art
Artistic, musical, creative, and entertaining topics of art about all things Beat and Music.
Help us, Hipsters. You're Our Only Hope.
Musicology is the study of music. Within classical musicology, there are terms given to certain musical formats or layouts of pieces of music. For example, let us imagine a hypothetical piece of music that has a certain length of music that we would call Part A. Imagine now a piece of music that is distinct from this Part A, which we will call Part B. If a piece of music arranged these parts in the order AABB, meaning that our Part A was played twice, followed by two playings of Part B, we would apply the term ‘Binary Form’ to this piece.
By Dean Conway9 years ago in Beat
Akala, Illa State, Hip-Hop Shakespeare and the Rise of Conscious Grime
As a white, working class British man in his 20's from the rolling hills of Surrey, Grime Music is not something I claim to own any rights to. At an early age I became a huge fan of Eminem and always held him in such high esteem compared to other rappers just due to the fact he always seemed to challenge himself lyrically - This was really my only understanding of Rap Music until my teenage years where I started to branch out into other areas of the genre, particularly liking the sound of artists including Nas and Kid Cudi.
By Jordan Catto9 years ago in Beat
Experimental?
Does experimental music involve the giving up of music? To answer this question both music and experimental music needs to be defined. Composer Elliot Schwartz (n.d) defines music as ‘the organisation of sound and time’. Similarly, composer Larry Austin (n.d) uses the word sound rather than harmony in his definition: ‘music is wanted sound’. The use of the word ‘sound’ is interesting as John Cage (n.d) said that the ‘more meaningful term; the organisation of sound’ should be used rather than the word music when talking about all music not played on ‘18th and 19th century instruments’, suggesting all post 19th century music is experimental music. However, the definition of experimental would contradict this suggestion. The dictionary definition of experimental is ‘involving a radically new or innovative style’, suggesting that experimental music is music that involves new and innovative ideas, for example, Royal Blood (band) can be considered experimental music as it features the use of heavy processing and FX to create a full rock band (four - five piece) sound from a two-piece band (drums and bass guitar). This definition of experimental music is heavily linked to John Cage’s use of non-traditional instruments and prepared piano, for example, in the piece ‘Water Walk’ (1960), which features heavy use of items not considered to be instruments (radios, water, a bath etc.) to create the sonic content of the piece.
By CHEM USERS9 years ago in Beat
My Biggest Dream
Some people have these fantasies that help to keep them going throughout the day. Nine times out of ten, they spend their days wondering what their life would be like if only, and at night, dreams of their deepest desires float through like clouds. Some want to be a millionaire, whether through business or not. Some want to be famous, well known in the most elite circles of society. Still, others want to earn the Novel Prize, or discover something no one's ever seen before, or write the greatest book ever penned. And some just live to experience the joys of family life, to get to raise children that are their spitting image and spend their lives with that one perfect person.
By Crystal Renner9 years ago in Beat
An Ode to Hip Hop
I first wrote around this time last year. It served as my first piece to open up my Hip Hop blog. My blog has led me to dive in deeper into Hip Hop, and I've decided to expand on this piece. From my heart to these words you see, I hope you can relate.
By Sadé Sanchez9 years ago in Beat
Where Have All the CDs Gone?
Enter any record store (yes, they are still called that) these days and you’ll have the impression that the CD stalls are dwindling, hit by reserving vinyl on one, and DVDs on the other. Or, try taking a stack of CDs that are collecting dust on your home shelves to a secondhand store. Chances are that when the owner sees that you are bringing CDs, he won’t even let you through the door, let alone give you anything that will even resemble a decent price for them. Who would have thought that as we were entering the 21st century CDs were practically everywhere, still hailed as the best ever advancement in sound reproduction? These days, mirroring the dooming fate of vinyl LPs in mid-80s, it seems people are just leaving entire CD collections by the dumpster, hoping that somebody will be merciful and at least save the music recorded in those laser tracks. The official data is no less damning. According to LA Weekly, in the period from 2001 to 2014, only in the US the sales of CDs dropped by 80% and LP sales are up a staggering 800% since 2004. What did the hell happen?
By Ljubinko Zivkovic9 years ago in Beat
Barbara Creed to Bikini Kill: The Poetry of Blood, Sweat, and the Abject in Punk Rock
Originally posted in School of Doodle. “All human societies have a conception of the monstrous-feminine, or what it is about woman that is shocking, terrifying, horrific, abject.” — Barbara Creed in The Monstrous Feminine
By Kendra Brea Cooper9 years ago in Beat
Coolest Metal Album Covers
For many of us growing up in the 80s and 90s with parents concerned about all the rap and metal music in the world, the most we learned of the metal scene as a kid was through the coolest metal album covers sitting in the record store. We would see these incredible images of demons and violence and darkness – or, alternatively, of bare-chested heroes holding swords and guitars aloft – or even just the band looking twisted and weird – and just create narratives in our heads as to what the music could be like, what forbidden wonders lied within those CD cases or vinyl sleeves.
By Anthony Gramuglia9 years ago in Beat
A Modern Day Renaissance Man
Earlier this week I was reading up on the Renaissance for my Western World history class. The era’s prominent characters are now referred to as “Renaissance Men”: A person with many talents or areas of knowledge. As I read about Lorenzo De Medici, Michelangelo, and Leonardo Da Vinci, I was stunned by their ability to master numerous crafts throughout the arts and sciences. I began to wonder if we had any Renaissance Men in 2017. It didn’t take long to realize that we do, and we’ve had one for quite a few years now.
By The Ticket9 years ago in Beat
MODESTEP - Bringing Dubstep Home
If you don’t know who Modestep are, then you have probably never listened to UK Dubstep. Covered from head to toe in tattoos and now in the process of writing their third album, it seems like a lifetime since brothers Josh and Tony were first introduced to the genre, it crept around the underground London club scene in 2008, with it’s pill popping, wide eyed, sweaty teens and all night raves with bass so hard it makes you throw up if you stand to close to the speakers. All the things that make London the gritty city we all know and love.
By Samantha Bentley9 years ago in Beat
Music & Fashion: Intertwined Throughout the Ages
Fashion is one of the clearest signs of the times, and it says more about our society than we give it credit for. We can tell the difference between the jeans hippies wore in 1969 versus the skin-tight threads worn by emo kids in 2005.
By Riley Raul Reese9 years ago in Beat
