James Taylor

My mom has always played James Taylor in her car or at home, but I never really realized how much I liked him until now. He has a really gentle way of singing, but his songs sound amazing and his lyrics are really deep. Unlike most musicians who have become really famous he has kept a pretty low profile and has never really gotten into much trouble. My favorite thing about his music is how he mixes his voice with this guitar. It's done in a way that I have never heard from any other musician in the past. I really like his music and I will continue to listen to it in the future.

Michael Jackson Album

I heard a little bit of the new Michael Jackson album, and I thought that it was pretty good. I think that T.I. did a good job of keeping Michael Jackson's original songs but also altering them in the studio. This album didn't really sound like a full-fledged Michael Jackson production in terms of scale ad variety, but it was pretty decent, and I'm sure it brought in a lot of revenue for the producers. It was very sad that he died so young, because he could still be making amazing albums today.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

I did not like the second Fugees album that we listened to. It might have been because of the classroom skits at the beginning of each song, but I think it was mainly because of the flow of the album. While the first album we listened to was pretty fast-paced, this album was slower and didn't move as fast as the other one. Sometimes I felt that the lyrics did not fit well with the beat, and were to long or didn't make sense in the context of the song. I did like the song Zion though. I thought that the singing in Zion, particularly the very high note at the end of the song was very good.

First Fugee Album

I really liked the first Fugee album that we listened to. The three harmonies and musicians coming together sounded very interesting. Likewise the lyrics were very entertaining, and I liked following them. They were intelligent and rhymed very well with themselves and the beat. I liked the music video we watched of one of their songs, as it combined a Caribbean sound with snapshots of the Caribbean islands. All in all I found the album to be very entertaining and fun to listen to.

Green Day

I never really liked Green Day when they were really popular, but I think that I like them better now. They always seemed to have a metal feel that I didn't really like, but now I guess I appreciate it more now since we watched that documentary in class. They seemed like really cool average people, which I really didn't expect from them. They were talented musicians who didn't just gloat in their own fame, but also were willing to interact with others.

Green Day Play

The Green Day play seemed pretty cool. It was definitely not the typical Broadway play but I still liked it just the same. It was really action packed and seemed to reflect the band's wishes as well as the ideas of the director. I was surprised by the band's support of the play because most of the time artists or authors are not content with movies or plays written about their works. Billie Joe Holliday was really cool and talented. I thought that it was awesome how he played one of the parts in the actual play and did a good job at it too.

Music dying out

I don't think that playing music will ever die out, so long as humans remain on this earth.Music probably precedes many languages and cultures, and so I don't see it dying out. Although some people might think that electronic music will take the place of actually creating music, there are still billions of people around the world who make music will instruments everyday, and although that number is dwindling I don't think that making music could ever cease to exist.

ACL Lineup

From what I saw the ACL Lineup looked quite good. It had a lot of artists that I knew, but that didn't mean that they were all necessarily good. More so than last year there were very many famous bands and individual performers such as Eminem, Pearl jam and Outkast. When we looked at some of the less well-known performers in class I recognized many of them from the radio or Youtube. Zedd was cool, and so was Major Lazer. All in all I thought that the ACL Lineup looked really cool.

Muscle Shoals Documentary

I thought that the Muscle Shoals documentary was pretty interesting. The thing I liked most about the film was that many notable musicians gave their own account of what made Muscle Shoals special. I don't find documentaries interesting when producers simply blab, but i do like them when there are individual testimonies from actual makers of music.

Rick Hall

I really admire the perseverance of Rick Hall. Although his life was pretty horrible until he founded F.A.M. E. Records, and still continued to be struck with tragedy, he was able to build a very successful enterprise and succeed in life. As a child he was dirt poor, his brother was killed in a horrible accident, and his mother didn't care for him at all. Later in life his wife died, and his father was killed in a horrible tractor accident. Somehow Rick Hall's early life seemed to greatly resemble Johnny Cash's early life a lot. Both of them were able to build great careers regardless, and I admire both of them for their perseverance.

Pearl Jam

I was surprised by Pearl Jam. I always had the impression that they were just heavy hardcore rockers who abused alcohol and drugs but I was proven wrong by this documentary. They did party and drink but they are good people and have messages in thei music. Early on one of their band mates died and it sobered the other members up. They dedicated themselves to their work and tried to make a difference in the community, which I thing is a very good thing to do.

Pearl Jam Twenty

I thought that te Pearl Jam documentary was pretty cool. It gave a very inside picture of the band. My favorite part was when the film showed a scene from one of their concerts. A young, drunk fan was being pulled out of the crowd and supposedly being mishandled by security officers. The lead singer for Pearl Jam who was known to be a quite and shy guy beforehand started talking about it on the mike, and singing with new vigor. I thought that was really cool. I thought that the band members were cool too.

MTV

MTV sucks now. I wish it were like it was in the old days when music was actually played on the channel. If it were the same way today I would probably watch it. However, the only thing I find on it nowadays is Teen Mom and other trashy shows. If MTV played music 24/7 it would be so much more popular than it is now.

Nirvana

I used to really hate Nirvana but I have come to like them. I knew some of their songs such as Smells Like Teen Spirit and Come as you Are, but I didn't realize that they had many other very good songs. I liked their Unplugged Concert a lot, and I realized that they didn't just play loud electric guitar. Kurt Cobain was really entertaining, and he seemed like a really cool guy. Unlike most musicians we seemed humble and nice, and didn't always try to steal the show. It's a shame he died so young.

Suge Knight

Suge Knight was one of the smartest but also one of the dumbest people that was interviewed in the documentary we watched today. The documentary provided pretty strong evidence that he was somehow involved in the plot/s to kill Biggie and Tupac, but some of the things he said were so stupid. Particularly when he claimed that he had been shot in his head, and the doctor had to split open his cranium, and when he got hit in the neck, an inch away from his spine. The truth was that the only wounds he received were small glass shard wounds on his hand. He seemed to be the mastermind behind the deaths, but was also so dumb and aloof.

Biggie and Tupac Filmmaker

I didn't like the Biggie and Tupac filmmaker. He just seemed super pushy and annoying. He pressed on every single question, and seemed to be drawing huge comparisons where there were none. Although most of the details were shady and hard to uncover, the filmmaker went about it in a super annoying way. He even attempted trickery to get as much as possible in his film. He was interviewing a former police officer and claimed that the camera was off, when in fact it wasn't. The film was entertaining, but I did not at all like the filmmaker.

Aerosmith-Run DMC

I actually liked the Aerosmith-Run DMC collaboration song. Just thinking about it I thought that it was going to be terrible, but the two groups meshed really well, and incorporated each of their styles into the song. Aerosmith still had time to show their prowess, and same with Run DMC. The music video was also really cool. It showed the two groups practicing next to each other, and trying to outdo one another. The latter part was kind of weird but I still liked the way the two groups performed.

Hip Hop

I thought that it was very interesting to see how much Hip-Hop had changed over time. Early hip-hop was ten times less directly vulgar than current hip-hop and rap. The difference lyrically between someone like Will Smith and Lil Wayne is astounding. While the former insinuated very well and indirectly rapped about the same things, the latter is way more direct and vulgar. I like older hip-hop songs because of the funk sound they have, but I also like current rap because of its fast beats and quick rapping. The evolution of hip-hop over time definitely seemed to change when NWA came along. They were so foul-mouthed that I'm sure most parents were horrified, but most kids probably thought it was awesome. I like their songs but I definitely don't agree with their lyrical content. I find it interesting to see how much hip-hop has changed.

Wu Tang Clan

I thought Wu Tang Clan was alright. I like what I have heard from NWA better, but Wu Tang is still pretty good. They seem to sound somewhat the same, besides that one weird guy, but I still like how their songs sounded. Hearing about how NWA isn't actually "real" and how they are all middle class kids, I lean a little towards Wu Tang Clan, but I like the individual style of NWA better.

20 Feet From Stardom

I really liked the documentary that we watched in class. I thought it was the best one we have watched all year. I liked it because it came from the perspective of the actual background singers, and because many famous musicians who I had actually heard of were featured in the documentary. I liked the rap documentary, but I feel like this one topped it. The individual performances by some of the background singers were amazing. The one that really stood out to me was Merry Clayton's part in Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones, where she sang so high that her voice cracked, but still sounded amazing. I thought Lisa Fischer was really good too, and that Water family was really cool. All in all I liked the perspective the documentary put the viewer in, and I thought it was very well done.

Elvis Costello

I really liked Elvis Costello. I would definitely put the album we listened to up there with the Beatles. Although he wasn't as musically gifted as the Beatles I felt that his songwriting skills were superior to theirs. Every single one If his songs clearly indicated his mood and opinions, which is something I haven't really heard with most musicians. I also liked his attitude towards music. His punk attitude impressed me, most of all his actions on SNL. All in all I really liked Elvis Costello.

Thriller

I really liked the album Thriller. Although the lyrics were not very deep and meaningful the songs were upbeat and made me feel happy. The big hits such as Beat It, Thriller and Billie Jean were nice, but I also liked the other songs on the album. Now I think I can fully understand the scope of Michael Jackson's fame. Before I thought he was talented and famous for the moonwalk ad the Jackson 5. Now I realize how popular his music was, having heard about the enormous success of this album. Although he had twisted ideas as a person, his music was very good.

Schoolboy Q

In class we were looking up promising artists at SXSW and a description of Schoolboy Q popped up. His name sounded of ad his description sounded very interesting so I decided to look him up. It turns out he is an ex-Crip who sold drugs, but has now remade his life. Although his cliche explanation " it was because of my daughter" is something every reformed troublemaker or criminal says, it really seems to be true in his case. His music is also very fascinating. In some of his songs he almost sings.

Kendrick Lamar

I think that Kendrick Lamar is a decent rapper. While he doesn't have the strongest rhyming ability he  is able to work his lyrics in the meter of his songs. I have listened to some of his songs and have hated them, because they sound so monotone and slow. However, others are better and he shows his true abilities. Oddly enough I found the song " Swimming Drank" or whatever to be one of the better ones. While some of the chorus was superficial and sort of glamorizing his lifestyle, the other parts were serious and dealt with alcholism and his struggles with this problem. I would rather listen to someone with stronger beats and rhymes, but Kendrick Lamar is alright. I also think he is promoted more than he should be, but that seems to be the case with most rappers.

Parliament

I liked Parliament, but I thought that there sons were way too long. Often times they reached six or seven minutes, which I thought was exaggerated. However I thought that most of the beats were cool and "funky". I especially liked Swing Down Sweet Chariot" and " Starchild". I think they were very weird, but so were other musicians at the time. The conceptions the universe they had, hopefully a joke, was super weird. Overall I liked their music I just wish they would have been shorter in length.

Imagine Dragons

I can tolerate most Imagine Dragon's songs. Everyone is crazy about them, and I think that they are very gifted and can make good music, but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to them. I was exposed to them when there big song It's Time came out, and I have to admit I was pretty captivated by their music. I didn't like Radioactive or On Top of the World and I don't get the same vibe anymore by listening to their music.

Pati Smith

I did not like the music of Pati Smith. It just sounded hard on the ears, and didn't seem to be in tune either. Frankly, it just sounded like noise. Although we learned that she was groundbreaking in the punk genre, her music didn't appeal to me. I much preferred the Sex Pistols and the Ramones to her brand of punk. I think she had pretty meaningful lyrics, but the melodies she used didn't have that same ring to me that the other punk bands had.

The Ramones

I really liked the songs played by the Ramones that we heard in class on Thursday. My day up until that point had been really dull and boring, and so it was nice to have an upbeat song change that. I liked Sedated the best, but the other two were also good. There songs didn't seem to have much purpose, but still had a strong beat and good playing.

Songs I liked in class

I really liked some of the songs I heard in class. Probably around 75% of the songs played were rap or hip-hop, which I kind've liked, but the genre got old after a while. I liked the songs Fred played, and Anton's guitar samples were cool. Andrew played a super funny acoustic version of Boys in the Hood. I tended to like most of the songs, but some were awful. For instance I really didn't like the songs by Tyler the Creator.

Songs picked in class

The songs I played in class on Friday were Heart of the City by Jay Z, and Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I picked the first song because I have started listening to older Jay Z music, this song being from 2001. I don't necessarily like the rap so much as the beat, and the sample from Bobby Bland. I really like the way that Jay Z integrated those samples in. I picked the second song because I have started to listen more to the Red Hot Chili Peppers since they were talked about in regards to the Super Bowl.

Aloe Blacc

I have started listening to this musician named Aloe Blacc, who sort of burst onto the music scene. Some of his songs have been sampled by other musicians and I have heard others in commercials, but I had never really known about him until I saw a Super Bowl commercial. In a Beats by Dr. Dre commercial they play his music, and it was a really cool beat. His most popular song is called The Man, but Wake Me Up is also very good. He is Panamanian, but grew up in L.A., and some of his songs have a Latin beat, which I also think is really cool. Anyways, I really like his music, and unlike most famous acts he isn't super egotistical or arrogant.

Red Hot Chili Peppers Halftime Show

I like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their charisma. However, I don't really care about their halftime show performance. It seemed like a weird venue for them to play at, and they weren't even the main act. I do feel that they kind of cheated their fans and the crowd, but many musicians have lip-synched, including the Beatles for Hello Goodbye. They released an awkward and contradictory apology which probably inflamed things more, but I wasn't horrified or disgusted by their actions.

Greenwich Village

Honestly, Greenwich Village seemed like a really cool place to live in during the 50's, 60's and 70's. It was really progressive and had a lot of interesting people in its midst. People like Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan sought it out for its quirkiness and melting pot of people. In a time when hippies weren't around Greenwich Village seemed like a hippy town. I would have definitely loved to live there.

Pete Seeger

We talked a little bit in class about Pete Seeger, so I looked him up and he sounds really cool. His music tended to be protest-oriented, but it didn't necessarily always sound angry, rather it was calm, and more of a peaceful protest. He seemed more to cover other people's songs, instead of writing his own, although he did have one famous song. All in all he seemed like a really cool guy who spread his message by song.

R.E.M.

In class we talked about how Big Star influenced R.E.M. I don't know much about R.E.M., but the songs that I have heard I have liked. Radio Free Europe and Losing my Religion are definitely me favorites. I will be interested in listening to more of Big Star and R.E.M. to see their musical progression, and to see how the former influenced the latter in terms of writing and music.

Big Star

I really liked the way Big Star sounded. It gave me kind of an indie rock vibe, but it was actually a little bit similar to the Beatles. I also agree with what was said in class, namely that they should have been very popular and famous. They definitely had the musical skill to do it, and they had a nice variety of songs, no just the same old thing. I definitely look forward to hearing more of their songs.

Talent

I think that talent is a combination of hard work, genetics and intellect. Although it seems that most of the time athletes are not the smartest people, the way that they are able to analyze situations is astounding, and shows that they really do have a level of intellect. For example, a running back in football has to be able to know where the holes in the defense are, while being aware of players trying to tackle him, and at the same time holding tightly onto the ball. No stupid human being can do all that. Genetics also play a vital role. Some groups tend to be taller, faster etc. This also ties into the way that talent is perceived. If everyone in your families history has been a hunter (probably only found in small pockets of the world today) then you are more likely to be faster and stronger or have developed a different part of your brain. Hard work is the last and probably the most important one. Everyone thinks that all Asians are good at Math, but the reason that most of them are probably adept at it is that they are trained from a young age and learn all the skills necessary for later classes. These are the reasons why I think people aren't born with talent.

Joni Mitchell

I admired Joni Mitchell's voice and the way she overcame all the obstacles in her life to pursue a music career, but I didn't like the songs she made. They seemed way too improvisational and un-organized and her voice just drifted and fell. I know that she is extremely talented and possesses a great gift for music, but I would much rather listen to Simon and Garfunkel or Rufus Wainwright, because their songs have a better beat and more organization.

Music in the Media

Today we talked about the role that media plays in promoting music. I felt that this was a very interesting topic, and I really do see it. I only watch T.V. on the weekends, and often times much of it is on NBC and CBS. I always see ads for the VMA's and the Country Music Awards etc. The commercials all have words like "groundbreaking, angelic, a hit etc." that really ingrain in your mind the idea that these songs HAVE to be good. A more indirect way I see it is when I flip to a show like" The Voice" or "American Idol" where singers sing songs that I honestly don't like but the judges (who are ex-musicians or current ones) really like and promote. I just feel like it is forced upon you to like this fake pop music instead of what you actually like.

Beastie Boys

I didn't like the small part of the Beastie Boy's album that we listened to. As a casual music listener I know I don't understand the effort it takes to make an album like that, but honestly it just sounded like a scratchy disc, with voices intermittently saying things. It is groundbreaking that the Beastie Boys were able to do that, but those scratchy sounds don't appeal to me. I admire their creativity but not their singing talent or sound.