#cim402.1

Have we built our own downfall?

I feel like more than ever technology is a key talking point in our society. We are often told that video games make children violent, social media is giving our teenagers self-esteem issues and the internet is full of people who just want to steal all you have and break your computer. While these statements may contain some truth, is it the technology that is truly to blame? Does Technological innovation improve or corrupt morality?

In approaching this question, I first looked at what ‘technology’ means. In their introductory video, Media Ecology; a Brief Overview Andrew Eusebio pools viewpoints from Ong, McLuhan and Postman when they draw a distinction between technology and the medium. (2014) Technology is a physical apparatus, and the medium is the use to which technology is put. In this way Postman asserts that technology is merely a machine, where a medium is a social creation. (1985, as cited in Eusebio, 2014) Looking at technology in this light makes the question of technology’s impact on morality almost seem unnecessary, no one asked if a hammer was moral. The question now refocuses, what is the hammer being used for?

8-Bit Philosophy offers a more nuanced perspective on what technology is in their video Is Technology Dangerous? (Star Wars + Heidegger) by introducing ideas from German philosopher Heidegger who claims to understand the value of technology we need to understand what it is. (2015) For Heidegger, technology is not a simple tool or physical object but rather a way of thinking and he didn’t like the driving thoughts behind technology in his time. Where the Greeks viewed technology as a way of revealing the world, finding the beautiful in the things around us and bringing them to light. In the modern era, Heidegger felt that all technology was focused on utility, manipulating its environment for the greatest potential output, where everything is only valued as a resource.

Many of the 20th century philosophers viewed the developing technology of their time as an ill to society. For Postman the idea was that as technology becomes a medium by given a place in social settings and attaches itself to economic and political contexts. (1985, as cited in Eusebio, 2014) McLuhan famously said that the medium is the message, suggesting that the actual content of media was no longer the focal point, that the way we consume media affects us so much that the things that deliver it to us must also be scrutinised and understood. (1964, as cited in Eusebio, 2014) Heidegger too, who viewed the shift in thinking behind the driving of technology to a more utilitarian view as dangerous. (8-Bit Philosophy, 2015)

While these writers’ apprehension toward technology was warranted and in lots of cases is still valid. Technology is used and developed with the focus of utility, especially utility within a capitalist society, our technology allows us to connect to other technology where we absorb adds we don’t think about, watch the world from inside our rooms and present fake versions of our self to the world to be viewed as better than everyone else. As technology becomes more readily available, it is my belief that the thinking that Heidegger was worried about, the strictly utilitarian, anti-aesthetic creed of technology, may still be present at a macro level, those manufacturing and marketing the tech still view it in this way. However, once it enters our homes I believe that individuals are capable of using technology in a way that is positive for society.

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This is a little track I put together recently highlighting that while many people only post wins on social media, constructing an image of themselves that they deem presentable to the world, there is a trend and move to being more open on social media, especially for content creators, encouraging the de-stigmatisation of mental-health issues and not being ok. While technology may have allowed for the construction of fake social media personae, I don’t think it is the technologies fault, I think that technology is used as a tool by corporations to influence users in their use of the technology and if users can separate it from that it can be used to bring us closer together.

References:

Eusibo, A. [Andrew Euisbo]. (2014 October 17).  Media Ecology: A Brief Overview  [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilHHAAcSJz4

8-bit Philosophy. (2015, May 31). Is Technology Dangerous? (Star Wars + Heidegger) – 8-bit Philosophy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_JOM-sVbKI

Video:

Parent, where do meme’s come from?

It’s a question zoomer parents may have to address should the world survive long enough. It may even be a question parents are having to address today, Instagram stating in December of 2020 that one million users share memes on the app everyday. (Ahmed, 2020)

In thinking about the question of the origin of memes I found myself watching, Are Memes & Internet Culture Creating a Singularity? published by the PBS Idea Channel.

In the video the argument is made that meme’s are often shared with no expectation of compensation and no further context provided, removing them from the who, what and why of their creation resulting in them being made in a way that feels like automation. Meme’s just appear and are, made and presented by the machine that is the internet. The video places the thinking in context, introducing the idea of a technological singularity, technology making better versions of itself, with some level of artificial intelligence developing, and argues that internet culture looks very similar. (2012) A cultural event happens, (like this still of Gene Wilder playing the titular character from the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)

Blank ‘tell me again’ meme template 

and seemingly from nowhere, new culture is made, often by adding other elements of culture like this collection of memes which, while they may be making dumb points are all incorporating ideas and language from different cultural groups

Collection of ‘tell me again’ memes https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/519251032006541275/

While there is clearly a personal slant or input present in the creation of these types of memes there is also a sense of automation. The PBS Idea Channel Video points out that memes are being made by people acting like computers, following rules, and working within a format. (2012) I’m sure if the video was being made in the past 12 months there would have been an entire section dedicated to tik tok and the way that many popular stars get their start or base their whole presence on the app by participating in challenges set by others, doing dance trends choreographed by someone else or lip-syncs using sounds created by another user.

So are we at a point of cultural singularity? And what does that mean for us who not only absorb media but also create it. Are we doomed to slowly be removed from our work as our influence slowly becomes less and less apparent till all we produce are carbon copies of what has come before with some small trace amount of our personality? In reading about memes, I came across the chapter Replication, Parataxis, and Evolution: Meme Journeys through the movement of a Mozart Sonata (Jan, 2011). In this chapter the author explains that the word ‘meme’ was first used by Charles Darwin. Where genes are passing on genetic information memes pass on cultural information. Following this thinking Jan states that “musical memes exist as short patterns of pitches and/or rhythms or as brief harmonic progressions, each with sufficient perceptual-cognitive identity and closure to survive as discrete units of information over time.” (2011) Following this thinking we could call the |I |V |vi |IV | chord progression, the Kick, kick snare pattern from We will rock you and the break from The Honey Drippers’ ‘Impeach the President’ could all be considered memes. So, if memes have been around forever in music, why didn’t I hear the word until 2010? The Idea Chanel Points out that while culture has always built culture before, never has the internet been as prevalent in culture as it is now. (2012) The internet grants people access to so many ‘memes or elements that can be combined into memes that where someone would create a ‘meme’ and call it a song or a progression or a work of art, now they are considered cheap, low-brow entertainment. As a creative, working from this definition everything I have made could be considered a meme at a stretch (as a musician I work in the western 12 tone equal tempered system, the system under which most of the western music has been composed and a meme in itself) and so what does that mean for me as I think about releasing my artistic expression through my work.

In a world where memes are created, shared and forgotten about so quickly, being a creator can be difficult. On one hand there is the temptation to make things that will get clicks because in the age of the internet, clicks equals success and sometimes money. On the other hand, there is a creative passion that can feel stifled by rules and trying to adhere to what other people are doing. This is a question I myself have struggled with as a musician and performer. Jan offers this, “memes are… selfish, in the sense that those memes which are the most striking and imitable are, self-evidently, those that tend to prosper in the meme-pool.” (2012) Yes, all music is based on something else, and no one is truly original, these are concepts that have been well talked about by musicologists and arts theorists en large for some time now. But, in the production of our work, our ‘memes’ if you will, as we incorporate the cultural elements, we hold dear, using our own creativity to shape them into new work, in the meme pool, in our culture, the things that prosper are still being striking and bold, being something others want to imitate.

References:

Ahmed, A. (2020 December 12). Instagram says that 1 million memes are shared on its social network daily. Digital Information World. https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2020/12/instagram-says-that-1-million-memes-are.html

Jan, S. (2011). Replication, Parataxis, and Evolution: Meme Journeys through the movement of a Mozart Sonata In Mirando, E. R. (Ed.) A-Life for Music: Music and Computer Models of Living Systems. (pp. 217-260). ProQuest Ebook Central

PBS Idea Channel. (2012, August 23). Are Memes & Internet Culture Creating a Singularity? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNBOkp346G8

Images: 

Blank ‘tell me again’ meme template  https://imgflip.com/memetemplate/81364788/Big-Willy-Wonka-Tell-Me-Again

Looking at methods of understanding conveying and experiencing emotions in music

Earlier this week I wrote a blog post looking specifically at sadness and how it is conveyed in music. Here this and know I am Sad I looked at Eric Clapton’s ‘Tears in Heaven’ looking at how Clapton builds an empathetic persona, himself in the case of the song after having lost his son in a tragic accident. My analysis was based on part of Allan Moore’s work in ‘Song Means’ (2012) and is just one example of how musicologists and musicians can analyse and study the emotional effect of music.

Leo Tolstoy once said that Music is the shorthand of emotion. While it is accepted that music has the power to have an emotional effect on listeners the exact why and how seems to be up for debate. I have looked at four examples of researchers and musicians explaining some element of emotion and music, each with a different stance on the reason listeners experience emotion when listening to music. Broadly the four identified categories are; feeling emotion from music is based on a social conditioning, there is a biological element to our emotional responses, there is a music theory reason for major sounding happy and minor sounding sad and our perspective of a separate historical and cultural music tradition. After unpacking their framework for understanding emotion in music I will offer my thoughts on their theories and discuss my understanding now I have done this research.

First, presenting the idea that emotional responses to music are based on our social understanding PBS Idea Channel. In Is Sad Music Actually Sad? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios the idea is presented that there is nothing inherently in the music theory of songs that makes something happy or sad. A major chord is no happier than a minor chord but rather we have been trained to understand it this way. They present the idea of imitation theory, that is music imitates the qualities of a feeling, wide intervals feel expansive but this idea is immediately challenged in the pointing out that the same can not be said of other media, going upwards is not always positive in a film scene. They then go on to suggest a biological explanation but then challenge this notion with music that is considered beautiful by some cultures and ugly by others, who is wrong there. The assertion is made that to be affected by music we as listeners have to have an assumption of a message to be shared and receptiveness to that message, this is something that we are culturally taught to do. However, this receptiveness is metered by our personal experience, our experience of a song in a social and cultural context. (PBS Idea Channel, 2013) This perspective on emotion in music is by far the most post-modern understanding of emotion in music in that the final answer to how is emotion expressed and felt in music? Is; everyones experience will be different and you will never truly be able to control it. As a creative I agree with this to some degree but do think there is room for other perspectives on the matter.

The second perspective is that there is a biological element to some sounds that trigger certain primal instincts in humans. Sideways takes a biological approach in their video How To Make Music Sound Scary which is framed as an instructional guide for composers. After a brief discussion of the cheapness of a jump scare and the finesse required to even do that well the discussion dives into cognitive dissonance and the “creepy baby music” effect where in horror films music that is supposed to be soothing and comforting are placed in a scary context creates a sense of unrest in a listener. From here they move away from film theory and into purely sound based fear, explaining that evolutionarily low sounds represent something bigger than you, therefore something that can eat you. Inversely high sounds represent something close but not dangerous. Usually the presence of high sounds is good, there is nothing close that anything else is scared of. By creating a piece that has a low, predator representing sound and a high, safe, non-lethal representing sound a composer will create cognitive dissonance, being confused by the two sounds together but also start filling the middle space triggering a panic response. (Sideways, 2016) I find this perspective on emotion in music interesting and would argue while it is the most tuned to being universally effective, it has the most limited scope as far as what you can do with it. There are so many primal urges that can be tapped into that would have auditory elements tied into them meaning the expression of emotion you would be limited to would be quite basic and primitive.

The third approach centres around an understanding of music theory to understand how to use “brightness” when composing or performing. Adam Neely in Why Major is “happy?” unpacks the concept of brightness, which is defined as the relative size of intervals in a scale in comparison to other scales. Major scales are brighter than minor chords, therefore more happy… However, an augmented scale would technically be brighter than a major chord and rather than sounding happier sounds dissonant and harsh. Adam suggests that there is a balance of brightness that can be used to express different emotions and goes into ranking the modes based around Dorian, declared ‘neutrally bright’ and assigning each other mode a value based on it’s brightness in relation to the brightness of Dorian. Adam also goes on to unpack that if you move upwards (in fifths) through the circle of fifths in context it sounds like you are getting brighter or more open. While this is a model that I have heard before and have actually used in my composition I think that there are a couple of shortcomings in it. First is the fact that all of this is framed on our 19th century Western European understanding of music and emotion as filters through which we hear intervals and chords. The second is I would argue that even a chord that is the same ‘brightness’ like an E5 played on a Grand piano across three octaves and played on a beaten up telecaster as a power chord will sound different and probably illicit a different emotional response.

The final broad perspective that I have found is that a listeners understanding of an ‘other’ piece of music will be framed by their own cultural understanding, which can result in a new understanding of the work. In looking at Why Miyazaki’s Films Sound Pretty Sideways discusses the work of Joe Hisaishi the composer for lots of the music used in Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli films. In trying to understand why the music was “pretty” it was compared to Debussy’s impressionist work with parallels drawn to the way that the conventional rules of resolution weren’t always followed, giving the pieces an etherial sense. But while there are many parallels to be drawn between Hisaishi’s work and Impressionist composers like Debussy, the line up isn’t perfect enough to be considered a perfect match. In listening to some of the scores there are even elements of modal jazz that can be heard in the music. Essentially, the history of Japan, the way music was taught and learned, the way scales and modes can be constructed and changed within a piece of music and the “standardisation” practices of composers and musicologists to make the theory look more like western theory creates compositions which for Japanese audiences would sound familiar and almost certainly hold emotional resonances western audiences don’t fully understand and is translated in the western brain to be ethereal and pretty because that’s what we associate with the closest reference points we have, Debussy and modal jazz. I think this theory is framed more on broader cultural influences rather than individual experiences, unlike the first point. I think it is hard to argue with this point, I often think the use of “middle eastern” or “Asian” music in films is interesting and almost always associated with something mystical or sinister, whereas in a different context those sounds are normal. This video was very helpful in breaking down the complex history of Japanese music theory and explained the scales system very well so I recommend going to watch the video if you are interested, but having a knowledge to this depth anytime you listen to a piece you don’t have the exact cultural understanding for sounds like an exhausting way to listen to music and I think that there is some argument to be made for some sort of universal feeling of certain musical phenomenon.

After reviewing these four approaches as exemplars for models of understanding music and emotion I feel like I know much more about the field yet am no closer to fully grasping the core concept. With each approach there were gaps, often gaps identified by the people making the videos. I also find it interesting that each video was focusing on a different genre of music and coming from it in a very different ways, as researchers, composers, performers, and listeners. I think the only conclusion I feel safe drawing here is that each of these approaches has their merits and depending on the situation as a researcher and musicologist I would feel confident in applying different methods at different times. However as a practitioner the question stands, how much of this, if any, is relevant to my compositional practice. Should I be thinking of references and sounds that a lot of people resonate with, should I be tapping into primal urges with my compositions, should all my happy songs move in fifths and all my sad ones move in fourths or should I use scales from other places to make my music mysterious? I think with understanding and research that all of those things could be achieved, I don’t know that I will be actively thinking about them for very long, or that I even realise that I have but in making music that elicits an emotional response in me, it would stand to reason that it might illicit an emotional response in someone else.

References:

Moore, A. F. (2012). Song means: Analysing and interpreting recorded popular song : analysing and interpreting recorded popular song. ProQuest Ebook Central

Neely, A. [Adam Neely]. (2016, May 31). Why is major “happy?” [Video} YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rEqrPwVITY

PBS Idea Channel. (2031, May 9). Is Sad Music Actually Sad? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWWYE4eLEfk

Sideways. (2016, August 27). How to Make Music Sound Scary [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-u9YDDrTFo

“D Minor, which I find is the saddest of keys… It makes people weep instantly” – Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap.

When thinking about emotion in music, it is my observation that there are two primary foundations that stick out as far as being fertile ground for song writing. Infatuation, see love songs, songs about being in a group and songs to bump and grind to. And sadness, see break up songs, songs about being alone and songs about being different. This observation is based primarily on my own listening habits which is very much framed around western popular music, even looking at my top songs on Spotify from this year all of them can fit into one of the categories laid out above.

In taking a closer look at aesthetics and affect in my practice, that is my practice as something that creates an emotional experience in an audience, (Taylor, 2021) I have chosen to look at sadness as the exemplar emotion, both because I listen to a lot of music that could be considered ‘sad’ as well as sadness being an emotion I draw on, particularly in my work as Sal Viejo.   Looking at the definition of sadness from the atlas of emotions (atlasofemotions, n.d.) Sadness is a response to loss, and feeling sad allows us to take a timeout and show others that we need support. In looking at the different types of sadness on the same chart the range of sadness is defined as going from disappointment to anguish. Often framed around loss or not having something or not having achieved something. The responses can range from feeling ashamed or withdrawing, mourning, protesting, ruminating, and seeking comfort. As a creative practitioner I have found myself in all those response states and found myself creating from that space. But knowing what sadness is and being able to express that in song form is a nuanced art. The quote from This Is Spinal Tap at the open of this post is there to be funny but also demonstrates a point, minor is considered a ‘sad’ tonality for music. In seeking to understand why I was presented with a litany of answers ranging from highly scientific explanations of the harmonic series and how a major third and sixth is more ‘natural’ and therefore happy than their minor counterparts, to observations of the way that musicians physically approach notes differently on instruments, suggesting that on most common western instruments moving to a minor interval is a softer motion, suggesting sadness. It is my belief that contemporary listeners associate minor tonalities with sadness, based on the establishment of ‘rules or common features of music that was presented as sad, going all the way back to Chopin’s Funeral March, pointed out in NME’s blog “The Science of Music – Why Do Songs in a Minor Key Sound Sad?” that goes through a lot of the historical use of minor tonalities, also showing where they have been used in happy songs and is a great read if you are looking for more. (2013) So, if just being in a minor isn’t all there is to creating a heartbreaking number one, what else is there? According to a reader poll in Rolling Stone, Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven is the saddest song of all time (2013). 

Listening to the song and finding some scores I can tell that the song is in F# minor but it is more than the chords that makes this song so heartbreaking. Listening to the lyrical content and knowing the story behind the song, I recognise this as an emotion heavy song, sung by a man whose child died in a tragic accident, an accident he feels responsible for, is coming to terms with and has to live with every day. So, the question stands, not knowing that, if the melody was played by a piano or some other melodic instrument would the song have the same impact? Going back to a musical analysis, we can also see that the song is recorded and performed at around 80bpm, it features acoustic instruments, the voice is sung in a natural sounding almost spoken register, the instrumentation and arrangement is sparse, focusing on the vocal. Moore describes all these traits as working toward the ‘persona’ in a song. (2012) The Persona is defined as how we interact with the song, how it makes itself known to us and how the singer presents themselves directly to us. Using Moore’s model here we see that all of the musical choices Clapton made in the composition of Tears in Heaven lead to the construction of a persona that is considered genuine and makes listeners feel sympathetic, we hear the story not only in the lyrics but in the music and we understand. Again, the question is raised, would this be a universal experience? I don’t think so but for western audiences and readers of Rolling Stone, it worked.

Looking now at my own practice, it has always been important to me that my persona was not only perceived as genuine, but that it was genuine, especially in my work as Sal Viejo. When I started Sal Viejo, it was very much with the desire to tell my stories and share my experiences, the good the bad and the ugly. I was inspired to do this by other musicians that I was seeing at shows and making friends within Wollongong and Sydney, often at very informal shows in someone’s living room or a public park. I was drawn to these spaces and these performers because they all felt so real and genuine, and I resonated with the stories they were telling. However, now that I understand some theory behind aesthetics and emotion in composition, does my expression become less genuine if I compose with these features in mind? I think this question is an important one to consider, and one I think about when I do my work. The way I have always composed and produced as Sal Viejo has just been starting with me, my guitar, and my sad stories, from there I only add something if I feel like expresses the story in the way I’m trying to tell it. In doing this, I am using my formal music training, my academic research knowledge, including my understanding of Moore and aesthetics, but this is always tempered by what I hear, my instinct and reaction and me making decisions based on what I think the song needs.

References:

atlasofemotions. (n.d.) Sadness http://atlasofemotions.org/#states/sadness

Moore, A. F. (2012). Song means : Analysing and interpreting recorded popular song : analysing and interpreting recorded popular song. ProQuest Ebook Central

NME Blogs. (2013. Febuary 14). The Science of Music – Why Do Dongs In A Minor Key Sound Sad? NME. https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the-science-of-music-why-do-songs-in-a-minor-key-sound-sad-760215

Rolling Stone. (2013. October 2). Reader’s Poll: The 10 Saddest Songs of All Time. Rolling Stone https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/readers-poll-the-10-saddest-songs-of-all-time-10875/

Intertextuality and the perceptions of aura and authenticity in film reboots and musical covers

In their video essay Intertextuality: Holywood’s New Currency Nerdwriter1 offers a harsh and pointed criticism at the mainstream movie industry for relying on what they call ‘weaponised intertextuality’. (2016) By which they mean, using cultural touchstones and references to illicit a response in viewers rather than write a compelling plot with engaging characters. (ibid.) The essay referenced several movies including the Beauty and the Beast live action remake, the new StarWars trilogy, the Hobbit, Star Trek, the list goes on and looking at the list of films and series mentioned, I must agree. Lots of these films seem to rely on viewers liking the IP already and once you have paid to consume the media they don’t really care if there’s a story there.

After watching the essay, I was left wondering, where do we see intertextuality in music and music production? The answer seems obvious, remixes and/or covers would be the most direct parallel with a reboot, with the practice of ‘biting’ or ‘sampling’ being a more subtle reference made.

In their video essay How Coltrane Broke “My Favourite Things” (feat. Adam Neely) Polyphonic praises John Coltrane’s 1961 modal jazz cover of the musical song “My Favourite things” calling him a genius more than once in the video. (2020) They explain the way the structure of the original song lent itself to experimentation, the compositional thinking, fractal theory, all of the innovations that Coltrane made on this recording. But at its fundamental level, it’s a reboot.

But then the question stands for me, in discussions on film theory this is seen as the fall of modern cinema, yet a great remix or cover is celebrated in the music industry. Why is intertextuality weaponised in Hollywood but utilised in the studio?

The primary difference to me as a creator (primarily of music) but also as someone who loves to absorb media is that in the music world, covers or remixes that achieve success on a mainstream level are usually some form of new expression on some sort of fundamental creative, human level, whereas lots of film or television remakes seem to lack some sort of heart or ‘aura’ to use the term in the way Benjamin would. (1935 as cited in Taylor, 2021)  

While many reboots of film franchises are recognised as cash grabs, because more often than not they are, there is seemingly little money to be made as a great covers musician, that trend left in the late sixties and early seventies with the rise of the original composer. Covers generally feel like a new expression of a similar idea whereas cinematic remakes feel like there is very little thought put into it.

I thought an interesting experiment to do would be to breakdown what I consider a great cover and look for the intertextual references and understand how they are used differently from the way they are used in film. The Cover I will look at is the Alex Lahey ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ by My Chemical Romance cover done for Like a version.

The cover is a spectacular example of a cover in my opinion, earning itself a spot in the hottest 100 of 2019 as well as a shout out from My Chem on the internet. Doing a purely audio and music theory analysis of the two songs there are very few differences, the timbres, melodies, instrumentation and structures are all similar enough that one song is unquestionably a version of the other, a well-made version but a version none the less. The primary technical differences were the use of orchestral percussion and four guitar players. I think the primary difference between this cover and the way movies are remade is the cover is perceived to have more authenticity than the Hollywood remakes. The authenticity is recognisable in some way, Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance praising the feeling of the song even though he was in the U.S., saying that it gave him chills. (Langford, 2019) If the source material, being the lyrics and chords and structures are all the same, one must conclude that it is the method by which these things are put together that give it the aura or authenticity. I feel like in watching the cover and seeing how the musicians were performing and expressing, it all felt very real. All the additional parts were not only there for their compositional appeal, but the band was made up of a group of young Australian musicians from other bands who all grew up listening to My Chemical Romance and now get to play it on national radio Additionally there is knowing the cultural touchstone that My Chemical Romance and particularly that song has to so many emos of a certain age demographic that the song hit’s all the right notes for so many people as it is. I think that the sense of authenticity also comes from the frequency with which covers come out from musicians. A performer might have one cover that has any kind of impact in their entire song book for their entire career, whereas it feels as if studios like Disney are almost made to churn out reboots now. If Alex Lahey decided to become a My Chemical Romance Tribute act permanently (after some initial interest) fans would start wanting the old Alex back, we know how Gerard Way looks at the world, we want to know how Alex does it now.

In looking at the ways that film reboots are different from music covers, I have found that one of the key foundational differences is the feeling of authenticity as perceived by the audience. In film the social knowledge that remakes are primarily made to make money has made the concept of intertextuality a weapon and a fighting point. Contrastedly , in music due to the authenticity often felt in the performance and recognised in the context of the rest of the musician’s career intertextual references are often a time for celebration.

References:

Langford, J. (2019 September 24). Gerard Way Praises Alex Lahey For Her My Chemical Romance Like a Version. Musicfeeds. https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/gerard-way-praises-alex-lahey-for-her-my-chemical-romance-like-a-version/ Nerdwriter1. (2016 May 16). Intertextuality: Hollywood’s New Currency [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeAKX_0wZWY

Polyphonic. (2020 December 4). How Coletrane Broke “My Favourite Things” (feat. Adam Neely) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg1RGmyl-_A

Taylor, J. (2021). Art Pop and The Culture Industry [Google Slides] SAE Campus online https://campusonline.gscm.sae.edu/mod/page/view.php?id=108482

Embeded video:

Irony, Sincerity and the Internet

In their video essay “David Foster Wallace – The Problem with Irony” Schoder breaks down David Foster Wallace’s views on the downfall of entertainment, namely tv due to a saturation of irony. (2016) After introducing the problem of an overly ironic, snake devouring itself, media landscape, the solution seems to be proposed, a tonal shift towards sincerity. (ibid) Shows like The Office and Community and Parks and Recreation in some cases maintain post-modern traits in order to subvert them but more and more, mainstream media is focusing less on the deconstruction of the meta narrative and more focused on the micro-relationships. (ibid.)

In August of 2017 Kirin J. Callinan uploaded the music video for his latest single “Big Enough” featuring Alex Cameron, Molly Lewis and Jimmy Barnes. In September of 2017 a tumblr page posted a clip from the video, which was later uploaded to youtube and went viral as “Screaming Cowboy” (knowyourmeme, 2018)

The remixes and overdubs spread like wildfire and to this day, through apps like tik tok and Instagram the song and meme is heard around the world by listeners who potentially could never have heard anything else the artists have done or anything beyond the 43 second clip. In interviews on the piece featured artist Alex Cameron explains that the piece came out of the idea that people would constantly compare himself and Callinan in the relatively small Sydney Pop scene and thinking about how the world is so often divided. They wanted to remind people that everything wasn’t all about conflict but there can be unity. (Fluffy, 2018) Callinan himself describes the song as “sincere.” (Gaca, 2017) Beyond being a song about unity, represented by the two artists coming together but it also represents a deconstruction of genre boundaries for the artist. When first experimenting with making EDM, a genre he did not care for Callinan describes making something “aesthetically displeasing and pretty unexciting as an idea,” with “a euphoria that’s just infectious.” (ibid.) He continues, detailing how after hearing Sweedish House Mafia’s ‘Don’t You Worry Child’ that he was able to get past his own preconceived and taught notions of genre and boundaries between high and low art and understand that the heart of the work was important. (ibid.) This is immediately shown in this piece, bringing together the unique blend of two underground pop artists from Sydney, a world famous whistler and an Australian Rock icon. This song is the perfect representation of the idea of synthesis, it feels like a creative artist having fun while telling a sincere and genuine story about unity, not only in the lyrics but in the production of the song and the incorporation of a diverse range of cultural touchstones, the work is an intellectual masterpiece!

… But it’s still a meme and I didn’t actually listen to the whole song until around two years after it came out when I finally heard it through a bad Bluetooth speaker in a backyard somewhere. The question then stands, does the fact that something is a meme make it any less valuable as art? Looking back at the Schoder video, the first wave thinking of post modern media, the thinking that spawned shows like Seinfeld and Always Sunny, (2016) would say that this song was brilliant and funny. It’s a deconstruction of the notions of pop and using all kinds of semiotic messages that are understood by the knowledgeable and reference soaked internet generation, it did exactly what it was meant to do clearly, it’s making fun of the entertainment industry. And while it is all of those things I don’t think that is all the song is. I think this song is an example of an Office type TV show as described by Schoder. (2016) this song and the video does all of those things but still feels very human and genuine. It doesn’t stop at the deconstruction but also works on focusing to the right thing, connection and community.

Despite this wholesome message at the song’s core, some argue that the last refrain takes the song into parody

Image: Screenshot of Lyrics to ‘Big Enough’ from Genius.com

But if you think about songs that have called for peace and unity before,

Image: Screenshot of Lyrics to ‘Imagine’ from Genius.com

 I think that ‘gen z’ who was raised in cynicism would see both sentiments as equally as realistic. Meaning the only differences between the two songs are the choice of instrumentation and who’s singing it. Toward the end of the Gaca interview Callinan says, “I’d like to write more songs that are emotional and real and not full of so much fucking bullshit. But at the same time, it’s the bullshit that makes it fun. No one’s interested in listening to an acoustic singer-songwriter.” And I think that this song is a move in that direction for him.

To insert some of my own romantic thinking, in a way the fact that this song is being shared to so many different people in so many different contexts as humour, shows that the message of unity is being spread through comedy.

While the internet took this song and video and gave them a life of their own, at their core still stands an artist with a message. While a majority of people might know the song as humour, Callinan was able to achieve his artistic goal and make a song that he enjoys, as well as collaborating with a friend in Alex Cameron, an interesting and unique person in Molly Lewis and a childhood hero in Jimmy Barnes. It was funny, it was serious, it was entertaining, it is art.  

References:

Gaca, A. (2017, November 8). What Exactly Is Going On With Kirin J. Callinan? Spin. https://www.spin.com/featured/kirin-j-callinan-bravado-interview/

Fluffy. (2018, January 18). Interview: Alex Cameron Talks Style and Substance. Under the Radar. https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/13758/Interview-Alex-Cameron-Talks-Style-And-Substance.utr

Knowyourmeme, (2018). Big Enough. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/big-enough

Schoder, W. [Will Schoder]. (2016 October 7). David Foster Wallace – The Problem With Irony [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2doZROwdte4

Other media in order:

Kirin J Callinan. (2017 August 17). Kirin J Callinan - Big Enough (Official Video) ft. Alex Cameron, Molly Lewis, Jimmy Barnes [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvrZJ5C_Nwg

CarrierBK (2017 September 9) AHHHHH [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBLdQ1a4-JI

Image: Screenshot of Lyrics to ‘Big Enough’ from Genius.com Captured 07/07/2021 https://genius.com/Kirin-j-callinan-big-enough-lyrics

Image: Screenshot of Lyrics to ‘Imagine’ from Genius.com Captured 07/07/21 https://genius.com/John-lennon-imagine-lyrics

Note for SAE: This blog was written for assessment based on the module guide instructions, not the formal instructions as discussed with Toby Wren

“Folk music is any style of music which represents a community and can be sung or played by people who may or may not be trained musicians, using the instruments available to them.” (Ruehl, 2019)

“This is popular culture as folk culture: a culture of the people for the people.” (Storey, 2014)

If you played the word association game with one-hundred fans of music and gave them the words “folk” and “hyperpop” respectively I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would associate one with the other immediately. In the 20th and 21st century folk became a term used to describe any mainstream music that wasn’t rock or later ‘pop’. In play lists now it is often coupled with the words “indie” or “acoustic” or “chilled”. But the roots of the folk tradition lie in music that was popular because it was shareable, it was a group experience that was easy to participate in.We see that folk music is still popular now with the sea shanty trend becoming a massive thing on tik tok. 

 With so many people spending more time on the internet for entertainment, information and communication there has been a rise of ‘sub-cultures’ or new communities bonded by shared experience, taste or interest. (Bennet, 2014) It is from these emerging communities that hyperpop grows and develops as folk sound of a generation. Hyperpop as a genre has its roots in the soundcloud community, being used as a term in the nightcore remix scene. (Enis, 2020) One of the things that makes hyperpop so unique is that while it serves as a genre tag, what that tag can mean is extraordinarily broad. In an interview one half of hyperpop taste makers 100gecs said that for them, certain Brittany Spears songs could go on a Hyperpop playlist. (Patel, 2020) In the same interview the interviewer described hyperpop as a stacking of multiple genres at their peak, extremely relatable, nostalgic and hooky. (ibid.)

I think the strongest thing that ties hyperpop to the folk tradition is it’s use of popular culture references in its production. Looking at a list of samples used by 100gecs (whosampled, n.d.) there are so many well known elements like minecraft sounds, Drake songs, Alt rock from the mid 2000s, a funk and soul instrumental from the 60s, anime sounds, the list of references covers all parts of pop culture in a way that is so reflective of the ‘gen z’/‘zoomer’ mentality. Now with unprecedented access to media from throughout space and time the current internet culture is a global one with references from as early as recorded media and as recent as when you are reading this. Additionally, with the internet and forums and message boards dedicated to the collection and distribution of samples and sounds, any producer with a DAW, a couple hours on YouTube and an idea could take the same samples and use them in a completely different way, using the same elements to express a completely new and unique perspective.

Underlying this is another element of the folk tradition that works to hold the music together, that is the recognisable form. While in the folk tradition songs were structured around easy to remember lyrics, stories and simple melodies and were typically short and repeatable (Nettl, 2007) the way we consume music has changed. Since 1949 and the birth of the 45 for music to be playable on the radio it needs to be around three and a half minuets long (McKinney, 2015) and will probably be in verse chorus form, with a catchy chorus that will be rememberable. (Bell, n.d.). Within these forms there are many other features we come to expect from pop music, a standard kick on the 1 and 3, snare on the 2 and 4, predominantly major tonalities and harmonically diatonic, although this is becoming less common. So, while hyperpop is a combination of many sounds, those sounds are organised and recognisable and fit in a form that we understand.

Another element that places the genre firmly in the folk tradition is that it is a real expression. This conclusion is based on the definition of folk music being made by and for the people. (Storey, 2014) My initial response to the genre when I discovered it through memes was to write it off. As a ‘smart musician’ I looked down on it because I thought it was like just eating cake not a balanced diet. I was living with the self-imposed idea that making art had to be hard and complex and that using extended harmony and using incredible metaphors made me better than other musicians. I was wrong for so many reasons. Firstly, when I approached the genre with no social or class based bias, I began to understand. Just because something is the obvious choice doesn’t mean it’s the wrong one. Pop music is popular for a reason, particularly music that is made with the intention of dancing or partying there are rhythms and patterns that are tried and true. And second, I discovered that underneath all the ‘hyper’ tonality were real stories and emotions and experiences that felt so real and human in contrast to their setting. Hyperpop being such a broad umbrella means that it is the place where people who don’t fit neatly into other genres or scenes can feel connected. When asked what they view their role as leaders of the genre was 100gecs replied with promoting accessibility within the genre, for people who are underappreciated but making the music they like to have and audience and a community. (Patel, 2020) In my listening to hyperpop playlists and artists recommended to my by my friends I have heard songs on topics ranging from love, heartbreak, feeling great about yourself, hating yourself, being high, being sober, loving both of those things, making food, walking a dog, being angry at someone. If there is an experience to be expressed, you can express it in hyperpop.

Side note: I think that the use of autotune and heavy vocal distortions lowers the barrier to entry, now artists can use their voice as an instrument when in the traditional way of thinking about singing they weren’t deemed ‘good enough’

In the same way there are no real rules to sing a folk song in a pub or with your family, there are no real rules about writing hyperpop, the music can be coupled with every emotion and serves to take it to the extreme.

The last tie that holds hyperpop in the folk tradition is the way it is spread. While folk would traditionally be passed from family member to family member or friend to friend, often learned through doing. Hyperpop found it’s rise in meme culture of the internet. 100gecs gained most of their mainstream notoriety through being shared in a facebook music meme group, where internet reviewer and indie taste setter Anthony Fantano found them and gave them a review on his channel leading to millions of people discovering the music. Beyond this, the band’s image is incredibly well tailored to the zoomer, ‘possitive nihilistic’, ‘nothing matters lets party’ mentality, presenting as both over and underproduced, low-fi, oversaturated and almost intentionally bad. This makes it captivating and almost funny to audiences. The band have spoken against this, saying they’re not trying to be ironic but rather just having fun (Mylrea, 2020). But whether or not the easily memeable nature of the music is intentional or not, it is undeniable to say that it means the music is spread and heard on a much wider basis than it would have otherwise.

Hyperpop will probably never be widely called ‘folk music’ but I think that there are enough similarities that the argument is there to be made. Hyperpop as a genre shares its use of recognisable elements from the new ‘internet culture’ that are controlled in a recognisable form, its use of real and relatable expression and the way it is spread through our new community meeting places with the traditional folk tradition, making it the latest in a long list of music sub-genres to be for the people, from the people.

References:

Bell, E. (n.d.). Anatomy of a Song: The Three Most Common Song Forms. Musical-U. https://www.musical-u.com/learn/anatomy-of-a-song-the-three-most-common-song-forms/

Bennet, A. (2014). Youth Culture and the Internet: A subcultural or post-subcultural phenomena? In W. Osgerby (Ed.), Subcultures, Popular Music and Social Change. Cambridge Scholars. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sae/reader.action?docID=1790933

Nettl, B. (2020, December 3). Folk music. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/folk-music

McKinney, K. (2015, Jan 30). A hit song is usually 3 to 5 minuets long. Here’s why. Vox. https://www.vox.com/2014/8/18/6003271/why-are-songs-3-minutes-long

Mylrea, H. (2020, July 10). 100 Gecs: “People think we’ve staked our entire career on the fact that we can be ironic”. NME. https://www.nme.com/en_au/features/music-interviews/100-gecs-interview-1000-gecs-and-the-tree-of-clues-charli-xcx-pc-music-minecraft-2706029

Patel, P. (Interviewer). (2020, November). Pitchfork Review: 100 Gecs and the Mystery of Hyperpop. [Audio Podcast]. Get Wired. https://open.spotify.com/episode/1UnB4gNxTsInfjur0iVXEP?si=NXGfknGtTqSId4z-XhKNeg&dl_branch=1