18 April 2012 (Wednesday)

9 students this week.  We started in our usual big room, then had to move halfway through to the smaller room.  But it was a fun session; I am enjoying the students and the conversations very much this quarter!

First a note: A Korean band, Dynamic Duo (info), who I had never heard of before students introduced me to them in the class, played a concert in Seattle on Friday, 13 April at my favorite club, The Showbox (info).  I don't think any of my students attended the concert.  I would have liked to go just to see the scene, but at $40 per ticket, it was a bit expensive since I'm not that into the band.  Here's a review of the concert.

I started class as usual by asking if anyone had had any musical adventures in the past week.  No one had any stories to tell (which is also why I knew no one had attended the Dynamic Duo concert).

Today's theme was Friday or Saturday night songs, or Sunday morning songs.  

The first song chosen was "The Lazy Song" (video, lyrics, song info) by Bruno Mars (info).

The next song was "Friday I'm In Love" (video, lyrics, song info) by The Cure (info).

At this point I asked a new student (from Japan) to pick a song so we could hear what kind of music he likes.  He chose "Tell Your World" (video, lyrics) by Livetune (info) featuring Miku (info).

The next song chosen was a totally different style: it was "Croatian Rhapsody" (video) by Maksim Mrvica (info).  Apparently this song is very famous in Korea as it has been used in a credit card commercial (for Hyundai credit cards).

Since my last name is Croatian I told the class how Americans are often a mix of parents and grandparents from many countries. I explained that though my last name (Zitkovich) is Croatian, one grandmother was Swedish and the other Norwegian.  And one grandfather Scottish. So I am a typical American mix of ethnicities; it is common for Americans to ask each other what their ethnic mix is. 

Side note: Speaking of former Yugoslavia, the next day after class (Thursday) I attended a networking event for international students at the University of Washington. At this event I met a 15-year old Bosnian girl who is visiting Seattle for a couple of weeks and she is *crazy* about K-pop and J-Rock -- who would have thought someone from Bosnia (info) would even know about Asian music, let alone these very specific genres!  She will still be in town for the next week and I invited her to come to the class and get some inside information on K-Pop (info) and J-Pop (info) from my students. I hope she can make it!

The next song got us back to Friday/Saturday songs: "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night" (video, lyrics, song info) by Bon Jovi (info).

There is a line in this song "I ain't got nothin' " and I spent some time trying to explain the use of the word "ain't" (besides the fact that that sentence is a double-negative, which doesn't officially exist in English grammar).  Here's the definition of "ain't". I told my students it is a useful term to understand, but they don't need to practice using it in conversation; it's very much a slang term and if you don't use it right, it will sound strange.

The next song was "Marry Me" (video, lyrics, song info) by Ellegarden (info).  The student who chose this song mentioned that she thinks the English pronunciation by this Japanese singer is very good.  It's true, the pronunciation is very good! However, the grammatical construction of the lyrics is kind of odd.  It's not exactly wrong ("won't you... if I could be...") but it's... different.  Perhaps the singer just constructed the lyrics in a way that fit the melody of the song well. And that is a cool thing about when non-native English speakers make English lyrics -- sometimes they create things which a native speaker wouldn't even think of. 

After the Ellegarden song a student suggested a song which she said has a similar musical "feeling".  Unfortunately for me the band is Taiwanese (旺福 -- I think it might be "Wonfu" in English?) and I can't find information about them in English, so here's the link to the video (with lyrics).


Because the singer's hair is bleached blonde I asked the students about the significance of having colored hair in Asia societies; to what extent it is rebellion, whether a person can have a regular job with colored hair, etc.

My students *love* the tv show Glee (info)!  The next song chosen was the Glee version of "Whatever Happened To Saturday Night?" (song, lyrics, song info).  

This song is originally from the musical movie from the 1970's called "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Here's more information about The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 


My favorite song from the movie is "Time Warp" (video, lyrics, song info).
  
This movie has fans who like to dress like the characters and act out the scenes in front of the screen while the movie is showing.  The last Saturday of every month the movie is shown in West Seattle: I want to take the students to see it one time -- it will be an American experience like they won't see any other place!

The next song was "Sunshine" (video, lyrics) by Matt Costa (info).

I contrasted this happy sunshine-y song with a Seattle band's version of a song on the subject: Sunshine (video with lyrics) by Alice In Chains (info).  This is actually one of my personal favorite AIC songs: I like the chorus where he sings "Sunshine... I don't care no more".


One student observed that the Seattle-band version of a "sunshine" song sounds pretty sad.  That's true -- that's what Seattle bands specialize in!

Somehow we were now on the topic of songs about sunshine: the next song chosen was "You Are My Sunshine" (video) sung in Korean from a famous Korean movie. 

The last song of the day was by Tokyo Jihen (info). My notes say the song was called "After The Rain" or "Sunshine" or "Blue Sky", but I can't find the video we watched now... can anyone help?




With that our meeting for the day was over. I hope the high school student from Bosnia attends our next class so she can learn about K-pop and J-pop from the class.

11 April 2012 (Wednesday)

Lots of students this week -- 15 students total, 5 of whom were new. We had to use a small room for the class so it was kind of packed, but it was a fun session!

I started by asking the class if anyone had had any "musical adventures" during the past week. Someone mentioned that one of their friends had gone to the Radiohead (info) concert.  So to start the class I asked someone to suggest a Radiohead song to listen to.  Someone suggested "Creep" (video, lyrics, song info), which was the breakout song for Radiohead -- about 20 years ago!!

I was surprised that my (young) students would choose such an old song -- Radiohead's first single ever, released in 1992!  However, to tell the truth, I don't know which other Radiohead song I would choose: although theoretically I should like Radiohead, their songs just go in one ear and out the other for me.

We had to wait for a commercial to play on YouTube before the "Creep" video. The commercial was for Dr. Pepper soft drink (info).  I haven't seen Dr. Pepper very often in Europe so I asked my students if they are familiar with it.  Only a few were, but those who have tasted it like it.

This made me think to ask if my students like that uniquely American soft drink "root beer" (info). ("Root beer" is not a beer nor alcoholic at all, actually.)  Americans *love* the taste of root beer, but I have found that most people who have not grown up drinking it as kids don't like it.  I asked the class how many like root beer.  A couple like it, but most do not.

This made me think of a variation of root beer that the class might like: a "root beer float"!  Basically a root beer float is root beer together with vanilla ice cream.  Here's a video about how to make a root beer float.

Speaking of cold drinks, I promised to take the class to a restaurant/bar nearby to have margaritas (info) after class one sunny day.

Ok, on to more music!  The next song we listened to as "Alphabeat" (video) by David Guetta (info). But I can't remember what we talked about about this song, sorry!!

The next video we watched was by Ringo Sheena (info). Unfortunately I can't find the exact video we watched anymore because all the words were in Japanese and I couldn't write them down.  My notes say that the student picked this song because she likes how Ringo takes old songs and updates the sounds to make them modern.  I remember that the song sounded like it came from the 1920's, but now I can't remember which song it was... can anyone help me?

Update: One of the students sent me the song/link. It was  東京事変-女の子は誰でも (video).

The next song was "We Are Young" (video, lyrics, song info) from the Glee TV show (info).  When I asked the student why he chose this song he said it is simply because it was the #1 song in the US on the Billboard charts.

It turns out "We Are Young" was originally done by the band Fun. (info).  So we watched the Fun. version of the song to see how it is different from the Glee version.

The next song chosen was a "Spring" song: "You And Me" (video with lyrics) by Olivia Ong (info). 

The next song was "She Will Be Loved" (video, lyrics, song info) by Maroon 5 (info).  This song was chosen because its mood fit the rainy day in Seattle today.

Again I was surprised that such an "old" song by Maroon 5 was chosen -- this was a single from their first album, "Songs About Jane" (album info). I mentioned that I like how every song on that album is about the singer's ex-girlfriend (Jane) -- writing down all the ups and downs of a relationship is a great way to create a theme for an album!

Back in 2002 I really liked the first single by Maroon 5, "Harder To Breathe" (video, lyrics, song info).  As I am writing this blog I realize I have never actually seen the video for the song until today though I have listened to the song countless times!

I was saw Maroon 5 play in a small club (The Prime Club) in Cologne, Germany in early 2004 when they had made it big in the US but were still unknown in Europe. Someone recorded that very concert so I have an audio memory of the show!

Adam Levine (the Maroon 5 singer) (info) is considered a sex symbol so I asked the girls in the class if they think he's hot.  They all said "yes".  Guys, if you want girls to fall over themselves for you, be a singer or a guitarist!

Levine is also one of the coaches/judges on the talent show "The Voice" (info).  Here's his profile video.

The choice of the next song, "Rain" (video) by Japanese band Freetempo (info) was also inspired by the rainy Seattle weather today.

At this point I played a song which I felt fits with the feel of Freetempo and rainy days: "Home" (video, lyrics) by Zero 7 (info).  I really like two albums by Zero 7: When It Falls (album info) and The Garden (album info).  Highly recommended listening, especially on a rainy day!

One of the singers for Zero 7, Sophie Barker (website) will play in a small bar in Seattle on 6 May. I think it will be a good concert. Anyone want to join me (must be 21+)?

The next song chosen was "Hello Seattle" (video with lyrics, song info) by Owl City (info).  The student who chose it said that someone had recommended it as a greeting for when she arrived in Seattle.

Though it was raining today, the previous weekend had been very nice, sunny weather in Seattle.  That reminded me to play a song for the students: "The Bluest Skies You've Ever Seen Are In Seattle" (video, lyrics) by Perry Como (info).

The next song was a big stylistic change: "Because Of You" (video, lyrics, song info) by Ne-Yo (info). The student who chose this song had heard it while walking down the street, he liked the song and used the Korean version of the Shazam app (info) to find out what the name of the song was.

The next song chosen was yet another big stylistic change: "Noodle" (video) by Kid & Dream.  The student who chose this song said that this song relaxes her, especially at the end of a stressful day.  She said that tradition says that one must relax to eat noodles.  And even royalty eats simple noodles.

She told us about "Prince Noodles" in Taiwan that come in packages that children there eat like American children eat potato chips.

In the "Noodle" video there were little devils so I asked the class if in their cultures "devils" have horns coming out of their heads like in America and Europe.  They said those concepts are familiar in Asia from American culture, but their traditional culture does not have that imagery. 

Speaking of kids, the next song was a cover of "Rolling In The Deep" (video, lyrics, song info) by a 15-year old girl, Park Ji-min from the K-Pop Star show (info). Wow, that girl can sing! I'm curious to see if she wins the whole competition!

The next song chose was a rocker: "Love Addict" (video, lyrics) by Vamps (info). The student who chose this songs chose it because:

a) The singer is from the band L'Arc En Ciel (info), who we have heard songs from lately and

b) earlier in the class we had talked about ghosts and vampires.

[Here's a little random thing as I write out my notes:  The riff from that last song reminds me a little of the riff in the song "Rumble" by my favorite band to see in concert, You Am I (info).  So here's a clip of "Rumble (live)" to compare the riffs. Ok, the riffs are only vaguely similar, but it still was nice to take a detour while writing this blog and see a great song by one of my favorite bands!] 

The next song chosen was "Get It In" (video, lyrics) by Tasha (info).  Actually, the student who chose the song said she doesn't like the video for this song so we just listened to it without the video.

The student who chose this song said she really likes Tasha's voice. To hear another side of her voice we listened to "As Time Goes By" (video, lyrics). 

Tasha is married to another Korean rapper, Tiger JK (info).  The last video of the day was his song "8:45" (video, lyrics) which is very famous in Korea. Very cool effect with the lights in the crowd!

Theme for next class: "Weekend Songs": songs for Friday or Saturday night (going out) or Sunday morning (mellow).  Of course we will listen to any song of any theme or style that you want to share with the class.

4 April 2012 (Wednesday)

There was great attendance of the class today -- many new people and a total of 14 students! However, unfortunately the class didn't run as smoothly as usual. The first problem was that we didn't have our normal laptop + speakers + projector so we had to use an iPad.  The second problem was that a different group of people had the room reserved from 5:30pm so just as we started talking about music, we had to leave the room.  Oh well, every once in a while there will be a day where nothing quite works right and this one one of them. 

Because there were so many new students we did a quick round of introductions.  As the students introduced themselves I passed around a box of chocolate Easter eggs.

The first song we heard was chosen by one of the new students, from Saudi Arabia.  He likes the Moroccan singer Mona Amarcha (info) and we listed to the song "Weinak" (video.  When I asked why he chose this singer + song he said it's because he likes her voice.  The lyrics are not that deep, but he likes the sound of her voice. I like these kinds of Middle Eastern rhythms, too.

The next song was "Shine (live)" (video with lyrics, song info) by Japanese band L'Arc En Ciel (info).  This is a band we have heard in previous classes but the reason we listened today is because they have a new album out and the student who likes them just received a copy of the new album.  So I wanted to hear one of their new songs. 

I asked the student if the new album is as good as the old albums and he said "Yes, it's just like the old albums." I asked if this is a good thing, that the band is repeating itself.  He answered "Yes, I like that the band has a style that they stick to.  When the band members do projects outside L'Arc En Ciel they do different styles, but I like that the band keeps its style."  Good reasoning!

The next song was "I Love You John" (video with lyrics) by Sandee Chan (info). The student explained that in Chinese the sound of the word "John" is often put at the end of sentences when people speak.

The next song was another woman singer: Ringo Sheena (info).  We listed to her song "Bathroom" (video, lyrics). 

The kind of crazy style of Ringo reminded me of the Icelandic singer Bjork (info). Bjork is very popular in Europe but my students weren't familiar with her name or songs.  Her music can be a little crazy, and sometimes difficult to listen to, but I wanted to show the students the song "Human Behaviour" (video, lyrics, song info) as an example of her music.  Unfortunately I couldn't find the song online during the class, so students, if you want to hear it, click above!

The next song chosen was "Hysteria" (video, lyrics, song info) by Muse (info).  I can't remember exactly why this song was chosen.  Maybe it's on a workout playlist for one of the students?  

Muse always reminds me of a different singer, Jeff Buckley (info).  Jeff Buckley was a really great singer, but he only made one album: he drowned in a river during the making of his second album.  I didn't play a song by him in the class, but if you like Muse or Radiohead (info), check out this song by Jeff Buckley: "Grace" (video, lyrics, song info).  

The next song chosen was by a singer Kimura Kaela (info).  First we watched a commercial for books featuring her plus the Peanuts cartoon characters (video), then we watched a live clip of her singing to see another side of her voice.

The next song chosen was "High High" (video, lyrics, song info) by G-Dragon & T.O.P., who are from the Korean boy band Big Bang (info).  It's a cool club song!

I wanted to hear what the band Big Bang sounds like so we listened to "Fantastic Baby" (video, lyrics, song info).

With that the person who had the room reserved came in and kicked us out :-( .  I was sorry for that since the conversation had just started flowing. A few of us went to a nearby cafe for a coffee and to do some more conversation.

28 March 2012 (Wednesday)

After a pause of 2 weeks for Spring Break, today was the first class of the Spring Quarter.  Only 5 students came, 4 of whom were regulars last quarter, and one new student.  We had a great discussion and I hope that more students come as the quarter progresses.

One of the first things I have talked to the class about was doing something outside of class.  I had been to my friends' flamenco performance the previous night (Tuesday) on Capitol Hill and this is definitely something I want to take my students to some time soon (they do the flamenco performance every Tuesday).

But for this week we decided to to see The Hunger Games (info) at the IMAX theater at the Seattle Center (Pacific Science Center) on Sunday evening.

I hadn't made a theme for today's song selections but since everyone in the class had traveled over Spring Break a theme kind of naturally became clear: "Road Trip" songs, i.e. the songs which remind them most of their travels over the past couple of weeks.

It turns out a few of the students went to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. They didn't go together, rather their separate trips coincidentally took them there.

I asked one student if he saw a show in Las Vegas.  He was embarrassed to admit he had seen "Jubilee" (video), but I don't think there's anything embarrassing about that -- that kind of thing is what Las Vegas is all about!

I asked the new student to give us an example of the music she likes.  She chose "Sherlock" (video, song info) by SHINee (info) which is currently a big hit in Korea. I had never heard of this band, but that song is good club music!




Now we went back to "road trip songs".  We heard "A Flying Butterfly" (video) by YB Band (info).  The song is about how caterpillars transform into butterflies and the student felt like his road trip was a similar kind of transformation for his future.


By the way, the band also did an English-language version of this song (English lyrics are in the notes below the video).

The next song was "Without You" (video with English subtitles) by Dynamic Duo (info). I asked the new student what her favorite Dynamic Duo song is and she said it is "Solo" (video, lyrics).  


The new student also told us that Dynamic Duo will play a concert on 13 April in Seattle!  In my favorite concert hall in the world, the Showbox!  She's only been here two weeks but knows better about this cool concert than I do!  How did I miss this concert announcement?!?  I'd like to see the band and the scene, but tickets are $42 and that is a bit expensive for me to pay to see a band that I only like in passing.

The next song chosen was "Drive By" (video, lyrics, song info) by Train (info).  The student who chose this song said she heard it on the radio a lot during her trip to Alaska.

One student asked me to explain the meaning of the term "Drive By". It is a term with a long history in American culture.  It started by being the term "drive by shooting" which is when gangsters drive by a house or a person in a car and start shooting at the person or house without stopping the car.  But nowadays it is used in regular language to mean "something unplanned and for just a moment".  For example, in an office sometimes people say "I am going to do a drive-by meeting with Bob" which means "I am going to walk by Bob's office and see if he is there and if he is, I will talk to him for a few minutes."  In this song by Train he is saying to the girl "I like you and care about you, the romantic moments we had together were not just me driving by and then forgetting you." However, personally I don't like to use this term, even at work, because it has such violent origins and I think people who have experienced a "drive-by shooting" don't think it's a funny term at all. But I'm sure this song by Train will be a big hit across America this summer because it uses a lot of phrases and words that Americans think are light-hearted and fun -- summer-like!

The same student who chose "Drive By" said there was another song which described her Alaska trip: "Like An Idiot" (video with lyrics) by Crowd Lu (info).  This is a very funny, cute video.

The student told us that Crowd Lu often sings songs about breakfast so I asked what people usually eat for breakfast in their home countries.  The Taiwanese "breakfast shops" sound very interesting.  Apparently they eat hamburgers for breakfast!  I found this video describing Taiwan breakfast shops -- I want to try a Taiwanese vegetarian breakfast hamburger! ;-)

I played a song that I have been listening to a lot the last couple of weeks: "Until You Remember" (video, lyrics) by Tedeschi Trucks Band (info).  I had checked out the CD from the library just to hear what this popular American bands sound like and while the album didn't really catch my ear, this particular song stuckout for me.  I really like the sound of her voice as she sings the chorus!


With that class was over. The theme for next week's class: songs about eating and drinking!

On a different note, on my way in to LOM class I saw a poster advertising a showing of the film "Black Power Mixtape" (film info) on Monday, 2 April in Thomson Hall 211 from 5:30pm - 7:30pm.  I think this film will be a very interesting insight to American culture from about 40 years ago: it was a time of big changes in American society and music played a big role in those changes. If you are interested in learning about music's influence on current American culture, join me Monday afternoon.