in the genre.

2000s#

In the mid-2000s, the genre gained crossover popularity in Baltimore’s rock underground due to dance nights at venues such as the Talking Head Club. Baltimore club was featured in Spin Magazine in December 2005. DJ K-Swift was known as a prominent personality in the genre. In addition to DJing at “Hammerjacks” and The Paradox, she hosted a radio show on WERQ-FM from 1998 until her death in 2008.

Banjo music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Banjo music originated informally as a form of African folk music over a hundred years ago probably in the sub-Saharan region. When the Americans forced African slaves to work on the plantations, banjo music followed them, and stayed primarily a form of African folk music, up to the 1800s. It was during this time that the banjo in all probability was first introduced to Ireland, when the Virginia Minstrels toured in England, Ireland and France in 1843, 1844 and 1845. With his minstrel shows, Joel Walker Sweeney is credited with extending the popularity of the banjo as well as its music to an enormous audience all over the United States and Europe. With the spread of popularity of the banjo, it influenced different kinds of music - it gave rise to mountain string bands, and even helped give a foundation for blues music. The occurrences of hootenannies gave a house to banjo music, where it made its place in American folk music and bluegrass. American television shows such as Hee Haw have made banjo music all the more popular, and more a part of American culture.

Barbershop music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ringing chords#

The defining characteristic of the barbershop style is the ringing chord, one in which certain overtones of the four voices reinforce each other, sometimes so strongly that the overtone is perceived by the listener as a distinct tone, even though none of the voices are perceived as singing that tone. This effect occurs when the chord, as voiced, contains intervals which have strongly reinforcing overtones (fifths and octaves, for example) that fall in the audible range; and when the chord is sung in perfect just tuning without excessive vibrato. Both of these characteristics are important in many styles of singing, but in barbershop there is an extreme emphasis on them that tends to override other musical values. For example, favored chords in the jazz style are characterized by intervals which do not audibly ring, such as diminished or augmented fifths. For another example, barbershop music is always a cappella, because the presence of fixed-pitch instruments (tuned to equal-temperament rather than just temperament), which is so highly prized in other choral styles, makes perfect just tuning of chords impossible. The physics and psychophysics of the effect are fairly well understood; it occurs when the upper harmonics in the individual voice notes, and the sum and difference frequencies resulting from nonlinear combinations within the ear, reinforce each other at a particular frequency, strengthening it so that it stands out separately above the blended sound. The effect is audible only on certain kinds of chords, and only when all voices are equally rich in harmonics and justly tuned and balanced. It is not heard in chords sounded on modern keyboard instruments, due to the slight tuning imperfection of the equal-tempered scale. Gage Averill writes that “Barbershoppers have become partisans of this acoustic phenomenon” and that “the more experienced singers of the barbershop revival (at least after 1938) have self-consciously tuned their dominant seventh and tonic chords in just intonation to maximize the overlap of common overtones.” However, “In practice, it seems that most leads rely on an approximation of an equal-tempered scale for the melody, to which the other voices adjust vertically in just intonation.” What is prized is not so much the “overtone” itself, but a unique sound whose achievement is most easily recognized by the presence of the “overtone”. The precise synchrony of the waveforms of the four voices simultaneously creates the perception of a “fifth voice” while at the same time melding the four voices into a unified sound. The ringing chord is qualitatively different in sound from an ordinary musical chord e.g. as sounded on a tempered-scale keyboard instrument. Most elements of the “revivalist” style are related to the desire to produce these ringing chords. Performance is a cappella to prevent the distracting introduction of equal-tempered intonation, and because listening to anything but the other three voices interferes with a performer’s ability to tune with the precision required. Barbershop arrangements stress chords and chord progressions that favor “ringing”, at the expense of suspended and diminished chords and other harmonic vocabulary of the ragtime and jazz forms. The dominant seventh-type chord is so important to barbershop harmony that it is called the “barbershop seventh”. BHS arrangers believe that a song should contain dominant seventh chords anywhere from 35 to 60 percent of the time (measured as a percentage of the duration of the song rather than a percentage of the chords present) to sound “barbershop”. Historically barbershoppers may have used the word “minor chord” in a way that is confusing to those with musical training. Averill suggests that it was “a shorthand for chord types other than major triads”, and says that the use of the word for “dominant seventh-type chords and diminished chords” was common in the late nineteenth century. A 1910 song called “Play That Barber Shop Chord” (often cited as an early example of “barbershop” in reference to music) contains the lines: ‘Cause Mister when you start that minor part I feel your fingers slipping and a grasping at my heart, Oh Lord play that Barber shop chord! Averill notes the hints of rapture, “quasi-religion” and erotic passion in the language used by barbershoppers to describe the emotional effect. He quotes Jim Ewin as reporting “a tingling of the spine, the raising of the hairs on the back of the neck, the spontaneous arrival of goose flesh on the forearm … the fifth note has almost mysterious propensities. It’s the consummation devoutly wished by those of us who love Barbershop harmony. If you ask us to explain why we love it so, we are hard put to answer; that’s where our faith takes over.” Averill notes too the use of the language of addiction, “there’s this great big chord that gets people hooked.” An early manual was entitled “A Handbook for Adeline Addicts”. He notes too that “barbershoppers almost never speak of ‘singing’ a chord, but almost always draw on a discourse of physical work and exertion; thus, they ‘hit’, ‘chop’, ‘ring’, ‘crack’, ‘swipe’, and ‘bust.’ Vocal harmony is interpreted as an embodied musicking. Barbershoppers never lose sight (or sound) of its physicality.”

Baroque pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

In classical music, the term “Baroque” is used to describe the art music of Europe approximately between the years 1600 and 1750, with some of its most prominent composers including J. S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi. Much of the instrumentation of baroque pop is akin to that of the late Baroque period or the early Classical period, chronologically defined as the period of European music from 1690 to 1760 and stylistically defined by balanced phrases, clarity and beauty. Baroque pop, stylistically, fuses elements of rock with classical music, often incorporating layered harmonies, strings, and horns to achieve a majestic, orchestral sound. Journalist Bob Stanley uses the term “English baroque” to describe a subset that existed between 1968 and 1973, after the genre’s more widespread presence in rock and pop. “Baroque rock” may be invoked as a synonym of “baroque pop” or as its own distinct term.

Bay Area thrash metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Exodus and Metallica#

The earliest documented roots of the Bay Area thrash scene date back to the formation of Exodus in 1979. By the time the group recorded their full-length album four years later, five different guitarists or bassists had already passed through the lineup, with some going on to join or form bands that were equally relevant to the area’s burgeoning metal scene. In November 1982, Exodus opened a show at San Francisco’s Old Waldorf venue for Metallica, a then-relatively unknown (and unsigned) band from Southern California who were recently discovered by Brian Slagel and had appeared on the first volume of his Metal Massacre compilation. Exodus (who were also unsigned at this time) had distributed an untitled demo the same year with a lineup that included guitarist Kirk Hammett. Although Metallica had initially formed in Los Angeles, it was not until their February 1983 relocation to the East Bay area that Cliff Burton formerly from Trauma joined as bassist, sealing the band’s first, formative lineup. The group (which then consisted of Burton, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Dave Mustaine) had moved into a Carlson Blvd. house in El Cerrito, near Albany Hill, which had been rented by Mark Whitaker, then-manager of Exodus. After Mustaine was removed from the lineup that same year, then-Exodus guitarist Hammett would replace him following Whitaker’s recommendation; in turn, Mustaine would move back to Los Angeles to form Megadeth. Metallica’s signing to Megaforce Records, the release of their first album and the songwriting process and rehearsals for Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets had all taken place while the group resided at Whitaker’s El Cerrito home.

Beach music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins: 1950s#

Historical accounts of beach music as it relates to the development of this dance are often conflicting, but most agree that the Ocean Drive section of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is where the beach/shag phenomenon had its greatest impact among vacationing teenagers and college students. The early development started around 1950. In the period from roughly the end of World War II through the mid-1950s, many white youth in the still-segregated South could not always hear the compelling music of primarily black popular recording artists in their home towns. At the time, much of these recordings were characterized as “race music”, a term later replaced by “R&B”. In some communities, this remained in effect even after racial desegregation was implemented in the region. However, young people flocked to the bars and pavilions of the Carolina beaches where the shag was gaining popularity, R&B instrumentals by artists such as Earl Bostic ruled the jukeboxes, and the “beach clubs” where R&B artists performed live also thrived. Even though toward the end of the 1960s more and more such clubs with similar jukebox selections and live band performances opened in locations other than the beach resorts, the term “Beach Music” which began to emerge in the mid-1960s, keyed off of the memorable experiences of dancing the shag to this music at venues by the sea. A major contributing influence upon this musical affinity beginning in the late 1950s was radio station WLAC in Nashville, Tennessee, which blanketed the Southeast with everything from R&B to blues and more. Stations with similar playlists began to emerge in the Carolinas and surrounding states throughout the late 1950s and the 1960s, increasing the popularity of the music across racial lines and contributing to the increasing popularity of the emerging new gospel-infused R&B sound, soul music.

Beatdown hardcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Beatdown makes use of low pitched, shouted vocals, downtuned guitars and thrash metal–inspired drum rhythms, putting a particular emphasis on breakdowns. Many bands make use of palm muted guitar riffs, influenced by slam death metal, in conjunction with hip hop-influenced vocals. According to Bandcamp Daily writer Kevin Warwick, after the 1990s the genre expanded from a specific style of metal-influenced hardcore to “encompass a larger variety of mosh-friendly, breakdown-fixated groups”, which includes both 1990s-style hardcore revivalists like Absolute Suffering and more metallic groups like Knocked Loose. One prominent characteristic of beatdown is its close association to hardcore crews particularly New York’s DMS and Boston’s Friends Stand United, to the extent that academic Jeff Purchla used the term “crew scene hardcore” to refer to the genre in his 2011 essay The Powers that be: Processes of Control in ‘Crew Scene Hardcore. Sociology academic Edgar M. Peralta defined crews as being people involved in hardcore scene who unify “based on reciprocal ties and varying interests, including non-criminal elements such as music or sports, but also including some criminal elements, which often include violence and graffiti”, specifically originating as a means to oppose the white supremacist currents in their scenes. Beatdown bands often make use of hip hop–inspired imagery, with logos being based on graffiti designs and band members wearing sagged pants and baseball caps on irregular angles.

Bebop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term “bebop” is derived from nonsense syllables (vocables) used in scat singing; the first known example of “bebop” being used was in McKinney’s Cotton Pickers’ “Four or Five Times”, recorded in 1928. It appears again in a 1936 recording of “I’se a Muggin’” by Jack Teagarden. Some researchers speculate that it was a term used by Charlie Christian because it sounded like something he hummed along with his playing. Dizzy Gillespie stated that the audiences coined the name after hearing him scat the then-nameless compositions to his players and the press ultimately picked it up, using it as an official term: “People, when they’d wanna ask for those numbers and didn’t know the name, would ask for bebop.” Another theory is that it derives from the cry of “Arriba! Arriba!” used by Latin American bandleaders of the period to encourage their bands. At times, the terms “bebop” and “rebop” were used interchangeably. (Although rebop differed from bebop with its more impressionist use of discordant chords.) By 1945, the use of “bebop”/“rebop” as nonsense syllables was widespread in R&B music, for instance Lionel Hampton’s “Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop”. The bebop musician or bopper became a stock character in jokes of the 1950s, overlapping with the beatnik.

Biker metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Biker metal has been described as being influenced by punk rock, rock and roll, heavy metal and blues. Sleazegrinder, a writer at Classic Rock, described biker metal as “glam metal gone Mad Max”. Biker metal is characterized by its mid-tempo approach to metal, its “gritty and American” sound, and its alignment with biker culture as a whole. The genre has been contrasted with slower and more operatic forms of metal, such as Judas Priest’s work in the early 2000s. Similarly, biker metal eschews the speed and virtuosity that rose to prominence in the 1980s. Bands such as Black Moth, Orange Goblin, The Obsessed, Earthride and Black Label Society have been described as fusing the style with doom metal, whereas Clutch have been described as merging elements of biker metal and Southern rock into their stoner rock sound. Black Sabbath’s song “Paranoid” has been considered a classic of the genre. Biker metal has proven influential to genres ranging from speed metal to hardcore punk and crust punk, and was integral to the development of extreme metal.

Black Gospel music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background: 18th century–late 19th century#

Black gospel music has roots in the Black oral tradition—the passing down of history via the spoken word rather than in writing. Griots performed in West Africa. In colonial America, where enslaved Africans were prevented from being formally educated, oral and otherwise non-written communication became the method not only for cultural patrimony, but for virtually all communication. Some of this communication (including work songs sung in the fields) was used to organize, including plans for retaliation against their enslavers and for escape. This eventually led to the banning of drums in many parts of colonial America, as well as other instruments related to West African patrimony. As such, most Black churches relied on hand- clapping and foot-stomping as rhythmic accompaniment. West African dance and ring shout traditions developed among early Black Christians into shouting, in which fast-paced gospel music is accompanied by equally rapid (often frenzied) dancing. (In its modern form, this is also known as a “praise break”.) This, along with the repetition and “call and response” elements familiar to West African music, helped to engender an ecstatic, trance-like state and to strengthen communal bonds. These elements also enabled illiterate members the opportunity to participate. Useful in the fields and in the church house, Negro spirituals (and the traditions associated with them) were the earliest form of Black gospel. In 1867, a compendium of slave songs titled Slaves Songs of the United States was issued by a group of Northern abolitionists. It is also the first such collection of African-American music of any kind, and included a number of early Black gospel songs, including “Down in the River to Pray” (then titled “The Good Old Way”). In 1871, the Fisk Jubilee Singers were formed, an a-cappella Black gospel ensemble formed to fundraise for Fisk University, an HBCU in Nashville.

Blue yodeling

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yodeling in the United States#

Yodeling seems to be an Alpine tradition in Europe. However, it became popular in large cities such as Vienna from around 1830 as an entertainment interlude in the Viennese suburban theaters and Singspielhalles and was only subsequently brought to the countryside by guest artists. Various immigrant groups also brought it to the United States as a seemingly traditional means of identification. The first encounter with Anglo-American musical styles is said to have taken place in the early 19th century, when British and Irish settlers met German-speaking immigrants in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. In Emma Bell Miles’ (1879–1919) 1905 collection of essays The Spirit of the Mountains, in which she describes life in the Southern Appalachians, yodeling is mentioned in several places, such as in the description of the difference between men and women:: “His first songs are yodels. Then he learns dance tunes, and songs of hunting and fighting and drinking, … Triggered by successful guest performances by Austrian and Swiss artists who called themselves “Tyrolese Minstrels” or “Alpine Minstrels”, for example, a steady rise in popularity can be traced from the 1830s onwards. Yodeling performances were often advertised as a special curiosity. Tom Christian, known as the “Yodeling Minstrel”, first appeared in public around 1847; the first recordings of a yodeler were made by L.W. Lipp in 1892. In 1905, the Swiss tenor Arnold Inauen made the first commercial recordings for Columbia Records, albeit still in the Alpine style. At the same time, a yodeling style developed in the environment of roving Minstrel and Vaudeville shows, which was particularly supported by African Americans and was strongly influenced by elements of the Blues, especially the so-called Delta Blues and the Jazz predecessor Ragtime. Outstanding representatives were Monroe Tabor (“The Yodeling Bell Boy”), Beulah Henderson (“America’s Only Colored Lady Yodeler”) or Charles Anderson (“The Yodeler Blues Singer”). In fundamental research, historians Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff have proven the influence of African-American artists and traditions in this area. This influence is said to lie, among other things, in typical inarticulate calls with simultaneous breaking of the voice, the field hollers, from which the so-called “black falsetto” has developed. The term falsetto refers to the falsetto voice. The Texan country traditionalist and passionate yodeller Don Walser later released his “Dixie Blues” paid homage to this legacy. The “blue yodel syntax”, Milton Brown, one of the pioneers of Western swing, formed his first band with two friends in 1927: The Three Yodeliers. The repertoire consisted mainly of barbershop and contemporary pop songs, but also some yodeling songs, including Emmett Miller’s “I Ain’t Got Nobody”. The further Brown’s personal style shifted towards jazz, the less he devoted himself to yodeling. Fleming and Townsend helped pioneer the blue yodel duet through harmonizing with each other’s yodels. With regard to the 1920s and early 1930s, the music journalist Nick Tosches distinguishes between various yodeling styles, including the “archaic 19th-century yodel”, the minstrel yodel and the minstrel yodel. Century", the minstrel show yodel, which he calls “fake blue yodel” and characterizes as a “Swiss yodel with black content”, and the pop-country yodel, as used by Jimmy Long in “Yodel Your Troubles Away” (1929). The “revival experience” of Wilf Carter can be considered exemplary for the development of yodeling. Around 1915, when he was about ten years old, he saw a Swiss yodeller at a cattle drive who appeared as an additional attraction at a performance of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and called himself “The Yodeling Fool”. Here, the character of the yodelling performance as a novelty and curiosity was still clearly recognizable, which did not really fit in with the theme of the actual performance. At the same time, however, it hinted at the incipient transformation it would undergo in the traveling shows.

Bluegrass fiddle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The beginnings of bluegrass music#

In the 1940s Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys revolutionized American string band music by incorporating virtuosic instrumental solos and a “high lonesome" vocal style. Bluegrass fiddling was first exposed to national view during the folk revival of the 1960s with the first televised documentary Bluegrass Roots: On The Road With Bluegrass Musicians shot in the Mountain of North Carolina by Bascom Lunsford while auditioning musicians for the Asheville Mountain Music Festival. It was the festival to feature this type of music. In recent years events have brought renewed interest in bluegrass fiddling: major mainstream performers have recorded bluegrass albums, and the Coen Brothers’ released the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? in (2000), with an old-time and bluegrass soundtrack, and the Down from the Mountain music tour.

Bluegrass music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Instrumentation#

The violin (also known as the fiddle), five-string banjo, guitar, mandolin, and upright bass (string bass) are often joined by the resonator guitar (also referred to as a Dobro) and (occasionally) harmonica or Jew’s harp. This instrumentation originated in rural dance bands and is the basis on which the earliest bluegrass bands were formed. The fiddle, made by Italians and first used in sixteenth century Europe, was one of the first instruments to be brought into America. It became popular due to its small size and versatility. They began receiving attention from white Americans when minstrel shows incorporated the banjo as part of their acts. The “clawhammer”, or two finger style playing, was popular before the Civil War. Now, however, banjo players use mainly the three-finger picking style made popular by banjoists such as Earl Scruggs. Meanwhile, a polyphonic pair of instruments playing in conversation, double banjos or twin banjos, is a bluegrass tradition upheld by artists like Tony Trischka. Guitars are used primarily for rhythmic purposes. Other instruments may provide a solo on top of the guitar during breaks, guitarists may also provide these solos on occasion. The instrument originates from eighteenth century Spain, but there were no American-made models until the C.F. Martin Company started to manufacture them in the 1830s. The guitar is now most commonly played with a style referred to as flatpicking, unlike the style of early bluegrass guitarists such as Lester Flatt, who used a thumb pick and finger pick. Bassists almost always play pizzicato, occasionally adopting the “slap-style” to accentuate the beat. A bluegrass bass line is generally a rhythmic alternation between the root and fifth of each chord, with occasional walking bass excursions. Instrumentation has been a continuing topic of debate. Traditional bluegrass performers believe the “correct” instrumentation is that used by Bill Monroe’s band, the Blue Grass Boys (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and bass). Departures from the traditional instrumentation have included dobro, accordion, harmonica, piano, autoharp, drums, electric guitar, and electric versions of other common bluegrass instruments, resulting in what has been referred to as “new grass.” Despite this debate, even Monroe himself was known to experiment with instrumentation; he once even used a string orchestra, choir, and pre-recorded bird-song track.

Blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term ‘Blues’ may have originated from “blue devils”, meaning melancholy and sadness. An early use of the term in this sense is in George Colman’s one-act farce Blue Devils (1798). The phrase ‘blue devils’ may also have been derived from a British usage of the 1600s referring to the “intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal”. As time went on, the phrase lost the reference to devils and came to mean a state of agitation or depression. By the 1800s in the United States, the term “blues” was associated with drinking alcohol, a meaning which survives in the phrase ‘blue law’, which prohibits the sale of alcohol on Sunday. In Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, he mentions “the blues” in the chapter reflecting on his time in solitude. He wrote his account of his personal quest in 1845, although it was not published until 1854. The phrase “the blues” was written by Charlotte Forten, then aged 25, in her diary on December 14, 1862. She was a free-born black woman from Pennsylvania who was working as a schoolteacher in South Carolina, instructing both slaves and freedmen, and wrote that she “came home with the blues” because she felt lonesome and pitied herself. She overcame her depression and later noted a number of songs, such as “Poor Rosy”, that were popular among the slaves. Although she admitted being unable to describe the manner of singing she heard, Forten wrote that the songs “can’t be sung without a full heart and a troubled spirit”, conditions that have inspired countless blues songs. Though the use of the phrase in African-American music may be older, it has been attested to in print since 1912, when Hart Wand’s “Dallas Blues” became the first copyrighted blues composition. In lyrics, the phrase is often used to describe a depressed mood.

Blues rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Blues rock can be characterized by bluesy improvisation, extended boogie jams typically focused on electric guitar solos, and often a heavier, riff-oriented sound and feel to the songs than found in typical Chicago-style blues. Blues rock bands “borrow ed the idea of an instrumental combo and loud amplification from rock & roll”. It is also often played at a fast tempo, again distinguishing it from the blues. Blues rock songs often follow typical blues structures, such as twelve-bar blues, sixteen-bar blues, etc. They also use the I-IV-V progression, though there are exceptions, some pieces having a “B” section, while others remain on the I. The Allman Brothers Band’s version of “Stormy Monday”, which uses chord substitutions based on Bobby “Blue” Bland’s 1961 rendition, adds a solo section where “the rhythm shifts effortlessly into an uptempo -time jazz feel”. The key is usually major, but can also be minor, such as in “Black Magic Woman”. One notable difference is the frequent use of a straight eighth-note or rock rhythm instead of triplets usually found in blues. An example is Cream’s “Crossroads”. Although it was adapted from Robert Johnson’s “Cross Road Blues”, the bass “combines with drums to create and continually emphasize continuity in the regular metric drive”.

Boogie (genre)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Boogie, following the example of post-disco, generally lacks the four-on-the-floor beat, the “traditional” rhythm of disco music; instead, the genre has a strong accent on the second and fourth beats, and tempo generally in the 110 to 116 beats-per-minute range. and predominantly draws from funk music. Other influences from a completely different music landscape include jazz. The term, coined by British DJs Norman Jay and Dez Parkes, had been used on eBay to refer a specific form of early-1980s dance music of African-American origin.

Boogie-woogie

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Musical features#

Boogie-woogie is characterized by a regular left-hand bass figure, which is transposed following the chord changes. : : Boogie-woogie is not strictly a solo piano style; it can accompany singers and be featured in orchestras and small combos. It is sometimes called “eight to the bar”, as much of it is written in common time () time using eighth notes (quavers) (see time signature). The chord progressions are typically based on I–IV–V–I (with many formal variations of it, such as I/i–IV/iv–v/I, as well as chords that lead into these ones). For the most part, boogie-woogie tunes are twelve-bar blues, although the style has been applied to popular songs such as “Swanee River” and hymns such as “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”. Typical boogie-woogie bassline: : :

Bosstown Sound

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pre-scene#

Prior to the Bosstown Sound, Boston had a burgeoning garage rock scene with bands such as the Remains, the Rising Storm, Teddy and the Pandas, and the Rockin’ Ramrods at the forefront. The most commercially successful group in the area was the proto-punk teen band the Barbarians, who reached the Billboard Hot 100 twice with the singles “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl” and “Moulty”. The heyday of these bands pre-dated the Bosstown Sound, and they did not have much involvement in the Sound’s development, with the notable exception of the album Basic Magnetism, by Teddy and the Pandas. The main problem was a lack of viable rock music venues to bring the groups together into a unified music scene. Also missing were the local and regional record labels often associated with a developing rock scene. Perhaps more evident in what grew into the Bosstown Sound was the city’s equally active folk scene which was led by key figures like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Mimi Farina. Their influences later emerged in the music by mainstay Bosstown bands Orpheus and Earth Opera. What became the genesis of the Bosstown Sound is said to exist, at least in rudimentary form, as early as June 1967, when journalist Mel Lyman’s first issue of Avatar was pressed. His newspaper carried an advertisement promoting a scheduled event, headlined by two of Boston’s earliest psychedelic rock bands, Ill Wind and the Hallucinations, at the Boston Tea Party. Ill Wind and the Hallucinations’ performances helped establish the Boston Tea Party as a must-go-to venue for the city’s psychedelic scene, and soon other like-minded musical acts—among them the Velvet Underground, the Peanut Butter Conspiracy, and Lothar and the Hand People—became frequent attractions. Journalist Earl Greyland described the Boston Tea Party’s importance in Boston After Dark: " It occurred on March 15, 1968, when, as the staid WBCN audience sat listening to its usual Muzak, the voice of Frank Zappa asked, ‘Are you hung up?’ and Cream launched into ‘I Feel Free’. That was the beginning of the American Revolution, a daily seven-hour program originating from the dressing room of the Tea Party. The combination of providing an established performance setting and radio exposure made the Tea Party a gig second in importance only to the Fillmore". Other psychedelic venues that contributed to the promotion of the underground music scene in Boston include the Psychedelic Supermarket, the Crosstown Bus, the Catacombs, and the Unicorn.

Bounce music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure#

Bounce is characterized by call-and-response-style party and Mardi Gras Indian chants and dance call-outs that are frequently hypersexual and controversial. These chants and call-outs are typically rapped over the “Triggerman beat”, which is sampled from the songs “Drag Rap” by the Showboys and “Brown Beats” by Cameron Paul. The original recording sampled by Paul was “Rock the Beat” by British rapper Derek B, produced by Simon Harris and released in early 1987 on the Music of Life British hip-hop label in the UK. The sound of bounce has primarily been shaped by the recycling and imitation of the Simon Harris produced “Drag Rap” beat: its opening chromatic tics, the intermittent shouting of the word “break”, the use of whistling as an instrumental element (as occurs in the bridge), the vocoded “drag rap” vocal and its brief and repetitive melody and quick beat (which were produced with use of synthesizers and drum machines and are easily sampled or reproduced using like-sounding elements). Typical of bounce music is the “shouting out” of or acknowledgment of geographical areas, neighborhoods and housing projects, particularly of the New Orleans area.

Brill Building (genre)

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List of artists#

1960s artists/songwriters Later artists * Roy Wood * Cindy Lee * Jessica Pratt

British Invasion

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Background#

The rebellious tone and image of American rock and roll and blues musicians became popular with British youth in the late 1950s. While early commercial attempts to replicate American rock and roll mostly failed, the trad jazz–inspired skiffle craze, with its do-it-yourself attitude, produced two top-ten hits in the US by Lonnie Donegan. Young British groups started to combine various British and American styles in different parts of the United Kingdom, such as the movement in Liverpool known as Merseybeat or the “beat boom”. While American acts were popular in the United Kingdom, few British acts had achieved any success in the United States prior to 1964. Cliff Richard, who was the best-selling British act in the United Kingdom at the time, had only one Top 40 hit in the US, with “Living Doll” in 1959. Along with Donegan, exceptions to this trend were the US number-one hits “Auf Wiederseh’n, Sweetheart” by Vera Lynn in 1952 (Lynn also had a lower-charting, but more enduring, hit in “We’ll Meet Again”), “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” by Laurie London in 1958, and the instrumentals “Stranger on the Shore” by Acker Bilk and “Telstar” by the Tornados, both in 1962. Also on the Hot 100, “Manhattan Spiritual” by Reg Owen and His Orchestra reached number ten in February 1959, Hayley Mills’ “Let’s Get Together” from The Parent Trap peaked number eight in October 1961, and in 1962, “Midnight in Moscow” by Kenny Ball reached number two in March, the Springfields’ version of “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” peaked at number twenty in September, and Frank Ifield’s “I Remember You” reached number five in October. Some observers have noted that American teenagers were growing tired of singles-oriented pop acts like Fabian and the “Bobby"s: Bobby Darin, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vee etc. The Mods and Rockers, two youth “gangs” in mid-1960s Britain, also had an impact in British Invasion music. Bands with a Mod aesthetic became the most popular, but bands able to balance both (e.g., the Beatles) were also successful.

Brooklyn drill

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History#

Brooklyn drill music first gained attention with the 2014 single “Hot Nigga” from the rapper Bobby Shmurda. The music became more popular and associated with UK drill production (from producers such as 808Melo, AXL Beats, and Ghosty) with the releases of 22Gz’s “Suburban” in 2016 and Sheff G’s “No Suburban” in 2017. Both songs went viral and were credited for the rise of Brooklyn drill. Brooklyn drill music reached mainstream Billboard Hot 100 success with tracks from Pop Smoke (“Welcome to the Party”, “Dior”, and “Gatti”) and Fivio Foreign (“Big Drip” and “Demons”). Pop Smoke was nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award for “Dior.” After Pop Smoke’s 2020 murder in the Hollywood Hills, Brooklyn drill would continue to evolve. With the groundwork Pop Smoke laid, the broader drill scene of Brooklyn began to emerge. One example is Staten Island rapper CJ, whose hit song “Whoopty” is reminiscent of the Brooklyn drill sound.

Brown-eyed soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Critic Ruben Molina said roots of chicano soul music were from the 1950s jazz, blues, doo wop, jump blues, latin jazz, rock, ranchera, norteno, and conjunto music in the West Coast, Texas Latino communities. Latino artists drew inspiration from African American R&B hits, and as a result, Latino soul came out of African American soul music; Latino soul and R & B were further influenced by Afro-Latin American music, including but not limited to Afro-Spanish-Caribbean origin. Early artists owed little to traditional Latino and rarely performed in Spanish. Hispanic rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens, also became one of the first artists to bridge traditional music and rock and roll. Valens recorded “Donna”, " La Bamba", “Come On, Let’s Go”, and “Donna” reached #2 on Billboard pop chart in 1959. 1960s and 1970s bands such as Cannibal & the Headhunters (“Land of a Thousand Dances”) and Thee Midniters played R&B music with a rebellious rock and roll edge. Sunny and the Sunliners were also popular in the 1960s. However, the large Latino population on the West Coast began gradually moving away from energetic R&B to romantic soul, and the results were “some of the sweetest soul music heard during the late ’60s and ’70s.” Latino groups on the West Coast and Texas also drew from the doo wop-influenced Philadelphia soul (“Philly” soul). The West Coast Latin rock scene continued to influence other Latino soul musicians as well.

Cachi Cachi music

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Etymology#

Cachi cachi music is what the people in Hawaii, who heard the Puerto Ricans playing their own music, called it. It needed a name and the people of Hawaii, specifically the Japanese plantation workers called it cachi cachi according to oral tradition- video recordings by Onetake2012 and research done by Ted Solis, an ethnomusicologist. The Puerto Ricans, who only spoke Spanish and no English, worked alongside immigrants from the Philippines, China, but in one location their “camp” was next to the Japanese camp. and when the Japanese heard their music, they said it sounded “scratchy”. The relationships between the Japanese and Puerto Ricans working on the plantations, didn’t used to be good. They lived near one another and the Puerto Ricans felt disrespected when the Japanese walked around naked or almost naked for their baths. Sometimes fights would break out.

Cajun fiddle

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Cajun music#

Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin. These French Louisiana sounds have influenced American popular music for many decades, especially country music, and have influenced pop culture through mass media, such as television commercials. It is an aural tradition dating past the Acadian conquest of southwest Louisiana after their displacement from Nova Scotia, whence they brought a rich musical tradition. Blues fiddle has been directly influential in the development of Cajun fiddling, as with all music in the New Orleans music scene, and even proto-bluegrass influences from early American balladry.

California sound

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The genesis of the California sound is said to be the Beach Boys’ debut single “Surfin’” in 1961. While the band’s leader Brian Wilson then collaborated with Jan Berry for several hit singles written and produced for other artists, they recorded what would later be regarded as the California sound. University of Southern California history professor Kevin Starr has stated that the band was historically important for embodying the era of the Silent Generation, which he described as unpolitical. He explained that the group “could not help but mythologize a landscape and way of life that was already so surreal, so proto-mythic, in its setting. Cars and the beach, surfing, the California Girl, all this fused in the alembic of youth: Here was a way of life, an iconography, already half-released into the chords and multiple tracks of a new sound.” The California sound was thus a musical translation of the California myth. In the book Pioneers of Rock and Roll: 100 Artists Who Changed the Face of Rock, Harry Sumrall summarized: The Beach Boys’ surf music was not entirely of their own invention, being preceded by artists such as Dick Dale. However, previous surf musicians did not project a worldview as the Beach Boys did. Wilson once said of its myth: “It’s not just the surfing; it’s the outdoors and cars and sunshine; it’s the society of California; it’s the way of California.” Al Jardine of the Beach Boys argued that “It’s not entirely a myth. There are still some elements that are certainly true, especially for a first-time observer. But to be able to come here and to drive that coast on Route 1 … you experience the water and the animals and the sea life, the whole thing. It’s really magical. It really is.” Capitol Records staff producer Nick Venet, who worked with the group early on, believed that most of the group’s lyrical inspiration was drawn from Hollywood films. AllMusic’s review of the group’s “All Summer Long” calls it a “potent example” of the California myth’s “idyllic dream world of sun, surf, and fun” while containing qualities of sunshine pop. Author Luis Sanchez believes that the entirety of the album All Summer Long (1964) was “the nearest the Beach Boys ever got to a perfect version of the California myth.” David Howard wrote that “Don’t Worry Baby” was a “subtle harbinger for the growing dichotomy within the California sound. While ‘I Get Around’ symbolized the sunshine ideal in all its carefree splendor, ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ suggested something entirely more pensive and even slightly dark underneath its pristine facade.”

Chicago blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and Influences#

Chicago blues evolved from rural Delta blues following the Great Migration, or the Great Northern Drive, which was both forced and voluntary at times, of African Americans from the southern U.S. to the industrial cities of the north, such as Chicago. Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters directly joined that migration, like many others, escaping the harsher southern Jim Crow laws and in search of better jobs and a more promising life in the North. Bruce Iglauer, founder of Alligator Records stated that, “Chicago blues is the music of the industrial city, and has an industrial sense about it.” Additionally, recognizing the shift in blues, Chicago blues singer and guitarist Kevin Moore expressed the blues transition stating, “You have to put some new life into it, new blood, new perspectives. You can’t keep talking about mules, workin’ on the levee.” Chicago blues was heavily influenced by Mississippi bluesmen who traveled to Chicago in the early 1940s. Moving from the rural, agrarian South to the urban, industrial North, the country style of Delta blues was no longer suited to the metropolitan culture of Chicago or the modern, working-class African American audiences. Thus, the formation of a new sound in the Chicago blues was a direct product of the Great Migration.

Chicago hardcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins (1980s)#

Naked Raygun, Big Black and the Effigies were popular at the emerging of the hardcore scene. These acts have also been seen as important to the development of the post-hardcore genre, as well as for fusing the hardcore sound with influences from the late 1970s and early 1980s British post-punk scene During the 1980s, the majority of Chicago hardcore shows were held at Medusa’s, at 3275 North Sheffield Avenue. Many of these events were organized by promoter Sean Duffy, who employed physically abusive security and inflated prices. At a Duffy organised event headlined by a number of Revelation Records in the Summer of 1989, the bands were paid insufficiently. After word spread of this, many touring bands refrained from playing the city. In reaction, Ben Weasel started booking shows at Durty Nelly’s in Palatine which instead became the centre of the local scene. By the end of the decade, touring bands began playing the area again, instead playing Mcgregor’s in Elmhurst.

Chicago house

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Disco edits#

Following Chicago’s Disco Demolition Night in mid-1979, disco music’s mainstream popularity fell into decline. In the early 1980s, fewer and fewer disco records were being released, but the genre remained popular in some Chicago nightclubs and on at least one radio station, WBMX-FM. In this era, Chicago radio jocks The Hot Mix 5, and club DJs Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles played various styles of dance music, including older disco records, newer Italo disco, electro, EBM tracks, B-boy hip hop music by Man Parrish, Jellybean Benitez, Arthur Baker and John Robie as well as electronic pop music by Kraftwerk, Telex and Yellow Magic Orchestra. Some of these DJs also made and played their own edits of their favorite songs on reel-to-reel tape, focusing on the portions of songs which worked well on the dancefloor. Some even mixed in effects, drum machines, and other rhythmic electronic instrumentation in an effort to give songs more appeal. These edits and remixes were rarely released to the public, and even then were available only on privately pressed vinyl records or on mixtapes.

Chicago no wave

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In the early-to-mid-1990s, Weasel Walter began to describe his bands and the bands they played with as “Chicago no wave.” These acts formed the growing Wicker Park underground rock scene and included Walter’s own band the Flying Luttenbachers, Scissor Girls, Trenchmouth, and Quintron. Milk of Burgundy, According to Walter, the beginning of the Chicago no wave era was marked by a well-attended concert at the Czar Bar in Chicago on the 29th of January 1993. The concert featured the Flying Luttenbachers, Scissor Girls, and Trenchmouth. It was attended by 800 people. and Weasel Walter. In the mid-1990s, an audio documentary about the Chicago no wave scene was produced by Burke Patten. It was later remastered and edited by Weasel Walter in 2012. The documentary featured speakers like Walter, Bobby Conn, James Marlon Magas, Kelly Kuvo, and Kevin Drumm and music by artists like Bobby Conn, the Flying Luttenbachers, Math, Duotron, Scissor Girls, and others. In the documentary, Weasel Walter stated:

Chicago soul

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Notable labels#

A variety of labels in the city during the 1960s and 1970s contributed to the Chicago soul sound, most notably Vee-Jay, Constellation Records, Chess Records, Mercury Records, OKeh, ABC-Paramount, One-derful, Brunswick and its Dakar Records subsidiary, and Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom label.

Vee-Jay#

Vee-Jay Records was Chicago’s pioneer soul label. In 1958 it produced the first recognized soul hit in Chicago, Jerry Butler and The Impressions’ “For Your Precious Love.” The company, before it went bankrupt in 1966, produced under A&R director Calvin Carter, many notable soul acts in the Chicago soft soul idiom, notably Butler (best known for “He Will Break Your Heart”), Betty Everett (“The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss)”), Dee Clark (“Raindrops”), and Gene Chandler (“Duke of Earl”). Vee Jay was also the first American record label to sign and record The Beatles in the U.S in 1962. The label released several singles but were unsuccessful in scoring a major hit. In 1964 Vee-Jay released The Beatles’ first U.S. album titled Introducing… The Beatles. After having management issues at the label and a shortage of funds, the label could not promote the record and give it the push that was needed. So the label was forced to release the group.

Chicano rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Chicano Rap originated during the late 1980s and early 1990s within Mexican-American communities in Los Angeles and later expanded on to other Chicano communities across the United States. As a result, artists began to create lyrics that shared the stories of the many realities and experiences Chicanos faced throughout the United States. Many Chicano rap songs focused on themes such as discrimination, poverty, gang violence, immigration, police surveillance, barrio life, and cultural pride. Chicano rappers used bilingual lyricism to share stories of the Chicano communities and experiences. (Mcfarland, 2006; Mausfeld, 2019).

Chicano rock

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History#

In places such as San Antonio, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and Dallas and Houston, Texas, the African-American audience was very important to aspiring Latino musicians, and this kept their music wedded to authentic R&B. DJ Dick Hugg (aka Huggie Boy) and radio station KRLA 1110 played a big role in promoting this music. Chicano rock music was also influenced by the Doo-wop genre, an example being the song “Angel Baby” by the Chicana fronted group Rosie and the Originals. Don Tosti’s Pachuco Boogie, recorded in 1948, was the first Chicano million-selling record, a swing tune featuring Spanish lyrics, using hipster slang called Calo. Lalo Guerrero arrived in Los Angeles in the late 1930s and found that L.A. was “bursting with ambition”. Lalo and his friend captured their spirit in music by mixing swing and boogie-woogie in a cross-cultural, dialogue between African American, Anglo, and Mexican American influences. The 1950s brought rhythm and blues and the roots of rock ’n’ roll. The Mexican Americans were among the first to catch the beat and introduced a Latin flair to early rock music. The 1958 hit song “Tequila!” was written and sung by the saxophone player Danny Flores (not to be confused with Danny David Flores, a former member of Renegade) and performed by The Champs. Flores, who died in September 2006, was known as the “Godfather of Latino Rock.” In the early to mid-1960s, Latin music was most welcoming to the American audience in the United States because of the popularity in genres like bossa nova, bugalú, mambo. At the same time, artists did not fit neatly into the narrow confines of early rock. Trini Lopez, an artist who found success in the folk scene blended folk and pop influences. He scored a major hit with “If I Had a Hammer” in 1963. He later recorded the traditional Mexican song “Corazón de Melón”. In the mid-1960s, the British Invasion took over with bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones dominated charts and shifted public taste, and this is when Lopez’s upbeat music began to seem outdated. In the 60s, there was an explosion of Chicano rock bands in East Los Angeles and Texas. Sunny & the Sunglows produced several regional hits during the 1960s but is best remembered for its 1963 Number 11 Billboard hit “Talk to Me, Talk to Me”. They hold the distinction of being the first all-Mexican American group featured on American Bandstand. Their versions of “Rags to Riches” (Tony Bennett) and “Out of Sight-Out of Mind” (The Five Keys) also reached the Billboard Hot 100. Another group to appear on American Bandstand as well as open for The Rolling Stones, was The Premiers with their hit rendition of a Don and Dewey song called “Farmer John”. It featured the beat from the popular hit, Louie, Louie, which was in turn based on a Latino song, El Loco Cha Cha. Richard Berry, credited with writing Louie, Louie, drew inspiration to record the song after listening to an R&B rendition of El Loco Cha Cha performed by the Latin R&B group ‘Rhythm Rockers’ led by Mexican-Filipino American brothers, Rick and Barry Rillera. The Rillera brothers would go on to record and perform with The Righteous Brothers. The British Invasion challenged all American musicians, not just Chicanos. East Los Angeles witnessed a surge of creativity, and a renaissance of art, music and politics. Leading the way in music was the band Cannibal & the Headhunters, composed of five young men from the projects who recorded a national hit, “Land of a Thousand Dances”, and almost overnight found themselves opening for the Beatles on the British superstars’ 1965 tour. That same year, Thee Midniters hit the charts with “Whittier Blvd.”, an anthem to East L.A.’s most famous street, the home of a late-night cruising scene that expressed the California car culture that Mexican Americans were making their own. Also in 1965, the Chicano led Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs released the international hit “Wooly Bully” which would go on to sell three million copies. Penned by frontman Domingo “Sam” Samudio, it holds the distinction of being the first American record to sell a million copies during the British Invasion era. In 1966, the Mexican American garage band ? and the Mysterians scored a number one hit with the song “96 Tears”. The Sir Douglas Quintet is said to have made the most ‘English’ sounding American music of the Beatlemania period (actually since the English were playing music that was more rooted in R&B than many white Americans of that time, the Quintet were actually sounding ‘English’ by keeping to an all-American R&B/Country sound). Indeed, producer Huey P. Meaux put the Sir in the group’s name to emphasize the connection, but that was more a marketing change than a musical one. The Sir Douglas Quintet was from central Texas, and some of its members were Latinos. However, the group’s lead singer, Doug Sahm, was not of Mexican descent. Sahm was so thoroughly immersed in Tejano culture, that he later recorded an album under the name Doug Saldaña. Despite the musician’s efforts to make the group appear to have emerged from the British Invasion, scholars have noted that the group’s clear Tejano influences and accordion based slowed down polka rhythms give the band a Chicano rock title. In the late 1960s and 1970s, when civil rights and the Vietnam War were compelling issues, young Mexican American proudly called themselves Chicanos—which was once considered as a derogatory term—and many took to the streets to stand up for their rights. Chicano duo Cheech and Chong released novelty single “Basketball Jones” (1973) and hit “Earache My Eye” (1974). Bands like El Chicano, Malo, Azteca, Tierra, and Sapo (1974) created new music that “said something” about Chicano heritage and their struggles for equality and justice. The trend of Chicano rock mirrored what was happening on college campuses as well. The rise of Chicano Studies departments, which offered courses in Chicano literature, politics and culture, affected college students and musicians tremendously. Musicians rebelled against the “old world” and adopt the Mexican and Latin American styles in their own music. Linda Ronstadt is a versatile singer who traversed multiple genres. She gained national hits such as “You’re No Good” (1975), “It’s So Easy”, “Blue Bayou” (1977), “Back in the USA” (1978), and “Hurt So Bad” (1980) in the 1970s and ’80s. Ronstadt was nurtured by her Mexican American family whose musical roots run deep in the Mexican border region of Tucson, Arizona. Ronstadt holds dear the memory of childhood serenades by “The Father of Chicano Rock,” Lalo Guerrero, a close family friend. Ronstadt’s great-aunt Luisa Espinel gained international popularity interpreting Spanish and Mexican song and dance in the 1930s. Among the most popular female pop singers, Ronstadt has been described as an influential Chicana musician, with scholars noting her extensive discography and career spanning over forty years.

Chicken scratch

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Chillwave

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Musical origins#

Chillwave has been classified as psychedelia, Boards of Canada, whom Abebe says pre-chillwave music was often compared to, The Paw Tracks record label, which distributed Pink’s albums, was run by Animal Collective, who signed Pink after being impressed by a CD of his home recordings, starting with The Doldrums (2000). Uncuts Sam Richard profiled Pink as “a lo-fi legend” whose “ghostly pop sound” proved influential to chillwave acts such as Ducktails and Toro y Moi. Critic Adam Harper disputed Pink’s “godfather of chillwave” status, writing that his influence on lo-fi scenes has been somewhat overstated, explaining that his music lacks “the mirror-shades-cool synth groove of chillwave … Pink’s albums are zany, personal, largely rock-based and dressed in awkward glam”. Discussing chillwave’s bedroom pop precursors, Allene Norton of Cellars opined that Pink is “definitely not chillwave but that kind of stuff influenced a lot of the artists making it, like Washed Out.” The album influenced a wide range of subsequent indie music, with its sound serving as the major inspiration for chillwave and a number of soundalikes. Animal Collective itself also contributed to the movement. Their album Merriweather Post Pavilion, released in January 2009, was particularly influential for its ambient sounds and repetitive melodies, but was not as tightly associated with the “hazy” psychedelia that chillwave was identified with. According to Flavorwires Tom Hawking, chillwave acts extrapolated “the sort of ill-defined pastoral nostalgia” from Animal Collective’s early work “and spun it into an entire genre.”

Choral music of Washington, D.C.

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Choral organizations#

Note - this section does not discuss particular scholastic / university or church ensembles unless they are independently notable.

Symphonic choruses#

Unlike many American cities, Washington, D.C., features several independent (i.e., non-orchestra-controlled) symphonic choruses, including three major organizations with annual budgets exceeding $1 million. The Choral Arts Society of Washington presents an annual concert series at the Kennedy Center, performs frequently with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), and in recent years has performed with prominent symphony orchestras from Philadelphia, Baltimore, London, Russia (Mariinsky), and China (Qingdao). It regularly participates in nationally televised events such as the Kennedy Center Honors and A Capitol Fourth. It also tours internationally every 3–4 years, including a landmark tour to Russia in 1993 with Mstislav Rostropovich and the NSO, two trips to the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy in 1993 and 2001, opening the BBC Proms in London in 2002, performing with Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra in 2008, and a visit to China with the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra in 2015. The Choral Arts Society is the largest choral organization by budget in the Washington area. The organization also includes a vocal chamber ensemble. The Washington Chorus, previously known as the Oratorio Society of Washington, is directed by Dr. Eugene Rogers and dedicated to reframing classic choral repertoire, revitalizing overlooked or underrepresented works, and commissioning new music. It is the largest chorus in Washington D.C, with over 220 singers on its roster. TWC regularly partners with the National Symphony Orchestra (over 300 performances), Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and National Philharmonic, with regular Kennedy Center performances and several international tours, most recently in 2024 to Argentina. In 2000, the chorus (then led by Robert Shafer) received the Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for its live recording of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem. TWC was the first major Washington area chorus to be founded independent of a church or college, and the first major symphonic chorus in the United States to be directed by an African-American. The Cathedral Choral Society is the oldest symphonic chorus in Washington, founded in 1941 by Paul Callaway and directed by J. Reilly Lewis from 1985 to 2016. It performs primarily at the Washington National Cathedral but also appears regularly at the Kennedy Center and other local venues. Finally, the City Choir of Washington was established under the direction of Robert Shafer in 2007 in the wake of his departure from the Washington Chorus. In Virginia, the 120-voice Fairfax Choral Society has been a community institution since 1962. The Choralis Foundation, founded in 2000 in Falls Church, supports a symphonic chorus and four other auditioned choirs of various types The 200-voice New Dominion Chorale (founded in 1991) performs symphonic repertoire, but is structured as a “singers’ cooperative” and does not require auditions to participate.

Classic country

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Repertoire#

The classic country radio format can actually be divided into two separate formats. The first specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1990s, and focuses primarily on innovators and artists from country music’s Golden Age, including Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Kitty Wells, Charley Pride, Tammy Wynette, and Johnny Cash. The other focuses on hits from the 1990s and 2000s, some pre-1990s music, latter-day Golden Age stars and innovators such as Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Paycheck, Kenny Rogers, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Merle Haggard, to newer recurrent hits from neotraditional country and honky-tonk artists such as George Strait, Reba McEntire, Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and Randy Travis.

Classic female blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

Blues, a type of black folk music originating in the American South, were mainly in the form of work songs until about 1900. Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (1886–1939), known as “The Mother of the Blues”, is credited as the first to perform the blues on stage as popular entertainment when she began incorporating blues into her act of show songs and comedy around 1902. Rainey had heard a woman singing about the man she had lost, learned the song, and began using it as her closing number, calling it “the blues”. Rainey’s example was followed by other young women who followed her path in the tent show circuit, one of the few venues available to black performers. Most toured through a circuit established by the black-owned Theatre Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) on the East Coast and through the South as far west as Oklahoma. A key figure in popularizing the blues was the composer W. C. Handy, who published the first of his blues songs in 1912. His compositions, notably “The Memphis Blues” and “St. Louis Blues”, quickly became standards for blues singers. By the end of the 1910s, blues songs had become staples of Black stage shows. Songs modeled on Handy’s were also performed and recorded by white vaudevillians, such as Sophie Tucker.

Cloud rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

In 2010, music blogger Walker ‘Walkmasterflex’ Chambliss coined the term “cloud rap” in a blogspot post describing the music of Main Attrakionz member Squadda B, whom he labelled “the king of cloud rap”. Chambliss thought he was using a phrase from a 2009 interview by music writer Noz, where rapper Lil B showed him a CGI image of a castle in the clouds and said “that’s the kind of music I want to make.” He later used the term for the Space Age Hustle blog’s compilation album, 3 Years Ahead: The Cloud Rap Tape released in 2010, which helped popularize the genre. The label “cloud” denotes distinct characteristics of the genre such as its “hazy”, ethereal aesthetic (in terms of both aural and visual expression) and its ambiguity as a genre without clearly defined borders.

College rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

An outgrowth of hardcore punk, college rock originated less as a genre term and more as a signal of the medium — college radio — by which college rock acts were often heard. As a result, the genre featured a high degree of diversity and eclecticism, meaning that “on college radio … screaming noise, retro country, avant-garde electronics, and power pop could coexist, linked by cheap-sounding singles recorded by local bands.”

Conjunto

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mexican#

Mexican conjunto music, also known as conjunto tejano, was born in south Texas at the end of the 19th century, after German settlers introduced the button accordion. The bajo sexto has come to accompany the button accordion and is integral to the conjunto sound. Many conjuntos are concentrated in the Southwestern portion of the United States, primarily in Texas and California. In Mexico, the term conjunto is associated with norteño and tejano music. Since tejano was bred out of norteño music originally, this association is not entirely false. However, due to various cultural and socioeconomic developments in the 1900s, norteño musicians began trailblazing the tejano genre as a tangent to conjunto. In the United States and Mexico, a conjunto band is composed of four main instruments: the button accordion, the bajo sexto, an electric bass, and a drum set. The place of the electric bass was first filled by the tololoche, or contrabass, until it was replaced in the 1950s. They are popular in northern Mexico and southern Texas. German and East European settlers brought their accordions, waltzes and polkas to the region, which were adapted by the local population. Texas accordion player Flaco Jiménez is probably the best-known conjunto musician in the United States, with a career spanning sixty years and earning him six Grammy awards.

Contemporary R&B

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Precursors#

According to Geoffrey Himes speaking in 1989, the progressive soul movement of the early 1970s “expanded the musical and lyrical boundaries of R&B in ways that haven’t been equaled since”. This movement was led by soul singers, songwriters and producers such as Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. Norman Whitfield’s productions at Motown, the record label of Gaye, were also pioneering for setting the soul vocals and simple hooks of earlier rhythm and blues records against strong backbeats, vocal harmonies, and orchestral sounds, all of which thickened the texture of the music. Gaye’s own music on albums such as What’s Going On (1971) incorporated jazz influences that led the genre into a looser musical direction. The first result was Off the Wall (1979), which—according to Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic—“was a visionary album, that found a way to break disco wide open into a new world where the beat was undeniable, but not the primary focus” and “was part of a colorful tapestry of lush ballads and strings, smooth soul and pop, soft rock, and alluring funk”. Richard J. Ripani wrote that Janet Jackson’s Control (1986) was “important to the development of R&B for several reasons”, as she and her producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, “crafted a new sound that fuses the rhythmic elements of funk and disco, along with heavy doses of synthesizers, percussion, sound effects, and a rap music sensibility.” Ripani wrote that “the success of “Control” led to the incorporation of stylistic traits of rap over the next few years, and Janet Jackson was to continue to be one of the leaders in that development.”

Coon song

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rise and fall from popularity#

Although the word “coon” is now regarded as a racial slur, according to Stuart Flexner, “coon” was short for “raccoon”, and it meant a frontier rustic (someone who may wear a coonskin cap) by 1832. The Whigs used a raccoon as its emblem, but the party also developed a more tolerant attitude towards black people than the other political factions. One suggestion is that this may have transformed the term “coon” from mere political slang into a racial slur. At that time, “coon” was typically used to refer someone white, and a coon song referred to a Whig song. Although the word “coon” meaning “black person” was in use by 1837, it was only in 1848 that the first clear case of using “coon” to refer to a black person in a derogatory sense appeared. It is possible that the negative racial connotation of the word may have evolved from “Zip Coon” (a variant of “Turkey in the Straw”) published around 1834 and notably performed by George Washington Dixon in blackface. as well as the common use of the word “coon” in blackface minstrel shows. An alternative suggestion of the word’s origin to mean a black person is that it was derived from barracoon, an enclosure for slaves, which became increasingly used in the years before the American Civil War as temporary enclosure for slaves escaping or traveling. 1883), “Coon Salvation Army” (by Sam Lucas, 1884), “Coon Schottische” (by William Dressler, 1884). The most popular coon songs of this early period, however, were written by whites, and only one, “New Coon in Town”, has enough syncopation “to foreshadow the true, shouting, ragtime school”. Black Americans had also entered the music business by this time, and their syncopated music then came to be identified with real coon songs. By the mid-1880s, coon songs were a national craze; over 600 such songs were published in the 1890s. The most successful songs sold millions of copies. To take advantage of the fad, composers “add ed words typical of coon songs to previously published songs and rags”. The first hit recorded song by a black man was “The Whistling Coon” by George W. Johnson recorded in 1890. After the turn of the century, coon songs began to receive criticism for their racist content. In 1905, Bob Cole, an African-American composer who had gained fame largely by writing coon songs, made somewhat unprecedented remarks about the genre. When asked in an interview about the name of his earlier comedy A Trip to Coontown, he replied: “That day has passed with the softly flowing tide of revelations.” In 1908, the Broadway company Cinemaphone, created by J. A. Whitman, released a short film, Coon Song, which had an audible track featuring singers such as Blanche Ring, Anna Held, Eva Tanguay and Stella Mayhew. Following further criticism, the use of “coon” in song titles greatly decreased after 1910. On August 13, 1920, Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League created the red, black and green flag as a response to the song “Every Race Has a Flag but the Coon” by Will A. Heelan and J. Fred Helf. That song along with “Coon, Coon, Coon” and “All Coons Look Alike to Me” were identified by H. L. Mencken as being the three songs which firmly established the derogatory term “coon” in the American vocabulary. It is possible that the popularity of coon songs may be explained in part by their historical timing: coon songs arose precisely as the popular music business exploded in Tin Pan Alley. However, James Dormon, a former professor of history and American studies at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, has also suggested that coon songs can be seen as “a necessary sociopsychological mechanism for justifying segregation and subordination.” The songs portrayed black people as posing a threat to the American social order and implied that they had to be controlled.

Country music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The main components of the modern country music style date back to music traditions throughout the Southern United States and Southwestern United States, while its place in American popular music was established in the 1930s during the early days of music recording. According to country historian Bill C. Malone, country music was “introduced to the world as a Southern phenomenon.”

Role of East Tennessee#

The U.S. Congress has formally recognized Bristol, Tennessee, as the “Birthplace of Country Music”, based on the historic Bristol recording sessions of 1927. Nashville, Tennessee has also become a common hotspot for many country artists. Historians have also noted the influence of the less-known Johnson City sessions of 1928 and 1929, and the Knoxville sessions of 1929 and 1930. In addition, the Mountain City Fiddlers Convention, held in 1925, helped to inspire modern country music. Before these, pioneer settlers, in the Great Smoky Mountains region, had developed a rich musical heritage.

Country music in Atlanta

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and influences#

Much of the audience and many of the artists in Atlanta’s country scene lived in the area’s three main mill towns: Cabbagetown (Atlanta), a neighborhood in Atlanta itself, Chattahoochee, today within the city’s northwestern limits and known as Whittier Mill Village, and Scottdale, just northeast of Decatur.

Radio and television#

The signal of WSB radio reached far into rural areas and was an important factor in creating country music “stars”, similar to the role of WSM in Nashville. WSBs best known country music program was the WSB Barn Dance. From August 1926 until October 1928, the Sears Agricultural Foundation hosted a radio show, broadcast from the Atlanta Sears tower (now Ponce City Market) called “Dinner Bell R.F.D.”. R.F.D. stood for the club “Radio Farmers’ Democracy”. The show aired on WSB radio between noon and 1 pm three times a week, featuring old-time musicians and string bands Other than the WSB Barn Dance and a few other exceptions, most of Atlanta’s country radio programs stopped broadcasting by the early 1950s; stations broadcast recorded music. Some local country music TV programs were broadcast during the 1950s on WAGA, WLTV, and WSB-TV. Many of the local musicians turned to bluegrass music, started other careers, or pursued their careers in Nashville.

Creole music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early development#

In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory, including New Orleans, from France. In 1809 and 1810, more than 10,000 refugees from the West Indies arrived in New Orleans, most originally from French-speaking Haiti. Of these, about 3,000 were freed slaves. Creole folk songs originated on the plantations of the French and Spanish colonists of Louisiana. The music characteristics embody African-derived syncopated rhythms, the habanera accent of Spain, and the quadrille of France. Central to Creole musical activities was Place Congo (in English: Congo Square). The much quoted 1886 article by George Washington Cable offers this description: The booming of African drums and blast of huge wooden horns called to the gathering … The drums were very long, hollowed, often from a single piece of wood, open at one end and having a sheep or goat skin stretched across the other … The smaller drum was often made from a joint or two of very large bamboo … and this is said to be the origin of its name; for it was called the Bamboula. Cable then describes a variety of instruments used at Congo Square, including gourds, triangles, jaw harps, jawbones, and “the grand instrument at last”, the four-stringed banjo. The bamboula, or “bamboo-drum”, accompanied the bamboula dance and bamboula songs. Chase writes, “For Cable, the bamboula represented ‘a frightful triumph of body over the mind,’ and ‘Only the music deserved to survive, and does survive … ‘”

Crossover thrash

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term “thrash” originated as a way of referring to hardcore punk, seen on the 1982 hardcore compilation New York Thrash. The name “crossover” was coined in reference to Dirty Rotten Imbeciles’s 1987 album Crossover.

Precursors#

Hybrid forms of metal and punk had existed as early as the mid-1970s, with the most notable act being Motörhead. However, Discharge were the first band to turn the fusion into “something a little more long-term”. With their 1980 EPs Reality of War, Fight Back and Decontrol, the band began to merge the nascent sounds of hardcore punk and street punk with elements of heavy metal. The band’s influence was immediate and widespread, helping influence the beginnings of grindcore, crust punk, black metal and D-beat, and notably pioneering thrash metal groups Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Sepultura. In his book Choosing Death author Albert Mudrian called Discharge “the ultimate crossover act, marrying the passion and intensity of punk with the speed and extremity of heavy metal.” The initial contact between punk rock and heavy metal involved a “fair amount of mutual loathing. Despite their shared devotion to speed, spite, shredded attire and stomping on distortion pedals, their relationship seemed, at first, unlikely.” Their 1982 split LP with fellow Washington band the Faith showed both bands exhibiting quick, fiery, high-speed punk rock. It has been argued that those recordings laid the foundation for early thrash metal, at least in terms of selected tempos, By 1985, pioneering Boston hardcore bands including SS Decontrol, DYS and the F.U.’s had begun to play heavy metal. Author Steven Blush said of the fusion: “It was natural. The most intense music, after Black Flag and Dead Kennedys, was Slayer and Metallica. Therefore, that’s where everybody was going. That turned into a culture war, basically.”

Crunk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term has been attributed mainly to African-American slang, in which it holds various meanings. It most commonly refers to the verb phrase “to crank up”. It is theorized that the use of the term came from a past-tense form of “crank”, which was sometimes conjugated as “crunk” in the South, such that if a person, event, or party was hyped-up, ‌"cranked" or “cranked ‌it was said to be “crunk”. The term has also been traced to usage in the 1980s coming out of Atlanta, Georgia nightclubs and meaning being “full of energy” or “hyped”. In the mid-1990s, crunk was variously defined either as “hype”, “phat”, or “pumped up”. Rolling Stone magazine published “glossary of Dirty South slang”, where to crunk was defined as “to get excited”. A seminal year for the genre was 1996, with the releases of Three 6 Mafia album Chapter 1: The End (featuring “Gette’m Crunk”), and Memphis-based underground hip hop artist Tommy Wright III’s album On the Run, which featured the Project Pimp track “Getting Crunk”. Artist Lil Jon was instrumental in bringing the term further into the mainstream with his 1997 album titled Get Crunk, Who U Wit: Da Album. He later released other songs and albums using the term, and has been credited by other artists and musicians as galvanizing use of the term as well as mainstreaming the music genre itself. The term has continued to evolve, taking on a negative stigma with police, parents and the media. In 2011, the company which manufactured “Crunk” drink brought out an alcoholic version named “Crunk Juice”.

Dance-punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Many groups in the post-punk era adopted a more danceable style, with dance-punk emerging as a compromised genre originally referred to as “disco-punk” or “punk funk”. Its first wave emerged from a communal and alternative scene as a critique of social standards. New York City bands who were core to this wave were ESG, Liquid Liquid, James Chance and the Contortions, Defunkt, Lizzy Mercier Descloux and Material. In addition, the Slits contributed to the genre in Britain, emphasizing the influence of reggae. These bands were influenced strongly by funk, avant-funk trends, disco, dub reggae, ska, new wave, and other dance music forms popular at the time. More culturally prominent acts from the late 1970s into the 1980s included Talking Heads, Public Image Ltd., New Order and Gang of Four. Emerging from the convergence of disco and punk influences, dance-punk exhibits a strong affiliation with urban environments, particularly in the way they are romanticized and portrayed. These spaces, whether they exist in the realm of imagination or reality, conjure up a sense of cosmopolitanism, artistic liberation, and a spirit of defiance against the confines of conventional mainstream culture.

Dance-rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definitions#

Michael Campbell, in his book Popular Music in America, defines the genre as “post-punk/post-disco fusion”. Campbell also cited Robert Christgau, who described dance-oriented rock (or DOR) as an umbrella term used by various DJs in the 1980s. However, AllMusic defines “dance-rock” as 1980s and 1990s music practiced by rock musicians, influenced by Philly soul, disco and funk, fusing those styles with rock and dance. Artists like the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Simple Minds, INXS, Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, the Clash, New Order and Devo belong, according to AllMusic, to this genre. Dance-rock embraces some experimental funk acts like A Certain Ratio, Gang of Four, and also mainstream musicians, for example Robert Palmer, Billy Idol and Hall & Oates.

Deathcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

A fusion genre, deathcore melds elements of metalcore, hardcore and death metal. It is usually very fast and focuses on intensity. Deathcore typically combines deep ‘roaring’ and high ‘screaming’ vocals, down-tuned guitars, simplified death metal riffs, tremolo picking, double bass drumming and blast beat drumming. It is defined by its slower intense sections called breakdowns, which are also a key trait of metalcore. Vocals in deathcore are typically a mixture of deep roaring vocals similar to death growls, and higher-pitched screaming, as well as a style known as “pig squeals” or “pig squealing”. Sung vocals are rare, but they have been used by a few bands such as All Shall Perish (in the song “Awaken the Dreamers”) and Oceano (in the song “Incisions”). Lyrics in deathcore tend to be personal, angry and violent, often deal with male frustrations, and can include misogynistic language. In terms of fashion, deathcore is associated with short hair, baseball caps, earlobe plugs and sportswear, which is similar to metalcore and hardcore scenes, and differs from typical metalhead attire.

Deathrock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Deathrock songs usually incorporate a driving, repetitive rhythm section; the drums and bass guitar laying the foundation within a 4/4 time time signature while the guitars either play simple chords or effects-driven leads to create atmosphere. Chorus effects, such as those produced by the Boss CE-2 pedal, are commonly used by deathrock guitarists to create a wider and more haunting tone. The use of lyrics can vary, but are typically introspective and surreal, and deal with the dark themes of isolation, gloom, disillusionment, loss, life, death, etc.; as can the style, varying from harsh and dark to upbeat, melodic, and tongue-in-cheek. Deathrock lyrics and other musical stylistic elements often incorporate the themes of campy horror and sci-fi films. Despite the similar-sounding name, deathrock has no connection to death metal, which is a subgenre of heavy metal.

Delta blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

Although Delta blues certainly existed in some form or another at the turn of the twentieth century, it was first recorded in the late 1920s, when record companies realized the potential African-American market for “race records”. Alan Lomax was a key figure in these remote early recordings. The major labels produced the earliest recordings, consisting mostly of one person singing and playing an instrument. Live performances, however, more commonly involved a group of musicians. Record company talent scouts made some of the early recordings on field trips to the South, and some performers were invited to travel to northern cities to record. Current research suggests that Freddie Spruell is the first Delta blues artist to have been recorded; his “Milk Cow Blues” was recorded in Chicago in June 1926. According to Dixon and Godrich (1981), Tommy Johnson and Ishmon Bracey were recorded by Victor on that company’s second field trip to Memphis, in 1928. Robert Wilkins was first recorded by Victor in Memphis in 1928, and Big Joe Williams and Garfield Akers by Brunswick/Vocalion, also in Memphis, in 1929. Charley Patton recorded for Paramount in Grafton, in June 1929 and May 1930. He also traveled to New York City for recording sessions in January and February 1934. Son House first recorded in Grafton, Wisconsin, in 1930 for Paramount Records. Robert Johnson recorded his only sessions, in San Antonio in 1936 and in Dallas in 1937, for ARC. Many other artists were recorded during this period. Subsequently, the early Delta blues (as well as other genres) were extensively recorded by John Lomax and his son Alan Lomax, who crisscrossed the southern U.S. recording music played and sung by ordinary people, helping establish the canon of genres known today as American folk music. Their recordings, numbering in the thousands, now reside in the Smithsonian Institution. According to Dixon and Godrich (1981) and Leadbitter and Slaven (1968), Alan Lomax and the Library of Congress researchers did not record any Delta bluesmen or blueswomen prior to 1941, when he recorded Son House and Willie Brown near Lake Cormorant, Mississippi, and Muddy Waters at Stovall, Mississippi. However, among others, John and Alan Lomax recorded Lead Belly in 1933, and Bukka White in 1939.

Detroit techno

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Belleville Three#

The three individuals most closely associated with the birth of Detroit techno as a genre are Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May, also known as the “Belleville Three”. The three, who were high school friends from Belleville, Michigan, created electronic music tracks in their basement(s). Derrick May once described Detroit techno music as being a “complete mistake … like George Clinton and Kraftwerk caught in an elevator, with only a sequencer to keep them company.” While attending Washtenaw Community College, Atkins met Rick Davis and formed Cybotron with him. Their first single “Alleys of Your Mind”, recorded on their Deep Space label in 1981, sold 15,000 copies, and the success of two follow-up singles, “Cosmic Cars” and “Clear”, led the California-based label Fantasy to sign the duo and release their album, Enter. After Cybotron split due to creative differences, Atkins began recording as Model 500 on his own label, Metroplex, in 1985. His landmark single, “No UFO’s”, soon arrived. Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, and Robert Hood also recorded on Metroplex. May said that the suburban setting afforded a different setting in which to experience the music. “We perceived the music differently than you would if you encountered it in dance clubs. We’d sit back with the lights off and listen to records by Bootsy and Yellow Magic Orchestra. We never took it as just entertainment, we took it as a serious philosophy,” recalls May. The three teenage friends bonded while listening to an eclectic mix of music: Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Bootsy, Parliament, Prince, Depeche Mode, and The B-52’s. Juan Atkins was inspired to buy a synthesizer after hearing Parliament. Under the name Deep Space Soundworks, Atkins and May began to DJ on Detroit’s party circuit. By 1981, Mojo was playing the record mixes recorded by the Belleville Three, who were also branching out to work with other musicians. The trio traveled to Chicago to investigate the house music scene there, particularly the Chicago DJs Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles. Juan Atkins has been lauded as the “Godfather of Techno” (or “Originator”), while Derrick May is thought of as the “Innovator” and Kevin Saunderson is often referred to as the “Elevator”

Dirty rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Late 1980s and early 1990s dirty rap#

The genre had been around since at least the 1970s or the 1980s, with Blowfly’s Rapp Dirty release. However, it was not until later that decade, when Oakland rapper Too Short released the 1985 album Don’t Stop Rappin containing multiple dirty sex subjects, that sex became a central focus. Although the release did not see much attention outside of his hometown of Oakland, he would continue to use provocative and sexual lyrics throughout his career, gaining him six platinum albums and three gold. The controversial rap group 2 Live Crew brought “dirty rap” to the mainstream with their Miami bass debut 2 Live Crew Is What We Are. With the graphic sexual content of their X-rated party rhymes, 2 Live Crew garnered much negative publicity. However, it was not until their 1989 album, As Nasty as They Wanna Be, that dirty rap became a legitimate genre. After being attacked by conservative critics, censors, and attorneys, 2 Live Crew responded with the 1990 album Banned in the USA, a much more political and angry album. 2 Live Crew returned to their utterly pornographic roots with 1991’s Sports Weekend: As Nasty as They Wanna Be, Pt. 2, which was lambasted by many critics as running the sexually deviant lyrics of As Nasty As They Wanna Be into the ground. From Sport’s Weekend onward, the Crew continued to make dirty rap and party rap. Various rappers followed with dirty rap in the wake of 2 Live Crew’s popularity. The group Poison Clan became widely successful, as did the group Bytches With Problems. Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 1992 hit single “Baby Got Back” could arguably be considered within the dirty rap genre; however, the majority of Mix-A-Lot’s work is not sexually explicit enough for him to be considered a true dirty rap artist. Similarly, the new jack swing hip hop group Wreckx-n-Effect scored a dirty rap hit with their 1992 single “Rump Shaker”. In the early 1990s, the Baltimore club scene first began gaining an identity separate from house music and mainstream hip hop. Baltimore club, or gutter music, often features sexually explicit lyrics, and has influenced many current dirty rappers. Both ghettotech and ghetto house (or “booty house”) also evolved around the same time, and, to an even greater extent than Baltimore club, frequently contain pornographic and sexually explicit content, as exemplified by DJ Assault and DJ Funk, two artists who pioneered ghettotech and ghetto house, respectively.

Disco

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term “disco” is shorthand for the word discothèque, a French word for “library of phonograph records” derived from “bibliothèque”. The word “discotheque” had the same meaning in English in the 1950s. “Discothèque” became used in French for a type of nightclub in Paris, after they had resorted to playing records during the Nazi occupation in the early 1940s. Some clubs used it as their proper name. In 1960, it was also used to describe a Parisian nightclub in an English magazine. The Oxford English Dictionary defines Discotheque as “A dance hall, nightclub, or similar venue where recorded music is played for dancing, typically equipped with a large dance floor, an elaborate system of flashing coloured lights, and a powerful amplified sound system. " Its earliest example is use as the name of a particular venue in 1952, and other examples date from 1960 onwards. The entry is annotated as “Now somewhat dated”. It defines Disco as “A genre of strongly rhythmical pop music mainly intended for dancing in nightclubs and particularly popular in the mid to late 1970s.”, with use from 1975 onwards, describing the origin of the word as a shortened form of discotheque. In the summer of 1964, a short sleeveless dress called the “discotheque dress” was briefly very popular in the United States. The earliest known use for the abbreviated form “disco” described this dress and has been found in The Salt Lake Tribune on July 12, 1964; Playboy magazine used it in September of the same year to describe Los Angeles nightclubs. Vince Aletti was one of the first to describe disco as a sound or a music genre. He wrote the 13 September 1973 feature article Discotheque Rock ‘72: Paaaaarty! that appeared in Rolling Stone magazine.

Dixieland jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, recording its first disc in 1917, was the first instance of jazz music being called “Dixieland”, though at the time, the term referred to the band, not the genre. The band’s sound was a combination of African American/New Orleans ragtime and Sicilian music. The music of Sicily was one of the many genres in the New Orleans music scene during the 1910s, alongside sanctified church music, brass band music and blues. Much later, the term “Dixieland” was applied to early jazz by traditional jazz revivalists, starting in the 1940s and 1950s. In his book Jazz, the critic Rex Harris defined Dixieland as “Jazz played in a quasi-New Orleans manner by white musicians.” The name is a reference to the “Old South”, specifically anything south of the Mason-Dixon line. The term encompasses earlier brass band marches, French Quadrilles, beguine, ragtime, and blues with collective, polyphonic improvisation. While instrumentation and size of bands can be very flexible, the “standard” band consists of a “front line” of trumpet (or cornet), trombone, and clarinet, with a “rhythm section” of at least two of the following instruments: guitar or banjo, string bass or tuba, piano, and drums. Led by the Assunto brothers’ original Dukes of Dixieland, a band known for its virtuoso improvisation and recording history’s first stereo record, the movement brought semi-retired musicians a measure of fame late in their lives, as well as bringing retired musicians back onto the jazz circuit after years of not playing (including Kid Ory and Red Nichols). Many Dixieland groups of the revival era consciously imitated the recordings and bands of decades earlier. Other musicians continued to create fresh performances and new tunes. In the 1950s a style called “Progressive Dixieland” sought to blend polyphonic improvisation with bebop-style rhythm. Spike Jones & His New Band and Steve Lacy played with such bands. This style is sometimes called “Dixie-bop”. Lacy went on to apply that approach to the music of Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, and Herbie Nichols.

DMV hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Scene#

Prominent D.C.-based hip-hop artists include producers Oddisee, Kev Brown, Damu the Fudgemunk, BlakeNine. MC’s Wale, XO, yU, Fat Trel, Head Roc, Watusi, Lightshow, Ant Glizzy, Ron Stackz, Pharaoh Jonez and Santino Ranks of YNWV. Nationally recognized newcomers include GoldLink, Chaz French, and IDK, and Shy Glizzy. Need cite plz help Groups like Team Demolition, the Beat Konductaz and Panacea have also made great strides for Washington, D.C., hip-hop. Local radio stations 93.9 WKYS and 95.5 WPGC sometimes feature up and comers from the area. 20bello, a rapper, director, and promoter, was the original founder of the DMV (D for the District of Columbia, M for Maryland, and V for Northern Virginia, which together create the DC Metro area) music movement. He remains influential in the scene. Hip-hop has been greatly overshadowed by go-go music, a post-funk type of music that is only relevant in the District of Columbia. Go-go music was created in the D.C. area and remains a very significant aspect of the culture of the city and surrounding areas. It emphasizes large percussion sections, and incorporates call and response and shout-outs into its songs. This results in a crowd that is very active and involved with the music, responding by dancing and echoing the words. Chuck Brown is known as the “godfather of go-go”.

Doo-wop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Doo-wop has complex musical, social, and commercial origins.

Musical precedents#

Doo-wop’s style is a mixture of precedents in composition, orchestration, and vocals that figured in American popular music created by songwriters and vocal groups, both black and white, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Composers such as Rodgers and Hart (in their 1934 song “Blue Moon”), and Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser (in their 1938 “Heart and Soul”) used a I–vi–ii–V-loop chord progression in those hit songs; composers of doo-wop songs varied this slightly but significantly to the chord progression I–vi–IV–V, so influential that it is sometimes referred to as the ’50s progression. This characteristic harmonic layout was combined with the AABA chorus form typical for Tin Pan Alley songs. Hit songs by black groups such as the Ink Spots (“If I Didn’t Care”, one of the best selling singles worldwide of all time, and “Address Unknown”) and the Mills Brothers (“Paper Doll”, “You Always Hurt the One You Love” and “Glow Worm”) were generally slow songs in swing time with simple instrumentation. Doo-wop street singers generally performed without instrumentation, but made their musical style distinctive, whether using fast or slow tempos, by keeping time with a swing-like off-beat, while using the “doo-wop” syllables as a substitute for drums and a bass vocalist as a substitute for a bass instrument. whose close four-part harmony derived from the vocal harmonies of the earlier barbershop quartet. The Four Knights’ “Take Me Right Back to the Track” (1945), the Cats and the Fiddle’s song “I Miss You So” (1939), and the Triangle Quartette’s even earlier record “Doodlin’ Back” (1929) prefigured doo-wop’s rhythm and blues sound long before doo-wop became popular.

Downtown music

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History#

The scene the term describes began in 1960, when Yoko Ono, one of the early Fluxus artists, opened her loft at 112 Chambers Street, in a part of Lower Manhattan later named Tribeca, to be used as a performance space for a series curated by La Monte Young and Richard Maxfield. Prior to this, most classical music performances in New York City occurred “uptown” around the areas that the Juilliard School at Lincoln Center and Columbia University would soon occupy. Ono’s gesture led to a new performance tradition of informal performances in nontraditional venues such as lofts and converted industrial spaces, involving music much more experimental than that of the more conventional modern classical series Uptown. Spaces in Manhattan that supported Downtown music from the 1960s on include the Judson Memorial Church, The Kitchen, Phill Niblock’s Experimental Intermedia Foundation, La Monte Youngs Mela Foundation, Dia Art Foundation, Harvestworks, Roulette, the Knitting Factory, ABC No Rio, Dance Theater Workshop, Tonic, the Gas Station, Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine, the Paula Cooper Gallery, and others. Brooklyn Academy of Music has also shown a predilection for composers from the Downtown scene.

Drill music

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Lyrics#

Drill lyrics tend to be adversarial and aggressive, sometimes with a “combative energy”. Drill lyrics strongly contrast with the subject matter of earlier Chicago rappers and contemporary mainstream hip hop which at the time of drill’s emergence tended to glorify and celebrate a rise to wealth. Drill rappers use a grim, deadpan delivery, often filtered through Auto-Tune, influenced by the “stoned, aimless warbling of Soulja Boy (one of the earliest non-local Keef collaborators) and Lil Wayne before him.” Atlanta-based rappers Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame were important influences on the early drill rappers.

Drone music

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Forerunners#

In 1949, Nouveau Réalisme artist Yves Klein wrote The Monotone Symphony (formally The Monotone-Silence Symphony, conceived 1947–1948), a 40-minute orchestral piece that consisted of a single 20-minute sustained chord (followed by a 20-minute silence) —showcasing how the sound of one drone could make music.

Origins#

Composer La Monte Young is a pioneering figure in drone music. He described himself as fascinated from a young age by droning sounds, such as “the sound of the wind blowing”, the “60 cycle per second drone of step-down transformers on telephone poles”, the tanpura drone and the alap of Indian classical music, “certain static aspects of serialism, as in the Webern slow movement of the Symphony Opus 21”, and Japanese gagaku “which has sustained tones in it in the instruments such as the Sho”. Young started writing music incorporating sustained tones in 1957 with the middle section of For Brass, The group released nothing during their lifetime (although Young and Zazeela issued a collaborative LP in 1969, and in 1970 Young contributed one side of a flexi disc accompanying an issue of Aspen magazine ). The concerts themselves were influential on their own upon the art world including Karlheinz Stockhausen (whose Stimmung bears their influence most strikingly) and the drone-based minimalist works of dozens of other composers many of whom made parallel innovations including Young classmate Pauline Oliveros, or Éliane Radigue, Charlemagne Palestine, Yoshi Wada, Phill Niblock and many others. In 2000, La Monte Young wrote: " About the style of music that I originated, I believe that the sustained tone branch of minimalism, also known as ‘drone music’, is a fertile area for exploration."

East Coast hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Musical style#

In contrast to the more simplistic rhyme pattern and scheme used in Old-school hip-hop, hip-hop in the late 1980s developed a stronger emphasis on lyrical dexterity. It also became characterized by multi-syllabic rhymes, complex wordplay, a continuous free-flowing delivery and intricate metaphors. Although East Coast hip-hop can vary in sound and style, “aggressive” beats and the combining of samples were common to the subgenre in the mid- to late 1980s. The aggressive and hard-hitting beats of the form were emphasized by such acts as EPMD, Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, while artists such as Rakim, Boogie Down Productions, LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., and Slick Rick were noted for their lyrical skill. Lyrical themes throughout the history of East Coast hip-hop have ranged from lyrical consciousness by such artists as Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Quest to Mafioso rap themes by rappers such as Raekwon, MF Grimm and Kool G Rap.

Egg punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

The nomenclature of egg punk originated from a series of internet memes circulated in 2017 that proposed a spectrum of punk rock music between “egg punk” and “chain punk”. The meme was intended to distinguish between the traditionalism and aggression of those deemed “chain punk” with the more experimental and satirical approach of those considered “egg punk”. Pitchfork described the genre as “subversive”, “experimental”, and typified by “wry lyrics and cheapo keyboards”.

Electro (music)

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Definition and characteristics#

From its inception, one of the defining characteristics of the electro sound was the use of drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-808, as the rhythmic basis of the track. As the genre evolved, computers and sampling replaced drum machines in electronic music, and are now used by the majority of electro producers. Although the electro of the 1980s and contemporary electro (electronic dance music) both grew out of the dissolution of disco, they are now different genres. Classic (1980s) electro drum patterns tend to be electronic emulations of breakbeats with a syncopated kick drum, and usually a snare or clap accenting the backbeat. The difference between electro drumbeats and breakbeats (or breaks) is that electro tends to be more mechanical, while breakbeats tend to have more of a human-like feel, like that of a live drummer. The definition however is somewhat ambiguous in nature due to the various uses of the term. The Roland TR-808 drum machine was released in 1980, defining early electro with its immediately recognizable sound. Staccato, percussive drumbeats tended to dominate electro, almost exclusively provided by the TR-808. As an inexpensive way of producing a drum sound, the TR-808 caught on quickly with the producers of early electro because of the ability of its bass drum to generate extreme low-frequencies. This aspect of the Roland TR-808 was especially appealing to producers who would test drive their tracks in nightclubs (like NYC’s Funhouse), where the bass drum sound was essential for a record’s success. Its unique percussion sounds like handclaps, open and closed high-hat, clave and cowbell became integral to the electro sound. A number of popular songs in the early 1980s employed the TR-808, including Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing,” Cybotron’s “Clear,” and Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock.” The Roland TR-808 has attained iconic status, eventually being used on more hits than any other drum machine. Through the use of samples, the Roland TR-808 remains popular in electro and other genres to the present day. Other electro instrumentation was generally electronic, favoring analog synthesis, programmed bass lines, sequenced or arpeggiated synthetic riffs, and atonal sound effects all created with synthesizers. Heavy use of effects such as reverbs, delays, chorus or phasers along with eerie synthetic ensemble strings or pad sounds emphasized the science fiction or futuristic themes of classic (1980s) electro, represented in the lyrics and/or music. Electro hip hop group Warp 9’s 1983 single, Light Years Away, produced and written by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher, exemplifies the Sci-Fi, afrofuturist aspect of electro, reflected in both the lyrics and instrumentation. The imagery of its lyrical refrain space is the place for the human race pays homage to Sun Ra’s 1974 film of the same name, while its synth lines and sound effects are informed by sci-fi, computer games, and cartoons,“born of a science-fiction revival.”. Although primarily instrumental, early electro utilized rap. Male rap dominated the genre, however female rappers are an integral part of the electro tradition, whether featured in a group as in Warp 9 or as solo performers like Roxanne Shante. The lyrical style that emerged along with electro became less popular by the 1990s, as rapping continued to evolve, becoming the domain of hip hop music. About electro origins:

Emo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Emo originated in hardcore punk and is considered a form of Early emo bands used melody and emotional or introspective lyrics and that were less structured than regular hardcore punk, differentiating them from the aggression, anger, and structures of traditional hardcore punk. According to Chris Payne, author of Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo’s Mainstream Explosion, emo is “often more melodic, more vulnerable than traditional hardcore — and often really over the top. There are also really performative aspects in emo.” Sandra Song of CNN describes emo as a “softer approach to hardcore punk, with warbly vocals and evocative lyrics that have other bands derisively calling it the sound of ’teen angst.’” Em Casalena of American Songwriter stated that the genre is characterized by an “angsty yet kind of miserable vibe”. Despite being rooted in hardcore punk, emo has also been associated with other related genres, such as alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, and pop punk. During the 2000s, it became common for bands to fuse emo with harder styles such as heavy metal and metalcore to varying degrees by incorporating metallic riffs, guitar solos and breakdowns into their songwriting. Bands who have released songs in this style include From First To Last, Bullet for My Valentine, Escape the Fate, Underoath and My Chemical Romance. Andrew Sacher of Brooklyn Vegan has expressed his belief that the year 2001 was a “crossroads” of sorts for the genre, stating that “emo came in a lot of different varieties” during that year. He said: “There were bands who were still playing the style of second wave emo that was prominent in the 1990s, as well as bands beginning to define the sound of the third wave. Some bands leaned more towards post-hardcore, others more towards pop punk, others towards indie rock, and others towards softer, acoustic guitar and piano-based music.” The New York Times described emo as “emotional punk or or That is, punk that wears its heart on its sleeve and tries a little tenderness to leaven its sonic attack. If it helps, imagine Ricky Nelson singing in the Sex Pistols.” Author Matt Diehl called emo a “more sensitive interpolation of punk’s mission”. Lyrics, a focus in emo music, are typically personal and confessional, Themes usually deal with topics such as failed romance, self-loathing, pain, insecurity, suicidal thoughts, love, and relationships. Emo guitar dynamics use both the softness and loudness of punk rock music. According to AllMusic, most 1990s emo bands “borrowed from some combination of Fugazi, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Weezer”. Some emo leans toward the characteristics of progressive music with the genre’s use of complex guitar work, unorthodox song structures, and extreme dynamic shifts.

Emo pop

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Characteristics#

Emo pop is a fusion between emo and pop-punk characterized by “bright, emotional, and heavily singable” melodic composition. AllMusic describes emo pop as blending “youthful angst” with “slick production” and mainstream appeal, using “high-pitched melodies, rhythmic guitars, and confessional lyrics concerning adolescence, relationships, and heartbreak.” MasterClass describes emo pop as featuring “soaring vocals and upbeat songs with melancholy lyrics.” During the 2000s, emo pop artists would fuse the “lyrical and visual elements of emo with radio-friendly sonics of pop-punk.” Quinn Villarreal of SiriusXM said: “If you were born between 1990 and 2000, this is the emo you know and heard feverishly across U.S. pop stations.” and less extreme use of loud/soft dynamics.

Emo rap

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Characteristics#

Publications have described emo rap as taking influence from hip hop, nu metal, post-hardcore, and cloud rap. Emo rap departs from the traditional tones found in modern mainstream hip hop in favor of more emotional and personal lyrical content, described by The Wall Street Journal as “giving their elders the finger.” Lyrics tend to focus on topics such as depression, loneliness, anxiety, consumption of drugs and alcohol, nihilism, suicide, and self-medication. The genre is characterized by its combination of musical elements commonly found in conscious hip hop with indie rock instrumentals. Sampling often uses 2000s pop punk and emo songs. Much of the sampling has been influenced by artists who inspired the genre, such as Mineral, Underoath, and the Postal Service. Some emo rappers also make use of original instrumentation. Horse Head of the collective GothBoiClique has described the music as “…sort of nostalgic, but it’s new too…no one’s really done shit like this. It’s like emo rap and melodic trap”. Fans of the music are sometimes referred to as “sad boys”, in reference to emo rapper Yung Lean’s music group by the same name.

Emo revival

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Characteristics#

Bands of the emo revival are predominately influenced by acts from the Midwest emo scene of the 1990s and early 2000s; according to Ultimate Guitar staff writer Maria Pro, the terms second-wave emo and Midwest emo are used interchangeably to describe that time period’s scene. Revival bands often display a “DIY sound” and lyrical themes ranging from nostalgia to adulthood. Pro, however, further writes that the revival only borrowed from the second wave in terms of aesthetics; sonically, it featured a distinct fusion of math rock, post-hardcore and pop punk.

Field holler

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Description#

It was described by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1853 as a “long, loud, musical shout, rising and falling and breaking into falsetto”, a description that would also have fitted examples recorded a century later. Some hollers are wordless, like the field call by Annie Grace Horn Dodson. Some have elaborated syllables and melismas, such as the long example recorded at the Parchman Farm penitentiary in Mississippi in 1947, by “Bama”, of a Levee Camp Holler. Verbal, improvised lines were used as cries for water and food and cries about what was happening in their daily lives, as expressions of religious devotion, a source of motivation in repetitive work, and a way of presenting oneself over across the fields. They described the labor being done (e.g., corn shucking songs, mule-skinning songs) recounted personal experiences or the singer’s thoughts, subtly insulted white work attendants, or used folk themes. An unidentified singer of a Camp Holler was urged on with shouts and comments by his friends, suggesting that the holler could also have a social role. Call and response arose as sometimes a lone caller would be heard and answered with another laborer’s holler from a distant field. Some street cries might be considered an urban form of holler, though they serve a different function (like advertising a seller’s product); an example is the call of ‘The Blackberry Woman’, Dora Bliggen, in New Orleans.

Fife and drum blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Pre-American Civil War military fife and drum bands provided a rough framework which black musicians would fill with African and African-American influences to create a new music. Black fife and drum music persists in a stretch of Southern states stretching from northwest Georgia to an area south of Memphis, namely North Mississippi. The music is infused with Euro-American military drum tradition and distinctly African polyrhythms, talking drum influence, and call and response patterns. Performers play blues, marches, minstrel show pieces, popular music, instrumentals, and spirituals such as “When the Saints Go Marching In”, “When I Lay My Burden Down”, “My Babe” and “Sitting on Top of the World”. A “march” becomes more of a swaying dance, sometimes led by a dancer, and singing comes in sporadic shouts, whoops, and moans from the different players. While spirituals are sometimes played, gatherings of drum and fife music are not religious in nature and not held on Sundays or in church. Alan Lomax first recorded black fife and drum music in 1942. He found a group, including Sid Hemphill, near Sledge, Mississippi consisting of a cane fife, two snare drums, and a bass drum. These same musicians constituted themselves as a string band, using violin, banjo, guitar, and bass drum. Notable performers include Napoleon Strickland, Othar Turner, Turner’s granddaughter Shardé Thomas, Turner’s daughter, Bernice, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Ed and Lonnie Young, and the Mitchel Brothers from Georgia.

Florida breaks

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Late 1980s – early 1990s#

The style emerged during the late ’80s at the Beacham Theatre in Orlando Genre pioneer Eddie Pappa, influenced by nights spent at the Beacham, honed his skill at The Edge when it opened in 1992. In 1993, it gained prominence state-wide and, propelled by large events at the Edge, elsewhere in the U.S. and Europe.

Mid-1990s popularity#

The Breaks influenced producers who mixed breakbeat with progressive and trance, producing a mixture that became known as “The Orlando Sound” or Florida breaks. There is only general consensus on the defining elements of the genre, which spawned regional and preference variations. The genre received limited local radio play in Central Florida on radio stations WXXL (106.7 FM) and on college radio WPRK (91.5 FM), as well as WUCF (89.9 FM), WFIT (89.5 FM on Space Coast), and WMNF (88.5 FM in Tampa).

Footwork (genre)

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Etymology#

The name “footwork” given to the genre refers to the footwork dance that accompanies it and is characterized by very fast structured dance footwork. The arguably first mention of the term “footwork” within the ghetto house scene of Chicago was WaxMaster’s “Foot work” track in 1995. The term juke, as being applied to particular styles of ghetto house, came into use from DJ Puncho and Gant-Man in the late 1990s Sometimes, the combined terms juke and footwork (or footwork and juke) are used to describe the single musical scene or musical movement, born from Chicago ghetto house.

Frat rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The subgenre of frat rap was invented by Asher Roth with the release of his song “I Love College” in 2009. The subgenre grew rapidly and achieved commercial success within hip hop by 2010. In 2010, 18-year-old Mac Miller released two mixtapes K.I.D.S. and Best Day Ever that made him an overnight success and launched him to the forefront of the frat rap phenomenon. In 2011, Aer’s debut EP What You Need debuted atop the iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap albums chart, and Mac Miller drawing more than 50,000 fans to Government Center in Boston. Many of the most successful frat rap artists rejected the title and culture of frat rap and went on to release music that departed from the subject matter and sound of frat rap, being commercially successful in mainstream hip hop. Originally starting out in frat rap, Mac Miller later changed his sound and later became the most successful former frat rapper in mainstream hip hop, with a review of Rolling Stone stating that Miller had shed his frat rap reputation with the release of his album Swimming.

Freak folk

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Etymology#

The etymology of “freak folk” is unclear. According to Stereogum, the term “freak folk” had been in informal use for decades before solidifying into a genre. In Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk (2010), author Jeanette Leech claims that contemporary usage of the term is likely a bastardization of the term “free folk.” For a short period of time, the terms were to a degree used interchangeably, but by 2006 “free folk” was no longer in mainstream use. In a 1998 review of Beck’s Mutations, Joshua Clover, writing for music magazine Spin, described the music as “some old-fashioned freak-folk”. In early 2003, music magazine Arthur, one of the earliest outlets to profile freak folk artist Devendra Banhart, called him a “freaked folknik” on the cover of its second issue. On April 1, 2004, Arthur ’s Bastet imprint released the Banhart-compiled various artists album The Golden Apples of the Sun. According to Pitchfork, the compilation “assisted greatly” in defining the term “freak folk”, while Stereogum notes the aftermath of its release as “the moment when a descriptive phrase solidified into a genre”. However, according to Stereogum, by 2005 the term “freak folk” had already become oversaturated.

Freestyle music

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1982–1987: Origin#

Freestyle music developed in the early 1980s, primarily simultaneously in the Hispanic (mainly Puerto Rican/Latin) communities of Upper Manhattan, Brooklyn, and The Bronx and in the Italian-American communities in Brooklyn, the Bronx, other boroughs of New York City, New Jersey, Westchester County and Long Island. It initially was a fusion of synthetic instrumentation and syncopated percussion of 1980s electro, as favored by fans of breakdancing. Sampling, as found in synth-pop music and hip-hop, was incorporated. Key influences include Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force’s “Planet Rock” (1982) and Shannon’s “Let the Music Play” (1983), the latter was a top-ten Billboard Hot 100 hit. In 1984, a Latin presence was established when the first song recorded in the genre by a Latin American artist, “Please Don’t Go”, by newcomer Nayobe (a singer from Brooklyn and of Cuban descent) was recorded and released. The song became a success, reaching No. 23 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In 1985, a Spanish version of the song was released with the title “No Te Vayas”. By 1987, freestyle began getting more airplay on American pop radio stations. Songs such as “Come Go with Me” by Exposé, “Show Me” by the Cover Girls, “Fascinated” by Company B, “Silent Morning” by Noel, and “Catch Me (I’m Falling)” by Pretty Poison, brought freestyle into the mainstream. House music, based partly on disco rhythms, was by 1992 challenging the relatively upbeat, syncopated freestyle sound. Pitchfork considers the Miami Mix of ABC’s single “When Smokey Sings” to be proto-freestyle, despite that version being released in 1987. Many early or popular freestyle artists and DJs were of Hispanic or Italian descent, including Jellybean, Tony Torres, Raul Soto, Roman Ricardo, Mickey Garcia (who is of both Italian and Puerto Rican descent), Lil Suzy, and Nocera, which was one reason for the style’s popularity among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the New York City area and Philadelphia.

Funk

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Etymology#

The word funk initially referred (and still refers) to a strong odor. It is originally derived from Latin (which means “to smoke”) via Old French and, in this sense, it was first documented in English in 1620. In 1784, funky meaning “musty” was first documented, which, in turn, led to a sense of “earthy” that was taken up around 1900 in early jazz slang for something “deeply or strongly felt”. Even though in white culture, the term funk can have negative connotations of odor or being in a bad mood (in a funk), in African communities, the term funk, while still linked to body odor, had the positive sense that a musician’s hard-working, honest effort led to sweat, and from their “physical exertion” came an “exquisite” and “superlative” performance. In early jam sessions, musicians would encourage one another to “get down” by telling one another, “Now, put some stank on it!” At least as early as 1907, jazz songs carried titles such as Funky. The first example is an unrecorded number by Buddy Bolden, remembered as either “Funky Butt” or “Buddy Bolden’s Blues”, with improvised lyrics that were, according to Donald M. Marquis, either “comical and light” or “crude and downright obscene” but, in one way or another, referring to the sweaty atmosphere at dances where Bolden’s band played. As late as the 1950s and early 1960s, when funk and funky were used increasingly in the context of jazz music, the terms still were considered indelicate and inappropriate for use in polite company. According to one source, New Orleans-born drummer Earl Palmer “was the first to use the word ‘funky’ to explain to other musicians that their music should be made more syncopated and danceable.” The style later evolved into a rather hard-driving, insistent rhythm, implying a more carnal quality. This early form of the music set the pattern for later musicians. The music was identified as slow, sexy, loose, riff-oriented and danceable. The meaning of funk continues to captivate the genre of black music, feeling, and knowledge. Recent scholarship in black studies has taken the term funk in its many iterations to consider the range of black movement and culture. In particular, L.H. Stallings’s Funk the Erotic: Transaesthetics and Black Sexual Cultures explores these multiple meanings of funk as a way to theorize sexuality, culture, and western hegemony within the many locations of funk: “street parties, drama/theater, strippers and strip clubs, pornography, and self-published fiction.”

Funk metal

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Characteristics#

Funk metal has also been called thrash-funk or punk-funk. It was most prevalent in the American state of California, particularly in Los Angeles and San Francisco. According to AllMusic, funk metal “takes the loud guitars and riffs of heavy metal and melds them to the popping bass lines and syncopated rhythms of funk”. Faith No More, another Californian alternative group who emerged in the mid-1980s, have been described as a funk metal band that also dabbled in rap metal. Rage Against the Machine’s mix of funk and metal not only included rap, but also elements of hardcore. AllMusic formerly categorized funk metal as a style of alternative rock, in spite of the genre’s name. The website currently categorizes it as a style of heavy metal. Bands such as Primus and Mordred emerged from the thrash metal underground. Roy Shuker described the genre in his 1994 book Understanding Popular Music, writing: “the ‘classic’ distinction between rock and pop runs into some difficulties when we consider various forms of ‘alternative’ music, illustrating the difficulties of forcing genres into too rigid a typology. For example, where would we place the wild musical genre called ’thrash funk’, a fusion of 1970s funk, punk rock, rap, California surf, skateboard and hippy cultures, which, according to press reports, swept San Francisco clubs in 1990.” Shuker wrote about the genre again in the 2005 edition of his book Popular Music: The Key Concepts, calling it “less structured than earlier forms of metal, with the bass guitar relied on more than the lead.” The genre managed to gain some international popularity through foreign acts such as British groups Atom Seed and Scat Opera, as well as Super Junky Monkey, an all-female funk metal/avant-garde band from Japan. Although never breaking through in the United States, Swedish band Electric Boys attracted recognition throughout Europe, Funk metal’s prevalence in the late 1980s and 1990–91 predated the rise of grunge music in late 1991, which hurt the popularity of more traditional forms of hard rock/metal. In a January 1991 Spin article, Electric Boys singer Conny Bloom claimed funk metal had become a trend since people thought other hard rock of that era was “boring”.

G-funk

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Characteristics#

G-funk, which uses funk with an artificially altered tempo, incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, heavy use of the snare drum, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of P-Funk tunes, and a high-pitched portamento saw wave synthesizer lead. G-funk is typically set at between 90 and 100 BPM. The lyrical content depended on the artist; it could consist of sex, drug use (especially marijuana), love for a city, and love for friends. There was also a slurred “lazy” or “smooth” way of rapping in order to clarify words and stay in rhythmic cadence. Many R&B and pop singles of the 1990s incorporated the G-funk sound to their music. The trademark West Coast G-funk style of hip-hop was a very defining element of the region’s music. The genre helped distinguish West Coast hip-hop from the rivaling rap scene on the East Coast. In essence, the smooth, slow-tempo sound of G-funk accompanied the perceived “laid-back” stereotype of Californian culture whereas East Coast hip-hop typically featured more aggressive attitudes alongside a fast-paced tempo (e.g. hardcore hip-hop). Unlike other earlier rap acts that also utilized funk samples (such as EPMD and the Bomb Squad), G-funk often utilized fewer, unaltered samples per song. Music theorist Adam Krims has described G-funk as “a style of generally West Coast rap whose musical tracks tend to deploy live instrumentation, heavy on bass and keyboards, with minimal (sometimes no) sampling and often highly conventional harmonic progressions and harmonies”. Dr. Dre, a pioneer of the G-funk genre, normally uses live musicians to replay the original music of sampled records. This enabled him to produce music that had his own sounds, rather than a direct copy of the sample.

Gangsta rap

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Schoolly D and Ice-T#

Philadelphia rapper Schoolly D is generally considered the first “gangsta rapper”, significantly influencing the more popular early gangsta rap originator, Ice-T. Ice-T was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1958. As a teenager, he moved to Los Angeles where he rose to prominence in the West Coast hip hop scene. An early case of using “gangsta” as an adjective and a compliment came in his 1984 single Body Rock. In 1986, Ice-T released “6 in the Mornin’”, which is regarded as the second gangsta rap song. Ice-T had been MCing since the early 1980s, but first turned to gangsta rap themes after being influenced by Schoolly D’s self-titled debut album, and especially the song “P.S.K. What Does It Mean?” (1985), which is regarded as the first gangsta rap song. Ice-T continued to release gangsta albums for the remainder of the 1980s: Rhyme Pays in 1987, Power in 1988 and The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech…Just Watch What You Say in 1989. Ice-T’s lyrics also contained strong political commentary, and often played the line between glorifying the gangsta lifestyle and criticizing it as a no-win situation. Schoolly D’s works would heavily influence not only Ice-T, but also Eazy-E and N.W.A (most notably in the song “Boyz-n-the-Hood”), as well as the Beastie Boys on their seminal hardcore hip hop-inspired album Licensed to Ill (1986). Schoolly D would continue to release hardcore hip hop with the albums Smoke Some Kill (1988) and Am I Black Enough for You? (1989).

Garage house

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Characteristics#

In comparison to other forms of house music, garage includes more gospel-influenced piano riffs and female vocals.

History#

Garage house was developed in the Paradise Garage nightclub in New York City and Club Zanzibar in Newark, New Jersey, United States, during the early-to-mid 1980s. There was much overlap between it and early house music, making it difficult to tell the two apart. It predates the development of Chicago house, The direction of garage music was primarily influenced by the New York City discothèque Paradise Garage where the influential DJ Larry Levan, known for his musical versatility and innovation, played records. According to Blues & Soul, contemporary garage music started with Boyd Jarvis and Levan’s The Peech Boys. Jarvis, using the Visual moniker, was behind 1983 recordings “Somehow, Someway” and “The Music Got Me” , the latter especially influential, The popularity of the genre in the UK gave birth to a derivative genre called UK garage.

Garage punk (fusion genre)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The earliest known use of the term “garage punk” appeared in Lenny Kaye’s track-by-track liner notes for the 1972 psychedelic music compilation Nuggets to describe a song by the 1960s garage rock band the Shadows of Knight as “classic garage punk”. The term “punk rock” was originally used to describe the music of mid-1960s American garage bands. When referring to 1960s groups, the term “garage punk” is usually deployed interchangeably with “garage rock”. MTVs Beverly Bryan says that “garage punk” may be used “more likely” to refer to “garage rock” or “garage revival”. While garage bands varied in style, the label of garage punk has been attributed by critic Michael Hann to the “toughest, angriest garage rockers” such as the 13th Floor Elevators and the Sonics.

Garage rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The term “garage rock”, often used in reference to 1960s acts, stems from the perception that many performers were young amateurs who rehearsed in the family garage. While numerous bands were made up of middle-class teenagers from the suburbs, others were from rural or urban areas or were composed of professional musicians in their twenties. Though it is impossible to determine how many garage bands were active in the era, according to various accounts their numbers were extensive and widespread. According to Mark Nobles, it is estimated that between 1964 and 1968 over 180,000 bands formed in the United States, and several thousand US garage acts made records during the era. Garage bands performed in a variety of venues. Local and regional groups typically played at parties, school dances, and teen clubs. For acts of legal age (and in some cases younger), bars, nightclubs, and college fraternity socials also provided regular engagements. Occasionally, groups had the opportunity to open at shows for famous touring acts. Some garage rock bands went on tour, particularly those better-known, but even more obscure groups sometimes received bookings or airplay beyond their immediate locales. Groups often competed in “battles of the bands”, which allowed musicians to gain exposure and a chance to win a prize, such as free equipment or recording time in a local studio. Contests were held, locally, regionally and nationally, and three of the most prestigious national events were held annually by the Tea Council of the US, the Music Circus, and the United States Junior Chamber. Performances often sounded amateurish, naïve, or intentionally raw, with typical themes revolving around the traumas of high school life and songs about “lying girls” being particularly common. The lyrics and delivery were frequently more aggressive than that of the more established acts of the time, often with nasal, growled, or shouted vocals, sometimes punctuated by shrieks or screams at climactic moments of release. Instrumentation was frequently characterized by basic chord structures played on electric guitars or keyboards often distorted through a fuzzbox, teamed with bass and drums. Guitarists sometimes played using aggressive-sounding bar chords or power chords. Portable organs such as the Farfisa were used frequently and harmonicas and hand-held percussion such as tambourines were not uncommon. Occasionally, the tempo was sped up in passages sometimes referred to as “raveups”. Garage rock acts were diverse in both musical ability and style, ranging from crude and amateurish to near-studio level musicianship. There were also regional variations in flourishing scenes, such as in California and Texas. The north-western states of Idaho, Washington and Oregon had a distinctly recognizable regional sound with bands such as the Sonics and Paul Revere & the Raiders.

Ghettotech

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Key record labels#

Twilight 76
Databass
Electrofunk
Jefferson Ave
Motor City Electro Company
Intuit-Solar
666aline
Dance Mania

Go-go

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

In technical terms, “go-go’s essential beat is characterized by a five through four syncopated rhythm that is underscored prominently by the bass drum and snare drum, and the hi-hat… and is ornamented by the other percussion instruments, especially by the conga drums, rototoms, and hand-held cowbells.” Unique to go-go is instrumentation with two standard congas and two junior congas, 8" and 9" wide and about half as tall as the standard congas, a size rare outside go-go. They were introduced to Rare Essence by Tyrone “Jungle Boogie” Williams in the early days when they couldn’t afford full-sized congas and are ubiquitous ever since. Its name arises from the persistent percussive beat, but it incorporates elements of many other genres.

Golden age hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The golden age is noted for its innovation—a time “when it seemed that every new single reinvented the genre”, Spin ’ s editor-in-chief Sia Michel said, “there were so many important, groundbreaking albums coming out right about that time”, Jelani Cobb wrote, “what made the era they inaugurated worthy of the term golden was the sheer number of stylistic innovations that came into existence… in these golden years, a critical mass of mic prodigies were literally creating themselves and their art form at the same time”. The term golden age hip-hop frames the late 1980s in mainstream hip-hop, said to be characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation, and influence, and associated with Public Enemy, KRS-One and his Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, Ultramagnetic MCs, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers with their themes of Afrocentricity and political militancy, experimental music, and eclectic sampling. This period is sometimes called “mid-school” or a “middle school” in hip-hop and covers acts such as Gang Starr, the UMC’s, Main Source, Lord Finesse, EPMD, Just Ice, Stetsasonic, True Mathematics, and Mantronix. The innovations of Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, and new-school producers such as Larry Smith and Rick Rubin were built upon by Marley Marl and his Juice Crew MCs, Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, and Eric B. & Rakim. Hip-hop production became denser and rhymes and beats faster as the drum machine was augmented with sampler technology. Rakim took lyrics about the art of rapping to new heights, while KRS-One and Chuck D pushed “message rap” toward black activism. Native Tongues artists’ inclusive, sample-crowded music accompanied their positivity, Afrocentricity, and playfulness. Samples were heavily used during the golden age. The ability to sample beats, riffs, and patterns from a wide variety of sources birthed a new breed of producers and DJs who did not need formal musical training or instruments, just a good ear for sound collages. These samples came from various genres, ranging from jazz, funk and soul to rock and roll. For example, Paul’s Boutique, Beastie Boys’ second studio album, drew from over 200 individual samples, 24 of which were on the album’s last track. Many of hip-hop’s biggest artists were also at their creative peak. AllMusic said the golden age “witnessed the best recordings from some of the biggest rappers in the genre’s history… overwhelmingly based in New York City, golden age rap is characterized by skeletal beats, samples cribbed from hard rock or soul tracks, and tough dis raps… rhymers like PE’s Chuck D, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, Rakim, and LL Cool J basically invented the complex wordplay and lyrical kung-fu of later hip-hop”. In addition to lyrical self-glorification, hip-hop was also used as a form of social protest. Lyrical content often drew attention to social issues, including Afrocentric living, drug use, crime and violence, religion, culture, the U.S. economy, and the modern man’s struggle. Conscious and political hip-hop tracks were a response to the effects of U.S. capitalism and President Ronald Reagan’s conservative political economy. According to Tricia Rose, “In rap, relationships between black cultural practice, social and economic conditions, technology, sexual and racial politics, and the institution policing of the popular terrain are complex and in constant motion. Even though hip-hop was used as a mechanism for different social issues it was still very complex with issues within the movement itself. There was also often an emphasis on black nationalism. Hip-hop scholar Michael Eric Dyson wrote, “during the golden age of hip hop, from 1987 to 1993, Afrocentric and black nationalist rap were prominent”, and critic Scott Thill wrote that during this period “the form most capably fused the militancy of its Black Panther and Watts Prophets forebears with the wide-open cultural experimentalism of De La Soul and others”. Stylistic variety was also prominent; MSNBC wrote, “rappers had an individual sound that was dictated by their region and their communities, not by a marketing strategist,” and Ben Duinker and Denis Martin of Empirical Musicology Review wrote, “The constant flow of new, boundary-pushing Golden Age album releases exemplifies this era’s unprecedented stylistic fluidity.”

Gospel music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

According to Yale University music professor Willie Ruff, the singing of psalms in Scottish Gaelic by Presbyterians of the Scottish Hebrides evolved from “lining out”—where one person sang a solo and others followed—into the call and response of gospel music of the American South.

18th century#

Perhaps the most famous gospel-based hymns were composed in the 1760s and 1770s by English writers John Newton (“Amazing Grace”) and Augustus Toplady (“Rock of Ages”), members of the Anglican Church. Starting out as lyrics only, decades were needed for standardized tunes to be added to them. Although not directly connected with African-American gospel music, they were adopted by African Americans as well as white Americans, and Newton’s connection with the abolition movement provided cross-fertilization.

Gothic country

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Gothic country is rooted in early jazz, gospel, country, Americana, gothic rock, and post-punk. The genre’s lyrics focus on macabre and grim subject matters. J.D. Wilkes, frontman of the band Legendary Shack Shakers, described gothic country as " taking an angle that there’s something grotesque and beautiful in the traditions of the South, the backdrop of Southern living." Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, formed in 1992, often deals with lyrical themes derived from apocalyptic religious imagery, applying a gothic lyrical approach to country and gospel songs, although the band has denied that their songs are gothic. The following year, the gothic country group the Handsome Family formed; Andy Fyfe of Mojo called them “Americana’s ghostly Sonny & Cher.” A.V. Club reviewer Christopher Bahn compared their music to “a collaboration between Hank Williams and Edgar Allan Poe.” Johnny Cash’s American Recordings series, produced by Rick Rubin, a producer best known for working with hip hop and heavy metal artists, was described as having a gothic country sound and image; amidst covers of songs by non-country artists such as Depeche Mode, Danzig and Nine Inch Nails, as well as traditional and World War II-era songs, Cash’s album series lyrically derived from haunting, despaired themes such as death, and recurring religious themes in the form of dark gospel recordings. Pioneered by David Eugene Edwards through his band 16 Horsepower (and later, Wovenhand), a regional gothic country scene developed in Denver.

Groove (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Musicians’ perspectives#

Like the term “swing”, which is used to describe a cohesive rhythmic “feel” in a jazz context, the concept of “groove” can be hard to define. Marc Sabatella’s article Establishing The Groove argues that “groove is a completely subjective thing.” He claims that “one person may think a given drummer has a great feel, while another person may think the same drummer sounds too stiff, and another may think he is too loose.” Similarly, a bass educator states that while “groove is an elusive thing” it can be defined as “what makes the music breathe” and the “sense of motion in the context of a song”. In a musical context, general dictionaries define a groove as “a pronounced, enjoyable rhythm” or the act of “creat ing , danc ing to, or enjoy ing rhythmic music”. Steve Van Telejuice explains the “groove” as the point in this sense when he defines it as a point in a song or performance when “even the people who can’t dance wanna feel like dancing…” due to the effect of the music. The composer Bernard Coquelet argues that the “groove is the way an experienced musician will play a rhythm compared with the way it is written (or would be written)” by playing slightly “before or after the beat”. Coquelet claims that the “notion of groove actually has to do with aesthetics and style”; “groove is an artistic element, that is to say human,…and “it will evolve depending on the harmonic context, the place in the song, the sound of the musician’s instrument, and, in interaction with the groove of the other musicians”, which he calls “collective” groove”. Minute rhythmic variations by the rhythm section members such as the bass player can dramatically change the feel as a band plays a song, even for a simple singer-songwriter groove.

Groove metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Groove metal makes use of elements of thrash metal, but plays them in a slower tempo, making use of bouncy, unconventional rhythms. Music journalist Gary Graff also noted the influence of hardcore punk as integral to groove metal.

Origins#

In their book Hellraisers: A Complete Visual History of Heavy Metal Mayhem, journalists Axl Rosenberg and Christopher Krovatin traced the origins of groove metal to New Orleans’ Exhorder and New York’s Prong. Exhorder, formed in 1985, recorded their first demo in the summer of 1986, The band were immediately influential in the New Orleans metal scene, with pioneering sludge metal bands Eyehategod, Soilent Green and Crowbar all playing some of their earliest live performances in support of them. Prong, on the other hand, originated from the New York hardcore scene. The band originally played crossover thrash before slowing their tempos and incorporating heavier percussion on their second album Beg to Differ (1990). A number of writers have also noted the Bad Brains’s post-1987 music, particularly Quickness (1989), as helping to pioneer the genre. White Zombie, formed in 1985, playing music influenced by the noise rock of Honeymoon Killers, Swans and Pussy Galore, 1970s rock of Van Halen, Kiss and AC/DC, as well as Black Sabbath, the Cramps and gothic rock. Their early career was spent playing in the New York City noise rock scene, before being approached by the members of the Cro-Mags and Biohazard to instead begin playing in the New York hardcore scene. During this time, some New York hardcore bands were embracing metal influence and grooves, to the extent that bands including Sick of It All and Leeway self-identified as “Jackson Heights groove metal”. White Zombie began leaning into the nascent sound of groove metal on their second album Make Them Die Slowly (1989). The band achieved mainstream success in the mid-1990s, with La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One (1992) peaking at number 2 on the Heatseekers Albums chart in 1993 and was certified double-platinum by the RIAA in July 1998. White Zombie’s music videos were featured on Beavis and Butt-Head, helping to increase the band’s sales. Their 1995 follow-up Astro Creep: 2000 peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 and sold 104,000 copies in its first week of release; it was certified double-platinum by the RIAA. White Zombie’s song “More Human than Human” achieved mainstream success in 1995, peaking at number 53 on Billboard ’s Radio Songs chart, number 7 on the Alternative Songs chart, and number 10 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The song was played frequently on MTV and won the Best Metal/Hard Rock Video award at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. Venice crossover thrash band Excel’s second album The Joke’s on You (1989) took a more groove-driven direction. Far Out cited the introduction to the track “Tapping into the Emotional Void” as an early example of groove metal. Texas heavy metal band Pantera’s 1990 album Cowboys from Hell is often considered the album that codified and popularized groove metal. They continued releasing influential albums through the 1990s; the 1992 album Vulgar Display of Power featured an even heavier sound than its predecessor, while its follow-up Far Beyond Driven (1994) peaked at number 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 186,000 copies its first week of release. Thrash pioneers Metallica’s Black Album (1991) included multiple groove metal tracks, including “Sad but True” and “The Struggle Within”. Brazilian band Sepultura, previously established as having a deathrash sound, released their fifth studio album Chaos A.D. in 1993, which saw the band slow their tempos and embrace the influence of New York hardcore acts like the Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front and Sick of It All. Sound of the Beast author Ian Christe credited Chaos A.D. with helping to developing groove metal and as being widely influential. Machine Head released their debut album Burn My Eyes in 1994. The album helped the band achieve underground success and sold over 145,000 copies.

Grunge

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term “grunge” is American slang for “someone or something that is repugnant” and also for “dirt”. In 1988, it was first recorded as being applied to Seattle musicians in a Sub Pop mail order catalog, when Bruce Pavitt described Green River’s Dry as a Bone EP as “Gritty vocals, roaring Marshall amps. Ultra-loose GRUNGE that destroyed the morals of a generation”. Although the phrase “grunge” has been used to describe bands since the 1960s, this was the first association of grunge with the sound of a Seattle rock band. Nirvana’s frontman Kurt Cobain, in one of his final interviews, credited Jonathan Poneman, cofounder of Sub Pop, with coining the term “grunge” to describe the music. The term “Seattle sound” became a marketing ploy for the music industry. Seattle musician Jeff Stetson states that when he visited Seattle in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a touring musician, the local musicians did not refer to themselves as “grunge” performers or their style as “grunge” and they were not flattered that their music was being called “grunge”. Robert Loss acknowledges the challenges of defining “grunge”; he stated that, while he can recount stories about grunge, they do not serve to provide a useful definition. Roy Shuker states that the term “obscured a variety of styles.” Stetson states that prominent bands considered to be grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney and Hammerbox) all sound different.

Hapa haole music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

“Hapa haole” is a Hawaiian term referring to someone of part-Hawaiian, part-foreign ancestry. It emerged after Christian missionaries in Hawaii introduced the term “half” to Hawaiians, which became “hapa” in Hawaiian.

Style#

Hapa haole is described as Hawaiian music that uses primarily English lyrics, with both real and mock Hawaiian words sometimes included. Its lyrical content usually focuses on the people, culture, and nature of the Hawaiian Islands. Early hapa haole was influenced by music popular in the mainland United States in the early 20th century, especially ragtime. Throughout its evolution, hapa haole began to comprise other styles of music, including Hawaiian swing, rock and roll, and rap with English lyrics.

Heartland rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The term heartland rock was not coined to describe a clear genre until the 1980s. In terms of style, it often uses straightforward rock music, sometimes with elements of Americana with a basic rhythm and blues line-up of drums, keyboards and occasional horn section instruments like a saxophone. However, this common definition may represent an oversimplification given that Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. made heavy use of synthesizers, most notably on the hit singles “Dancing in the Dark”, “Glory Days” and the title track. Lyrics are often presented in a style that is raspy and unpolished, adding a sense of authenticity. Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the Byrds. Verses in heartland rock songs often tell stories. In some songs, those stories are about people undergoing hard times; choruses are often anthemic in tone. The genre is associated with working-class regions of the Midwest and the Rust Belt. It has been characterized as a predominantly romantic genre, celebrating “urban backstreets and rooftops”, and its major themes include alienation, despair, “unemployment, small-town decline, disillusionment, limited opportunity and bitter nostalgia”.

Heavy metal music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud, distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals. Heavy metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter, or omit one or more of these attributes. In a 1988 article, The New York Times critic Jon Pareles wrote, “In the taxonomy of popular music, heavy metal is a major subspecies of hard-rock—the breed with less syncopation, less blues, more showmanship and more brute force.” The typical band lineup includes a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist. Keyboard instruments are sometimes used to enhance the fullness of the sound. Deep Purple’s Jon Lord played an overdriven Hammond organ. In 1970, John Paul Jones used a Moog synthesizer on Led Zeppelin III; by the 1990s, synthesizers were used in “almost every subgenre of heavy metal”. The electric guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a combined use of high volumes and heavy fuzz. For classic heavy metal guitar tone, guitarists maintain gain at moderate levels, without excessive preamp or pedal distortion, to retain open spaces and air in the music; the guitar amplifier is turned up loud to produce the “punch and grind” characteristic. Thrash metal guitar tone has scooped mid-frequencies and tightly compressed sound with multiple bass frequencies. Most heavy metal songs “feature at least one guitar solo”, which is “a primary means through which the heavy metal performer expresses virtuosity”. Some exceptions are nu metal and grindcore bands, which tend to omit guitar solos. With rhythm guitar parts, the “heavy crunch sound in heavy metal … is created by palm muting” the strings with the picking hand and using distortion. Palm muting creates a tighter, more precise sound and it emphasizes the low end. The lead role of the guitar in heavy metal often collides with the traditional “frontman” or bandleader role of the vocalist, creating a musical tension as the two “contend for dominance” in a spirit of “affectionate rivalry”. Critic Simon Frith claims that the metal singer’s “tone of voice” is more important than the lyrics. The prominent role of the bass ‍is also key to the metal sound, and the interplay of bass and guitar is a central element. The bass provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music “heavy”. The bass plays a “more important role in heavy metal than in any other genre of rock”. Metal basslines vary widely in complexity, from holding down a low pedal point as a foundation to doubling complex riffs and licks along with the lead or rhythm guitars. Some bands feature the bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica’s Cliff Burton with his heavy emphasis on bass ‍solos and use of chords while playing the ‍bass in the early 1980s. Lemmy of Motörhead often played overdriven power chords in his bass lines. Heavy metal drumming is defined by a loud, consistent beat that drives the band, relying on the “trifecta of speed, power, and precision.” Heavy metal drumming “requires an exceptional amount of endurance”, and drummers have to develop “considerable speed, coordination, and dexterity … to play the intricate patterns” used in heavy metal. A characteristic metal drumming technique is the cymbal choke, which consists of striking a cymbal and then immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand (or, in some cases, the same striking hand), producing a burst of sound. The metal drum setup is generally much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music. In live performance, loudness – an “onslaught of sound”, in sociologist Deena Weinstein’s description – is considered vital. Following the lead set by Jimi Hendrix, Cream and the Who, early heavy metal acts such as Blue Cheer set new benchmarks for volume. As Blue Cheer’s Dick Peterson put it, “All we knew was we wanted more power.” A 1977 review of a Motörhead concert noted how “excessive volume in particular figured into the band’s impact”. Weinstein makes the case that in the same way that melody is the main element of pop and rhythm is the main focus of house music, powerful sound, timbre and volume are the key elements of metal. She argues that the loudness is designed to “sweep the listener into the sound” and to provide a “shot of youthful vitality”. until at least the mid-1980s, with some exceptions such as Girlschool. and PopMatters’ Craig Hayes argues that metal “clearly empowers women”. In the power metal and symphonic metal subgenres, there has been a sizable number of bands that have had women as the lead singers, such as Nightwish, Delain and Within Temptation.

Hi-NRG

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Whether hi-NRG is more rock-oriented than standard disco music is a matter of opinion. Hi-NRG can be heavily synthesized but it is not a prerequisite, and whether it is devoid of “funkiness” differs among the opinions of listeners. Many artists perform their vocals in R&B and soul styles on hi-NRG tracks. Lyrics tend to be overtly camp, kitschy, tongue-in-cheek, sexually suggestive with double entendres but also occasionally sentimental or maudlin. The sound of high energy dance tracks, particularly electronic dance or disco, is immediately identifiable by its iconic basslines, pioneered by producer Giorgio Moroder, often programmed in repeating bass sequences, particularly 16th notes, which is characteristic of the hi-NRG electronic dance sound as in “I Feel Love” performed by Donna Summer and produced by Moroder. The rhythm is characterized by an energetic, staccato, sequenced synthesizer sound of octave basslines or/and where the bass often takes the place of the hi-hat, alternating a more resonant note with a dampened note to signify the tempo of the record. There is also often heavy use of the clap sound found on drum machines. One form of hi-NRG, as performed by Megatone Records artists and Ian Levine, is any uptempo disco and dance music, whether containing octave basslines or not, that often features covers of “classic” Motown hits (Boys Town Gang) and torch songs, and is often “theatrical” in performance, featuring female (and male) musicians with facetious diva personas and male musicians sometimes in “drag” (Sylvester, Divine), cabarets/musical theater (Vicki Sue Robinson, Sharon Redd). This style, that Stock Aitken Waterman were influenced by, had a large cult following among gay club-goers in the 1980s, especially San Franciscan black and white gay men. and early Chicago house, primarily focuses on its characteristic sequenced “octave-jumping basslines” above anything else and in this form hi-NRG managed to surge into the mainstream with Stacey Q, Kim Wilde, and Laura Branigan. The octave basslines are also found in electroclash and in both cases may be traced to synth-pop and even further back to Giorgio Moroder (“I Feel Love”).

Hip house

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

A British collaboration between the electronic group Beatmasters and the rap duo Cookie Crew entitled “Rok da House” is cited as one of the first hip house tracks. Minor controversy ensued in 1988 when a U.S. record called “Turn Up the Bass” by Tyree Cooper featuring Kool Rock Steady claimed it was the “first hip house record on vinyl”. The Beatmasters disputed this, pointing out that “Rok da House” had originally been written and pressed to vinyl in 1986. The outfit then released “Who’s in the House?” featuring British emcee Merlin, containing the lines “Beatmasters stand to attention, hip house is your invention” and “Watch out Tyree, we come faster”. More claims to the hip-house crown were subsequently laid down by Fast Eddie in “Yo Yo Get Funky!”, Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock with “It Takes Two”, and Tony Scott’s “That’s How I’m Living”. After successful releases by the Beatmasters, Deskee, Tyree, KC Flightt, Doug Lazy and Mr. Lee, hip-house became popular in the acid house warehouse scene and nightclubs. Hip house also garnered substantial chart success. The style complemented sample-based records of the period, produced by British artists such as S-Express, Bomb the Bass and MARRS. Hip house tracks featured on popular dance compilations including Telstar’s Deep Heat compilation series and was championed by DJs such as Chad Jackson. As house music emerged as a worldwide industry by the late 1980s, U.S. acts such as C+C Music Factory would use the hip house formula in hits such as “Gonna Make You Sweat”, as well as the Eurodance particularly with hits by the Belgian group Technotronic and the German groups Snap! and Real McCoy.

Hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

“Hip-hop” has been in use since the 17th century to mean a succession of hops. In George Villiers’s 1671 play The Rehearsal, Prince Volscius exits a scene awkwardly with one boot on and the other off. The director of the scene exclaims, “to go off hip hop, hip hop, upon this occasion, is a thousand times better than any conclusion in the world”. A common variation on “hip hop” is “hippity hop”, which was in wide usage by the 19th century. It appears in works like a poem from 1882 where four children sing, " h ippity hop to the candy shop!" It was a common refrain in skipping games. Many dance steps include a hop. By the 18th century, “hop” began to be used interchangeably with “dance” as both a noun and a verb.

Hip-hop soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

Hip-hop soul evolved directly from new jack swing, a form of contemporary R&B popularized by artists and producers such as Teddy Riley and his group Guy, Keith Sweat, and Bobby Brown. Hip-hop soul shifted from new jack swing’s reliance on synth-heavy production and took the hip-hop/R&B synthesis further by having R&B singers sing directly over the types of sample-heavy backing tracks typically found in contemporary hip-hop recordings like boom bap. It also increased the popularity of hip-hop music and culture with older audiences and corporations looking to market urban music.

History of Cajun music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early years#

The first form of traditional cajun music began before the 20th century in south Louisiana. When the Acadians came from New Brunswick & Nova Scotia to Louisiana in 1764, they brought with them many beautiful ballads that told stories of bygone years. Many of these songs can be traced back to France and many songs from France drifted to the bayou and the prairie region via Nova Scotia and New Orleans. These ballads are not widely performed today, but were the basis of what is now accepted as cajun music. In the late 19th century, affordable accordions were introduced into Louisiana and were adopted by both Cajun and Creole musicians. Cajun and Creole musical styles at this time grew in parallel: mostly two-steps and waltzes meant for dancing, played by accordion and fiddle. Some of the first accordions imported in America were “Lester”, “Pine Tree” and “Bruno” brands, but they were bulky, cheaply made and hard to play. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that Buegeleisen & Jacobson of New York City brought in from Rudolph Kalbes of Berlin, Germany, the “Monarch”, then the “Sterling”, in the key of C and D. These were assembled in Klingenthal, Saxony, Germany, by several different families. They were “les ’tit noirs”, meaning “the little black ones”. They were a bit smaller than some of the older brands and were all black with pewter trim. They were the best ever at that time. The Sterling family bought the factory in about the 1920s, and then the Eagle family operated the factory, but both instruments were virtually the same as the Monarch, except for the name. During World War II, the Nazi government focused on building its war machine and closed down the accordion factories. Eventually, the factories were bombed by the allies, effectively ending the production of these accordions. Today, they are collectables.

Hokum

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology#

“Hokum”, originally a vaudeville term used for a simple performance bordering on vulgarity, “old and sure-fire comedy”, but hinting at a smart wordplay, was first used to describe the genre of black music in a billing of a race record for Tampa Red’s Hokum Jug Band (Tampa Red and Georgia Tom, 1929). After producing a big hit, “It’s Tight Like That”, with Vocalion Records (and its sequel) in 1928, the musicians went on to Paramount Records where they were called The Hokum Boys. Other recording studios joined the fray using similarly named ensembles. The application of “hokum” to describe the musical approach of these bands was fostered by Papa Charlie Jackson with his “Shake That Thing” (1925). The meaning of the stage slang word “hokum” was a subject of an extensive debate in the 1920s (“most discussed word in the entire vernacular”, right next to the “jazz”). The term “hokum blues” did not become a formal designation of a style until 1960s. “Hokum” is also used to describe the low comedy acts that were used at the turn of the 20th century to lure audiences to musical performances. In the words of W. C. Handy, a veteran of a minstrel troupe, “Our hokum hooked ’em” outside the opera house, so that “ticket sellers would go to work”. King applies the term to the early short slapstick films.

Horror punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Horror punk is defined by its fusion of punk rock music with the imagery and lyrical topics common in the horror film genre. Typically it references B movies, While both horror punk and gothic rock pull from many of the same points of reference, and sometimes early horror punk groups, particularly the Misfits, are themselves cited as being “proto-gothic”, the two genres are distinctly separate by modern definitions. However, the gothic rock genre death rock, with its emphasis on influence from punk rock, contains significant overlap with horror punk. Although, death rock lacks horror punk’s rockabilly and doo-wop influences, instead paying a greater attention to musical atmospheres. Psychobilly is also a closely related style to horror punk, particularly during the 2000s when the genres became increasingly intertwined. In an article by Kerrang!, writer Chris Krovatin stated that “the two genres have become so accepting of one another, that to make the distinction feels like splitting hairs”. Some psychobilly groups even take influence from horror punk imagery, notably Tiger Army.

House music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

In its most typical form, the genre is characterized by repetitive 4/4 rhythms including bass drums, off-beat hi-hats, snare drums, claps, and/or snaps at a tempo of between 120 and 130 beats per minute (bpm); synthesizer riffs; deep basslines; and often, but not necessarily, sung, spoken or sampled vocals. In house, the bass drum is usually played on beats one, two, three, and four, and the snare drum, claps, or other higher-pitched percussion on beats two and four. The drumbeats in house music are almost always provided by an electronic drum machine, often a Roland TR-808, TR-909, or a TR-707. Claps, shakers, snare drum, or hi-hat sounds are used to add syncopation. One of the signature rhythm riffs, especially in early Chicago house, is built on the clave pattern. Congas and bongos may be added for an African sound, or metallic percussion for a Latin feel. The electronic drum machines and other gear used by house DJs and producers were formerly considered “too cheap-sounding” by “proper” musicians. House music producers typically use sampled instruments, rather than bringing session musicians into a recording studio. Even though a key element of house production is layering sounds, such as drum machine beats, samples, synth basslines, and so on, the overall “texture…is relatively sparse”. Unlike pop songs, which emphasize higher-pitched sounds like melody, in house music, the lower-pitched bass register is most important. jazz-funk, or funk House tracks build up slowly, by adding layers of sound and texture, and by increasing the volume. House tracks may have vocals like a pop song, but some are “completely minimal instrumental music”. If a house track does have vocals, the vocal lines may also be simple “words or phrases” that are repeated.

Hypnagogic pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

In August 2009, journalist David Keenan, who was known as a reporter of noise, freak folk, and drone music scenes, coined the term “hypnagogic pop” in issue 306 of British music magazine The Wire. His article was entitled Childhood’s End. Keenan applied the label to a developing trend of 2000s lo-fi and post-noise music in which artists engaged with elements of cultural nostalgia, The term reportedly originated with a comment by James Ferraro about the notion that 1980s sounds had seeped into the unconscious of contemporary musicians while they were toddlers falling asleep and their parents played music in another room. Among the artists discussed in Keenan’s article were Ariel Pink, Daniel Lopatin, the Skaters, the Savage Young Taterbug, Gary War, Zola Jesus, Ducktails, Emeralds, and Pocahaunted. According to Keenan, these artists drew on cultural sources subconsciously remembered from their 1980s and early 1990s adolescence while freeing them from their historical contexts and “hom ing in on the futuristic signifiers” of the period. He alternately summarized hypnagogic pop as “pop music refracted through the memory of a memory” and as “1980’s-inspired psychedelia” that engages with capitalist detritus of the past in an attempt to “dream of the future.” In a later article, Keenan identified Lopatin, Ferraro, Clark, and ex-Test Icicles member Sam Mehran as hypnagogic pop’s “most adventurous proponents”.

Indie folk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The staff of Paste Magazine said in 2020: “No music genre is particularly easy to define, but “indie folk” is about as nebulous as they come.” Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The lyrical style commonly includes raw emotional experiences, social commentary and an introspective lens. The genre blends the ethos and experimental nature of indie music with the storytelling of folk music. Instruments frequently used in the genre include guitars, banjos, mandolins, and ukuleles.

Indigenous music of North America

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Singing and percussion are the most important aspects of traditional Native American music. Vocalization takes many forms, ranging from solo and choral song to responsorial, unison and multipart singing. Percussion, especially drums and rattles, are common accompaniment to keep the rhythm steady for the singers, who generally use their native language or non-lexical vocables (syllable sounds outside of language). Traditional music usually begins with slow and steady beats that grow gradually faster and more emphatic, while various flourishes like drum and rattle tremolos, shouts and accented patterns add variety and signal changes in performance for singers and dancers. Although each Native American group can be characterized by their own distinct genres and styles, certain aspects of style can be found with similarities among native groups who would have been neighboring tribes. These similarities are even further expanded upon when music and instruments are shared between each tribe, making it easy to find certain characteristics in frequent use. Melodies usually consist of a different scale than the classical eight-pitch scale of eastern culture, often finding itself in the pentatonic or tritonic scale. The voice can range from a tense, nasal, or relaxed sound, and consist of higher timbres specifically for male vocalists where falsetto is common. Vocal vibrato, when it occurs, is a rapid pulsating of different pitches as a more ornamental effect. Rhythmic patterns often can be found in meters of two or three and account for the vocal rhythms and syncopation in order to incorporate it into the pattern. Call and response patterns are common in vocal parts and ostinato may be included in the percussion part as well. Drums consist of types ranging from single headed, double headed, and kettle drums. Other percussive instrumentation consist of rattles and shakers, and made out of things like turtle shells. In addition to percussive instruments and vocals, a common sound in Native American music is instrumentation like flutes, whistles, and other instruments that produce sound from the player’s breath (horns, pipes, etc.). Instruments with strings that may be struck, plucked, or bowed include that like the musical bow which originated to the Americas, but does not appear often in contemporary indigenous music. Other stringed instruments include native guitars and fiddles whose structure and composition vary from tribe to tribe. A study made in 2016 analyzed the musical features of indigenous music in relation to social contexts and lyrical subject. Upon analyzing over 2,000 songs from Frances Densmore’s collection of native music, the study was able to find even the relation between subjects like love in songs, and pitch variety and tessitura. Love songs could be characterized with high tessituras and spacious melodies, with larger intervals and ranges. They are also, in many cases, perceived as “sad”: pertaining to departure, loss or longing. This explains the relationship between the lyrical subject and relatively slow melodic movement and low dynamics. Hiding-game songs, such as those associated with “moccasin, hand and hiding-stick or hiding-bones games,” were found with a significantly low average duration and small pitch range and variety. They also found that “healing songs,” and their characteristic of a narrow range and comparatively increased repetition of low notes, was likely intended to create a soothing sound that would ease discomfort in the event when a healing song would be sung. Regarding the music of specific people, they found that Yuman nature songs often have a small range, a descending melodic movement, and frequent repeated musical motifs. The Densmore collection also characterizes war songs as having a wider range, higher register, and greater diversity in duration and pitch. In comparison, dance songs also have these distinctions, although they can be found in the opposite sense, as dance songs are often found with lower registers. Dance songs are also similar to animal songs in range, pitch variety, and primary register. This study also maintains a significant view that many of these characteristics (“pitch height, tempo, dynamics, and variability”) have a direct relationship with emotional response, bringing out such response regardless of culture, meaning that similar characteristics of one culture’s music and its function will often be found in another culture’s for the same function. This is how Shanahan, Neubarth, and Conklin were able to use Densmore’s collection of over 2,000 songs to create an analysis of comparison between subject and musical characteristic.

Industrial music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the genre was first named in 1942 when The Musical Quarterly called Dmitri Shostakovich’s 1927 Symphony No. 2 “the high tide of ‘industrial music’.” Similarly, in 1972, The New York Times described works by Ferde Grofé (especially 1935’s A Symphony in Steel) as part of “his ‘industrial music’ genre that called on such instruments as four pairs of shoes, two brooms, a locomotive bell, a pneumatic drill and a compressed-air tank”. Though these compositions are not directly tied to what the genre would become, they are early examples of music designed to mimic machinery noise and factory atmosphere. Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo laid the groundwork for industrial music with his book and work The Art of Noises (1913), which aimed to reflect “the sounds of a modern industrial society”.

Industrial rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Industrial rock is defined by the merging of rock music with influences lifted from industrial music, electronic, and avant-garde music. Industrial rock bands are characterized by harsh, abrasive sounds, blending distorted, aggressive guitar riffs with electronic textures and experimental production techniques. Exemplified by artists who signed to industrial focused independent record label Wax Trax! Records, while some industrial rock artists later overlapped with industrial metal.

Forerunners#

Cromagnon’s 1969 record Orgasm has been credited with foreshadowing the industrial rock sound, with AllMusic describing it as sounding “like it could be a Ministry … recording from 1989”. Pitchfork labelled the opening track “Caledonia” as a “pre-industrial stomp”. During the 1970s, industrial music emerged through the early works of Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, NON, SPK and Z’EV. SAlongside, New York City band Suicide, formed in 1970, by Alan Vega and Martin Rev, whose 1977 debut album has been credited with providing “the blueprints for … industrial rock”. Furthermore, Iggy Pop who released his debut solo album The Idiot, produced by David Bowie, in 1977, was later retroactively recognized as a forerunner to industrial rock, particularly the closing track, “Mass Production’, which contains numerous “proto-industrial noises” created using tape loops, which Hugo Wilcken described as “early industrial electronica.” Ian Curtis of Joy Division, cited the album as an inspiration, and later influenced the work of Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, who’d cover their song “Dead Souls”. Other influences on industrial rock include Einstürzende Neubauten, Alien Sex Fiend, and Come.

Jangle pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

In the late 1970s and 1980s, prominent early jangle pop groups included Big Star, R.E.M., the dB’s, 10,000 Maniacs, and the Smiths. In the early to mid 1980s, the term “jangle pop” emerged as a label for an American post-punk movement that recalled the sounds of “jangly” acts from the 1960s. Between 1983 and 1987, the description “jangle pop” was used to describe bands like R.E.M. and Let’s Active as well as the Paisley Underground subgenre, which incorporated psychedelic influences.

Jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and definition#

The origin of the word jazz has resulted in considerable research, and its history is well documented. It is believed to be related to jasm, a slang term dating back to 1860 meaning . The earliest written record of the word is in a 1912 article in the Los Angeles Times in which a minor league baseball pitcher described a pitch which he called a ‘jazz ball’ “because it wobbles and you simply can’t do anything with it”. Its first documented use in a musical context in New Orleans was in a November 14, 1916, Times-Picayune article about “jas bands”. In an interview with National Public Radio, musician Eubie Blake offered his recollections of the slang connotations of the term, saying: “When Broadway picked it up, they called it ‘J-A-Z-Z’. It wasn’t called that. It was spelled ‘J-A-S-S’. That was dirty, and if you knew what it was, you wouldn’t say it in front of ladies.” The American Dialect Society named it the Word of the 20th Century. Jazz is difficult to define because it encompasses a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years, from ragtime to rock-infused fusion. Attempts have been made to define jazz from the perspective of other musical traditions, such as European music history or African music. But critic Joachim-Ernst Berendt argues that its terms of reference and its definition should be broader, defining jazz as a “form of art music which originated in the United States through the confrontation of the Negro with European music” and arguing that it differs from European music in that jazz has a “special relationship to time defined as ‘swing. Jazz involves “a spontaneity and vitality of musical production in which improvisation plays a role” and contains a “sonority and manner of phrasing which mirror the individuality of the performing jazz musician”. Duke Ellington, one of jazz’s most famous figures, said, “It’s all music.”

Jersey club

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Style and characteristics#

Jersey club has been described as a “fast and aggressive dance music” with roots in the Baltimore club scene’s fusion of house music and hip-hop. 808 bass sounds and sampled breakbeats from Lyn Collins’ “Think (About It)” are commonly employed, as well as varied pop culture references. DJ Sliink summarized it as “a more urban take to dance music with chopped vocals and breaks.”

Origins: 1999–2002#

Club or house music has a long history in Newark, home to the older New Jersey sound electronic genre. Chicago house was popular in Newark’s 1990s club scene, where it was referred to generically by some as “club music.” DJ Tameil, who became known for his Chicago house mixtapes as a teenager, later established connections with the Baltimore scene; he was subsequently introduced to Baltimore stars such as DJ Technics and Rod Lee. Tameil did not put artist names on his mixes, making it difficult for other Jersey producers to identify his sources. He began playing Baltimore records at teen parties and clubs in the downtown Newark area. Tameil was among the first Jersey artists to produce his own club tracks in 2001 with the Dat Butt EP, released on his own label Anthrax Records. A week later the Newark group The OG’s also self-released an EP titled Official Ghetto Style. Tameil began to burn his own CDs and sold them on Broad Street in Newark. Around this time, DJs Tim Dolla and Mike V also began producing their own club tracks as the Brick Bandits to challenge Tameil’s monopoly on the market. The two parties initially feuded but Tameil later joined the group, coining the phrase “Brick City club” in 2002 in reference to Newark’s nickname “Brick City.” They released popular mixtapes which featured both club and house tracks. Club parties, hosted primarily in ballrooms and banquet halls, began emerging in Newark and surrounding suburbs such as East Orange and Irvington. Despite violence in the city, parties thrown by the Brick Bandits or at the Branch Brook Skating Rink were known to be safe spaces for kids.

Jug band

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Early jug bands were typically made up of African-American vaudeville and medicine show musicians. Beginning in the urban South (namely, Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, Tennessee), they played a mixture of blues, ragtime, and jazz. The history of jug bands is related to the development of the blues. The informal and energetic music of the jug bands also contributed to the development of rock and roll. The jug sound is made by taking a jug (usually made of glass or stoneware) and buzzing the lips into its mouth from about an inch away. As with brass instruments, changes in pitch are controlled by altering lip tension, and an accomplished jug player could have a two-octave range. The stovepipe (usually a section of tin pipe, three or four inches in diameter) is played in much the same manner, with the pipe rather than the jug serving as the resonating chamber. There is some similarity to the didgeridoo, but there is no contact between the stovepipe and the player’s lips. Some jug and stovepipe players utilize throat vocalization along with lip buzzing, as with the didgeridoo. The swooping sounds of the jug fill a musical role halfway between the trombone and sousaphone or tuba in Dixieland bands, playing mid- and lower-range harmonies in rhythm. In the early days of jug band music, homemade guitars and mandolins were sometimes made from the necks of discarded manufactured guitars fastened to large gourds that were flattened on one side, with a sound-hole cut into the flat side, before drying. Banjos were sometimes made from a discarded guitar neck and a metal pie plate.

Kansas City jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The first band from Kansas City, Missouri, to acquire a national reputation was the Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra, a white group which broadcast nationally in the 1920s. However, the Kansas City jazz school is identified with the black bands of the 1920s and 1930s, including those led by Bennie Moten, Andy Kirk, Harlan Leonard, George E. Lee, Count Basie, and Jay McShann. Bennie Moten was born in Kansas City on December 13, 1893, the beginning of the story of the 1923 recording session. During his first gigs, Moten played house rent parties and brothels operating from private homes, according to long-time Kansas City native Fred Hicks. Between 1916 and 1918, Moten began performing with the drummer Dude Langford. According to Langford, " When I first met Bennie, he was playing around town, little old joints here, some of ’em just little fronts, a bar and a gambling room in the back." The success of Count Basie nationally and internationally led bookers, managers, and record producers to come to Kansas City in search of similar talent. According to Gray Giddins, Basie “is the only major jazz figure to realize his individuality by paring down his technique” because he discovered his style through a search for identity. “From his first session with Bennie Moten to those with his own band in the late 1930s, Basie could be heard in various settings responding to musical challenges as a committed ensemble player, making choices that might serve others as well”. Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Charlie Parker learned about music by spending time in the alleyways behind nightclubs that lined Twelfth Street. Due to Parker’s dubious musical reputation, Oliver Todd reluctantly allowed him to join his Hottentots band: “I tried to take him under my wing. He was very green. If you had told me then that he would be famous I wouldn’t have believed it. He had a lot to learn. He was very determined. … He worked hard.” In the 1930s, Kansas City was very much the crossroads of the United States, resulting in a mix of cultures. Transcontinental trips by plane or train often necessitated a stop in the city. The era marked the zenith of power of political boss Tom Pendergast. Kansas City was a wide open town with prohibition era liquor laws and hours totally ignored, and was called the new Storyville. Most of the jazz musicians associated with the style were born in other places but got caught up in the friendly musical competitions among performers that could keep a single song being performed in variations for an entire night. Often members of the big bands would perform at regular venues earlier in the evening and go to the jazz clubs later to jam for the rest of the night. During the 1930s, a hybrid style between Kansas City jazz and big band was the most popular form of jazz music in the United States, often being played in popular venues and ballrooms. In 1936, Kansas City’s influence overtly transferred to the national scene, when record producer John Hammond discovered Count Basie on his car radio. Pendergast was convicted of income tax fraud in 1940, and the city cracked down on the clubs effectively ending the era. Jay McShann told the Associated Press in 2003: “You’d hear some cat play, and somebody would say ‘This cat, he sounds like he is from Kansas City.’ It was Kansas City Style. They knew it on the East Coast. They knew it on the West Coast. They knew it up North and they knew it down South.” Claude “Fiddler” Williams described the scene: “Kansas City was different from all other places because we’d be jamming all night. And if you come up here … playing the wrong thing, we’d straighten you out.” Tenor saxophonist Lester Young was a hero among writers and musicians. “Known as ‘president’ of the saxophone, he gained recognition for his musical genius while playing leading swing bands of the 1930s, including the 13 Original Blue Devils and the King Oliver and Count Basie bands”. He gained recognition for his signature whistling sound and his impact on jazz has been recognized by jazz historians. Redefining the role of the tenor sax was only the first of Young’s achievements. In this way, he profoundly changed jazz melodic improvisation, offering a counterpoint to Armstrong’s hot, syncopated style. In the Southwest, a tradition of storytelling is as strong in music as it is in speech, according to bassist Gene Ramey of Kansas City. When he explained how Young dethroned Coleman Hawkins in a legendary tenor-saxophone battle at the Cherry Blossom, he noted that the Kansas City musician played more creatively.

Kiowa music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Development and genres#

Historically, Kiowa music has been strongly focused on dancing, such the gourd dance. Mock sham battles, purifying sweat baths, erecting the center cottonwood pole, building the arbor, bringing the brush in, spreading sand on the ground, building the sacred Taimé altar, unveiling the Taimé by the Taimé keeper, distribution of shields, ritual body painting, leading in the different pledge makers/dancers by their clans accompanied by their painters, prayer, speeches, dancing, eagle whistle blowing, visions and feasting by the pledge makers’/dancers’ families were all ceremonial elements integral to the four-day k’aw-tow. Modern songs called Brush Dance songs and Buffalo Dance songs commemorate the now outlawed Kiowa Sun Dance. Kiowa music, one of the most heavily recorded tribes, is part of the larger Southern Plains Indian music genre. The Kiowa created their flag song to honor warriors of the past, present and their people, their memorial song and the dance bustle in the O-Ho-Mah Lodge warrior society from the Omaha tribe. The modern gourd dance adheres to Kiowa protocol and social mores with the majority of songs composed and/or handed down from Kiowa song makers. The Smithsonian Institution made recordings during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s that are close to 19th century music, while Indian House Records and Canyon Records began commercial recording in the 1960s and 1970s and Soundchief began recording in the 1940s. Early 20th Century Kiowa recordings are housed in the Library of Congress’s Archive of Folk Culture, Indiana University American Indian Studies Research Institute, The Oklahoma Historical Society’s Oklahoma History Center, and the Kiowa Tribal Museum. Many Kiowa elders also retain a vast knowledge of traditional songs. New Kiowa songs continue to be composed each year for new events, organizations and individuals. Much of Kiowa music is related to the warrior societies of the 20th century. Society songs of the 19th century have been integrated into existing music. The Kiowas significant contributions to world music include the maintenance of cultural institutions and practices, such as the Black Leggings Society, the Oh-Ho-Mah Lodge, the Kiowa Gourd Clan, Peyote songs, War Journey songs, also known as 49 songs, war mother songs, victory or scalp dance songs, handgame songs, and hymns.

Latin hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

West Coast#

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, most Latin rap came from New York and the West Coast of the United States. Due to the heaviest Puerto Rican migration to New York City in the ’50s, during the ’70s, the birth of Latin Hip-Hop involved Hispanic from the Caribbean island. Early hip-hop from the United States had a significant influence on early Puerto Rican hip-hop pioneers such as Ruben DJ, DJ Negro, and Vico-C. Mellow Man Ace, from Cuba, was the first Hispanic artist to have a major bilingual single, the 1989 track “Mentirosa”. This song went platinum, leading Mellow Man Ace to be described as the “Godfather of Latin rap” and inducted into the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame inductee. In 1990, fellow West Coast artist Kid Frost further brought Hispanics to the rap forefront with his hit song “La Raza”. In 1991, Kid Frost, Mellow Man, A.L.T. and several other Latin rappers formed the rap super group Latin Alliance and released a self-titled album which featured the hit “Lowrider (On the Boulevard)”. The remake of the song Tequila was an A.L.T. hit later that year. Cypress Hill, of which Mellow Man Ace was a member before going solo, would become the first Hispanic rap group to reach platinum status in 1991. The group was also the first major hip-hop music group to include Spanish and Latin slang in their lyrics. Cypress Hill gained hit “Insane in the Brain”(1993) and Platinum record. Ecuadorian-born American rapper Gerardo received heavy rotation on video and radio for his single Rico Suave. While commercially watered-down, his album enjoyed a status of being one of the first mainstream Spanglish CDs on the market. Johnny J was a multi-platinum songwriter, music producer, and rapper who was perhaps best known for his production on Tupac Shakur’s albums All Eyez on Me and Me Against the World. He also produced the 1990 single Knockin’ Boots for his classmate Candyman’s album Ain’t No Shame in My Game, which eventually went platinum thanks to the single. N2Deep, A Lighter Shade of Brown, Proper Dos, and Slow Pain were popular in Latin rap scene. In the mid-1990s, the success of LA’s Cypress Hill led to additional Latin hip-hop artists finding label support. Delinquent Habits were a horn-sampling trio that found MTV support for their breakout bilingual single “Tres Delinquentes” in 1996. By the early 2000s, two Mexico-born, United States-raised Latin hip-hop acts found success on major labels. LA’s Akwid fused banda with hip-hop on hits like “No Hay Manera” while Milwaukee’s Kinto Sol told tales of Mexican immigrant life over more minimalist beats. Mr.Criminal, Mr.Capone-E, Mr.Knightowl, Ms.Krazie, Charlie Row Campo and Mr.Sancho released Latin and Chicano rap CDs.

Latin music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology and categorization#

Because the majority of Latino immigrants living in New York City in the 1950s were of Puerto Rican or Cuban descent, “Latin music” had been stereotyped as music simply originating from the Spanish Caribbean. The popularization of bossa nova and Herb Alpert’s Mexican-influenced sounds in the 1960s did little to change the perceived image of Latin music. In 1969, the first international organization which attempted to define Latin music was the Festival Mundial de la Canción Latina which included Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian-speaking countries across Latin America and Europe. However, the event only lasted for two years. Since then, the music industry classifies all music sung in Spanish or Portuguese as Latin music, including musics from Spain and Portugal. Enrique Fernandez wrote in Billboard that the lone category for Latin music meant that all Latin music genres had to compete with each other despite the distinct sounds of the genre. He also noted that the accolade was usually given to performers of tropical music. Eight years later, the organization debuted three new categories for Latin music: Best Latin Pop Performance, Best Mexican/Mexican-American Performance, and Best Tropical Latin Performance. Latin pop is a catch-all for any pop music sung in Spanish, while Mexican/Mexican-American (also to referred to as Regional Mexican) is defined as any musical style originating from Mexico or influences by its immigrants in the United States including Tejano, and tropical music is any music from the Spanish Caribbean. In 1997, NARAS established the Latin Recording Academy (LARAS) in an effort to expand its operations in both Latin America and Spain. In September 2000, LARAS launched the Latin Grammy Awards, a separate award ceremony from the Grammy Awards. Its organizers stated that the Latin music universe was too large to fit within the Grammys. Michael Greene, former head of NARAS, said that the process of creating the Latin Grammy Awards was complicated due to the diverse Latin musical styles, noting that the only thing they had in common was language. As a result, the Latin Grammy Awards are presented to records performed in Spanish or Portuguese, while the organization focuses on music from Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. Since the late 1990s, the United States has seen increasing growth in its population of “Latinos”, a term popularized since the 1960s due to confusing the wrong term “Spanish” with the more proper but less popular term “Hispanic”. The music industry in the United States began to refer to any kind of music featuring Spanish vocals as “Latin music”. Under this definition, Spanish sung in any genre is categorized as “Latin”. In turn, this has led to artists from Spain being labelled as “Latin” because they sing in the same language. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Billboard magazine use this definition of Latin music to track sales of Spanish-language records in the United States. Billboard however considers an artist to be “Latin” if they perform in Spanish or Portuguese. The RIAA initiated the “Los Premios de Oro y Platino” (“The Gold and Platinum Awards” in Spanish) in 2000 to certify sales of Latin music albums and singles under a different threshold than its standard certifications. Billboard divides its Latin music charts into three subcategories: Latin pop, Regional Mexican, and tropical. A fourth subcategory was added in the mid 2000s to address the rise of Latin urban music genres such as Latin hip hop and reggaeton.

Lo-fi music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Evolution of the term and its scope#

Lo-fi is the opposite of high fidelity, or “hi-fi”. and ran during a thirty-minute prime time evening slot every Friday. In the fall 1986 issue of the WFMU magazine LCD, the program was described as “home recordings produced on inexpensive equipment. Technical primitivism coupled with brilliance.” A third definition was added to the Oxford Dictionary in 2008: “unpolished, amateurish, or technologically unsophisticated, esp. as a deliberate aesthetic choice.” In 2017, About.coms Anthony Carew argued that the term “lo-fi” had been commonly misused as a synonym for “warm” or “punchy” when it should be reserved for music that “sounds like it’s recorded onto a broken answering-machine”.

Louisiana blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

New Orleans blues#

The blues that developed in the 1940s and 1950s in and around the city of New Orleans was strongly influenced by jazz and incorporated Caribbean influences, it is dominated by piano and saxophone but has also produced major guitar bluesmen. Major figures in the genre include Professor Longhair and Guitar Slim, who both produced major regional, national R&B chart and even mainstream hits.

Swamp blues#

Swamp blues developed around Baton Rouge in the 1950s and which reached a peak of popularity in the 1960s. It generally has a slow tempo and incorporates influences from other genres of music, particularly the regional styles of zydeco and Cajun music. Its most successful proponents included Slim Harpo and Lightnin’ Slim, who enjoyed a number of rhythm and blues and national hits and whose work was frequently covered by bands of the British Invasion.

Lowend

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Lowend is defined primarily by a steady, metronome-like rhythm of synthesized eighth note handclaps, as well as snares on the first and third counts of its beats, rumbling bass, fast tempos, and brief runtimes, typically not exceeding two minutes in length. Lowend beats are also known for being danceable and relatively minimalistic, while lyrics in lowend songs generally focus on partying, twerking, and cars. It takes influence from other hip-hop genres such as bounce, ratchet, hyphy, and twerk music.

Math rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History and precursors#

The albums Red and Discipline by King Crimson, as well as Spiderland by Slint, are generally considered seminal influences on the development of math rock. The Canadian punk rock group Nomeansno (founded in 1979 and inactive as of 2016) have been cited by music critics as a “secret influence” on math rock, predating much of the genre’s development by more than a decade. An even more avant-garde group of the same era, Massacre, featured the guitarist Fred Frith and the bassist Bill Laswell. With some influence from the rapid-fire energy of punk, Massacre’s influential music used complex rhythmic characteristics. Black Flag’s 1984 album, My War, also included unusual polyrhythms. Two songs on Yes’ album Fragile (1971) have drawn attention – Paul Lester of Classic Rock writes that “Five Per Cent for Nothing” finds drummer Bill Bruford “inventing math rock”, while “Heart of the Sunrise” was described by Pitchforks Chris Dahlen, Dominique Leone and Joe Tangari as “a deftly constructed proto math-rock epic”. Polvo, Don Caballero, Slint, Bitch Magnet, Bastro and Ruins are the genre’s pioneers. Examples of modern math rock bands include Delta Sleep, Covet, Tricot, and TTNG.

Maya music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Instruments#

Important archaeological evidence of pre-Columbian Maya aerophones has been found in locations such as Tabasco, Campeche, and Jaina. Clay whistles were found in Jaina from burial sites. These whistles have mouthpieces in quadrangular, rectangular, ellipsoidal and conical shapes. Several whistles are shaped like human faces, and some are shaped like animals representing Mayan deities. Aside from wind and percussive instruments there was not a wide variety of instruments used in classic Mayan music, as stringed instruments such as guitars were not invented in the region. Deceased rulers were often buried with musical instruments to help them pass through the underworld and to eventually be reborn.

Memphis blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In addition to guitar-based blues, jug bands, such as Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers and the Memphis Jug Band, were extremely popular practitioners of Memphis blues. The jug band style emphasized the danceable, syncopated rhythms of early jazz and a range of other folk styles. It was played on simple, sometimes homemade, instruments such as harmonicas, violins, mandolins, banjos, and guitars, backed by washboards, kazoo, guimbarde and jugs blown to supply the bass. After World War II, as African Americans left the Mississippi Delta and other impoverished areas of the South for urban areas, many musicians gravitated to the blues scene in Memphis, changing the classic Memphis blues sound. Musicians such as Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Nix, Ike Turner, and B. B. King performed on Beale Street and in West Memphis and recorded some of the classic electric blues, rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll records for labels such as Sam Phillips’s Sun Records. Sun recorded Howlin’ Wolf (before he moved to Chicago), Willie Nix, Ike Turner, B. B. King and others. Electric Memphis blues featured “explosive, distorted electric guitar work, thunderous drumming, and fierce, declamatory vocals.” Musicians associated with Sun Records included Joe Hill Louis, Willie Johnson and Pat Hare.

Memphis rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Memphis rap has been characterized as being low budget, using repetitive vocal hooks and a “distorted”, that uses the Roland TR-808 drum machine and minimal synth melodies. The genre commonly features double time flows with triplet flows, Because of the lack of resources, bedroom studios were often pushed to the extreme. Usually, the lyrics are quite dark and depict graphic subject matter. DJ Spanish Fly had introduced the synthetic drum-kit sound with the TR-808, splitting the Memphis scene in two between those who preferred the live versus the digital sound. Alongside a strong drum beat were “cowbell, syncopated rhythms, powerful sub-bass, and sharp digital snares”, these elements becoming the hallmarks of the Memphis rap sound. Looping is also a signature with no steadfast rule, although looping is used over chopped edits. Memphis rap has been cited as an influence on the development of Phonk, a subgenre that draws on its sampling practices and sonic aesthetic. Memphis artists released recordings on independent labels. The dominance of New York and Los Angeles’s hip hop scenes forced southern artists to form an underground style and sound to compete with the other regions. Artists used a grassroots approach through word-of-mouth in the club scene and mixtapes to promote their music. Independent cassette circulation networks became an important part of preserving and distributing Memphis underground rap throughout the region. Memphis rap artists often relied on independent methods of production and distribution, including the use of cassette tapes shared through local networks. Oral history and archival preservation projects, including documentation from the Memphis Public Library, have preserved accounts from artists associated with the Memphis rap underground scene such as The Scandalous Playaz, helping document the regional cassette-era culture surrounding independent Memphis rap distribution.

Memphis soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Overview/Memphis Soul#

Soul music is an emotional genre that began by expression of the struggles within the African American community. Soul is similar to genres like Motown or Rhythm and Blues but is unique because of its tonality and origin. Memphis musicians Willie Mitchell and Al Green collaborated to produce the basic sound of all soul music to emerge from Memphis. To this day, the entire genre of Memphis soul music is in accordance with their perfected sound of the 70s.

Métis fiddle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cultural Significance#

The Métis are an Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island who trace their descent to mixed European and First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union; within generations, however, the culture coalesced into what is today a distinct Indigenous group with formal recognition equal to that of the Inuit and First Nations. Mothers were often Cree, Ojibwa, Denesuline or Saulteaux . At one time, distinctions were made between French Métis (born of francophone voyageur fathers) and Anglo Métis (or “Countryborn”), descended from Scottish fathers. Today, these two cultures form a single Métis culture. The fiddle has become a key feature of Metis identity through the cultural prominence of jigging and social fiddling. Originating from the Red River Region, The metis have a notion of Miziksharing, or understanding music as sharing, which informs the social aspects of this community. In this way, Metis fiddle performance allows for the connection of two kinds of sociability that might initially appear to be quite distinct, “musical closeness and interactions between strangers.” Fiddle music is often performed at cultural folk festivals outside of their more intimate community role, where the music draws people together through a “collective identification with Metis heritage.” These public performances outside of the sphere of the community are not without controversy, though. With the introduction of Metis-style fiddle competitions, in which competitors are to demonstrate “authenticity” perform without accompaniment and clog while seated, many argue that the Metis tradition is being constrained and held back from innovating. In addition, the Metis-style competitions are offered significantly less prize money; at the Manitoba Open, competitors sought $100 compared to the $400 offered for the top prize in other old-time styles. These competitions are furthermore problematic for allowing individuals to interact with the Metis culture in one specific way, thus avoiding interacting with the indigenous community of Metis people native to Canada.

Miami bass

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1980s origins#

During the 1980s, the focus of Miami bass tended to be on DJs and record producers, rather than individual performers. Record labels such as Pandisc, HOT Records, 4-Sight Records and Skyywalker Records released much material of the genre. Unterberger has referred to James (Maggotron) McCauley (also known as DXJ, Maggozulu Too, Planet Detroit and Bass Master Khan) as the “father of Miami bass”, a distinction McCauley denies, choosing to confer that status on producer Amos Larkins. MC ADE’s “Bass Rock Express”, with music and beats produced by Amos Larkins, is often credited as being the first Miami bass record to gain underground popularity on an international scale. The single “Throw The D” by the group 2 Live Crew in 1986 gave a permanent blueprint to how future Miami bass songs were written and produced.

Michigan rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

While Michigan has historically trailed behind New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta in terms of the infrastructure and resources available to rap musicians, in recent years, Detroit and Flint have emerged as “havens” for a vibrant and diverse music scene. The presence of established veterans and a burgeoning community of rising artists further contributes to the state’s dynamic and innovative musical landscape.

Characteristics#

Two pillars of Michigan rap are Flint rap and Detroit rap, which prioritize driving drum beats, brooding low piano chords, and narratives in their lyrics. The element of drum beats was popularized by J Dilla who used beat drum programming with live improvisation instruments. The style of Flint rap did not gain traction within Michigan until the late 2010s with the rise in popularity of Rio Da Yung OG. Flint rap is a newer scene that has a symbiotic relationship with Detroit. Flint performers could take advantaged of an established scene in Detroit, while the Detroit community hones and harnesses the talent to expand the scene.

Midwestern hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Style#

Although the Midwest hip-hop scene encompasses a wide range of local styles, several recurring characteristics are commonly associated with the region. One of the most notable elements is the tempo, which often varies between 90 and 180 beats per minute, reflecting a broad rhythmic spectrum. A particularly distinctive feature is the use of fast-paced and rhythmically complex vocal delivery, commonly referred to as chopper style. This technique, popularized by artists such as Eminem, Twista, Da Brat, and Tech N9ne, is characterized by rapid articulation, intricate rhyme schemes, and precise control of timing and breath. In addition to its technical emphasis, Midwest hip-hop frequently integrates melodic components, such as sung hooks and harmonized vocals, into its structure. The combination of accelerated lyricism and melodic expression has contributed to a stylistic identity that is both rhythmically dynamic and musically adaptable. Nevertheless, significant regional variation persists across the Midwest, and differences in production, themes, and delivery between cities and states often prevent the formation of a singular, unified musical aesthetic.

Milwaukee hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Overview and history#

The state of Wisconsin isn’t often associated with the hip-hop genre of music. However, the Midwestern state has cultivated its own hip-hop scene. While not as prominent as cities like New York or even neighboring scenes such as Chicago or Detroit, Wisconsin has produced talented artists who contribute to the genre’s diversity and creativity. The current scene is focused around the city of Milwaukee. One of the most prominent characteristics of Milwaukee’s current scene is the use of “low-end type” beats that feature heavy kicks, deep basslines, and 808s. Producers in the scene tend to incorporate chopped samples or original synth chords to complete their beats. Some examples of this style are Certified Trapper’s “Each Smack” track or J.P.s “Party Mix” track. Another major characteristic of the current scene is the use of rather eccentric music videos that are paired with the tracks.

Mobb music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Production#

Mobb music, often shortened to Mobb, is characterized by a heavy, deliberate sonic profile that typically operates within a tempo range of 80 to 100 BPM, representing an evolutionary shift away from early West Coast electro-hop. Structurally, the genre favors extended, long-form arrangement s driven by an intricate, heavily layered texture. This framework is anchored by analog drum machine s, most notably the Roland TR-808, which makes that elctronic sound rather then acoutic drum sound. A core structural element is the prominent placement of sharp claps on the second and fourth beats of each measure, creating a pounding, deliberate cadence. Layered over this percussion are signature low-end frequencies, distinguished by the frequent use of “fat” resonant bass synth s and complex melodies that create a raw, performance-based, and organic sound. While sharing a historical foundation in West Coast hip-hop, Mobb features major compositional differences from mainstream Southern California G-funk. While G-funk typically replayed or interpolated a single, recognizable P-Funk sample with minor melodic embellishments to achieve a polished, fluid sound, the Mobb production method relies on an extensive mixture of multiple samples. Producers blend fragments from various musical sources, utilizing live-in-the-studio instrumentation to heavily alter, expand, and reshape these combined elements into entirely new, original compositions. This approach gives the genre a more rigid, electronic, and pounding framework. Production within the genre generally has two distinct styles: * One style is a brighter, more festive, and more upbeat soundscape that relies on infectious, rolling funk grooves intended to create an energetic, feel-good party atmosphere. * In contrast, the other style explores a much darker, ominous, and menacing soundscape. The genre is also often lumped into the hardcore hip hop genre due to its raw production values and aggressive thematic focus.

Mormon folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History of Mormon folk music#

In 1847 Brigham Young led the first company of Mormon pioneers into what became Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Great Basin area became steadily populated by Latter-day Saints. The traditional folk ballad played an important role in the lives of Mormon pioneers and early settlers. Songs detail the life of saints from the organization of the church in New York in 1830, through life in Kirtland and Nauvoo, to the trip across the plains and life in the Salt Lake Valley. Additionally, cultural and religious themes unique to the LDS Church in some songs made Mormon folk music distinct from larger folk music in the United States, and many songs herald church leaders and promote obedience to the church’s teachings. Songs typically had simple tunes, easy-to-recall lyrics, and broad enough appeal to be sung by contemporary Mormons. Mormon folk music mainly consisted of adaptations of popular songs, as well as of traditional folk songs from the United States and Europe. Given that many early Mormon converts came from different countries and spoke different languages, music became a way of sharing and preserving one’s cultural heritage, as well as a means of communication with others. Historical Latter-day Saint attitudes and beliefs can generally be inferred from the types and lyrics of songs they sang. During the first generation of pioneers, instruments were limited to violins, banjos, and guitars, and so many songs would have been sung with accompaniment from these instruments or were sung a capella. The first piano was brought to Utah in 1851, and piano arrangements of many popular folk songs were written.

Mormon music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mormon folk music#

Mormon folk music constituted some of the earliest European-American music in the boundaries of modern Utah. These songs, simple and easy to remember, were usually sung without accompaniment because of the scarcity of musical instruments in territorial Utah. Although they often employed the same tunes as folk music elsewhere, Mormon folk music is distinctively Utahn. The songs often include unique pioneer-era Latter-Day Saint culture references to crossing the plains, LDS ecclesiastical leaders, and LDS religious convictions. Hymns and other folk music were used to lift the spirits of all the saints along their treacherous journey known as the Mormon Trail. They are still used as praises or prayers to their Heavenly Father as well as a way to welcome comfort, peace and guidance from the Holy Ghost whom they try to keep as a constant companion.

Mumble rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

The earliest known usage of the term “mumble rap” was in 2014 by VladTV battle rap journalist Michael Hughes, in an interview with battle rapper Loaded Lux about the style’s emergence in mainstream hip-hop. There is disagreement over who first rapped in such a style, although its creation has been attributed to rappers such as Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Chief Keef, Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, Migos, Sahbabii, Playboi Carti, Ken Carson, and most notably Future, whose 2011 single “Tony Montana” is often cited as the first mumble rap song; however, there have been sources dating as far back as October 2011 of even older releases by other artists. Artists such as Das EFX and Fu-Schnickens may have rapped in a similar style years before the term was created. The term was first used to describe rappers whose lyrics were unclear, but the use of the term has expanded to include rappers that some critics claim “generally put little emphasis on lyricism or lyrical quality”. Mumble rap is used mostly as a derogatory term, in reference to a perceived incoherence of the artist’s lyrics. Oscar Harold of the Cardinal Times stated that “mumble rap” is misleading, arguing that the rappers such as Future rely more upon pop melodies and vocal effects, such as auto tune, than mumbling. Justin Charity, a staff writer at The Ringer, argues that the term is unnecessarily reductive and does not in fact refer to one specific type of rapping. He wrote that many of the artists often scapegoated in conversations about the subgenre do not actually mumble, which “is the red flag that the term isn’t a useful subcategorization.” There are disputes as to whether some rappers are mumble rappers or not. There is also conflation between mumble/SoundCloud rap and other new generation-led evolutions or niches such as trap and cloud rap. The Cleveland Plain Dealers Troy L. Smith writes that 21 Savage unfairly gets classified as a mumble rapper.

Music of Connecticut

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Music institutions and venues#

Following the Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony and the New York Philharmonic, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra is the fourth-oldest orchestra in the country. It gave its first performance in January 1895. The city of Hartford is home to Connecticut Opera (founded in 1942 and closed in 2009), the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (founded in 1934), The Hartford Chorale (founded in 1972) and the Hartford Conservatory, an institution of music education. The Yale Summer School of Music hosts the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, a major music festival devoted to chamber music. There is also a Connecticut Early Music Festival. Norwalk is home to the Norwalk Youth Symphony. Major performance venues in Connecticut include the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, Westville Music Bowl in New Haven, The Ridgefield Playhouse, The El’ N’ Gee Club in New London, The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, The Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport, Xfinity Theatre in Hartford (formerly known as The Meadows), the Palace Theater in Waterbury, the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University, the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Toad’s Place in New Haven, The Cellar in Hamden (formerly known as The Space), The Ü Party in Downtown New Haven, and the Stamford Center for the Arts.

Music of Louisiana

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

New Orleans (Traditional Genres)#

In the 19th century, there was already a mixture of French, Spanish, African and Afro-Caribbean music. The city had a great love for Opera; many operatic works had their first performances in the New World in New Orleans.

Early African, Caribbean and Creole music#

Unlike in the Protestant colonies of what would become the USA, African slaves and their descendants were not prohibited from performing their traditional music in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. The African slaves, many from the Caribbean islands, were allowed to gather on Sundays, their day off, on a plaza known as Congo Square. Permitted as early as 1817, dancing in New Orleans had been restricted to the square, which was a hotbed of musical fusion, as African styles from across America and the Caribbean met and danced in large groups, often in circle dances. The Congo Square gatherings became well known, and many whites came to watch and listen. Nevertheless, by 1830, opposition from whites in New Orleans and an influx of blacks from elsewhere in the U.S. caused the decline of Congo Square’s prominence. The tradition of mass dances in Congo Square continued sporadically, though it came to have more in common with minstrelsy than with authentic African traditions. Caribbean dances known to have been imported to Louisiana include the calenda, Congo, counjai, and bamboula. Louis Gottschalk was an early 19th-century white Creole pianist and composer from New Orleans, the first American musician/composer to become famous in Europe. A number of his works incorporate rhythms and music he heard performed by African slaves. In addition to the slave population, antebellum New Orleans also had a large population of free people of color, mostly Creoles of mixed African and European heritage who worked as tradesmen. The more prosperous Creoles sent their children to be educated in France. They had their own dance bands, an opera company, and a symphony orchestra. The community produced such composers as Edmund Dede and Basil Bares. After the American Civil War many Creole musicians became music teachers, teaching the use of European musical instruments to the newly freed slaves and their descendants.

Music of Texas

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Piano#

Van Cliburn, who was raised in Kilgore, Texas was a pianist celebrated for his extraordinary talent and numerous accomplishments. He gained international fame after winning the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Soviet Union in 1958, becoming an emblem of Cold War cultural diplomacy and a symbol of American musical excellence. Cliburn’s subsequent concert tours and recordings solidified his status, making him one of the first classical musicians to achieve pop star-like fame. He received numerous accolades throughout his career, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also founded the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which continues to celebrate and promote young pianists worldwide, further cementing his legacy in the classical music community, and the musical legacy of Kilgore.

Music of the African diaspora

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Many genres of music originate from communities that have visible roots in Africa. In North America, it was a way that the early slaves could express themselves and communicate when they were being forcibly relocated and when there were restrictions on what cultural activities they could pursue. The sorrows of song were the only freedom slaves had working on cotton fields, and overall through labor tactics. This burden of slavery became a gateway for other genres of music such as the blues. For example, Black music does not just encompass sounds of the U.S. black experience but also a global black experience that stretches from Africa to Americas. The term for many coming from places of “Black” origin can be perceived in a derogatory manner by cultures who see the term as a blurring of lines which ignores the true roots of certain peoples and their specific traditions. To refer to musical genres with strong African-American influence, such as hip hop music, is very limited in scope and is not adopted by academic institutions as a true category of music. The individual aspects and collectively of black music is surrounded by the culture in itself as well as experience. Black music is centered around a story and origin. Many artists sing about the things they have experienced firsthand. Music was a tool black people used to communicate and express themselves during hard times such as slavery. Their songs were used to give guidance to one another and tell stories. The varieties of sounds and expressions used in the music helped stress their emotions. Black music began to reflect urban environments through amplified sounds, social concerns, and cultural pride expressed through music. It combined blues, jazz, boogie-woogie and gospel, taking the form of fast paced dance music with highly energized guitar work appealing to young audiences across racial divides.

Music of Vermont

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Music education and institutions#

The Vermont Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1934, was the first state-funded orchestra in the nation. The orchestra’s first artistic director was Alan Carter, followed by Efrain Guigui, Peter Brown, and Kate Tamarkin. The Artistic Director and conductor today is Jaime Laredo. Laredo performs worldwide as a soloist and frequently in duo concerts with Sharon Robinson, cellist. The VSO’s “Made in Vermont” series annually commissions a Vermont composer to create a large-scale work that tours the State. Previous recipients have included G. Walker, L. Koplewitz, et al. Current composer-in-residence with the VSO is David Ludwig. The Vermont Youth Orchestra has come to prominence since the mid-1990s under the direction of composer/conductor Troy Peters. The Consortium of Vermont Composers was formed in 1988 to promote composers of classical music from the state; the Consortium calls Vermont the “most composer-friendly state” in the country.

Nā mele paleoleo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early protest era (MC Frumpy and DJ ELITE)#

Nā mele paleoleo first emerged in the late 1980s with Honolulu-based hip hop artists Charlotte “MC Frumpy” Kaluna and her hānai-brother Joseph “DJ ELITE” Netherland. Frumpy and ELITE were later joined by Frumpy’s protege Jason “BUZ 1” Tavares, described in a PBS Hawaiʻi profile as an underground freestyle lyricist active with groups such as Hi-State Family, VM, and Moʻilla Pillaz. Tavares’s high-energy lyricism and performances complemented the protest orientation of Frumpy and ELITE. Their work drew on the confrontational edge of conscious hip hop acts such as Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions (particularly KRS-One), Queen Latifah, and early Ice Cube solo releases. They were also shaped by early 1990s punk and alternative groups including Bikini Kill and Rage Against the Machine. Through this fusion, MC Frumpy, DJ ELITE, and proteges such as BUZ 1 helped establish a hip hop scene rooted in activism and protest culture. Their performances were confrontational and agitational. The genre functioned as a tool of resistance in public demonstrations rather than a recorded, commercial style at this stage.

Nashville sound

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

According to Dave Lifton of Ultimate Classic Rock, the Nashville sound “had more in common with mainstream 50s vocal pop than Western swing or rockabilly.” Upon being asked what the Nashville sound was, Chet Atkins put his hand into his pocket, shook his loose change, and said “That’s what it is. It’s the sound of money.”

Origins#

The Nashville sound was pioneered by staff at RCA Victor, Columbia Records and Decca Records in Nashville, Tennessee. RCA Victor manager, producer and musician Chet Atkins, and producers Steve Sholes, Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, and recording engineer Bill Porter invented the form by replacing elements of the popular honky tonk style (fiddles, steel guitar, nasal lead vocals) with “smooth” elements from 1950s pop music (string sections, background vocals, crooning lead vocals), and using “slick” production, and pop music structures. The producers relied on a small group of studio musicians known as the Nashville A-Team, whose quick adaptability and creative input made them vital to the hit-making process. The Anita Kerr Quartet was the main vocal backing group in the early 1960s. The term “Nashville sound” was first mentioned in an article about Jim Reeves in 1958 in the Music Reporter and again in 1960 in a Time article about Reeves. Other observers have identified several recordings that helped establish the early Nashville sound. The country historian Rich Kienzle identified that “Gone”, a Ferlin Husky hit recorded in November 1956, as a possible precursor. The writer Colin Escott argued that Reeves’ “Four Walls”, recorded February 1957, as the “first ‘Nashville sound’ record”, and Chet Atkins, the RCA Victor producer and guitarist most often credited with being the sound’s primary artistic creator, pointed to his production of Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me” later the same year. In an essay published in Heartaches by the Number: Country Music’s 500 Greatest Singles, David Cantwell argues that Elvis Presley’s rock and roll recording of “Don’t Be Cruel” in July 1956 was the record that sparked the beginning of the era now called the Nashville sound. In 1960, Time reported that Nashville had “nosed out Hollywood as the nation’s second biggest (after New York) record-producing center.”

Native American hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Notable artists#

Melle Mel, the first rapper to ever use the epithet MC, is Cherokee and Ernie Paniccioli, a photographer of hip hop culture who grew up in Brooklyn, is Cree. Funkdoobiest, Solé, and Litefoot (winner of the Native American Music Award), are also well-known Native American hip hop artists. Wu-Tang affiliate King Just is also Native American and the Ol’ Dirty Bastard also claimed to be of Native American descent. Flavor Unit member Apache has also been assumed to be Native American, though a reliable source has yet to be found. In the past, the majority of Native American hip hop was to be found in the underground scene, rarely gaining exposure beyond regional hits. However, artists such as Drezus, Frank Waln, Lil’ Cory, Supaman, DJ oTTo and Red Eagle are just a few newer artists that have gained substantial popularity in recent years. Some Indigenous artists worry that their blend of traditional music with their own may be seen as disrespectful to their ancestors. However, many elders and hip hop listeners are able to appreciate the mixture, as it can bring multiple generations together through music. Hatchet Warrior, the second album by Native American hip hop artist Anybody Killa, was released in 2003, and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart, #42 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and #98 on the Billboard 200. The organization Beat Nation is a Canadian not-for-profit Indigenous hip hop collective with the goal of giving public space to Indigenous artists and their listeners. It is run through a website and exhibits which aim to share Beat Nation’s work and music, as well as give space for Indigenous hip hop culture to operate. Rapper Young Kidd from Winnipeg, Manitoba is of Jamaican and Aboriginal heritage, and two of the trio group, Winnipeg’s Most, are Aboriginal – Jon C and Brooklyn. Winnipeg’s Most have won several Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards. Both Young Kidd and Winnipeg’s Most have achieved high levels of local success in Winnipeg. Florida rapper Denzel Curry, a pioneer of the Cloud Rap and SoundCloud Rap scene, is of Bahamian and Native American heritage.

Neo soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

As a term, neo soul was coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell. The success of D’Angelo’s 1995 debut album Brown Sugar has been regarded by several writers and music critics as the inspiration behind the term’s origin. In a 2002 interview for Billboard, Massenburg said that genre classifications are often unpopular because they may be suggestive of a short-lived trend. However Massenburg felt there was a need to market artists of the genre for listeners to have an understanding of what they were listening to. Jason Anderson of CBC News compares the etymology of neo soul to that of “new wave” and comments: “neo-soul is still an effective tag to describe the mix of chic modernity and time-honoured tradition that distinguished the genre’s best examples. Neo-soul artists tried to look both backward and forward, acting in the belief that a continuum might exist.”

Neo-psychedelia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Neo-psychedelic artists primarily borrow a variety of musical, visual and aesthetic elements from 1960s and 1970s psychedelic music. Artists such as the Soft Boys, Spacemen 3 and the Church merged post-punk and jangle pop with psychedelic rock, pop, acid and folk music. According to AllMusic: Some neo-psychedelic bands were explicitly focused on drug use and experiences, and like the acid house movement of the same era, evoked transitory, ephemeral, and trance-like experiences. Several bands have used neo-psychedelic elements, or perform neo-psychedelia, to accompany surreal or political lyrics. In the view of author Erik Morse, “the sounds of American neo-psychedelia emphasized the cryptic margins of avant-rock, incorporating evanescent textures over an immutable bassline, producing a ‘heavy’ metallic ambience, contra-distinct to the sing-song filigree of British psychedelia”.

New jack swing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term “new jack swing” was coined in an October 18, 1987, Village Voice profile of Teddy Riley by Barry Michael Cooper. “New Jack” was a slang term (meaning “Johnny-come-lately”) used in a song by Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers, and “swing” was intended by Cooper to draw an “analogy between the music played at the speak easies of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s time to the crack-houses of Teddy Riley’s time”. The term “new jack swing” describes the sound produced and engineered by R&B/hip hop artist and producer Teddy Riley. Riley is an American R&B and hip hop singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer, who led the band Guy in the late 1980s and Blackstreet in the 1990s. Riley said, “I define the term new jack swing as a new kid on the block who’s swinging it.” The defining feature of Riley’s music was the introduction of swingbeats, “a rhythmic pattern using offbeat accented 16th note triplets”. In an interview with Revolt TV in 2017, Andre Harrell called Riley the inventor of the sound, hailing him “the king of New Jack Swing, because he invented it”.

New Jersey sound

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The New Jersey sound originated in the 1980s. Places like Club Zanzibar in Newark, New Jersey, where DJ Tony Humphries began his residency in 1982, helped “spawn the sometimes raw but always soulful, gospel-infused subgenre” of deep house music known as the Jersey sound. Besides the term “New Jersey house”, there are alternative names for the genre: “In the UK, for fairly unfathomable reasons, it became known as garage music (named after the Paradise Garage in New York), while in NJ itself they simply called it club (or perhaps more pertinently, the Jersey sound,” Mix Mag reported in July 2020. Newark female singers remixed by house music DJ Larry Levan included Gwen Guthrie (“Ain’t Nothin’ Goin On But The Rent”) and Taana Gardner (“Heartbeat”). In 1992, Union County’s Aly-Us released its deep-house hit “Follow Me.” Abigail Adams’s house-music record label and store Movin’ Records in Newark’s neighbor East Orange was another contributor to the Jersey Sound. The Jersey club scene also gave rise to the ball culture scene in Newark hotels and nightclubs. “Queen of House” Crystal Waters and other house luminaries performed on the Newark scene. DJ Kerri Chandler, another Zanzibar DJ, was another pioneer of the “Jersey sound” variety of house music. Jersey artists like Jomanda, with the crossover hit “Got a Love for You,” found success in the early 1990s house-music scene. Some have said that “when New York went to hip hop during this period , Jersey stayed with the club. Because of Zanzibar.”

New Mexico music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The musical history of New Mexico goes back to pre-colonial times, but the sounds that define New Mexico music begin particularly with the ancestral Puebloans. Their music survived in the traditional songs of the Pueblo people with wind instruments such as the Anasazi flute, as well as the chants and drum beats of the Navajo and Apache. In Santa Fe de Nuevo México, the Hispanos of New Mexico brought Christian liturgical music, the violin, and the Spanish guitar, and Mexico brought with it the traditions of mariachi and ranchera. After New Mexico became a territory, the people of the American frontier brought the traditions of country and Cajun music. This was when the first forms of New Mexico music began to be played. Western was an adaption of country and Cajun, accompanied by traditionally Mexican and Native American instruments. New Mexico music is distinguished by its bouncy and steady rhythm, while accompanied by instruments common in Pueblo music, Western, Norteño, Apache music, country, mariachi, and Navajo music. Country and western music lend their drum and/or guitar style sections, while the steadiness of the rhythm owes its origins to the music of the Apache, Navajo, and Pueblo. And the differing rates of that tempo comes from the three common ranchera rhythm speeds, the polka at 2/4 (ranchera polkeada), the waltz at 3/4 (ranchera valseada), and/or the bolero at 4/4 (bolero ranchero). After statehood, the music was sung at parties and in homes as traditional folk music, and New Mexico music grew in popularity with native New Mexicans, mostly with the Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, Neomexicanos, and the descendants of the American frontier. Musicians in the genre received prominent airtime on KANW, and international recognition on the syndicated Val De La O Show.

New Orleans blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

As a style, New Orleans blues is primarily driven by piano and enlivened by Caribbean rhythms and Dixieland music. It is generally cheerful in delivery regardless of the subject, with a laidback tempo and complex rhythms falling just behind the beat. Vocals range from laidback crooning to full-throated gospel shouting.

History#

New Orleans is generally credited as the birthplace of jazz music, but has attracted less attention as a center of the blues. The 12-bar blues were well known in the city before most of the rest of the country. Buddy Bolden’s band was remembered at excelling on playing blues before 1906. Anthony Maggio’s “I Got the Blues” was an early example of published blues sheet music from 1908. The Original Dixieland Jass Band’s “Livery Stable Blues”, generally considered the first jazz record, is in a fast blues form. Although New Orleans has drawn to it and produced fewer blues musicians than other major US urban centers with large African-American populations, it has been the center of a distinctive form of blues music, which has been pursued by some notable musicians and produced important recordings, such as Professor Longhair and Guitar Slim, who both had regional, R&B and even mainstream chart hits. In the period after World War II, a very large number of recordings were produced in the city that were informed by the blues, but had strong R&B and pop influences that anticipated rock and roll and are difficult to classify. Other significant figures playing keyboard-based blues include James Booker, whose organ instrumental “Gonzo” reached the top 50 in the Billboard chart in 1960 and was followed by a series of minor single hits. The most significant blues guitarist to emerge from the city in the post-World War II period was Guitar Slim, originally from the Delta. His “The Things That I Used to Do”, which combined gospel, blues and R&B, was a major R&B hit in 1954 and may have influenced the development of later soul music. featuring an electric guitar solo with distorted overtones. Other important blues guitarists from the city include Snooks Eaglin, who recorded both acoustic folk and electric-based R&B, Also among the major figures of the genre was Dr. John, who began as a guitarist and enjoyed regional success with the Bo Diddley–influenced “Storm Warning” in 1959, and had a highly successful career from the 1960s after moving to Los Angeles, mixing R&B with psychedelic rock and using New Orleans-themed aesthetics. The careers of many New Orleans bluesmen declined in the 1960s, as rock and roll and soul began to dominate popular music, but revived in the 1970s, when there was renewed interest in their recordings.

New Orleans hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and early development#

New Orleans hip hop originated from a decade of local musical activity in the late 1980s, culminating in the distinct style known as “bounce” in the early 1990s. The genre is profoundly influenced by New Orleans’ traditional African-American musical forms. These include Mardi Gras Indian chants, brass band music, and second-line parades, which are frequently integrated into bounce tracks through sampling or live instrumentation. For example, the incorporation of the Rebirth Brass Band’s “I Feel Like Funkin’ It Up” on Da Sha Ra’s “I Feel Like Bootin’ Up” (1993) exemplifies this direct musical integration. While intensely local in its expression, foundational elements of bounce music also drew from external influences. Key examples include the “Triggaman bells” and 808 drum-machine beats sampled from The Showboys’ 1986 single “Drag Rap”, a track by a New York group, and instrumentals like “Brown Beats” from California DJ Cameron Paul. The “Cheeky Blakk beat”, a variation on “Brown Beats” created by Mannie Fresh for New Orleans rapper Cheeky Blakk in the mid-1990s, became another frequently utilized signature sound of early bounce. Pioneering tracks include MC T. Tucker’s “Where Dey At” (1991), performed over a DJ Irv backing track that sampled “Drag Rap”. This song gained significant local popularity at clubs such as Uptown Hollygrove’s Ghost Town. DJ Jimi subsequently recorded his own version, “Where They At”, which was studio-recorded into a full-length album in 1992. Proto-bounce tracks, such as Gregory D and DJ Mannie Fresh’s “Buck Jump Time (Project Rapp)” (1989), are recognized for their hyper-specific lyrical references to New Orleans neighborhoods and a distinctive sousaphone-driven bass line. The origins of New Orleans bounce reveal a unique synthesis of globally circulating hip hop elements with deeply localized New Orleans musical traditions. This fusion created a distinct sound that, despite its regional dominance, initially faced challenges in gaining broader national recognition. The distinctiveness of New Orleans hip hop was not solely about inventing entirely new sounds but rather about recontextualizing, reinterpreting, and localizing existing hip hop elements through a unique New Orleans cultural lens. The genre’s local character was powerfully forged through the integration of indigenous New Orleans musical forms, lyrical themes (such as roll calls of wards and neighborhoods), and participatory performance styles onto these imported rhythmic foundations. This exemplifies a dynamic process of cultural adaptation and innovation, where global musical trends are localized and imbued with specific regional identity, creating something uniquely New Orleanian. The initial regional limitation, despite internal popularity, suggests that this intensely local nature, while a strength for community identity and authenticity, might have initially hindered broader mainstream appeal until artists like Big Freedia achieved crossover international audiences. This highlights the tension between local cultural preservation and global commercial viability.

New Orleans rhythm and blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

New Orleans rhythm and blues can be characterized by predominant piano, “singing” horns, and call-and-response elements. Clear influences of Kansas City Swing bands can be heard through the extensive use of trumpet and saxophone solos. A “double” bass line, when the guitar and bass play in unison, was combined with a strong backbeat to make the music easy to dance to. In addition, the usage of blue notes is characteristic. Like most blues, New Orleans R&B typically follows a standard three-stanza form that contains tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords. Within these chords, the three “blue notes”, also known as flatted notes, are the third, fifth, and seventh scale degrees. In New Orleans R&B, the flatted third is particularly notable.

New Orleans soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The initial songs in this soul style emerged from the talents of songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint in 1960. Subsequently, this musical style gained significant traction among other local and regional artists. By the 1990s, New Orleans Soul had captured the interest of many singers from various soul music genres. Originally cultivated in New Orleans, its influence remained relatively contained within the city boundaries. However, some musicians from Memphis acknowledged the genre as a significant influence on the development of their own style of soul. Moreover, it left an imprint on Northern Soul and British soul. Around 1965, Toussaint, a pivotal figure in this genre, produced a slower variation that played a crucial role in the birth of funk.

New wave music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, new wave music encompassed a wide variety of pop-oriented styles that shared a quirky, lighthearted, and humorous tone. as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock. The phrase also alluded to the French New Wave, a 1960s film movement known for its experimental approach and departure from traditional forms. Common characteristics of new wave music include a humorous or quirky pop approach, the use of electronic sounds, and a distinctive visual style in music videos and fashion. According to Simon Reynolds, new wave music had a twitchy, agitated feel. New wave musicians often played choppy rhythm guitars with angular riffs and fast tempos; keyboards, and stop-start song structures and melodies are common, with the use of jerky rhythms, and synthesizers. Reynolds noted new-wave vocalists sound high-pitched, geeky, and suburban. This rise in technology made the visual style of new wave musicians important for their success. In the early 1980s, virtually every new pop and rock act, particularly those that employed synthesizers, was tagged as “new wave” by the U.S. general public. New wave may be seen as an attempt to reconcile “the energy and rebellious attitude of punk” with traditional forms of pop songwriting, as seen in the rockabilly riffs and classic craftsmanship of Elvis Costello and the 1960s mod influences of the Jam. Paul Weller, who called new wave “the pop music of the Seventies”, explained to Chas de Whalley in 1977: Although new wave shares punk’s do-it-yourself artistic philosophy, the musicians were more influenced by the light strains of 1960s pop while opposed to mainstream “corporate” rock, which they considered creatively stagnant, as well as the generally abrasive and political bents of punk rock. who in particular used new wave influences to lay the groundwork for the Minneapolis sound.

New wave of American heavy metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The new wave of American heavy metal has its origins in a group of post-grunge acts from the 1990s that brought heavy metal “back to its core brutality” and drawing not from the traditional blues formula but from thrash metal and punk. The nu metal genre was popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Other roots of NWOAHM are attributed to bands such as Pantera, Biohazard, and Machine Head. The producers behind the 2005 documentary Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey have written of the NWOAHM: “In essence, NWOAHM can embody the seething aggression of the ‘hardcore’ hormone, but play a type of acrobatic, precise, technical thrash/death metal synthesis regularly touched by the melody of traditional metal, but often just briefly. Vocally, these bands huddle around Pantera-derived roar, leaning toward a death metal bark, but often with ‘clean’ or ‘sung’ vocals as ear candy, sometimes from a member of the band who is not the front man.” They also reference Unearth, Shadows Fall, and Lamb of God as “leaders of the pack”.

New Weird America

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term was coined by David Keenan in the issue 234 (August 2003) of The Wire, following the Brattleboro Free Folk Festival organized by Matt Valentine and Ron J. Schneiderman. It is a play on Greil Marcus’s phrase “Old Weird America” as described in his book Invisible Republic, which deals with the lineage connecting the pre-World War II folk performers on Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music to Bob Dylan and his milieu.

New York hardcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The origins of New York’s punk rock scene can be traced back to such sources as late 1960s trash culture and an early 1970s underground rock movement centered on the Mercer Arts Center in Greenwich Village, where the New York Dolls performed. In early 1974, this early punk scene began to develop around the CBGB club, also in lower Manhattan, featuring groups and musicians like Television, Richard Hell, Patti Smith, the Ramones, the Heartbreakers and Jayne County The New York hardcore scene particularly grew of out of the section of this punk scene that was documented on the 1982 New York Thrash compilation, with groups like the Stimulators, the Eliminators and the Mad. The band soon became the godfathers of New York Hardcore and one of the scene’s most crucial bands. Around the same time the term “hardcore” started being used instead of “punk rock”. Roger Miret of Agnostic Front asserts that “We started using the term ‘hardcore’ because we wanted to separate ourselves from the punk scene that was happening in New York at the time … We were rougher kids living in the streets. It had a rougher edge”. The scene emerged around 1981, when members of Agnostic Front, Cause for Alarm, Kraut, Murphy’s Law and Antidote began to spend time together on Avenue A and performing at A7 in Manhattan. Rock clubs like Max’s Kansas City, the Ritz and CBGB’s also quickly became crucial spots for this newly formed scene. This scene split from New York hardcore as the decade progressed. Nausea were a key figure in the scene during this period, helping to cultivate a new scene in the city based around politics and squatting.

New York soul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Labels#

While there were a number of New York soul labels, including Scepter, Sue, Shout and Colla, the most well-known label was Atlantic Records, which dominated 1960s soul. Atlantic Records singers included Solomon Burke, Doris Troy and Aretha Franklin. 1967-68 was a peak period for Atlantic, as the string of hits coming from the Stax roster was augmented by the tremendous crossover success of Franklin, who shot to fame, becoming the preeminent female soul artist of the era, and earning the title “Queen of Soul”. Jerry Wexler signed Franklin to Atlantic in January 1967 after the expiry of her contract with Columbia Records. She had a run of seven consecutive singles that made both the US pop and soul Top 10, and of which five were million-sellers; “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” (b/w “Do Right Woman”) (soul #1, pop #9), “Respect” (soul and pop #1), “Baby, I Love You” (soul #1, pop #4), “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (soul #2, pop #8), “Chain of Fools” (soul #1, pop #2), “Since You’ve Been Gone” (1968, soul #1, pop #5) and “Think” (1968, soul #1, pop #7).

New-school hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Elements of new school had existed in some form in the popular culture since hip-hop’s birth. The first MC’s rapped over DJs swapping back and forth between two copies of the same record playing the same drum break, or playing instrumental portions or versions of a broad range of records. This part of the culture was initiated by DJ Kool Herc in 1973 using breaks from James Brown, the Incredible Bongo Band and English rock group Babe Ruth in his block parties. Brown’s music—“extensive vamps” in which his voice was “a percussive instrument with frequent rhythmic grunts”, and “with rhythm-section patterns … resembling West African polyrhythms”—was a keynote of hip-hop’s early days. By 1975, Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa had taken up Kool Herc’s breakbeat style of DJing, each with their own accompanying rappers. Flash was especially associated with an important break known as “The Bells”—a cut-up of the intro to Bob James’s jazz cover of Paul Simon’s “Take Me To The Mardi Gras”—while Bambaataa delighted in springing occasional rock music breaks from records like “Mary, Mary”, “Honky Tonk Women”, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and Grand Funk Railroad’s “Inside Looking Out” on unsuspecting b-boys. The earliest hip-hop records replaced the DJ with a live band playing funk and disco influenced tunes, or “interpolating” the tunes themselves, as in “Rapper’s Delight” (Sugar Hill, 1979) and “King Tim III (Personality Jock)” (Spring, 1979). It was the soft, futuristic funk closely tied to disco that ruled hip-hop’s early days on record, to the exclusion of the hard James Brown beats so beloved of the first b-boys. Figures such as Flash and Bambaataa were involved in some early instances of moving the sound away from that of a live band, as in Flash’s DJ track “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel” (Sugar Hill, 1981), and even innovating popular new sounds and subgenres, as in the synthesizer-laden electro of Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” (Tommy Boy, 1982). Often though the rawer elements present in live shows did not make it past the recording studio. Bambaataa’s first records, for instance, two versions of “Zulu Nation Throwdown” (Winley, 1980), were recorded with just drums and rhymes. When Bambaataa heard the released records, a complete live band had been added. Something closer to his intentions can be heard on a portion of Death Mix, a low-quality bootleg of a Zulu Nation night at James Monroe High School in the Bronx, released without his permission on Winley Records in 1983. Likewise on the bootleg Live Convention ‘82 (Disco Wax, 1982), Grand Wizard Theodore cuts the first six bars of Rufus Thomas’s “Do the Funky Penguin” together for five and a half minutes while an MC raps over the top. Grandmaster Flash’s “Superrappin’” (Enjoy, 1979) had a pumping syncopated rhythm and The Furious Five emulating his spinbacks and needle drops and chanting that “that Flash is on the beatbox going …” The beatbox itself however, a drum machine which Flash had added to his turntable set-up some time earlier, was absent on the record, the drums being produced by a live drummer. Kool Moe Dee’s verbal personal attacks on Busy Bee Starski live at Harlem World in 1982 caused a popular sensation in hip-hop circles. In the same way, groups like the Cold Crush Brothers and The Force MCs were known for their routines, competitive attitude, and battle rhymes. Tapes of battles like these circulated widely, even without them becoming viable recordings. Apart from some social commentary like Melle Mel’s one verse on “Superrappin’”, Kurtis Blow’s ruefully comedic “The Breaks” (Mercury, 1980) and a spurt of records following the success of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message” (Sugar Hill, 1982), the old school specialized lyrically in party rhymes.

No wave

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

No wave is not a clearly definable musical genre with consistent features, but it generally was characterized by a rejection of the recycling of traditional rock aesthetics, such as blues rock styles and Chuck Berry guitar riffs in punk and new wave music. According to Village Voice writer Steve Anderson, the scene pursued an abrasive reductionism which “undermined the power and mystique of a rock vanguard by depriving it of a tradition to react against”. Anderson claimed that the no wave scene represented “New York’s last stylistically cohesive avant-rock movement”. The term “no wave” might have been inspired by the French New Wave pioneer Claude Chabrol, with his remark “There are no waves, only the ocean”.

Noise pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Noise pop is characterized by a mixture of dissonant, abrasive noise and guitar feedback combined with pop-oriented songwriting. AllMusic describes the style as occupying “the halfway point between bubblegum and the avant-garde”. Accordingly, noise pop “often has a hazy, narcotic feel, as melodies drift through the swirling guitar textures. But it can also be bright and lively, or angular and challenging.”

History#

AllMusic cites the Velvet Underground as the earliest roots of the genre, with their experiments with feedback and distortion on their early albums. Scottish band the Jesus and Mary Chain’s 1985 debut, Psychocandy, is considered to be the earliest archetype for the noise pop genre, the band drew influence from the Velvet Underground, with their releases inspiring later prominent noise pop acts such as Meat Whiplash and The Flaming Lips. Many early noise pop artists were associated with the British C86 movement.

Noise rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term “noise rock” is a portmanteau of “noise” and “rock” music. The earliest known use of the term was on April 25, 1970, in an issue of Record World by writer John Kornblum, who used the phrase “psychedelic-noise-rock”. On July 22, 1972, writer Nat Freedland published an article in Billboard magazine which outlined the influence of Germany’s krautrock scene on English rock bands. He concluded by asking, “Is America the next step for teutonic noise rock?”

Northwestern hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1980–1986#

1982 marked the year “The King Crewsade” radio show started on KBOO based in Portland Oregon. Host Chris Blanchard, aka “King Vitamin” hosted this call in rap show with rudimentary scratch mixes featuring Sugarhill Records and songs like Planet Rock.

1986–1992#

In 1986, the first radio show in Spokane to play rap and hip-hop on commercial radio was The Power Switch on POWER 104 FM (KXVO). Hosted by TJ Collins, Collins also featured local rappers and began airing mixes by GrandMixer GMS (who was a young teenager at the time). Nastymix Records, the Northwest’s first hip-hop label was founded with the local release of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Square Dance Rap”. Def American released Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 1992 No. 1 hit “Baby Got Back”, which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. This award came after Nastymix’s last release, Criminal Nation’s 1992 album Trouble in the Hood.

Novelty piano

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nu metal

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Terminology and origins#

Nu metal is a subgenre of alternative metal. Sometimes stylized as nü-metal, the genre has also been dubbed aggro-metal or simply aggro. MTV states that the early nu metal group Korn “arrived in 1993 into the burgeoning alternative metal scene, which would morph into nü-metal the way college rock became alternative rock.” Nu metal merges elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip-hop, grunge, funk, and alternative rock according to Blabbermouth.net. Some nu metal bands, such as Static-X and Dope, made nu metal music with elements of industrial metal. In contrast with other heavy metal subgenres, nu metal tends to use the same structure of verses, choruses, and bridges as those in pop music.

Nu metalcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Nu metalcore often makes use of both screamed and sung vocals, breakdowns, heavy guitar riffs, hip hop-influenced drum beats and electronic music elements. Metal Injection writer Max Heilman specifically stated the style of metalcore that nu metalcore bands draw on is the original 1990s “metallic hardcore” style. An editorial for Thrash Hits cited Contemporary R&B as a key influence on the genre, comparing it to the influence hip hop had on the original nu metal genre.

Occult rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The genre has been described as being influenced by hard rock, proto-metal, psychedelic rock, and blues, as well as commonly incorporating lyrics referencing the occult,

Origins (1960s-1990s)#

Occult rock emerged in the 1960s with groups such as Jacula, Black Widow Iron Butterfly’s 1968 track “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” was very influential to the development of occult rock’s sound. Coven released their debut album Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls in 1969, which preceded later occult rock groups such as the debut album by Black Widow, titled Sacrifice. Blue Öyster Cult released their debut album Blue Öyster Cult in 1972, which had significant influence on later bands such as Ghost. Due to the association with the occult, around the time of the Manson Family murders, many occult rock albums were halted from distribution, which only helped increase the public’s fear of the music. When Black Sabbath first released their eponymous debut album in 1970, Rolling Stone’s Lester Bangs described it as “England’s answer to Coven”. Early occult rock bands such as Coven, Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Hawkwind and Blue Öyster Cult are considered by some critics to be extremely influential on the development of heavy metal music, or more specifically, styles such as stoner metal, doom metal and sludge metal. In 1976, Blue Öyster Cult released their fourth studio album Agents of Fortune; the album’s first released single, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The imagery of occult rock bands was eventually revived, with the rise of New wave of British heavy metal bands such as Venom, Satan and Hell.

Old time fiddle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definition and distinction of old time fiddle#

Newer traditions have grown out of old time fiddle music but it retains a separate and distinct identity from those styles. These include bluegrass and Western swing and to some degree country rock. However, the positive statement of what, exactly, constitutes the true and authentic delineation of old time fiddle music is not necessarily unambiguous. Different sources draw a sharper distinction than others, and there is a good deal of overlap which purists will acknowledge to a varying degree. The areas of overlap are primarily in terms of the repertoire of fiddle tunes with the genres of bluegrass and Western swing (Texas swing) playing tunes of the same name, but playing them with a different group dynamic, different stylisms, and very often–for fiddles and banjo–in tunings unique to old-time music.

Old-school hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Musical characteristics and themes#

Old-school hip-hop is noted for its relatively simple rapping techniques, compared to later hip-hop. with simple rhythms Much of the subject matter of old-school hip-hop centers around partying and having a good time. Busy Bee Starski’s defeat by the more complex raps of Kool Moe Dee meant that “no longer was an MC just a crowd-pleasing comedian with a slick tongue; he was a commentator and a storyteller”. Sci-fi/Afrofuturism was another theme introduced into hip-hop. The release of Planet Rock in 1982 was a game-changer, like “a light being switched on.” The combination of electronic percussive propulsion and Afrika Bambaataa’s rap sounded like “an orchestra being rocketed into outer space.” “Light Years Away”, by Warp 9 (1983), produced and written by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher, explored social commentary from a sci-fi perspective. A “cornerstone of early 80’s beatbox afrofuturism”, “Light Years Away” is characterized as “a brilliantly spare and sparse piece of electro hip-hop traversing inner and outer space.” Freestyle rap during hip-hop’s old-school era was defined differently than today. Kool Moe Dee refers to this earlier definition in his book There’s a God on the Mic: “There are two types of freestyle. There’s an old-school freestyle that’s basically rhymes that you’ve written that may not have anything to do with any subject or that goes all over the place. Then there’s freestyle where you come off the top of the head”. This is in contrast to the more recent definition which usually defines freestyle rap as “improvisational rap like a jazz solo”. In old-school hip-hop, Kool Moe Dee says that improvisational rapping was instead called “coming off the top of the head”. Old-school hip-hop often sampled disco and funk tracks, such as “Good Times” by Chic, when performed live in the 1970s. Recorded hip-hop (such as Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”) would use a live band to do covers of the famous breaks from the 1970s block parties. However, after “Planet Rock”, electro-funk (the electronic Roland TR-808 drum machine recreation of the original 1970s breakbeat sound from the now infamous block parties) became the staple production technique between 1982 and 1986 (the invention of the sampler later in the 80s and Eric B. & Rakim’s “Eric B. Is President” brought the original 1970s breakbeat sound back to hip-hop, referred to today as the “boom bap” sound). The use of extended percussion breaks led to the development of mixing and scratching techniques. Scratching pioneered by Grand Wizard Theodore in 1975, and the technique was further developed by other prominent DJs, such as Grandmaster Flash. One example is “Adventures on the Wheels of Steel”, which was composed entirely by Flash on the turntables. During the period years of 1984–1987, beatbox was a common thing to rap with someone making a beat with their mouth. Doug E. Fresh and The Human Beat Box made this popular. Doug E. Fresh was with “The Get Fresh Crew”, and The Human Beatbox was with “The Fat Boys”. Quincy Jones was an influential figure in hip-hop as a record producer for Mercury Records, and eventually became its vice president, which made him popular in hip-hop culture. He went on to publish Vibe magazine, which became a cornerstone in hip-hop history. Five Elements of Hip Hop Hip Hop is a culture that is made up of five elements. One is MCing, this is when you can talk or rap on the microphone and make an impact on the audience. The second element is DJing. This is one of the ways that hip hop started out by a Disc Jockey playing beats from earlier artist. The DJ would stop in the song where the beat was broken down, which was called breakbeats. The third element is Break dancing and this is where the person gets to express their dancing through songs. This is made popular by The Bronx group “The Rock Steady Crew.” Some consider break dancing a part of b-boying and b-girling. Next we have graffiti, which is expressed through a form of writing, and it is a way that the letters come together with style. The last one is knowledge, and it goes with the mental side of Hip Hop. This includes the knowledge of self, culture, and style.

Old-time music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Reflecting the cultures that settled North America, the roots of old-time music are in the traditional musics of the British Isles, Europe, and Africa. African influences are notably found in vocal and instrumental performance styles and dance, as well as the often cited use of the banjo; in some regions, Native American, Spanish, French and German sources are also prominent. While many dance tunes and ballads can be traced to European sources, many others are of North American origin.

Outlaw country

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Some country fans consider outlaw country a slightly harder-edged variant of progressive country. The outlaw sound has its roots in blues music, honky tonk music of the 1940s and 1950s, rockabilly of the 1950s, and the evolving genre of rock and roll. Early outlaws were particularly influenced by predecessors such as Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, and Buddy Holly. A greater transition occurred after Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson secured their own recording rights, and began the trend of bucking the “Nashville sound”. According to Michael Streissguth, author of Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville, Jennings and Nelson became outlaws when they “won the right” to record with the producers and studio musicians they preferred. At the same time, country music was declining into a formulaic genre that appeared to offer the establishment what it wanted with artists such as Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton making the kind of music that was anathema to the growing counterculture. While Nashville continued to be the focus of mainstream country music, cities like Lubbock and Austin became the creative centers of outlaw country. Southern rock also had a strong influence on the outlaw country movement, and that sound and style of recording was centered in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In the Western United States, the Bakersfield sound was providing a counterpoint to the traditional Nashville sound, and the counterculture was also giving rise to the fusion genre of country rock, with groups such as the Flying Burrito Brothers and The First National Band (whose lead singer Michael Nesmith had similar creative rebellion against the West Coast music establishment dating to his time with The Monkees).

Paisley Underground

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Etymology#

The term “Paisley Underground” originated in late 1982, and took root with a comment made by Michael Quercio of the band the Three O’Clock, during an interview with the LA Weekly alternative newspaper. The phrase later came to be “hated by the bands it described,” though Steve Wynn acknowledged that it was both harmless and helpful to have a “banner” over the movement.

Southern California#

Pat Thomas has described the Paisley Underground sound as a “marriage of classic rock and punk.” The 1970s Memphis-based cult band Big Star, whose “September Gurls” was covered by the Bangles, was also influential, as were Britain’s Soft Boys. John Hoffs, best friend of David Roback and brother of Susanna Hoffs was an idea contributor to starting a unique new sound, a Paisley Underground all girl band. Paisley Underground bands frequently shared bills, socialized, and collaborated on side projects. For example: * Rainy Day was formed by members of Rain Parade, the Bangles, the Dream Syndicate and the Three O’Clock, who joined to release an eponymous album of cover versions of songs by the Velvet Underground, Buffalo Springfield, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, Big Star, Jimi Hendrix, and the Who. * Danny & Dusty, a duo formed by Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate and Dan Stuart of Green on Red, made the album The Lost Weekend in 1985, backed by members of both bands along with most of the Long Ryders. * Clay Allison was an offshoot band composed of David Roback and Will Glenn of Rain Parade, Kendra Smith of Dream Syndicate, Sylvia Juncosa of the Leaving Trains, and Keith Mitchell of Monitor. * Opal was adopted as a new name for Clay Allison in 1984, prior to the release of their Fell from the Sun EP. In 1986, the Rain Parade were the first of the Paisley Underground bands to break up, followed by the Long Ryders in 1987, the Three O’Clock in 1988, the Dream Syndicate and the Bangles in 1989, and Green on Red in 1992.

Palm Desert Scene

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The scene evolved from various Palm Desert bands’ (especially Yawning Man’s) marijuana-driven instrumental jam sessions in the desert. These shows consisted of small crowds of people partying in the desert, beer drinking, drugs, and the use of gasoline-powered generators to provide electricity for the musical equipment. Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age member Josh Homme commented that playing in the desert “was the shaping factor for Kyuss “, noting that “there’s no clubs here, so you can only play for free. If people don’t like you, they’ll tell you. You can’t suck.”

Philadelphia punk scene

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1980s#

Because of its location, Philadelphia was an easy place for bands from New York City and Washington, D.C. to play concerts. Venues such as the Elk’s Center, Love Hall, Long March, Community Education Center (CEC) and Abe’s Steaks, a small hoagie shop, regularly held hardcore punk shows during the 1980s. WEL Records played a role with their relentless promotion. Other notable sites such as the Starlite Ballroom, BYO Hall, East Side Club, West Side Club, which was actually Jeff Jenkins’ basement in West Philadelphia, The Kennel Club, and Buff Hall were hosts of shows by well known hardcore bands. Together these venues hosted shows not only by local hardcore punk bands but also more well known bands like Bad Brains, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Flipper, Minor Threat, SS Decontrol, and others. The local hardcore scene drew from Philadelphia as well as Delaware County, Pennsylvania; South Jersey, Reading, Allentown, Delaware, and other surrounding suburbs in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and Lehigh Valley. An important source of exposing the Philadelphia region to this music were the DJs Jeff Jenkins and Steve Lukshides at WKDU, Stockton University’s radio station 91.7 FM WLFR, Drexel University’s radio station and Eddie “Hacksaw” at University of Pennsylvania’s WXPN, 88.5 FM. Music by some of the early Philadelphia hardcore bands were included on the 1983 compilation LP Get Off My Back. South Street served as the center of the Philadelphia punk scene since the mid to late 1970s, and bars and music venues on the street featured hardcore punk acts in the 1980s. Important bands in the early Philadelphia punk scene include The Dead Milkmen, a band that played an often sarcastic and humorous variant of hardcore punk. Though formed in Los Angeles, the hardcore punk band Fear had considerable connections to Philadelphia during the band’s heyday; Fear’s frontman Lee Ving was a Philadelphia native, and he notably referenced the Philadelphia South Street punk scene in the 1983 song “I Don’t Care About You”.

Piedmont blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The basis of the Piedmont style began with the older “frailing” or “framming” guitar styles that may have been universal throughout the South, and was also based, at least to some extent, on formal “parlor guitar” techniques as well as earlier banjo playing, string band, and ragtime. What was particular to the Piedmont was that a generation of players adapted these older, ragtime-based techniques to blues in a singular and popular fashion, influenced by guitarists such as Blind Blake and Gary Davis.

Pop rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics and etymology#

Much pop and rock music has been very similar in sound, instrumentation and even lyrical content. The terms “pop rock” and “power pop” have been used to describe more commercially successful music that uses elements from, or the form of, rock music. Writer Johan Fornas views pop rock as “one single, continuous genre field”, rather than distinct categories. The term “pop” has been used since the early 1940s to refer to popular music in general, but in the mid-1950s, it began to be used for a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market, often characterized as a softer alternative to rock and roll. As of the 2010s, “guitar pop rock” and “indie rock” are roughly synonymous terms. “Jangle” is a noun-adjective that music critics often use in reference to guitar pop with a bright mood.

Pop screamo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Pop screamo builds upon the template of traditional screamo, but differentiates itself by incorporating melodic, sung vocals and metal influenced riffs. It additionally embraces elements of emo pop, and the dissonant metalcore style of Deadguy, Botch, Converge and Coalesce. Some bands in the genre also incorporated elements from other 2000s post-hardcore styles. Oftentimes, verses feature unclean vocals, while choruses use clean singing. breakdowns are also frequently used, oftentimes during a song’s bridge. Alternative Press Magazine described it as a subgenre of post-hardcore, while Ultimate Guitar editor Jorge Martins called it a subgenre of the post-hardcore subgenre screamo.

Pop-punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definition and characteristics#

Pop-punk is variously described as a punk subgenre, Writers at The A.V. Club described pop-punk as a punk subgenre that has “essentially been around as long as punk itself” with roots in the “classic pop of the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Beach Boys, often pitting sweet harmonies against bratty, rowdy riffs.” According to Ryan Cooper of About.com, “pop-punk is a style that owes more to The Beatles and ’60s pop than other sub-genres of punk”. There is considerable overlap between power pop and pop-punk, and the two styles are often conflated. In Brian Cogan’s The Encyclopedia of Punk Music and Culture (2006) pop-punk is characterized as “a catchy, faster version of power pop.” AllMusic defines “punk-pop” as “a post-grunge strand of alternative rock” that combines the textures and fast tempos of punk rock with the “melodies and chord changes” of power pop. In the 1990s, there was overlap between pop-punk and skate punk. Music journalist Ben Myers wrote that the two terms were synonymous. Rock writer Greg Shaw, who wrote extensively about power pop and took credit for codifying the genre in the 1970s, originally defined power pop itself as a hybrid style of punk and pop. Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, who described power pop as “the greatest music on Earth that no one likes”, whether it’s something like Cheap Trick or another band “. opined that the pop-punk term was an oxymoron: “You’re either punk or you’re not.” Writing in Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Guide to Power Pop (2007), actor Robbie Rist felt that much of the genre merely consisted of pop bands who “add the ‘punk’ moniker so the kids will think they are pissing off their parents.” Rolling Stone, in an article about pop-punk, wrote that the term was a retroactive label for punk bands who had “always championed great songwriting alongside their anti-authoritarian stance. And punk’s focus on speed, concision and three-chord simplicity is a natural fit with pop’s core values.” Bill Lamb, also from About.com, writes that pop-punk is a variant of punk music that features “a hard and fast guitar and drums base but powered by pop melodies like much of ’70s punk rock.” Lyrically, pop-punk often addresses adolescent themes of lust, romantic relationships, heartbreak, drugs, suburbia, and rebellion. Some pop-punk lyrics make an emphasis on jokes and humor. The New Yorkers Amanda Petrush summarized that the “rawness” of pop-punk “lies not in the music” but by conveying the “spectrum of human experience, all that longing and self-doubt.”

Post-disco

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Drum machines, synthesizers, sequencers were either partly or entirely dominant in a composition or mixed up with various acoustic instruments, depending on the artist and on the year. Electronic instruments became more and more prevalent for each year during the period and dominated the genre completely by the mid 1980s. Darryl Payne argued about the minimal approach of post-disco, saying: The main forces in post-disco were the 12" single format and short-lived collaborations (many of them one-hit wonders) while indie record producers were instrumental in the musical direction of what the scene was headed to. The music that mostly catered to dance and urban audiences later managed to influence more popular and mainstream acts like Madonna, New Order or Pet Shop Boys.

Post-hardcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Hardcore punk typically features very fast tempos, loud volume, and heavy bass levels, as well as a “do-it-yourself” ethic. Post-hardcore generally incorporates more complex chord shapes and progressions. According to SiriusXM, “tempos could be slow, or as fast as metal, and singing was allowed to be inventive.” British post-punk of the late 1970s and early 1980s has been seen as influential on the musical development of post-hardcore bands.

Origins (1980s)#

Groups such as Minutemen, Naked Raygun, and The Effigies, Los Angeles’ Saccharine Trust mixed Minutemen’s sound with that of post-punk acts The Fall and Gang of Four on early releases like their EP Paganicons, helping to further the burgeoning genre. During the early- to mid-1980s, the desire to experiment with hardcore’s basic template expanded to many musicians that had been associated with the genre or had strong roots in it. David Grubbs-related bands Bastro and Bitch Magnet, and Steve Albini’s Big Black, Rapeman, are also associated with post-hardcore. made themselves known for their strict DIY ethic, After the issuing of the “Il Duce” single and between the release of their only two full-length studio albums, Big Black left Homestead for Touch and Go Records, that, according to Stephen Thomas Erlewine, “laid the groundwork for much of the distorted, grinding alternative punk rockers of the ’90s”. In 1984, Minneapolis punk band Hüsker Dü released their second studio album, Zen Arcade, considered a key post-hardcore record. and Rolling Stone. Outside the United States, post-hardcore would take shape in the works of the Canadian group Nomeansno, related with Jello Biafra and his independently run label Alternative Tentacles, and that had been active since 1979. The magazine Dusted noted that the group’s 1989’s release Wrong was “one of the most aggressive and powerful opuses in post-hardcore ever made”.

Post-metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Predecessors#

The groundwork for post-metal was laid in the 1980s and early 1990s by various artists (mostly in the US) combining heavy metal and punk rock sounds with an “avant-garde sensibility”, such as the Melvins (particularly on 1991’s Bullhead), The Flying Luttenbachers, Justin Broadrick of Napalm Death and Godflesh, Many of these artists emerged from hardcore punk and post-punk circles but their combination of sonic violence with experimentation and eclecticism made them difficult to categorize under any one genre.

Post-noise

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

In August 2009, writer David Keenan coined the term “hypnagogic pop” in the article Childhood’s End in issue 306 of the British music magazine The Wire. Keenan also noted the commonalities between hypnagogic pop and noise music, stating that “Like Noise before it, Hypnagogic pop fetishises the outmoded media of its infancy, releasing albums on cassette, celebrating the video era and obsessing over the reality-scrambling potential of photocopied art.” In 2009, musician Daniel Lopatin described post-noise as a move away from “macho” noise music. Hypnagogic pop has been cited as growing out of post-noise music. On September 28, 2009, writer Emilie Friedlander would post an article on hypnagogic pop stating, “I commend Keenan a hundred times over for putting into words something that was on the tip of many a critical tongue over the past year but that no one had the guts articulate as something so sweeping as a cultural movement: the rise of a lo-fi post-noise psychedelia that moves past noise’s rejection of consonance and sort of unconscious adherence to the 20th century high modernist ideal of autonomous art (art that engages in discourse with contemporary culture precisely by refusing such a discourse, though noise typically refuses a discourse with academic constructs of this kind as well)”. In Boring Formless Nonsense: Experimental Music and the Aesthetics of Failure (2013), author Eldritch Priest describes “lo-fi post-noise psychedelia” as “often drone-heavy and noise-inclined, this music is characterized by a logic of deformation that aims to disfigure without obliterating samples, timbres, and impressions noticeably culled from a musical past that never was.” Priest refers to what writer David Keenan labelled “wasteland 1980s cultural signifiers” to describe how “Indulgence in these warped signifiers is what gives the music its spectral identity.” Additionally, Priest stated that the style blends “outmoded media’s high noise to signal ratio with an affected anti-virtuosity”, and elaborated “Rather than sampling 1980s pop culture with contemporary technology, one can hear composers recycling the tropes of experimental art music from the 1950s and 1970s, tropes that Michael Nyman compiled and categorized as ‘indeterminacy,’ ‘process,’ ’ephemerality,’ and the ’non-identity’ of a work. But we can also hear the debt to conceptual art and free jazz that helped evolve experimental music in the 1970s into sound art, something that Hauntology and Hypnagogic Pop don’t exhibit owing to the rock and dance background of their practitioners.” In Sounds of the Underground: A Cultural, Political and Aesthetic Mapping of Underground and Fringe Music (2016), author Stephen Graham defines post-noise as a wide subgenre of noise music which breaks apart noise music’s orthodoxies, “inserting newer influences and references from popular culture alongside dyschronic affects … and subliminal modalities.” It can even add “some commercial appeal.” alongside German progressive electronic and kosmische musik artists such as Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Vangelis and Edgar Froese. In 2010, The Guardian published an article by music critic Simon Reynolds where he stated “post-noise microscenes like glo-fi” were maintaining “the tape trade tradition, releasing music in small-run editions as low as 30 copies and wrapping them in surreal photocopy-collage artwork”.

Power pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Power pop is an energetic variant of pop rock based on melodic hooks, encapsulated as “catchy tunes with an attitude”. AllMusic describes the style as “a cross between the crunching hard rock of the Who and the sweet melodicism of the Beatles and the Beach Boys, with the ringing guitars of the Byrds thrown in for good measure”. Virtually every artist of the genre has been a rock band consisting of white male musicians who engaged with the song forms, vocal arrangements, chord progressions, rhythm patterns, instrumentation, or overall sound associated with groups of the mid-1960s British Invasion era. An essential feature of power pop is that its cheerful sounding arrangements are supported by a sense of “yearning”, “longing”, or “despair” similar to formative works such as “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (the Beach Boys, 1966) and “Pictures of Lily” (the Who, 1967). This might be achieved with an unexpected harmonic change or lyrics that refer to “tonight”, “tomorrow night”, “Saturday night”, and so on. Power pop was also noted for its lack of irony and its reverence to classic pop craft.

Powerviolence

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

While powerviolence is closely related to thrashcore (often referred to simply as “thrash”), it is markedly different from thrash metal in both sound and approach. Powerviolence groups tend to be very raw and under-produced. This is true of both their sound and packaging. Some groups (e.g. Man Is the Bastard and Dystopia) took influence from anarcho-punk and crust punk, emphasizing animal rights and anti-militarism. Groups such as Despise You and Lack of Interest wrote lyrics about misanthropy, drugs, and inner-city issues. Groups such as Spazz and Charles Bronson, on the other hand, wrote lyrics mocking points of interest for hardcore and metal fans. Their lyrics often consisted of inside jokes that referenced specific people, many of whom were unfamiliar to those outside the band. Other groups associated with powerviolence included The Locust, Dropdead, Black Army Jacket, Hellnation, Powercup, Sordo, Chulo and Rorschach. The doom metal group Burning Witch (who released music on the Slap-A-Ham label) often played shows with powerviolence groups.

Preaching chords

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The exact origin of preaching chords being played in African American Baptist and Pentecostal churches is relatively unknown, but is mostly believed to have started in either the early or mid-20th Century, at a time when many African-American clergymen and pastors began preaching in a charismatic, musical call-and-response style. They would encourage their congregations to shout out vocal catchphrases (based on whatever they were preaching about) along with them as they preached their sermons. Church musicians began playing different soul and blues music-inspired chords, chord progressions, and musical riffs on pianos and Hammond organs. These were improvised to imitate the voices of the preachers and the calls-and-responses of the congregations because it audibly sounded almost as if the preachers and congregations were singing. This type of call-and-response preaching is also colloquially referred to by many as “whooping pronounced like ‘hooping and hollering,” or “hooting and hollering.” On October 20, 2010, CNN featured Baptist megachurch pastor E. Dewey Smith Jr., where he talked about this type of call-and-response preaching that he incorporates into his sermons and referred to it as “whooping”/“hooping,” giving an explanation of its cultural significance to African-American Christianity and gospel music, saying, “Hooping is delivering and celebrating the Gospel message of Jesus Christ in an exuberant, musical style with a call-and-response type of synergy…it’s almost like an improvisation of Jazz music meeting Gospel music with a little bit of Blues and Soul.” Today, preaching chords have become a staple part of Baptist and Pentecostal musical worship, particularly in the Black Church tradition. They have also become a staple part of Traditional black gospel music and urban contemporary gospel music in the United States, and even in other countries as well where Black Gospel music and culture is prevalent among Black Christians, such as in different countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in Europe.

Progressive metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Metal Hammer describes progressive metal as “a genre with way fewer boundaries than the rest of the heavy metal family tree, meaning that each year will always bring fresh sounds from unexpected places.” The publication stated that in the 1980s, “metal took on the DNA of progressive rock,” that gave way to “a mutant strain of music that married volume and aggression with brain-melting complexity, far-reaching ambition and barking mad concepts.” According to AllMusic, the genre’s earliest acts such as Fates Warning and Queensrÿche developed their sounds by “merg ing their love of Yes and Rush with their admiration for Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.” Most bands labeled under the genre have considerably different musical influences when compared to each other. Bands such as Dream Theater, Planet X and Puya have a jazz influence, with extended solo sections that often feature “trading solos”. Some progressive metal bands incorporate ballads and acoustic music into their arrangements. Loudwire stated that the genre is “unaffected by trends.” Lyrics in progressive metal draw influence from fantasy and literature, similar to the progressive rock of the 1970s. Themes may also include outer space and anti-capitalism.

Progressive rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The term “progressive rock” is related to and sometimes considered synonymous with “art rock”, “classical rock” (not to be confused with classic rock), and “symphonic rock”. Historically, “art rock” has been used to describe at least two related, but distinct, types of rock music. The first is progressive rock as it is generally understood, while the second usage refers to experimental rock groups who rejected psychedelia and the hippie counterculture in favour of a modernist, avant-garde approach. Similarities between the two terms are that they both describe a mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility. However, art rock is more likely to have experimental or avant-garde influences. “Prog” was devised in the 1990s as a shorthand term, but later became a transferable adjective, also suggesting a wider palette than that drawn on by the most popular 1970s bands. Progressive rock is varied and is based on fusions of styles, approaches, and genres, tapping into broader cultural resonances that connect to avant-garde art, classical music and folk music, performance and the moving image. Although a unidirectional English “progressive” style emerged in the late 1960s, by 1967, progressive rock had come to constitute a diversity of loosely associated style codes. When the “progressive” label arrived, the music was dubbed “progressive pop” before it was called “progressive rock”, with the term “progressive” referring to the wide range of attempts to break with standard pop music formula. A number of additional factors contributed to the acquired “progressive” label: lyrics were more poetic; technology was harnessed for new sounds; music approached the condition of “art”; some harmonic language was imported from jazz and 19th-century classical music; the album format overtook singles; and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening, not dancing. Critics of the genre often limit its scope to a stereotype of long solos, overlong albums, fantasy lyrics, grandiose stage sets and costumes, and an obsessive dedication to technical skill. While progressive rock is often cited for its merging of high culture and low culture, few artists incorporated literal classical themes in their work to any great degree, and only a handful of groups purposely emulated or referenced classical music. Writer Emily Robinson says that the narrowed definition of “progressive rock” was a measure against the term’s loose application in the late 1960s, when it was “applied to everyone from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones”. Debate over the genre’s criterion continued to the 2010s, particularly on Internet forums dedicated to prog. According to musicologists Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell, Bill Martin and Edward Macan authored major books about progressive rock while “effectively accept ing the characterization of progressive rock offered by its critics. … they each do so largely unconsciously.” Academic John S. Cotner contests Macan’s view that progressive rock cannot exist without the continuous and overt assimilation of classical music into rock. Author Kevin Holm-Hudson agrees that “progressive rock is a style far more diverse than what is heard from its mainstream groups and what is implied by unsympathetic critics.”

Proto-punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term proto-punk has been defined differently by several writers and publications. In his essay Protopunk: the Garage Bands, music critic Lester Bangs applied the term to 1960s garage rock acts as well as Ritchie Valens’ 1958 cover of “La Bamba”. The book further states that “Although largely an American phenomenon, proto-punk can also be found in Britain. In Britain, however, it went under different names, and it is commonly referred to as either glam rock or pub rock”.

Psychedelic folk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics and terminology#

Psychedelic folk generally favors acoustic instrumentation although it often incorporates other instrumentation. Chanting, early music and various non-Western folk music influences are often found in psych folk. Much like its rock counterpart, psychedelic folk is often known for a peculiar, trance-like, and atmospheric sound, often drawing on musical improvisation and Asian influences.

Acid folk#

The term acid folk was coined in late 1969 by Australian journalist Lillian Roxon to describe the music of Pearls Before Swine. In her Rock Encyclopedia, she explained: In Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk (2010), author Jeanette Leech states that the term “acid folk” was a “perfect summation” of the music of Pearls Before Swine and similar acts: The term was nonetheless not used widely until some time after it was coined. Tom Rapp of Pearls Before Swine commented that “acid folk as a label is fine in that it implies borderlessness.”

Psychedelic pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

According to AllMusic, psychedelic pop was not too “freaky”, but also not very “bubblegum” either. It appropriated the effects associated with straight psychedelic music, applying their innovations to concise pop songs. The music was occasionally confined to the studio, but there existed more organic exceptions whose psychedelia was bright and melodic. AllMusic adds: “What’s strange is that some psychedelic pop is more interesting than average psychedelia, since it had weird, occasionally awkward blends of psychedelia and pop conventions – the Neon Philharmonic’s 1969 album The Moth Confesses is a prime example of this.”

Psychobilly

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The evolution of psychobilly as a genre is often described as having occurred in waves. The first wave occurred in New York City in the 1970s and reached Britain in the early 1980s, the second wave took place at the end of that decade and spread through the rest of Europe, and the third crested in the late 1990s with the genre finding international popularity.

Precursors#

The wildly theatrical shock rock aesthetic of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins in the 1950s, and the outsider music of the Legendary Stardust Cowboy in the late 1960s have been cited as a precursor to what would become psychobilly. The members of the Meteors and the Cramps both cited the song “Love Me” (1960) by the Phantom as the first song in the genre.

Punk rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Vocals and structure#

Some artists makes use of sonic elements of punk rock, such as screaming, whereas others make use of its attitude and melodic style. Lil Jon’s harsh style of vocalization has also been cited as influence on the development of the genre. In a way, hardcore punk was a “radical departure” from alternative and popular music of that era; this was because it was played “louder and harder,” “wasn’t verse-chorus rock,” and “dispelled any notion of what songwriting is supposed to be and it’s its own form” punk rap songs share some of the “unorthodox” characteristics. They are “short, repetitive, wrapped in distortion and grimly effective.” One of the earliest proponents of the scene was Odd Future, due to their merging of hip-hop and shock humor. In an article for the BBC, journalist Thomas Hobbs referred to the rise of the genre as being a rebellion against the politics of the period, with artists showing disdain for topics such as Brexit, the presidency of Donald Trump and global warming.

Punk rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Outlook#

The first wave of punk rock was “aggressively modern” and differed from what came before. According to Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone, “In its initial form, a lot of 1960s stuff was innovative and exciting. Unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endless solos that went nowhere. By 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no nonsense rock ’n’ roll.” John Holmstrom, founding editor of Punk magazine, recalls feeling “punk rock had to come along because the rock scene had become so tame that acts like Billy Joel and Simon and Garfunkel were being called rock and roll, when to me and other fans, rock and roll meant this wild and rebellious music.” According to Robert Christgau, punk “scornfully rejected the political idealism and Californian flower-power silliness of hippie myth.” Technical accessibility and a do it yourself (DIY) spirit are prized in punk rock. UK pub rock from 1972 to 1975 contributed to the emergence of punk rock by developing a network of small venues, such as pubs, where non-mainstream bands could play. Pub rock also introduced the idea of independent record labels, such as Stiff Records, which put out basic, low-cost records. Musical virtuosity was often looked on with suspicion. According to Holmstrom, punk rock was “rock and roll by people who didn’t have very many skills as musicians but still felt the need to express themselves through music”. British punk rejected contemporary mainstream rock, the broader culture it represented, and their musical predecessors: “No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones in 1977”, declared the Clash song “1977”. 1976, when the punk revolution began in Britain, became a musical and a cultural “Year Zero”. As nostalgia was discarded, many in the scene adopted a nihilistic attitude summed up by the Sex Pistols’ slogan “No Future”; While “self-imposed alienation” was common among “drunk punks” and “gutter punks”, there was always a tension between their nihilistic outlook and the “radical leftist utopianism” of bands such as Crass, who found positive, liberating meaning in the movement. As a Clash associate describes singer Joe Strummer’s outlook, “Punk rock is meant to be our freedom. We’re meant to be able to do what we want to do.” Authenticity has always been important in the punk subculture—the pejorative term “poseur” is applied to those who adopt its stylistic attributes but do not actually share or understand its underlying values and philosophy. Scholar Daniel S. Traber argues that “attaining authenticity in the punk identity can be difficult”; as the punk scene matured, he observes, eventually “everyone got called a poseur”.

Punk rock in California

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Pre-1976#

Los Angeles had a very strong glam rock scene in the early 1970s, mostly centered on the club Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco, run by Rodney Bingenheimer, who later, as a disc jockey for KROQ’s Rodney on the ROQ radio show, did much to promote LA punk bands. Many figures from this earlier scene would play notable roles in the later punk scene. In the mid-1970s from 1974 to 1975 a wave of proto-punk bands emerged from Los Angeles, including the Flyboys and Atomic Kid. The Runaways, an all-female teenaged band featuring Joan Jett, Sandy West, and Micki Steele, formed in Los Angeles in 1975 under the management of Kim Fowley. The band combined elements of glam rock, hard rock, and proto-punk rock. The group would become one of the first punk or punk-adjacent bands anywhere to release recordings, with their self-titled debut LP and its single “Cherry Bomb” released the following year.

Quebec fiddle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History and development#

According to Reiner and Anick, the affinity between Anglo-Celtic and French fiddle music dates to the 17th century. Solo style predominated in the rugged frontier land where a small fiddle could be easily managed. Thus, cross tunings, drone notes and complex rhythms evolved to fill the gaps left in unaccompanied playing and this resulted in a highly developed style. Clogging was often the only available accompaniment, and, much like the Indigenous Metis fiddle style, percussive and rhythmic playing is notably developed in this style. As with the French-speaking Cajun fiddle style, German button accordion created a fad which temporarily influenced the form, as did the eventual introduction of piano in the urban center Montreal.

Quiet storm

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Melvin Lindsey, a student at Howard University, with his classmate Jack Shuler, began as disc jockeys for WHUR in June 1976, performing as stand-ins for an absentee employee. Lindsey’s on-air voice was silky smooth, and the music selections were initially old, slow romantic songs from black artists of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, a form of easy listening which Lindsey called “beautiful black music” for African Americans. The response from listeners was positive, and WHUR station manager Cathy Hughes soon gave Lindsey and Shuler their own show. The name of the show came from the Smokey Robinson song “Quiet Storm”, from his 1975 album A Quiet Storm. The song developed into Lindsey’s theme music which introduced his time slot every night. “The Quiet Storm” was four hours of melodically soulful music that provided an intimate, laid-back mood for late-night listening, and that was the key to its tremendous appeal among adult audiences. The format was an immediate success, becoming so popular that within a few years, virtually every station in the U.S. with a core black, urban listenership adopted a similar format for its graveyard slot. Philadelphia’s WDAS-FM had begun a similar format in 1972, where Tony Brown hosted “The Extrasensory Connection.” That program was renamed to “The Quiet Storm” in 1976, and is still on the air. In the San Francisco Bay Area, KBLX-FM expanded the night-time concept into a 24-hour quiet storm format in 1979. In the New York tri-state late night market, Vaughn Harper deejayed the quiet storm graveyard program for WBLS-FM which he developed with co-host Champaine in mid-1983. In 1993, Harper took ill and Champaine continued the program as Quiet Storm II. Lawrence Tanter of KUTE in Greater Los Angeles replicated the KBLX format and changed his station to an all-day quiet storm format from January 1984 until September 1987, playing “a hybrid that incorporates pop, jazz, fusion, international, and urban music”. Addressing the misconception that quiet storm was only for blacks, Tanter said his listenership was 40% black, 40% white, and 20% other races. WLNR-FM in Chicago also changed in August 1985 to a 24-hour quiet storm program called “The Soft Touch”, featuring more instrumental music and even straight-ahead jazz, a mix which sales manager Gregory Brown described as “not so laid-back” as other quiet storm shows. A notable feature of WLNR was that the four regular deejays were women.

Rage (music genre)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The term “rage” in reference to the microgenre comes from “Miss the Rage”, a genre-pioneering track made in 2021 by Trippie Redd and Playboi Carti whose title references mosh pits during rap concerts that Trippie Redd longed for during COVID-19 lockdowns. During the 2010s, multiple artists and critics used the word “rage” in the context of hip-hop, mostly either referring to overdriven energetic sound or the moshing that would ensue at rap shows, examples being Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv Is Rage (2015) and Luv Is Rage 2 (2017) releases.

Ragtime

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

While the word ragtime was first recorded in 1896, the term probably originates in the dance events known as “rags”, hosted by enslaved black folk bound to the plantation system. The first recorded use of the term ragtime was by vaudeville musician Ben Harney who in 1896 used it to describe the piano music he played (which he had extracted from banjo and fiddle players) and first published the year prior.

Rap metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and early development (1980s–early 1990s)#

Rap metal’s roots are based both in hip hop acts who sampled heavy metal music, such as Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, Esham and Run-DMC, and rock bands who fused heavy metal and hip hop influences, such as 24-7 Spyz and Faith No More. Scott Ian of Anthrax (who helped pioneer the genre) believes Rage Against the Machine invented the genre. In 1987, the heavy metal band Anthrax fused hip hop with heavy metal for their extended play I’m the Man. The next year rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot teamed up with Metal Church for his 1988 single “Iron Man”, from his debut album Swass, loosely based upon the Black Sabbath song of the same name. Rap metal can be found in a track from the industrial metal band Ministry in their 1989 album The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste on the track “Test” for which they hired rappers The Grand Wizard (K. Lite) and The Slogan God (Tommie Boyskee) to perform vocals. In 1990, the rapper Ice-T formed a heavy metal band called Body Count, and while performing at the 1991 Lollapalooza tour performed a set that was half rap songs and half metal songs. Stuck Mojo and Clawfinger, both formed in 1989, are considered to be another two pioneers of the genre. Anthrax in 1991 teamed up with Public Enemy for a remake of the latter’s “Bring the Noise” that fused hip hop with thrash metal. Also in 1991, the thrash metal band Tourniquet featured the hip hop group P.I.D. on the song “Spineless” from their album Psycho Surgery. That same year the hair metal band Whitecross featured a rap by Alton Hood of the hip hop group D.O.C. on their album In The Kingdom.

Red dirt music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Oklahoma has been the source of several pop music movements that can be traced not only to a specific city but to a specific location within the city. Those music scenes include Western swing (attributed to Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa), and Leon Russell’s Tulsa sound from his Tulsa church-turned-studio called The Church Studio. Like those two, red dirt music grew from a specific place in Stillwater. The place was an old two-story, five-bedroom house called “The Farm”, for two decades the center of what evolved into the red dirt scene. The house, located on the outskirts of Stillwater, was the country home of Bob Childers. Eventually Childers left The Farm, but the red dirt scene continued to grow and thrive. Childers said, “I found something in Stillwater that I just didn’t find anywhere else. And I looked everywhere from Nashville to Austin. I always came back to Stillwater—it’s like a fountainhead for folks trying to get their vision.” The first usage of “red dirt” was by Steve Ripley band Moses when the group chose the label name Red Dirt Records for their 1972 self-published live album. One of many bands representing red dirt music—as their name signifies—is the Red Dirt Rangers. The Rangers (John Cooper, Brad Piccolo and Ben Han) have been making music since the late 1980s and, along with Childers, were part of The Farm’s earliest musical brotherhood, which also included Jimmy LaFave and Tom Skinner. These musicians and others jammed in the living room, on the front porch, in the garage (known as the Gypsy Cafe), and around campfires in the yard where “the sheer joy of creating music with friends transcended everything else.” Cooper said, “The Farm was as much an attitude as a physical structure. It allowed a setting where freedom rang and all things were possible. Out of this setting came the music.” The physical structure burned down in 2003.

Rhythm and blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology, definitions and description#

Although Jerry Wexler of Billboard magazine is credited with coining the term “rhythm and blues” as a musical term in the United States in 1948, the term had been used in Billboard as early as 1943. However, the company’s first list of songs popular among African Americans was named Harlem Hit Parade; created in 1942, it listed the “most popular records in Harlem,” and is the predecessor to the Billboard RnB chart. “Rhythm and Blues” replaced the common term “race music”, a term coined by Okeh producer Ralph Peer based on the common self description by the African American press as “people of race.” The term “rhythm and blues” was then used by Billboard in its chart listings from June 1949 until August 1969, when its “Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles” chart was renamed as “Best Selling Soul Singles”. Before the term “rhythm and Blues” was popularized, various record companies had already begun replacing the term “race music” with the term “sepia series”. “Rhythm and blues” is often abbreviated as “R&B” or “R’n’B”. In subsequent decades, the abbreviation “R&B” evolved to encompass a broad range of popular music styles, including soul, funk, disco, and later contemporary R&B, reflecting shifts in production, audience, and industry marketing. In the early 1950s, the term “rhythm & blues” was frequently applied to blues records. Writer and producer Robert Palmer defined rhythm & blues as “a catchall term referring to any music that was made by and for black Americans”. He has also used the term “R&B” as a synonym for jump blues. However, AllMusic separates it from jump blues because of R&B’s stronger gospel influences. Lawrence Cohn, author of Nothing but the Blues, writes that “rhythm and blues” was an umbrella term invented for industry convenience. According to him, the term embraced all black music except classical music and religious music, unless a gospel song sold enough to break into the charts. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy, as well as triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, economics, and aspirations. One publication of the Smithsonian Institution provided this summary of the origins of the genre in 2016. “A distinctly African-American music drawing from the deep tributaries of African American expressive culture, it is an amalgam of jump blues, big band swing, gospel, boogie, and blues that was initially developed during a thirty-year period that bridges the era of legally sanctioned racial segregation, international conflicts, and the struggle for civil rights”. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame defines some of the originators of R&B, including Joe Turner’s big band, Louis Jordan’s Tympany Five, James Brown and LaVern Baker. In fact, this source states that “Louis Jordan joined Turner in laying the foundation for R&B in the 1940s, cutting one swinging rhythm & blues masterpiece after another”. Other artists who were “cornerstones of R&B and its transformation into rock & roll” include Etta James, Fats Domino, Roy Brown, Little Richard and Ruth Brown. The “doo wop” groups were also noteworthy, including the Orioles, the Ravens and the Dominoes. The term “rock and roll” had a strong sexual connotation in jump blues and R&B, but when DJ Alan Freed referred to rock and roll on mainstream radio in the mid-1950s, “the sexual component had been dialed down enough that it simply became an acceptable term for dancing”.

Riot grrrl

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

The riot grrrl movement originated in 1991, when a group of women from Olympia, Washington, and Washington, D.C., held a meeting about sexism in their local punk scenes in the United States. The word “girl” was intentionally used in order to focus on childhood, a time when children have the strongest self-esteem and belief in themselves. Riot grrrls then took a growling “R”, replacing the “I” in the word as a way to take back the derogatory use of the term. Both double and triple “R” spellings are acceptable. The first documented use of this was from a July 1991 zine titled riot grrrl, compiled and published by Kathleen Hanna, Molly Neuman, Allison Wolfe, and Jen Smith. The Seattle and Olympia, Washington, music scenes in the Pacific Northwest had sophisticated do it yourself (DIY) infrastructure. While the model of politically themed zines had already been used in punk culture as an alternative (to mainstream) culture, zines also followed a longer legacy of self-published feminist writing that allowed women to circulate ideas that would not otherwise be published. There was a lot of anger and self-mutilation. In a symbolic sense, women were cutting and destroying the established image of femininity, aggressively tearing it down. Riot grrrl bands were influenced by groundbreaking female punk and mainstream rock performers of the 1970s to the mid-1980s. While many of these musicians were not originally associated with each other during their time and came from a variety of backgrounds and styles, as a group they anticipated many of riot grrrl’s musical and thematic attributes. These performers include the Slits, Poly Styrene, Siouxsie Sioux, the Raincoats, Joan Jett, Kim Gordon, and Kim Deal, among others. Of Kim Gordon, in particular, Kathleen Hanna noted, “She was a forerunner, musically … Just knowing a woman was in a band trading lead vocals, playing bass, and being a visual artist at the same time made me feel less alone.”

Rock and roll

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology#

The term “rock and roll” is defined by Greg Kot in Encyclopædia Britannica as the music that originated in the mid-1950s and later developed “into the more encompassing international style known as rock music”. The words rock and roll had become associated in the late eighteenth century, when “Rock and Roll” brimstone (i.e. sulfur) was advertised ; rock brimstone being the naturally-occurring form and roll brimstone being in the form of sticks or blocks, made by allowing liquid sulfur to solidify in (esp. cylindrical) moulds. The phrase “rocking and rolling” originally described the movement of a ship on the ocean, but by the early 20th century was used both to describe the spiritual fervor of black church rituals and as a sexual analogy. A retired Welsh seaman named William Fender can be heard singing the phrase “rock and roll” when describing a sexual encounter in his performance of the traditional song “The Baffled Knight” to the folklorist James Madison Carpenter in the early 1930s, which he would have learned at sea in the 1800s; the recording can be heard on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website. Various gospel, blues and swing recordings used the phrase before it became widely popular. “Bosom of Abraham”, an African-American spiritual that was documented no later than 1867 (just after the Civil War), uses the phrase “rock my soul” frequently in a religious sense; this song was later recorded by musicians from various genres, including various gospel musicians and groups (including The Jordanaires), Louis Armstrong (jazz/swing), Lonnie Donegan (skiffle), and Elvis Presley (rock and roll/pop/country). Blues singer Trixie Smith recorded “My Man Rocks Me with One Steady Roll” in 1922. It was used in 1940s recordings and reviews of what became known as “rhythm and blues” music aimed at a black audience. In 1934, the song “Rock and Roll” by the Boswell Sisters appeared in the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round. In 1942, before the concept of rock and roll had been defined, Billboard magazine columnist Maurie Orodenker started to use the term to describe upbeat recordings such as “Rock Me” by Sister Rosetta Tharpe; her style on that recording was described as “rock-and-roll spiritual singing”. By 1943, the “Rock and Roll Inn” in South Merchantville, New Jersey, was established as a music venue. In 1951, Cleveland, Ohio, disc jockey Alan Freed began playing this music style, and referring to it as “rock and roll” on his mainstream radio program, which popularized the phrase. Several sources suggest that Freed found the term, used as a synonym for sexual intercourse, on the record “Sixty Minute Man” by Billy Ward and his Dominoes. The lyrics include the line, “I rock ’em, roll ’em all night long”. Freed did not acknowledge the suggestion about that source in interviews, and explained the term as follows: “Rock ’n roll is really swing with a modern name. It began on the levees and plantations, took in folk songs, and features blues and rhythm”. In discussing Alan Freed’s contribution to the genre, two significant sources emphasized the importance of African-American rhythm and blues. Greg Harris, then the executive director of the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, offered this comment to CNN: “Freed’s role in breaking down racial barriers in American pop culture in the 1950s, by leading white and black kids to listen to the same music, put the radio personality ‘at the vanguard’ and made him ‘a really important figure. After Freed was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the organization’s Web site offered this comment: “He became internationally known for promoting African-American rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll”. Not often acknowledged in the history of rock and roll, Todd Storz, the owner of radio station KOWH in Omaha, Nebraska, was the first to adopt the Top 40 format (in 1953), playing only the most popular records in rotation. His station, and the numerous others which adopted the concept, helped to promote the genre: by the mid 50s, the playlist included artists such as “Presley, Lewis, Haley, Berry and Domino”.

Rock and roll revival

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

As the Sixties ended, several early rock and rollers like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Bill Haley & His Comets and Bo Diddley, who had been out of fashion since the British Invasion, experienced a resurgence in popularity, performing their old hits to a mix of old and new fans. Rock and roll revival festivals became popular, and anticipated the “oldies show” package tours of later years. Bo Diddley announced “I’m back and I’m feelin’ fine” in his comeback single titled Bo Diddley 1969, released by Checker Records. Sha Na Na performed “At the Hop” at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, in the revival spirit. John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a surprise hit album in 1970 with Live Peace in Toronto 1969, recorded at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in September 1969. Appearing on the spur of the moment, with a hastily assembled band (composed of Lennon, Ono, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Alan White), Lennon led off their set with familiar songs (like “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Money (That’s What I Want)”) that suited the mood of the program. In 1970, Dave Edmunds scored a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic with his cover of “I Hear You Knocking”, and Chuck Berry’s only song to hit #1 on the Billboard charts, his 1972 single “My Ding-a-Ling”, were both written in the 1950s by Dave Bartholomew. Elton John’s 1972 hit “Crocodile Rock” was an homage to early rock ’n ‘roll. In 1977 and 1978, British band The Darts scored three top-10 singles on the UK charts with covers of early rock/doo-wop oldies. Showaddywaddy, a rock and roll group formed in Leicester, England, in 1973. Specialising in revivals of hit songs from the 1950s and early 1960s, while also issuing original material. They have spent 209 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, and had 10 Top Ten singles, one reaching number one, “Under the Moon of Love”, in 1976. The popularity of the movement peaked with the release of the George Lucas film, American Graffiti, in 1973, with the soundtrack featuring rock and doo-wop hits from the late 1950s and early 1960s. By the mid-1970s, however, record sales of rock ’n’ roll reissues and retro releases had greatly declined as the music industry turned its attention to other musical trends.

Rock music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The sound of rock is traditionally centered on the amplified electric guitar, which emerged in its modern form in the 1950s with the popularity of rock and roll. It was also greatly influenced by the sounds of electric blues guitarists. The sound of an electric guitar in rock music is typically supported by an electric bass guitar, which pioneered jazz music in the same era, and by percussion produced from a drum kit that combines drums and cymbals. This trio of instruments has often been complemented by the inclusion of other instruments, particularly keyboards such as the piano, the Hammond organ, and the synthesizer. The basic rock instrumentation was derived from the basic electric blues band instrumentation (prominent lead guitar, second chordal instrument, bass, and drums). Rock music is traditionally built on a foundation of simple syncopated rhythms in a meter, with a repetitive snare drum back beat on beats two and four. Melodies often originate from older musical modes such as the Dorian and Mixolydian, as well as the major and minor scales. Harmonies range from the common triad to parallel perfect fourths and fifths and dissonant harmonic progressions. and particularly from the mid-1960s onwards, rock music often used the verse–refrain structure derived from blues and folk music, but there has been considerable variation from this model. Critics have stressed the eclecticism and stylistic diversity of rock. Because of its complex history and its tendency to borrow from other musical and cultural forms, it has been argued that “it is impossible to bind rock music to a rigidly delineated musical definition.” In 1981, music journalist Robert Christgau said, “the best rock jolts folk-art virtues—directness, utility, natural audience—into the present with shots of modern technology”. Unlike many earlier styles of popular music, rock lyrics have dealt with a wide range of themes, including romantic love, sex, rebellion against the establishment, social concerns, and life styles. Christgau characterizes rock lyrics as a “cool medium” with simple diction and repeated refrains, and asserts that rock’s primary “function” “pertains to music, or, more generally, noise.” The predominance of white, male, and often middle class musicians in rock music has often been noted, and rock has been seen as an appropriation of Black musical forms for a young, white and largely male audience. As a result, it has also been seen to articulate the concerns of this group in both style and lyrics. Christgau, writing in 1972, said in spite of some exceptions, “rock and roll usually implies an identification of male sexuality and aggression”. Since the term “rock” started being used in preference to “rock and roll” from the late 1960s, it has usually been contrasted with pop music, with which it has shared many characteristics. However, rock is often distanced from pop: the former has an emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and a focus on serious and progressive themes as part of an ideology of authenticity that is frequently combined with an awareness of the genre’s history and development. According to Simon Frith, rock was “something more than pop, something more than rock and roll” and “rock musicians combined an emphasis on skill and technique with the romantic concept of art as artistic expression, original and sincere”. Christgau has used the term broadly to refer to popular and semipopular music that caters to his sensibility as “a rock-and-roller”, including a fondness for a good beat, a meaningful lyric with some wit, and the theme of youth, which holds an “eternal attraction” so objective “that all youth music partakes of sociology and the field report.”

Rock violin

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early history#

The emergence of rock music in the 1950s and 1960s is rooted in the basic instrumentation of drum kit, electric bass guitar and lead electric guitar; all of this instrumentation was fed into tube amplifiers until the emergence of the transistor. Building on this basic setup, other instruments were added as transistor technology advanced, typically the electric keyboard, which became popular after the introduction of the Moog synthesizer. Rock violin emerged in the art rock movement, which had experimented with classical instruments and musical influences associated with early music. Examples include Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Velvet Underground, and later Kansas. In the same era that Ian Anderson popularized the use of flute in rock, others added violin to their line up. These bands included Jefferson Airplane, Fairport Convention, Mahavishnu Orchestra and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.

Rockabilly

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

There was a close relationship between blues and country music from the very earliest country recordings in the 1920s. The first nationwide country hit was “Wreck of the Old 97”, backed with “The Prisoner’s Song”, which also became quite popular. Jimmie Rodgers, the “first true country star”, was known as the “Blue Yodeler”, and most of his songs used blues-based chord progressions, although with very different instrumentation and sound from the recordings of his black contemporaries like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Bessie Smith. During the 1930s and 1940s, two new sounds emerged. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were the leading proponents of Western Swing, which combined country singing and steel guitar with big band jazz influences and horn sections; Wills’s music found massive popularity. Recordings of Wills’s from the mid 1940s to the early 1950s include “two beat jazz” rhythms, “jazz choruses”, and guitar work that preceded early rockabilly recordings. Wills is quoted as saying “Rock and Roll? Why, man, that’s the same kind of music we’ve been playin’ since 1928!… But it’s just basic rhythm and has gone by a lot of different names in my time. It’s the same, whether you just follow a drum beat like in Africa or surround it with a lot of instruments. The rhythm’s what’s important.” After blues artists like Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson launched a nationwide boogie craze starting in 1938, country artists like Moon Mullican, the Delmore Brothers, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Speedy West, Jimmy Bryant, and the Maddox Brothers and Rose began recording what was then known as “hillbilly boogie”, which consisted of “hillbilly” vocals and instrumentation with a boogie bass line. After World War II, The Maddox Brothers and Rose were at “the leading edge of rockabilly with the slapped bass that Fred Maddox had developed”. They had shifted into higher gear leaning toward a whimsical honky-tonk feel, with a heavy, manic bottom end and high volume. The Maddoxes were known for their lively, antic-filled shows, which were an influential novelty for white listeners and musicians alike. Along with country, swing and boogie influences, jump blues artists such as Wynonie Harris and Roy Brown, and electric blues acts such as Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Parker, and Arthur Crudup, influenced the development of rockabilly. The Memphis blues musician Junior Parker and his electric blues band, Little Junior’s Blue Flames, featuring Pat Hare on the guitar, were a major influence on the rockabilly style, particularly with their songs “Love My Baby” and “Mystery Train” in 1953. Zeb Turner’s February 1953 recording of “Jersey Rock” with its mix of musical styles, lyrics about music and dancing, and guitar solo, is another example of the mixing of musical genres in the first half of the 1950s. Bill Monroe is known as the Father of Bluegrass, a specific style of country music. Many of his songs were in blues form, while others took the form of folk ballads, parlor songs, or waltzes. Bluegrass was a staple of country music in the early 1950s and is often mentioned as an influence in the development of rockabilly, in part owing to its favoring of fast tempos. The Honky Tonk sound, which “tended to focus on working-class life, with frequently tragic themes of lost love, adultery, loneliness, alcoholism, and self-pity”, also included songs of energetic, uptempo hillbilly boogie. Some of the better known musicians who recorded and performed these songs are: the Delmore Brothers, the Maddox Brothers and Rose, Merle Travis, Hank Williams, Hank Snow, and Tennessee Ernie Ford.

Roots rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

In 1966, as many rock artists moved towards expansive and experimental psychedelia, Bob Dylan spearheaded the back-to-basics roots revival when he went to Nashville to record the album Blonde on Blonde, using notable local musicians like Charlie McCoy. Other acts that followed the back to basics trend in different ways were the Canadian/American group The Band and the California-based Creedence Clearwater Revival, both of which mixed basic rock and roll with folk, country, and blues, to be among the most successful and influential bands of the late 1960s. At the same time the Grateful Dead, a band previously associated with the San Francisco sound and known for ferocious psychedelic improvisation, followed in the footsteps of Crosby, Stills & Nash to focus on Americana-styled songwriting for their 1970 albums Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty. The same movement saw the beginning of the recording careers of Californian solo artists like Ry Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, and Lowell George.

Sacred Harp

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The music and its notation#

The name of the tradition comes from the title of the shape-note book from which the music is sung, The Sacred Harp. This book exists today in various editions, discussed below. In shape-note music, notes are printed in special shapes that help the reader identify them on the musical scale. There are two prevalent systems, one using four shapes, and one using seven. In the four-shape system used in The Sacred Harp, each of the four shapes is connected to a particular syllable, fa, sol, la, or mi, and these syllables are employed in singing the notes, just as in the more familiar system that uses do, re, mi, etc. (see solfege). The four-shape system is able to cover the full musical scale because each syllable-shape combination other than mi is assigned to two distinct notes of the scale. For example, the C major scale would be notated and sung as follows: The shape for fa is a triangle, sol an oval, la a rectangle, and mi a diamond. In Sacred Harp singing, pitch is not absolute. The shapes and notes designate degrees of the scale, not particular pitches. Thus for a song in the key of C, fa designates C and F; for a song in G, fa designates G and C, and so on; hence it is called a moveable “do” system. When Sacred Harp singers begin a song, they normally start by singing it with the appropriate syllable for each pitch, using the shapes to guide them. For those in the group not yet familiar with the song, the shapes help with the task of sight reading. The process of reading through the song with the shapes also helps fix the notes in memory. Once the shapes have been sung, the group then sings the verses of the song with their printed words.

Salsa music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins of the term Salsa#

The word Salsa means sauce in the Spanish language. The origin of the connection of this word to a style of music is disputed by various music writers and historians. The musicologist Max Salazar traced the origin of the connection to 1930 when Ignacio Piñeiro composed the song Échale salsita (Put some sauce in it). The phrase is seen as a cry from Piñeiro to his band, telling them to increase the tempo to “put the dancers into high gear”. In the mid-1940s, Cuban Cheo Marquetti emigrated to Mexico. He named his group Conjunto Los Salseros, with whom he recorded a couple of albums for the Panart and Egrem labels. Later on, while based in Mexico City, the musician Beny Moré would shout salsa during a performance to acknowledge a musical moment’s heat, making a connection with the hot salsa (sauce) made in the country. Puerto Rican music promoter Izzy Sanabria claims he was the first to use the word salsa to denote a music genre: In 1973, I hosted the television show Salsa which was the first reference to this particular music as salsa. I was using the term salsa, but the music wasn’t defined by that. The music was still defined as Latin music. And that was a very, very broad category, because it even includes mariachi music. It includes everything. So salsa defined this particular type of music … It’s a name that everyone could pronounce. Sanabria’s Latin New York magazine was an English language publication. Consequently, his promoted events were covered in The New York Times, as well as Time and Newsweek magazines. Sanabria confessed the term salsa was not developed by musicians: “Musicians were busy creating the music but played no role in promoting the name salsa.” For this reason the use of the term salsa has been controversial among musicians. Some have praised its unification element. Celia Cruz said, “Salsa is Cuban music with another name. It’s mambo, chachachá, rumba, son … all the Cuban rhythms under one name.” Willie Colón described salsa not as a precise musical style but a power to unite in the broadest terms: “Salsa was the force that united diverse Latino and other non-Latino racial and ethnic groups …Salsa is the harmonic sum of all Latin culture “. On the other hand, even some New York based artists were originally against the commercialization of music under that name. Machito said: “There’s nothing new about salsa, it is just the same old music that was played in Cuba for over fifty years.” Cuban musicologist Mayra Martínez wrote that “the term salsa obscured the Cuban base, the music’s history or part of its history in Cuba. And salsa was a way to do this so that Jerry Masucci, Fania and other record companies, like CBS, could have a hegemony on the music and keep the Cuban musicians from spreading their music abroad.” Johnny Pacheco, co-founder of Fania Records, gave his definition of the term “Salsa” during various interviews: “La salsa es, y siempre ha sido, la musica cubana” (“Salsa is, and always has been, Cuban music”). The marketing potential from the name was so big, that eventually both Machito, Puente, and even musicians in Cuba embraced the term as a financial necessity.

San Francisco sound

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The new sound, which melded many musical influences, was perhaps heralded in the live performances of Jefferson Airplane (from 1965 on), who put out an LP record earlier than nearly all the other new bands (August 1966). According to writer Douglas Brinkley, celebrated author Hunter S. Thompson, one of the Bay Area cultural-scene boosters, was a big early fan of the group: “Thompson extolled the sonic energy of the Jefferson Airplane as it pulsed around the California locales that nursed the psychedelic era…” The bohemian predecessor of the hippie culture in San Francisco was the “Beat Generation” style of coffee houses and bars, whose clientele appreciated literature, a game of chess, music (in the forms of jazz and folk style), modern dance, and traditional crafts and arts like pottery and painting. Acoustic music had had an avid following far and wide, but it was “a fading world of traditional folk and Brechtian art songs.” The entire tone of the new subculture was different. According to biography author Robert Greenfield, “Jon McIntire manager of the Grateful Dead from the late sixties to the mid-eighties points out that the great contribution of the hippie culture was this projection of joy. The beatnik thing was black, cynical, and cold.” The Beats tended to be cagey, keeping their lives discreet (save for the few who published, in literary bursts, about their perceptions, enthusiasms, and activities); in a word, they generally “kept cool.” The young hippies were far more numerous, less wary, and had scarcely any inclination to keep their lifestyles concealed. The new music was loud and community-connected: bands sometimes presented free concerts in Golden Gate Park and “happenings” at the city’s several psychedelic clubs and ballrooms. The many bands that formed signalled a shift from one subculture to the next. Monterey, California is about 120 road miles south of San Francisco. At the June 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, Bay Area groups performed from the same stage as established and fast-rising musical groups and well-known individual artists from the U.S., the UK, and even India. Soon after, Ralph J. Gleason and Jann Wenner, based in San Francisco, established Rolling Stone magazine (first issue’s date: November 1967). Each San Francisco band had its characteristic sound, but enough commonalities existed that there was a regional identity. By 1967, fresh and adventurous improvisation during live performance (which many heard as being epitomized by the Grateful Dead and by the “cross-talk” guitar work of Moby Grape) was one characteristic of the San Francisco sound. A louder, more prominent role for the electric bass—typically with a melodic or semi-melodic approach, and using a plush, pervasive tone—was another feature. This questing bass quality has been wryly characterized as a “roving” (rather than the conventional “stay-at-home”) style. In jazz it had been exuberantly pioneered by numerous musicians. A musician who was a leading example of this, Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane (and the offshoot Hot Tuna) pioneered the approach, perhaps best represented on the album Bless Its Pointed Little Head. Phil Lesh, bassist with the Grateful Dead, furthered this sound. Lesh had developed his style on the foundation of having studied classical, brass-band, jazz, and modernist music on the violin and later the trumpet. Exploration of chordal progressions previously uncommon in rock & roll, and a freer and more powerful use of all instruments (drums and other percussion, electric guitars, keyboards, as well as the bass) went along with this “psychedelic-era” music. Brasses and reeds, such as trumpets and saxophones were rarely used, unlike in contemporary R&B and soul bands and some of the white bands from the U.S. East Coast (e.g., Blood, Sweat & Tears or Chicago). Sly & the Family Stone, a San Francisco–based group that got its start in the late 1960s, was an exception, being a racially integrated hippie band with a hefty influence from soul music, hence making use of brass instrumentation. “Rock & roll” was the point of departure for the new music. But well known stars of rock & roll “were being called fifties primitives” by this time. This was the period when “rock” was differentiating itself from rock & roll, partly due to the upshot of the British Invasion. Among these British acts, according to music journalist Chris Smith, writing in his book on the most influential albums in American popular music, the Beatles inspired the emergence of the San Francisco psychedelic scene following their incorporation of folk rock on the 1965 album Rubber Soul, which reflected the reciprocal influences shared between the group and Bob Dylan. San Francisco historian Charles Perry recalled that in Haight-Ashbury, “You could party hop all night and hear nothing but Rubber Soul”, and that “More than ever the Beatles were the soundtrack of the Haight-Ashbury, Berkeley and the whole circuit.” In San Francisco, musical influences came in from not only London, Liverpool and Manchester, but also included the bi-coastal American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, the Chicago electric blues scene, the soul music scenes in Detroit, Memphis, and Muscle Shoals, and jazz styles of various eras and regions. A number of key San Francisco rock musicians of the era cited John Coltrane and his circle of leading-edge jazz musicians as important influences. The journalist Ed Vulliamy wrote: “The Summer of Love had an empress, and her name was Janis Joplin.” Women, in a few cases, enjoyed an equal status with men as stars in the San Francisco rock scene—but these few instances signaled a shift that has continued in the U.S. music scene. Both Grace Slick (singing with Jefferson Airplane) and Joplin (singing initially with Big Brother & the Holding Company) gained a substantial following locally and, before long, across the country. Coming of age in the San Francisco Bay Area, famed singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks gained her first performing experience there in the 1960s with Lindsey Buckingham and his band. Nicks and Buckingham went on to bring that San Francisco sound to established British rock band Fleetwood Mac when they both joined in 1975.

Sass (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

The name sass was derived from sass, referencing the genre’s flamboyant vocal expressions and lyrics. Svenonius submitted himself to the competition, later stating in an interview with the The Washington Post that “To me, different qualities define sassiness: disrespect to authority, to be youthful and zestful, and be sharply dressed”. A January 1993 issue of Maximum Rocknroll called the band the “sultans of sass”. While many sass bands crossed over into the mainstream, the name “sass” was only used in the hardcore scene during its initial popularity. In the mainstream, it was more often called hardcore or screamo. Around 2018, SeeYouSpaceCowboy began to self-identify as sasscore, a portmanteau of sass and metalcore that the band considered themselves to have coined, to clarify their influences from both styles. In the following years, the term became a popular synonym for all sass; however, in a 2021 article, BrooklynVegan editor Andrew Sacher expressed that “sasscore” encompassed a narrower selection of bands than simply “sass”, excluding the softer, less hardcore-based sound of the Blood Brothers, Death From Above 1979 and Hot Hot Heat. In a 2021 interview, the band’s vocalist Connie Sgarbossa stated of the term’s use as synonym that “It’s kind of funny that ‘sasscore’ has become such a thing, because I came up with that stupid genre tag for SpaceCowboy back in the day, and there’s become this like cult around sasscore. I think people think that’s what they actually called it back then.” In a 2004 article by Loyola College in Maryland student newspaper The Grayhound, the Blood Brothers vocalist Jordan Blilie was noted as self-identifying his band as “sasscore”, noting his preference for the term over screamo.

Scam rap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Scam rap is notable for its explicit descriptions of various fraudulent activities, offering listeners a glimpse into the world of cybercrime, financial manipulation, and identity theft. Artists often share step-by-step instructions, anecdotes, and personal experiences related to their scams. The lyrics often reflect a mix of audacity and humor, showcasing the artists’ resourcefulness and creativity in executing their schemes. Musically, scam rap typically incorporates lazy, triplet flows and rambling bars, often rapped “behind the beat”. The beats themselves may be lo-fi and minimalistic, allowing the focus to remain on the storytelling aspect of the genre. Scam rap also frequently features references to modern technology, cryptocurrency, online platforms, and the dark web, reflecting the evolving landscape of scams in the digital age.

Screamo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Screamo is a style of hardcore punk-influenced emo with screaming. Screamo uses typical rock instrumentation, but is notable for its brief compositions, chaotic sounds, harmonized guitars, and screaming vocals. Screamo is characterized “by frequent shifts in tempo and dynamics and by tension-and-release catharses”. These lyrics are usually introspective, similar to that of softer emo bands. Some groups were also unusually theoretical in inspiration: Angel Hair cited surrealist writers Antonin Artaud and Georges Bataille,

Shout (Black gospel music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The shout music tradition originated within the church music of the Black church, parts of which derive from the ring shout tradition of enslaved people from Central and West Africa. As these enslaved Africans, who were concentrated in the southeastern United States, incorporated Kongo shout traditions into their newfound Christianity, the black Christian shout tradition emerged—albeit not in all black churches or in every part of the country. Even so, after the dawn of the Azusa Street Revival and the rise of Pentecostalism in 1906, many African-American Christians began to incorporate more modern Charismatic Christian practices into their worship, including speaking in tongues and various other bodily anomalies said to be caused by the Holy Spirit. The shout tradition fit well into this framework and became ever more popular across the spectrum of Pentecostalism and, eventually, the larger charismatic Evangelical world. As time passed, the influence spread from church music to secular music. It influenced the rhythms found in genres like early rock and roll, soul, and funk. The 1959 the Isley Brothers released Shout!, which took influence from the gospel music. Church groups wrote into radio stations to request the song no longer be played. As Southern black Christians migrated north in large numbers after the end of Reconstruction, they began to found churches of their own that had different styles of worship than the aforementioned Northern black churches. Soon, the center of power shifted in the direction of the newcomers, who in many represented a more authentically African-American (and lively) church experience. At the same time, a new form of black gospel music emerged, influenced both by the black spiritual tradition as well as the growing Pentecostal/Holiness movements. This eventually led to the high-energy, fast-paced shouts and praise breaks seen among contemporary practitioners. It is common now for gospel recording artists to include shouts and praise breaks on their albums, either recorded in a studio or live during a recorded show. This has had an outsize influence on the spread (and musical structure) of the tradition in modern times, in addition to the popularity of videos on social media depicting the practice.

Sigilkore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology and characteristics#

The term “sigilkore” is derived from sigil, which is described as being associated with magic, deities and occult rituals. The visual aesthetics of sigilkore draw influence from magic, deities, demons, Writing for British newspaper The Guardian, music critic Alexis Petridis described sigilkore as a “micro-trend”.

2019–2023: Origins#

Sigilkore originated as a mixing style pioneered by rappers Luci4 and Islurwhenitalk who formed the collective Jewelxxet. along with producers within his collective BMB Deathrow, would expand upon this style by frequently including references to occultism The genre was also popularized by American singer Siouxxie’s “Masquerade,” which would go viral in mid-2021, and by artists Lumi Athena,

Skate punk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Characterized as “the perfect soundtrack to limb-threatening aerial stunts” and “thrash metal’s snotty younger brother,” skate punk is also known as “skate rock” and “skatecore”. Noted by AllMusic for having “high-energy”, skate punk features fast tempos. Skate punk music often features singing and vocal harmonies. Rolling Stone described skate punk as “a sort of pop hardcore”. Some skate punk music has lyrics that are about humor - “mostly of the smartass variety”. and the Suicide Machines, also play ska punk. Some skate punk bands, including Suicidal Tendencies and Excel, also play thrash metal or crossover thrash.

Skiffle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins in the United States#

Skiffle is often said to have developed from New Orleans jazz, but this claim has been disputed. Improvised jug bands playing blues and jazz were common across the American South in the early decades of the 20th century. They used instruments such as the washboard, jugs, washtub bass, cigar-box fiddle, musical saw and comb-and-paper kazoos, as well as more conventional instruments, such as acoustic guitar and banjo. The origin of the English word skiffle is unknown. However, in the dialect of the west of England to make a skiffle, meaning to make a mess of any business, is attested from 1873. In early 20th century America the term skiffle was one of many slang phrases for a rent party, a social event with a small charge designed to pay rent on a house. It was first recorded in Chicago in the 1920s and may have been brought there as part of the African-American migration to northern industrial cities. It was used by Ma Rainey (1886–1939) to describe her repertoire to rural audiences. The term skiffle disappeared from American music in the 1940s.

Slovenian-style polka

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Instruments#

The Slovenian style polka band always includes a piano accordion, chromatic accordion, or the Diatonic button accordion (also called a “button box”). An accordion called the Half Chromatic, often abbreviated half-chrom, is sometimes used. This accordion has a right side similar to a three-row B-system chromatic accordion, but a bass side similar to the Diatonic button accordion. Some bands in Slovenia use keyboard instead of accordion. The other melody instrument is a saxophone or clarinet, and the rhythm instruments include drums, bass, and guitar or banjo. The Avsenik brothers also add a trumpet to their sound. The Slovenian style polka in the United States came about when immigrants from Slovenia taught the old songs to their children. Those children, as adults, translated the old songs from Slovene into English, and arranged them in a polka beat. This began the oral tradition of Cleveland-style polka music.

Slowcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Slowcore prominently incorporates stylings and traits from indie rock and contemporary folk music. Similarly, contemporary folk refers to a musical style representative of traditional folk music but with modernthe 20th century and onwardsinterpretations, ultimately spawning subgenres like folk rock and indie folk in the later stages of the century, both of which influenced slowcore to different extents. Americana, Drone and ambient music are also cited as being similar. There is no definitive characterisation of the genre, Backing instrumentation is sparse, contrasting with the genres from which slowcore is derived. Slowcore uses simple melodies over a prolonged period to evoke saddening emotions; Andrea Swensson of Pitchfork wrote that the genre “gently pulls the listener out of linear time”. While the songs can implement choruses, they often lack intense changes in instrumentation. Chris Brokaw of Codeine facetiously remarked that he could “play a snare hit, go get a drink and be back at the drumkit before the next beat”. Lyrics in slowcore songs are often melancholic, with the vocal performances subdued. Emotion is a core component of slowcore, and the sparse instrumentation emphasises the singer’s voice. Stuart Braithwaite, a founding member of the renowned post-rock band Mogwai, said “You weren’t going to play slowcore at parties, but it was beautiful: the lyrics bare and honest, the musicality sparing”.

Sludge metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Alex Deller of Metal Hammer describes sludge metal as a “mutant cousin to both doom and stoner metal”, incorporating the “misery of the former and the prodigious narcotic consumption of the latter while spewing nihilism, self loathing and frenzied punk rock aggression into the vomitous mix.” He also described the style as “arguably the biggest, ugliest mutt” of the extreme metal subgenres. The key characteristics of sludge metal are a slow tempo combined with down-tuned, heavily distorted guitars. Many sludge bands also make use of elements of industrial music, southern rock Drug addiction is a common theme, while discussion of poverty and pollution are also prevalent. Sludge bands who lean more towards hardcore are sometimes called sludgecore by music historians including Garry Sharpe-Young and David Pearson. New Orleans is the birthplace of the sludgecore movement, with Eyehategod being this style’s frontrunner.

Snap music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

It is suggested that snap music appeared around 2000 in a crime-infested neighborhood of Bankhead, Atlanta, Georgia. Bankhead was a place where the difference between poor and rich was striking, and, as it has been described, “a lighter sound” of snap was born “in the midst of all the aggression.” Another Atlanta based group, D4L, were performing at Atlanta’s Vision Nightclub and Lounge alongside 8Ball, Keyshia Cole and Slim Thug at the time. In 2005, they produced “Laffy Taffy”, which occupied the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their debut album, Down for Life, was certified gold by RIAA. D4L and Dem Franchize Boys started a rivalry over who started snap. As Fabo of D4L mentioned, Dem Franchize Boys were looked down upon by members of the community, and were referred to as “label prostitutes” there. Crunk producer Lil Jon also increased exposure of the snap genre to the mainstream by releasing his single “Snap Yo Fingers”, which peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Snap continued to maintain a strong presence on the mainstream Billboard charts in 2007. In late 2007, then 17-year-old American rapper Soulja Boy released his hit “Crank That”, which enjoyed the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 for 7 weeks, and was nominated for a Grammy and became one of the biggest hits of the year, advancing the influence of snap music on the Billboard charts, as well as furthering delving into the crunk genre. During the same year, a number of websites specializing in crunk mixtapes opened, increasing exposure to the genre. R&B singer T-Pain’s snap song “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” ranks #63 on Rolling Stones list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. It was also a number-one on the Hot 100 and was number 68 in Rolling Stones “Best Songs of 2007” list. In February 2008, Atlanta rapper V.I.C. released his hit snap single “Get Silly” which peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and garnered single sales of 500,000 copies sold. In 2020, then Egyptian singer Ramage released his hit while maintaining her signature pop-R&B sound. She furthered trap experimentation in “Ya Lil (Al Anisa Farah)”, from the MBC4 and Dubai One show Miss Farahs soundtrack album Al Anesa Farah (Music from the Original TV Series) (2020). During the same year, a number of websites specializing in crunk mixtapes opened, increasing exposure to the genre. This popularity even spilled over into comedy, as The Boondocks portrayed “The Story of Gangstalicious”, a rapper whose hit within the show was “Homies Over Hoes”, a clear homage to “Laffy Taffy”.

Soft rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mid-to-late 1960s#

Softer sounds in rock music could be heard in mid-1960s songs, such as “A Summer Song” by Chad & Jeremy (1964) and “Here, There and Everywhere” by the Beatles and “I Love My Dog” by Cat Stevens, both from 1966. By 1968, hard rock had been established as a mainstream genre. From the end of the 1960s, it became common to divide mainstream rock music into soft and hard rock, with both emerging as major radio formats in the US. The Bee Gees were considered soft rock in the late 1960s.

Soul music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Soul music has its roots in traditional African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues and as the hybridization of their respective religious and secular styles – in both lyrical content and instrumentation – that began in the 1950s. The term “soul” had been used among African-American musicians to emphasize the feeling of being an African American in the United States. According to musicologist Barry Hansen, Though this hybrid produced a clutch of hits in the R&B market in the early 1950s, only the most adventurous white fans felt its impact at the time; the rest had to wait for the coming of soul music in the 1960s to feel the rush of rock and roll sung gospel-style. According to AllMusic, “Soul music was the result of the urbanization and commercialization of rhythm and blues in the ’60s.” The phrase “soul music” itself, referring to gospel-style music with secular lyrics, was first attested in 1961. The term “soul” in African-American parlance has connotations of African-American pride and culture. Gospel groups in the 1940s and ’50s occasionally used the term as part of their names. The jazz style that originated from gospel became known as soul jazz. As singers and arrangers began using techniques from both gospel and soul jazz in African-American popular music during the 1960s, soul music gradually functioned as an umbrella term for African-American popular music at the time. According to the Acoustic Music Organization, the “first clear evidence of soul music shows up with the “5” Royales, an ex-gospel group that turned to R&B and in Faye Adams, whose “Shake A Hand” becomes an R&B standard”. Important innovators whose recordings in the 1950s contributed to the emergence of soul music included Clyde McPhatter, Hank Ballard, and Etta James. Singer Bobby Womack said, “Ray was the genius. He turned the world onto soul music.” Charles was open in acknowledging the influence of Pilgrim Travelers vocalist Jesse Whitaker on his singing style. Little Richard, who inspired Otis Redding, and James Brown both were equally influential. Brown was nicknamed the “Godfather of Soul Music”, Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson also are often acknowledged as soul forefathers. Cooke became popular as the lead singer of the gospel group the Soul Stirrers, before controversially moving into secular music. His recording of “You Send Me” in 1957 launched a successful pop music career. Furthermore, his 1962 recording of “Bring It On Home to Me” has been described as “perhaps the first record to define the soul experience”. Jackie Wilson, a contemporary of both Cooke and James Brown, also achieved crossover success, especially with his 1957 hit “Reet Petite”. He even was particularly influential for his dramatic delivery and performances.

Southern hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Overall characteristics#

Although Southern hip-hop includes a number of localized scenes with distinct styles, there are nevertheless stylistic commonalities that have been observed throughout the region. Most Southern hip-hop music places less emphasis on lyrical complexity than other regions do, instead prioritizing vocal styles that encourage audience participation, such as call-and-response chants or catchy choruses that can be sung along with. At the same time, other branches of Southern hip-hop embraced gangsta rap and have been described as pioneers of hardcore hip-hop. Musically, Southern hip-hop displays inspiration from other Southern music styles, such as gospel and blues. Influential artists from throughout the South have also been described as incorporating elements of funk. Bass-heavy percussion, especially that produced by the Roland TR-808 drum machine, is viewed as a cornerstone of much Southern hip-hop. According to some performers, Southern hip-hop is also more likely than other regions to use live instrumentation rather than samples.

Space age pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

External links#

The Space Age pop-music page
Gallery of Space Age pop album covers

Spirituals

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminology#

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians—one of the largest reference works on music and musicians —itemized and described “spiritual” in its electronic resource, Grove Music Online, an important part of Oxford Music Online, as a “type of sacred song created by and for African Americans that originated in oral tradition. Although its exact provenance is unknown, spirituals were identifiable as a genre by the early 19th century.” The term was generally employed without the descriptor “African American”. “Negro spirituals” is a 19th-century term that according to writer Arthur Evans was “used for songs with religious texts created by African Enslaved in America”. The first published book of slave songs referred to them as “spirituals”. In the introductory phrase, the singular form is used without the adjective “African American.” Throughout the encyclopedia entry, the singular and plural forms of the term are used without the “African American” descriptor. The Library’s introductory sentence observes that “A spiritual is a type of religious folksong that is most closely associated with the enslavement of African people in the American South. The songs proliferated in the last few decades of the eighteenth century leading up to the abolishment of legalized slavery in the 1860s. The African American spiritual (also called the Negro Spiritual) constitutes one of the largest and most significant forms of American folksong.”

St. Louis Bounce

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

String band

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History of African American old-time string band music#

Although African American old-time string bands recorded history is that of the early 20th century, the beginnings of the music started much earlier. Many people once believed that the role African Americans played in the upcoming of old-time string band music was either nonexistent or to interest the Middle Ages or medieval times. The genre of African American folk music actually began with the use of percussion instruments, which were used to create music in form of encouragement to keep the slaves exercising on slave ships. Furthermore, that then sparked the usage of stringed instruments such as banjos and violins that the slaves played as a way of entertainment.

Sunshine pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and definition#

Sunshine pop originated from California-based pop songwriters and producers. The West Coast music scene of the mid- to late 1960s had provided a fertile environment for studio-oriented pop musicians experimenting with rock, folk, and psychedelic influences. Within this milieu were numerous artists who contributed to the development of sunshine pop, including Brian Wilson, leader of the Beach Boys, and John Phillips, leader of the Mamas & the Papas, who combined idealistic themes with undercurrents of melancholy, along with lesser-known acts that achieved fleeting commercial success. A.V. Club contributor Noel Murray argued in 2011 that records by Phillips and Wilson had attained a cultural stature so large “that it’s hard today to hear them as part of any kind of trend”, in direct contrast to the less successful contemporaneous work of producer-songwriter-performer Curt Boettcher. The genre’s boundaries remain loosely defined partly due to the absence of contemporary self-identification by artists as “sunshine pop” practitioners. Many of the groups straddled multiple styles, including folk rock, bubblegum pop, garage rock, and psychedelia. In addition to receiving limited critical attention during their initial activity, many acts had existed briefly while adapting to evolving musical trends. Other rock and pop bands not normally associated with the genre occasionally produced singles or albums that integrated its sound. Music critic Richie Unterberger defined the genre as “the most ridiculously optimistic, commercial outgrowth of folk-rock that could be imagined”, adding that the style “was not so much folk-influenced rock as folk-rock-influenced pop, sometimes very much in an easy listening, Mamas-&-the-Papas mold, such as Spanky & Our Gang”. Author David Howard characterizes “soft pop” as a “harmonic, slightly psychedelic vocal music genre” that modernized “traditional pop vocals via hip lyrics, breezy harmonies, and an effervescent production style”. Associated acts usually drew elements from easy-listening, commercial jingles, and countercultural themes, often juxtaposing idyllic imagery with a subtle awareness of societal change, and bore names referencing fruits, colors, or “cosmic concepts”. While occasionally incorporating elements of psychedelia, they generally avoided overt drug-related imagery, instead drawing from what AllMusic termed the “whimsical” and “warm” aspects of psychedelic pop. Stylistically, sunshine pop also intersected with baroque pop, folk-pop, and Brill Building pop. Author and musician Bob Stanley, who identifies sunshine pop as an early soft rock variant, frames the genre as developing upon the progressive “instrumentation”, “musical complexity”, and subversion of rock traditions exemplified by the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds (1966) and the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). Stanley additionally traces the genre’s preoccupation with exotic arrangements and unorthodox combinations of instruments to the work of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. According to AllMusic, the “star” sunshine pop acts included the Beach Boys circa Pet Sounds, the Association, and the Mamas & the Papas, among others, with later reappraisals bringing renewed attention to lesser-known groups like Sagittarius, the Yellow Balloon, and the Millennium. While Wilson’s production techniques substantially influenced subsequent sunshine pop developments, the Beach Boys’ output largely diverged from the genre’s core characteristics. Murray states that Phillips, to a clearer extent than Wilson, “practically created the blueprint for sunshine pop, with little of Wilson’s uncommercial weirdness.” Howard traces the genre to Boettcher and his collaborations with Gary Usher—especially Boettcher’s reconfigurations of the “California sunshine sound” originally formulated by Wilson and Terry Melcher. Compilation albums and retrospectives have since anthologized works from the genre, though some recordings appear interchangeably across “bubblegum pop” collections. Murray felt that while sharing superficial similarities with bubblegum, the latter’s repetitive structures and superficial themes contrast with the “emotional richness” of the “best” examples of sunshine pop. In Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth (2001), contributor Chris Davidson writes that the “most blinding sunshine pop matches bubblegum’s oomph”, although “where bubblegum says, ‘I got love in my tummy,’ s-pop exclaims: ‘I love the flower girl.’”

Surf music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Form#

Surf music emerged in the late 1950s as instrumental rock and roll music, tone than the “built-in” amp reverb, due to different circuitry. Guitarists also made use of the vibrato arm on their guitars to bend the pitch of notes downward, electronic tremolo effects and rapid (alternating) tremolo picking. Guitar models favored included those made by Fender (particularly the Jazzmaster, Jaguar and Stratocaster), Mosrite, Teisco, or Danelectro, usually with single coil pickups (which had high treble in contrast to double-coil humbucking pickups). Surf music was one of the first genres to universally adopt the electric bass, particularly the Fender Precision Bass. Classic surf drum kits tended to be Rogers, Ludwig, Gretsch or Slingerland. Some popular songs also incorporated a tenor or baritone saxophone, as on the Lively Ones’ “Surf Rider” (1963) and the Revels’ “Comanche” (1961). Often an electric organ or an electric piano featured as backing harmony.

Swamp blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Swamp blues has a laid-back, slow tempo, and generally is a more rhythmic variation of Louisiana blues, incorporating influences from New Orleans blues, zydeco, soul music and Cajun music. It is characterized by simple but effective guitar work and is influenced by the boogie patterns used on Jimmy Reed records and the work of Lightnin’ Hopkins and Muddy Waters. The sound of swamp blues was characterized by “eerie echo, shuffle beats, tremolo guitars, searing harmonica and sparse percussion”.

Swamp pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

The swamp pop sound is typified by highly emotional, lovelorn lyrics, tripleting honky-tonk pianos, undulating bass lines, bellowing horn sections, and a strong rhythm and blues backbeat. It is exemplified by slow ballads such as Cookie and his Cupcakes’ “Mathilda” (recorded 1958), considered as the unofficial swamp pop anthem. But the genre has also produced many upbeat compositions, such as Bobby Charles’ “See You Later, Alligator” (1955), popularly covered by Bill Haley & His Comets. During the genre’s heyday (1958–1964), several swamp pop songs appeared on national U.S. record charts. These included Jimmy Clanton’s “Just A Dream” (1958), Warren Storm’s “Prisoner’s Song” (1958), Phil Phillips’ “Sea Of Love” (1959), Rod Bernard’s “This Should Go On Forever” (1959), Joe Barry’s “I’m a Fool to Care” (1960), and Dale & Grace’s “I’m Leaving It Up to You” (1963). In swamp pop’s south Louisiana–southeast Texas birthplace, fans regarded many songs that never became national hits as classics. These include Johnnie Allan’s “Lonely Days, Lonely Nights” (1958), Buck Rogers’ “Crazy Baby” (1959), Randy and the Rockets’ “Let’s Do the Cajun Twist” (1962), T. K. Hulin’s “I’m Not a Fool Anymore” (1963), and Clint West’s “Big Blue Diamond” (1965), among numerous others.

Swamp rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Swamp rock fuses rockabilly and soul music with swamp blues, country music and funk. Swamp blues provided swamp rock with its defining guitar sound, which was low toned and often reverberated. The sound also frequently uses horns, due to its soul influence, although solos are more commonly performed on guitars. Also contributing influence to the sound of swamp rock was the hard, guitar-driven sound of British Invasion bands, as well as country blues, Cajun music and New Orleans rhythm and blues. The genre’s lyrics are often “dark and menacing”, drawing from young Americans’ dissatisfaction with the political establishment, as well as environmentalist concerns.

Swing music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1920s: Roots#

Developments in dance orchestra and jazz music during the 1920s both contributed to the development of the 1930s swing style. Starting in 1923, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra featured innovative arrangements by Don Redman that featured call-response interplay between brass and reed sections, and interludes arranged to back up soloists. The arrangements also had a smoother rhythmic sense than the ragtime-influenced arrangements that were the more typical “hot” dance music of the day. In 1924 Louis Armstrong joined the Henderson band, lending impetus to an even greater emphasis on soloists. The Henderson band also featured Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, and Buster Bailey as soloists, who all were influential in the development of swing era instrumental styles. During the Henderson band’s extended residency at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, it became influential on other big bands. Duke Ellington credited the Henderson band with being an early influence when he was developing the sound for his own band. In 1927 Armstrong worked with pianist Earl Hines, who had a similar impact on his instrument as Armstrong had on trumpet. Hines’ melodic, horn-like conception of playing deviated from the contemporary conventions in jazz piano centered on building rhythmic patterns around “pivot notes”. His approaches to rhythm and phrasing were also free and daring, exploring ideas that would define swing playing. His approach to rhythm often used accents on the lead-in instead of the main beat, and mixed meters, to build a sense of anticipation to the rhythm and make his playing swing. He also used “stops” or musical silences to build tension in his phrasing. Hines’ style was a seminal influence on the styles of swing-era pianists Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum, Jess Stacy, Nat “King” Cole, Erroll Garner, Mary Lou Williams, and Jay McShann. Black territory dance bands in the southwest were developing dynamic styles that often went in the direction of blues-based simplicity, using riffs in a call-response pattern to build a strong, danceable rhythm and provide a musical platform for extended solos. The rhythm-heavy tunes for dancing were called “stomps”. The requirement for volume led to continued use of the sousaphone over the string bass with the larger ensembles, which dictated a more conservative approach to rhythm based on time signatures. Meanwhile, string bass players such as Walter Page were developing their technique to the point where they could hold down the bottom end of a full-sized dance orchestra. The growth of radio broadcasting and the recording industry in the 1920s allowed some of the more popular dance bands to gain national exposure. The most popular style of dance orchestra was the “sweet” style, often with strings. Paul Whiteman developed a style he called “symphonic jazz”, grafting a classical approach over his interpretation of jazz rhythms in an approach he hoped would be the future of jazz. Whiteman’s Orchestra enjoyed great commercial success and was a major influence on the sweet bands. Jean Goldkette’s Victor Recording Orchestra featured many of the top white jazz musicians of the day including Bix Beiderbecke, Jimmy Dorsey, Frank Trumbauer, Pee Wee Russell, Eddie Lang, and Joe Venuti. The Victor Recording Orchestra won the respect of the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in a Battle of the Bands; Henderson’s cornetist Rex Stewart credited the Goldkette band with being the most influential white band in the development of swing music before Benny Goodman’s. As a dance music promoter and agent, Goldkette also helped organize and promote McKinney’s Cotton Pickers and Glen Gray’s Orange Blossoms (later the Casa Loma Orchestra), two other Detroit-area bands that were influential in the early swing era.

Tamborera

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History of the Tamborera#

The Tamborera was created by Ricardo Fabrega in the first half of the 20th century, to exalt nationalism and identify the Panamanians with their traditions. This is recognized by journalist Ignacio Nacho Valdes, who said: “His compositions, of a deep romantic content, have the purpose of exalt the national soul of Panamanians, and therefore, through generations, our people have sung his songs sometimes with joy and often with a deep melancholy. “His music traveled to all corners of the country and internationally and has been the enjoyment of all classes The Tamborera became known throughout Latin America with the famous song “Guararé” that is today part of the classics of Latin American music, with “Santiagueñita”, “Chiricanita”, “Agüita de canela”, “Mi negro”, “El filo”, “Chichaco por los aires” and " Tan Bella y Presumida” The genre gave life to real stars. Among these the most famous was Silvia De Grasse who brought her career to developing gender cusp outside the Panamanian border, especially in Puerto Rico, where she was recognized by the Puerto Rican television for her talent.

Techno

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Detroit techno#

In exploring Detroit techno’s origins, writer Kodwo Eshun maintains that “Kraftwerk are to techno what Muddy Waters is to the Rolling Stones: the authentic, the origin, the real.” Juan Atkins has acknowledged that he had an early enthusiasm for Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder, particularly Moroder’s work with Donna Summer and the producer’s own album E=MC 2 . Atkins also mentions that “around 1980, I had a tape of nothing but Kraftwerk, Telex, Devo, Giorgio Moroder and Gary Numan, and I’d ride around in my car playing it.” Derrick May identified the influence of Kraftwerk and other European synthesizer music in commenting that “it was just classy and clean, and to us it was beautiful, like outer space. Living around Detroit, there was so little beauty… everything is an ugly mess in Detroit, and so we were attracted to this music. It, like, ignited our imagination!”. May has commented that he considered his music a direct continuation of the European synthesizer tradition. He also identified Japanese synth-pop act Yellow Magic Orchestra, particularly member Ryuichi Sakamoto, and British band Ultravox, as influences, along with Kraftwerk. YMO’s song “Technopolis” (1979), a tribute to Tokyo as an electronic mecca, is considered an “interesting contribution” to the development of Detroit techno, foreshadowing concepts that Atkins and Davis would later explore with Cybotron. Kevin Saunderson has also acknowledged the influence of Europe but he claims to have been more inspired by the idea of making music with electronic equipment: “I was more infatuated with the idea that I can do this all myself.”

Tejano music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

Central to the evolution of early Tejano music was the blend of traditional forms such as the corrido and mariachi, and Continental European styles, such as polka introduced by German, Polish, and Czech settlers in the late 19th century. In particular, the accordion was adopted by Tejano folk musicians at the turn of the 20th century, and it became a popular instrument for amateur musicians in Texas and Northern Mexico. Small bands known as orquestas, featuring amateur musicians, became a staple at community dances. Early inceptions of Tejano music demonstrated musical innovation, but also a social and cultural innovation in themes that countered narratives of dominant culture. At the turn of the century, Tejanos were mostly involved in ranching and agriculture. The only diversion was the occasional traveling musician who would come to the ranches and farms. Their basic instruments were the flute, guitar, and drum, and they sang songs that were passed down through the generations from songs originally sung in Mexico. One of these musicians was Lydia Mendoza, who became one of the first to record Spanish language music as part of RCA’s expansion of their popular race records of the 1920s. As these traveling musicians traveled into areas where the German Texans and other European settlers lived. Norteño/conjunto accordion pioneer Narciso Martínez, known as the “Father of Conjunto Music”, defined the accordion’s role in conjunto music. He learned many tunes from German, Polish and Czech brass bands and transposed them to accordion. Martínez gave accordion playing a new virtuosity in the 1930s, when he adopted the two button row accordion. At the same time, he formed a group with bajo sexto player Santiago Almeida. With the accordion, drums, and bajo sexto, Tejanos now had a sound they could begin to call their own. In the 1940s, Valerio Longoria introduced lyrics to conjunto music, further establishing the Tejano claim to this new sound. In the 1950s, Isidro Lopez further revolutionized the Tejano sound by emphasizing less on the traditional Spanish that Valerio used and using the new Tex-Mex instead. This created a newer sound and took us one step close to the sound we have today. In the 1960s and 70s Little Joe and The Latinaires (later renamed La Familia), The Latin Breed, Luis Ramirez Y su Latin Express, and others infused the orchestra sound into the Tejano sound, taking their influences from Pop, R&B, and other forms of music. In the late 70s and early 80s, there was a new sound emerging with up-and-coming groups like McAllen’s Espejismo, led by songwriter/lead singer Rudy Valdez, and Brownsville natives Joe Lopez, Jimmy Gonzalez, and Mazz introduced keyboard to Tejano, influenced by the disco sound of the era. During that period, La Mafia became the first Tejano band to put on rock-style shows for their generation.

Thrash metal

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Thrash metal generally features fast tempos, low-register, complex guitar riffs, high-register guitar solos, and double bass drumming. The rhythm guitar parts are played with heavy distortion, power chords and often palm muted to create a tighter and more precise sound. Vocally, thrash metal can employ anything from melodic singing to shouted or screamed vocals. Most guitar solos are played at high speed and technically demanding, as they are usually characterized by shredding, and use advanced techniques such as sweep picking, legato phrasing, alternate picking, tremolo picking, string skipping, and two-hand tapping. David Ellefson, the original bassist of Megadeth, described thrash metal as “a combination of the attitude from punk rock but the riffs and complexities of traditional metal.” On the origins of thrash metal, Dan Lilker (bassist and co-founding member of Anthrax, S.O.D. and Nuclear Assault) recalls: “Thrash was just what they called ‘faster hardcore,’ because you literally thrashed around when you were either playing it or reacting to it. And thrash metal was born because it was influenced by thrash hardcore, and they just thought it was more metal, so they said, ‘Okay, this is thrash metal.’” The guitar riffs often use chromatic scales and emphasize the tritone and diminished intervals, instead of using conventional single-scale-based riffing. For example, the intro riff of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” (the title track of the namesake album) is a chromatic descent, followed by an ascent based on the tritone. Cymbal stops/chokes are often used to transition from one riff to another or to precede an acceleration in tempo. To keep up with the other instruments, many bassists use a plectrum (pick). However, some prominent thrash metal bassists have used their fingers, most notably Frank Bello, Greg Christian, Steve Di Giorgio, Robert Trujillo, and Cliff Burton. Several bassists use a distorted bass tone, an approach popularized by Burton and Motörhead’s Lemmy. Lyrical themes in thrash metal include warfare, corruption, injustice, murder, suicide, isolation, alienation, addiction, and other maladies that afflict the individual and society. In addition, politics, particularly pessimism and dissatisfaction towards politics, are common themes among thrash metal bands. Humor and irony can occasionally be found (Anthrax for example), but they are limited, and are an exception rather than a rule.

Thrashcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Terminological ambiguity#

Thrashcore is often confused with crossover thrash and sometimes thrash metal. Further confusion is added by the fact that many crossover bands, such as D.R.I., began as influential thrashcore bands. The “-core” suffix is necessary to distinguish it from the thrash metal scene, which is also referred to as “thrash” by fans. Still more confusingly, the term “thrashcore” is occasionally used by the music press to refer to thrash metal-inflected metalcore.

Tin Pan Alley

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin of the name#

There are conflicting explanations regarding the origins of the term “Tin Pan Alley”. The most popular account holds that it was originally a derogatory reference made by Monroe H. Rosenfeld in the New York Herald to the collective sound made by many “cheap upright pianos” all playing different tunes being reminiscent of the banging of tin pans in an alleyway. The Grove Dictionary of American Music also cites Rosenfeld as originator of the term, dating its first use from 1903. However, while an article on Tin Pan Alley can be found in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from May of that year, this is unattributed and no piece by Rosenfeld that employs the phrase has been discovered. Simon Napier-Bell quotes an account of the origin of the name published in a 1930 book about the music business. In this version, popular songwriter Harry von Tilzer was being interviewed about the area around 28th Street and Fifth Avenue, where many music publishers had offices. Von Tilzer had modified his expensive Kindler & Collins piano by placing strips of paper down the strings to give the instrument a more percussive sound. The journalist told von Tilzer, “Your Kindler & Collins sounds exactly like a tin can. I’ll call the article ‘Tin Pan Alley’.” In any case, the name was firmly attached by the fall of 1905, when The Evening World published an article titled “The Song Claque Nuisance” about 28th Street. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, “tin pan” was slang for “a decrepit piano” (1882), and the term came to mean a “hit song writing business” by 1907. With time, the nickname came to describe the American music publishing industry in general. The term then spread to the United Kingdom, where “Tin Pan Alley” was also used to describe Denmark Street in London’s West End. In the 1920s the street became known as “Britain’s Tin Pan Alley” because of its large number of music shops.

Totalism

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early 1980s#

In the early 1980s, many young composers began writing music within the static confines of minimalism, but using greater rhythmic complexity, often with two or more simultaneous tempos (or implied tempos) audible at once. The style acquired a name around 1990, when it became evident to composers working in New York City that a number of them, including John Luther Adams, Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, Kyle Gann, Michael Gordon, Arthur Jarvinen, Bernadette Speach, Ben Neill, Larry Polansky, Mikel Rouse, and Evan Ziporyn, were employing similar types of global tempo structures in their music. Others include Eve Beglarian, Allison Cameron, Nick Didkovsky, David First, Phil Kline, and Lois V. Vierk. The term totalist refers to the aims of the music, in trying to have enough surface rhythmic energy, but also to contain enough background complexity. There is also an echo in the term of serialism’s “total organization,” here drawn not from the 12-tone row, but from Henry Cowell’s theories about using the same structuring devices for rhythm that have been traditionally used for pitch. For instance, the traditional ratio between frequencies of a major second interval is 9:8, and 9-against-8 is an important tempo contrast in many totalist pieces, achieved by having some instruments play dotted eighth notes while others play triplet half notes. In practice, totalist music can be consonant, dissonant, or both, but generally restricts itself to a small number of sonorities within any given piece.

Tough guy hardcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Over time, many New York hardcore bands developed a unique style that was based more around rhythm and less around the influence of punk. The palm muting guitar technique was a key aspect of this sound, Punknews.org described tough guy as “heavy breakdowns, growly vocals” and “the occasional metal riff”. The sound is particularly indebted to thrash metal. Lyrics in the genre often discuss being macho, unity, vigilance and interpersonal relationships, particularly betrayal. According to writer Brian J. Kochan, the genre “embraces the mystique of the gritty and hard working class lives of those in America’s big cities”. NoEcho writer Chris Suffer defined the genre as “Lyrics fueled by hatred and personal struggles bred some of the most violent live shows in the world turning clubs… into battlegrounds for a few hours.” One notable element of the genre is the use of shouted, “sing-along” choruses, an aspect originally influenced by English oi! bands. Jake Tiernan of webzine Heavy Blog Is Heavy criticized tough guy hardcore for its perceived hypermasculinity, writing that it encourages a herd mentality and causes physical violence, which defies what punk, hardcore’s roots, is about because punk is about individuality. Tiernan believed the genre hypermasculinity and socially mandatory mosh pits caused exclusion when the scene was initially intended to be about individuality and inclusion.

Traditional black gospel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and development#

The origins of gospel music are during American slavery, when enslaved Africans were introduced to the Christian religion and converted in large numbers. Remnants of different African cultures were combined with Western Christianity, with one result being the emergence of the spiritual. Jubilee songs and sorrow songs were two type of spirituals that emerged during the 18th and 19th centuries. Some spirituals were also used to pass on hidden messages; for example, when Harriet Tubman was nearby, slaves would sing “Go Down, Moses” to signify that a ‘deliverer’ was nearby. At this time, the term “gospel songs” referred to evangelical hymns sung by Protestant (Congregational and Methodist) Christians, especially those with a missionary theme. Gospel composers included writers like Ira D. Sankey and Mason Lowry, and Charles B. Tindell. Hymns, Protestant gospel songs, and spirituals make up the basic source of modern Black gospel. * The Library of Congress has recordings of Negro Spirituals 1. Song - Go down Moses 2. Song - Deep river 3. Song - Golden slippers 4. Song - Steal away * The Library of Congress has recordings of African Americans singing Black Gospel 1. Song - Oh Jonah 2. Song - We Are Americans, Praise the Lord 3. Song - Lead Me to That Rock 4. Song - Death Come a-Knockin

Trap music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

In trap music, lyrical themes mostly revolve around life and culture in the “trap”, or in southern trap houses where controlled substances are sold. The term “trap” refers to places where drug deals take place. Other topics include street life, acquiring wealth, violence, American vehicles, and the life experiences artists have faced in their southern American surroundings. Trap music employs multilayered, thin- or thick-textured monophonic drones, sometimes with melodic accompaniment expressed through synthesizers; crisp, grimy, and rhythmic snares; deep 808 kick drums; double-time, triple-time, and similarly divided hi-hats; and a cinematic and symphonic use of synthesized string, brass, woodwind, and keyboard instruments to create an energetic, hard-hitting, deep, and varied atmosphere. These primary characteristics, which became the signature sound of trap music, were pioneered by Shawty Redd’s minimalist, horror-inspired style and DJ Toomp’s melodic, sample-driven approach, drawing inspiration from jazz, soul, R&B, gospel, and funk. Trap may use a range of tempos, often programmed in half-time to achieve finer hi-hat subdivisions, from 50 (100) BPM to 88 (176) BPM, though the tempo of a typical trap beat is around 70 (140) BPM.

Tropical rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

Instrumentation is usually based around an acoustic guitar (as well as electric instrumentation), and often includes steel drums, congas, marimbas, vibraphones, steel guitars, or other percussion instruments to create an “island sound”. While country and other musical styles focus on falling in love/falling out of love themes, Trop Rock’s main focus is on “escapism”—a laid back lifestyle, tropical places, boating, simplifying and having fun. Buffett is often referred to as the “Pop of Trop Rock” alongside his Coral Reefer Band. They, along with other artists like Higgins, helped create a tropical sub-culture beginning in the early to mid-1980s. Mainstream artists Jack Johnson, Zac Brown Band, Alan Jackson, and Kenny Chesney also have songs in the genre as well.

Tulsa sound

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The first appearance of note by a Tulsa sound musician was Rocky Frisco’s Columbia Harmony vinyl album, The Big Ten, under the name “Rocky Curtiss and the Harmony Flames”. The album was recorded in New York City at Columbia’s studio at 33rd Street and 3rd Avenue in 1959, during a time when Frisco lived in Pennsylvania. Rockabilly musician Clyde Stacy was one of the first, if not the first, Tulsa sound musicians to score a nationally charted record, “Hoy Hoy” b/w “So Young”, backed by his band the NiteCaps. This was a double-sided hit released by Candlelight Records in 1957. Members of the NiteCaps during that period were guitarist John D. Levan and others. Levan was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in August 2004 along with Tulsa Radio Personality “Rockin” John Henry. Marvin & Johnny recorded “Cherry Pie” in 1954. In 1958, another Tulsan, Billy Reynolds Eustise, and the Tri-Lads scored a hit with “Cherry Pie”. Rocky Frisco published blues musician Flash Terry ’s photo on his website. J. J. Cale’s “After Midnight” was covered by Eric Clapton. Leon Russell was the first member of the Tulsa scene to make inroads into the Los Angeles music scene, playing for Ricky Nelson along with James Burton. He then joined Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew and then produced Gary Lewis and Jan & Dean. He joined Joe Cocker’s Mad dogs and Englishmen. Russell performed “Jumpin’ Jack Flash/Young Blood” at Bangladesh concert. Leon Russell wrote “Super Star” and “A Song for You”, which The Carpenters covered. Russell recorded his “Carney” album, and had a hit with “Tight Rope” in 1972. He brought many Tulsans out to Los Angeles, including Carl Radle and Larry Bell , and was later co-owner of the historic The Church Studio in Tulsa and home to Shelter Records, which signed a number of significant Tulsa sound artists including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The Church Studio was purchased in 2016 by husband and wife Ivan Acosta and Teresa Knox, who have said they intend to renovate the building, seek registration on the National Register of Historic Places, and use it as a recording studio and community facility. Elvin Bishop gained hit “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” in 1976. Jesse Ed Davis and Jim Keltner were from Oklahoma State. The Tractors released first album “The Tractors” in 1994.

Twelve-bar blues

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

The blues originated from a combination of work songs, spirituals, and early southern country music. The music was passed down through oral tradition. It was first written down by W. C. Handy, an African American composer and band leader. Its popularity led to the creation of “race records” and the popularity of blues singers like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. The style of music heard on race records was later called “rhythm and blues” (R & B). As the music became more popular, more people wanted to perform it. General patterns that existed in the blues were formalized, one of these being the 12-bar blues.

Urban contemporary gospel

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins and development#

Protestant hymns and African-American spirituals make up the basic source material for traditional black gospel music, which in turn is the most significant source of urban/contemporary gospel. Urban/contemporary gospel has kept the spiritual focus of the traditional black gospel music, but uses modern musical forms. Urban/contemporary gospel derives primarily from traditional black gospel music, with strong influence from, and strong influence on, many forms of secular pop music. Due to strong racial divisions in 20th century American culture, urban/contemporary gospel developed specifically out of the African-American musical traditions. The equivalent music from white American culture is contemporary Christian music. The color line divides artists with extremely similar musical styles on the basis of their race, and unites artists with divergent styles (such as rap and pop) on the same basis in industry reporting, marketing choices, and awards like the Grammy and Dove awards.

Vaporwave

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Vaporwave is a hyper-specific subgenre, or “microgenre”, that is both a form of electronic music and an art style; however, it is sometimes suggested to be primarily a visual medium. The genre is defined largely by its surrounding subculture, with its music inextricable from its visual accoutrements. Academic Laura Glitsos writes, “In this way, vaporwave defies traditional music conventions that typically privilege the music over the visual form.” Musically, vaporwave reconfigures dance music from the 1980s and early 1990s The name derives from “vaporware”, a term for commercial software that is announced but never released. It builds upon the satirical tendencies of chillwave and hypnagogic pop, while also being associated with an ambiguous or ironic take on consumer capitalism and technoculture. incorporates 1990s Web design and imagery, glitch art, and cyberpunk tropes, and 3D-rendered objects. VHS degradation is another common effect seen in vaporwave art. Generally, artists limit the chronology of their source material between Japan’s economic flourishing in the 1980s and the September 11 attacks or dot-com bubble burst of 2001 (some albums, including Floral Shoppe, depict the intact Twin Towers on their covers).

Vocal harmony

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In art music#

Vocal harmonies have been an important part of Western art music since the Renaissance-era introduction of Mass melodies harmonized in sweet thirds and sixths. With the rise of the Lutheran church’s chorale hymn singing style, congregations sang hymns arranged with four or five-part vocal harmony. In the Romantic era of music during the 1800s, vocal harmonization became more complex, and arrangers began including more dissonant harmonies. Operas and choral music from the Romantic era used tense-sounding vocal harmonies with augmented and diminished intervals as an important tool for underscoring the drama of the music. With contemporary music from the 1900s and 2000s, composers made increasingly difficult demands on choirs which were singing in vocal harmony, such as instructions to sing microtonal notes or make percussive sounds.

Washington, D.C., hardcore

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Punk in Washington, D.C., found its origins in the district’s former centers of 1960s counterculture. Georgetown University became a key location due to its heavy student population and student radio station, WGTB. The station was run under little supervision from the university administration, and therefore became a voice in the early 1970s for cultural radicalism that had faded since the end of the 1960s. Dupont Circle, becoming more known for its diverse and LGBT-inclusive community, also became important, as well as socially-restless Adams Morgan. Washington, D.C., first saw touring punk bands such as the Ramones in 1976. D.C.’s punk that year with groups like the Slickee Boys and Overkill, who were soon joined by the Look, the Controls, the Razz, White Boy, Urban Verbs, the Shirkers, the Penetrators, Tru Fax and the Insaniacs, and others. Limp Records, run by record producer and record store owner Skip Groff, released several of the earliest D.C. punk singles, as well as the compilation, :30 Over Washington, all of which helped lay the foundation for the larger scene to come. One such band was the Slinkees. Despite the Slinkees only performing live once, three of their members would go on to form the Teen Idles in September 1979. The Teen Idles’ 1980 EP Minor Disturbance was the earliest non-single release in the D.C. hardcore scene. The group broke up in November 1980, and band members Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson quickly formed Minor Threat, who debuted in December 1980. Minor Threat profoundly influenced the hardcore punk genre, their contributions to the music, ethics, aesthetics, and ethos widely acknowledged by other hardcore bands. The band used faster rhythms and more aggressive, less melodic riffs than was common at the time. Minor Threat inspired the straight edge movement with its song “Straight Edge”, which spoke out against alcohol, drugs and promiscuity. MacKaye and Nelson ran their own record label, Dischord Records, which released records by D.C. hardcore bands, commonly referred to as harDCore. The Flex Your Head compilation, released in January 1982, was a seminal document of the early 1980s D.C. hardcore scene. The record label was run out of the Dischord House, an Arlington, Virginia punk house. Henry Rollins, who would come to prominence as lead singer of the California-based Black Flag, as well as his own later Rollins Band, grew up in Washington, D.C., and was influenced by the music of Bad Brains and the bands of his childhood friend, Ian MacKaye. The tradition of holding all ages shows at small D.I.Y. spaces, has roots in the early Washington, D.C., straight edge movement. It emerged from the idea that people of all ages should have access to music, regardless of if they’re old enough to drink alcohol.

West Coast hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

African American communities of the Bay Area and southern California emerged as new bases of hip-hop culture in the 1980s. Hispanics in the Los Angeles area have played a significant role in West Coast hip-hop culture.

Early years#

Several events laid the foundations for West Coast hip-hop, long before the emergence of West Coast rappers such as Ice-T, Mellow Man Ace, Too Short, Kid Frost and Eazy-E—or even before the emergence of rap itself. According to Syd Caesar, “a cataclysmic event helped give rise to it out West: the Watts riots of 1965.” In 1967, Budd Schulberg founded a creative space in Los Angeles entitled Watts Writers Workshop, intended to help the people of the Watts neighborhood and provide a place for them to express themselves freely; one group to emerge from the workshop was the proto-rap group The Watts Prophets. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, political and social justice movements in the San Francisco Bay Area inspired the emergence and growth of hip-hop culture in the region. The Bay Area developed a unique style of break dancing, and graffiti art sprayed along city streets and buildings, similar to what was expressed in The Bronx on subway cars and abandoned structures. From the inspiration of funk music, to the political and social movements that were energized by the Black Panther Party (founded in Oakland), hip-hop music had strong roots in the Bay. In the late 1970s in Los Angeles, Alonzo Williams, a young disc jockey from Compton, California formed a partnership with another DJ named Rodger Clayton from Los Angeles, California who created a promotion company called Unique Dreams that would hire Williams to DJ at local events. The two eventually went their separate ways: Williams started a group called the World Class Wreckin’ Cru and became the house DJs at a local nightclub called Eve’s After Dark while Clayton launched what would perhaps be the foremost successful mobile DJ crew in the region by the name of Uncle Jamm’s Army that would host parties by top DJs for thousands of people at large venues. Other smaller DJ and party crews emerged around this time, hoping to establish themselves in the area. This could be largely credited to the fact that the local West Coast hip-hop scene revolved more around DJing than rapping. Clayton’s group, Uncle Jamm’s Army, released their first single, “Dial-a-Freak”, and in 1984 Egyptian Lover released his On the Nile album, which includes the popular 12" single “Egypt Egypt”. Members of Uncle Jamm’s Army and the World Class Wreckin’ Cru, including Dr. Dre, The Unknown DJ, Egyptian Lover, Ice-T and Kid Frost would later go on to help define the early West Coast hip-hop sound throughout the 1980s. During this period, one of the most significant factors in the spread of West Coast hip-hop was the radio station 1580 KDAY AM, which was the first radio station in the world to play rap/hip-hop music 24 hours a day because of Assistant Program Director/Music Director and Radio Personality Greg “Mack Attack” Mack. In the 1980s to mid-1990s, inspired both by the region’s history of activism and by funk music, Bay Area artists popularized the “pimp rap” subgenre, focused on rhythmic, funky beats that cut across genres. Artists like Too Short emerged from this dance-oriented hip-hop movement, a predecessor to the hyphy movement of the 2000s.

West Coast jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Before World War II, the west coast of the U.S. hosted a bustling music scene, though its activity remained largely localized. In 1917, Jelly Roll Morton moved to California and remained in Los Angeles until 1922, when he left for Chicago. Kid Ory formed a band in Los Angeles after moving to California in 1919. In 1944, Norman Granz began staging Jazz at the Philharmonic shows at Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, a thriving jazz scene had appeared along Los Angeles’s Central Avenue, featuring Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Teddy Edwards, Charles Mingus, and Buddy Collette. Central Avenue’s activity rivaled that of the earlier Kansas City jazz scene, but at the time it was little-known outside Los Angeles.

Western music (North America)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Western music covers an array of styles and experiences that reflect the various communities that were present along the 19th century U.S frontier. Some songs were developed by cowboys working on isolated cattle ranches. The mundane, lonely life on the ranches gave way to musical expression and cowboys would often make use of repurposed folk and popular songs to further convey their lifestyle through music. In addition to portraying life on the cattle ranches and trails, the genre of western music also encompasses songs about Texas Rangers, pioneers, outlaws, Native Americans, nature, Mexican/American experiences, and miners rushing for gold. Otto Gray, an early cowboy band leader, stated authentic western music had only three rhythms, all coming from the gaits of the cow pony: walk, trot, and lope. Gray also noted the uniqueness of this spontaneous American song product, and the freedom of expression of the singers. The choruses of cowboy songs often contained various cries, whoops, and yells that were infused with lyrics. The more waltz-like nature of these songs differs from the actual rhythms found in cowboy life, and instead, works to embellish the sentimental, humorous, and mythologized nature of popular frontier stories. Oftentimes, such influences derived from older European folk songs and traditions. Accordions brought to North America by German and Bohemian immigrants were utilized by Mexican musicians to adapt waltzes and polkas into a style of dance music associated with the Old West. Other instruments that would have been used on the frontier and incorporated into western music include the fiddle, harmonica, banjo, guitar, and mandolin.

Western swing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Late 1920s to mid-1930s: Beginnings#

Western swing began in the dance halls of small towns throughout the lower Great Plains in the late 1920s and early 1930s, growing from house parties and ranch dances where fiddlers and guitarists played for dancers. During its early development, scores of groups from San Antonio to Shreveport to Oklahoma City played different songs with the same basic sound. Prince Albert Hunt’s Texas Ramblers out of Terrell in East Texas, and the East Texas Serenaders in Lindale, Texas both added jazz elements to traditional music in the later half of the 1920s through the early 1930s. Fred “Papa” Calhoun played in a band in Decatur, Texas that played swing music in the style of the Louisiana Five. In the early 1930s, Bob Wills and Milton Brown co-founded the string band that became the Light Crust Doughboys, the first professional Western swing band. The group, with Fred “Papa” Calhoun on piano, played dance halls and was heard on radio. Photographs of the Light Crust Doughboys taken as early as 1931 show two guitars along with fiddle player Wills, although by 1933 they had three guitarists. On February 9, 1932, Brown, his brother Derwood, Bob Wills, and C.G. “Sleepy” Johnson were recorded by Victor Records at the Jefferson Hotel in Dallas, Texas under the name The Fort Worth Doughboys. Derwood Brown played guitar and Johnson played tenor guitar. Both “Sunbonnet Sue” and “Nancy Jane” were recorded that day. The group was credited as “Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies”. When Brown left the Doughboys later in 1932, he took his brother to play rhythm guitar in what became The Musical Brownies. In January 1933, fiddler Cecil Brower, playing harmony, joined Jesse Ashlock to create the first example of harmonizing twin fiddles in a Western swing recording. Brower, a classically trained violinist, was the first to master Joe Venuti’s double shuffle and his improvisational style was a major contribution to the genre. The amplified stringed instruments, especially the steel guitar, gave the music its distinctive sound. By the mid-1930s, Fort Worth was a hub for Western swing, particularly at the Crystal Springs Dance Pavilion, a country music dance venue that was popular until the 1950s. Bands like Brown and His Musical Brownies played there, interspersing waltzes and ballads with faster songs. A documented instance of a Western swing group adopting the newer, by then mainstream meter swing jazz style, replacing the style, was when producer Art Satherley required it at a September 1936 Light Crust Doughboy recording session. 1938 session rosters for Wills recordings show both lead guitar and electric guitar in addition to guitar and steel guitar. The “front line” of Wills’ orchestra consisted of either fiddles or guitars after 1944. Wills recalled the early days of Western swing music in a 1949 interview. Speaking of Milton Brown and himself—working with popular songs done by Jimmie Davis, the Skillet Lickers, Jimmie Rodgers, songs he had learned from his father and others—Wills said, “We’d…pull these tunes down an set ’em in a dance category. …They wouldn’t be a runaway…and just lay a real beat behind it an’ the people would began to really like it. …It was nobody intended to start anything in the world. We was just tryin’ to find enough tunes to keep ’em dancin’ to not have to repeat so much.”

Western swing fiddle

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Distinctives of the style#

One of the characteristics of the genre is that fiddle is the lead instrument, unlike other genres such as Cajun in which the lead instrument varies in different eras. A major characteristic of the style is syncopation and rhythmic drive – it is dance music. It was typically played in bars and in big city Western hotel buildings with large ballrooms; alcohol was served and fights were not unknown. The musicians had to keep the music going until they had fulfilled their contract and could get paid. Twin fiddles and even triple fiddle was another distinctive of Western Swing fiddle.

Wizard rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Leading bands in this genre include Harry and the Potters and Draco and the Malfoys. Although most listeners of the genre are fans of Harry Potter, some bands have attracted listeners outside of the books’ fanbase. Wizard rock songs are often written from the point of view of a particular character in the books, usually the character who features in the band’s name. In contrast to mainstream bands that have some songs incorporating literary references among a wider repertoire of music (notably Led Zeppelin to The Lord of the Rings), wizard rock bands take their inspiration entirely from the Harry Potter universe. Some bands perform at fan conventions.

Zydeco

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Zydeco music is typically played in an uptempo, syncopated manner with a strong rhythmic core, and often incorporates elements of blues, rock and roll, soul music, R&B, and early Creole music. Zydeco music is centered on the accordion, which leads the rest of the band, and a specialized washboard, called a vest frottoir, as a prominent percussive instrument. Other common instruments in zydeco are the electric guitar, bass, keyboard, and drum set. If there are accompanying lyrics, they are typically sung in English or French.