8 August 2012 (Wednesday)

9 students came today. 

I first started by telling the students that next Wednesday next week (15 August) there will be a free lunchtime concert downtown by a rising star from Seattle: Vicci Martinez (info), who was one of the finalists in the TV talent show "The Voice" (info). Here's an example of her singing on The Voice: her introduction to the judges: "Rolling In The Deep" (video) and "Come Along" (duet with CeeLo) (video). There was a bit of confusion in the class as I tried to find the information about where she is playing, but she is definitely playing (for free!) Wednesday, 15 August at Two Union Square Plaza (601 Union St [map]) from 12 - 1:30pm (info).  I highly recommend my students check her out, especially the students who attend classes downtown. I plan on going to the show, too.

I next asked the students if they had ever heard of a new movie from Taiwan called "Girlfriend Boyfriend" (movie trailer). Here's the description of the movie:

"GIRLFRIEND BOYFRIEND portrays the turbulent and rapid social change that has taken place during past 30 years in Taiwan through the perspectives of three intimate friends struggling with their own complex relationships." It was showing in Seattle and it would be very interesting to see this movie about society and relationships with some students from Taiwan so I can learn more about life there. I wanted to ask my students if anyone wanted to see the film with me, but now it looks like it isn't showing in Seattle anymore :-( .

Today Anthony, from Russia, brought his acoustic guitar to play some Russian songs for us! I don't have a recording of him playing + singing the songs, but here are links to the original versions of the songs he played:

The first song (ПИЛОТ - Шнурок):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5uMMjOCIHg

The second song (ДДТ-Дождь):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKTCfK5pPCI -- album version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1NNhkPPNYA -- official video.

The third song (Аквариум - Северный цвет):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIp0a8bTEcg -- album version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HW5PtnWDi0 -- concert version.

The next song chosen had some similar musical textures to it: "Zigeunerskat" (video, lyrics) by In Extremo (info).  The student who chose this song likes how the medieval sounds are incorporated into the song.  He likes both medieval and heavy metal music and In Extremo combine these two favorite styles of his.

The next song chosen was quite different: "Gangnam Style" (video, lyrics, song info) by PSY (info).  The student chose this song because it is humorous. In reading about it in the "song info" it is interesting for me to learn about why the different scenes are funny to Koreans. I forgot to ask the students if that "hopping around" style of dance became popular in Korea after this video came out.

Update: There was an article in the American news this week about this song! 

Update 2: Here's an article which explains the cultural background of why this video is so popular in Korea.

Speaking of funny songs, we next watched "Kabinenparty" (video, lyrics, song info in German) by Skero (info in German), which was a big hit in Austria last summer (it is sung in a strong accent local to the city of Linz).  

Now we were back on songs sung in German. We talked a little about whether German is a "melodic" language.  We listened to "Dalai Lama" (video with lyrics, song info) by German band Rammstein (info). After hearing this song I suggested the German language is more rhythmic than melodic.

The next song was "Fuck You" (video, lyrics, song info) by Lily Allen (info). The student said he likes the melody of the song.  Is that the only reason he suggested this song, I wonder?  Hahaha! :-)

At this point I asked the students to play me a song where the singer says "Fuck You" in their local language.  No one had a song like that to suggest, but they did suggest a song by the controversial rapper MC HotDog (info): "Wo Ai Tai Mei" (video, lyrics). 

The next song was "Stacy's Mom" (video, lyrics, song info) by Fountains Of Wayne (info).  The student who chose this song said he likes the pop melody. 

The theme of "Stacy's Mom" made me think of explaining an American term to the class.  I won't go into which term that was exactly in this blog, but it's used in this Tori Amos (info) song: "Big Wheel" (video, lyrics, song info).

On that note our meeting was over for the day. At the end of class today I realized we had only listened to three songs in English the whole day (two right at the end!) -- cool!

A note: the next class on 15 August will be the last one for Summer Quarter! The Language Of Music will resume for the Winter Quarter, starting again in October. Students are welcome to stay in touch with me during the break if they have any questions about music or cultural events in Seattle.  I will also keep students informed of my recommendations for musical/cultural things to do during the break -- I hope we will meet up!

Many of the students who have been attending class will go back home in the next weeks -- I will be sorry to not have you in my class in the Fall.  For this week, please think of songs about "going home", "goodbye" or any songs that you relate to your time in Seattle (ex. about Seattle, or you often listen(ed) here or that were popular in the past six months).