Marvin Gaye - What's Happening Brother?

A well-worn rhythmic mechanism—effortlessly equalized, synchronized and syncopated—impels the sound forward with a self-assured, steady gait. There are luminous voices hovering above that seem impossibly distant. They are garnished with exuberant swells of horns, strings, and a tiny precious bell, almost overpoweringly effusive, for a centerpiece. Marvin’s lead vocal is imbued with a tender determination; its coarseness is charmed into clarity and its straining is seduced into something much sweeter. His voice is bound to the rhythm beneath by chains of cacophonous consonants, but stretches nobly, tonally upward toward the heavenly hosts singing “ooh” and “aah” above. The rising and falling of Marvin’s voice functions in a frustrated teeter-totter with these untouchably close singing sirens. It seems just as Marvin relinquishes his side of the struggle, cascading back into a tired sigh, the sonorous objects of his affection take notice and reach down towards him. The rhythm, meanwhile, remains indifferent to this antagonism and continues chugging along below it. Ultimately, it seems the consistency, between the song's words and sonic illustrations, is what serves it well in articulating a case for listeners to stop and consider 'what's happening?'

Gendered Sounds -vs- Gendered Scene

Is it possible to hear gender in music? By exploring sonic dimensions of electronic music by six composers, I locate and describe what could be considered stereotypically feminine and masculine sounds. I also detail electronica that lacks explicit gendered sounds. In these instances, I discuss the gender neutrality of the compositions in relation to their gendered composers. Complicating matters further, I discuss gender-bending in electronica, where gendered sounds do not match their composer’s gender. Lastly, I consider the artistic and political ramifications of classifying electronica by gender, as in the case of music compilations presented specifically as “women’s music.” I explore the possibilities of gendered sounds, but also its politics. I will post this paper on my blog.

In the Shadow of the Moon

In the Shadow of the Moon opened last month, and I thought of it today because I remembered someone in class wondering if there had been any efforts to archive the stories of astronauts. This looks like an attempt at that, focusing on the Apollo missions to the Moon.

Also, on the movie's website, there's a really nice writing by the film's composer, Phillip Sheppard and how he approached scoring the film (Under "About the Film"):

My initial impulse when thinking about the project was 'Space! America! Let's go big and bombastic adn write music that's going to punch them out of their seats.' But of course that's not what the film's about; its much more of a human story. Funnily enough it's more in the way of a chamber piece; it's more intimate...

So for the launch, where you may expect a full symphony orchestra to be playing right from the off, we're starting really small with just the tiniest instrument, the little marimba, and then building to something that's absolutely enormous We've gone the opposite way to what you might expect...

We recognized that this film is about the frontier mentality; the idea of discovering not the new West but the new world, and I wanted that pioneering spirit to be manifest in the score. I love the old West and this traditional American string music is among my favorites.

Sounds familiar but with a new approach. Its showing at the Landmark Chez Artiste on Colorado. Also, check out that computer! It looks like a giant wall of synthesizers!