19 November 2014 (Wednesday)

Today 4 students to share the songs they have been listening to lately; I didn't suggest a theme for this week.

First we started by talking about current music events. I had gone with three students to see local Seattle band Mudhoney (info) play at the famous Seattle club Neumos (website). It was a really fun experience. Here's a review of the show.  

After the show we went for a beer to Linda's Tavern (article), which is a famous Seattle music pub for many reasons including the fact that it's the last place where Kurt Cobain was seen alive in public.

I also told the class that a free flamenco guitar + singing concert was happening on the UW campus for free on Sunday, 23 November. (I went to it and it was GREAT!)

Speaking of music, one of the students who loves Taylor Swift (info) told us she bought tickets for the Taylor Swift concert at Century Link field(?!?! she's as big as U2 and Paul McCartney?!?) on 8 August 2015.

In honor of Ms. Swift we watched "Blank Space" (video, lyrics, song info). 

Then, to hear how she sounds when she's rocking out, we listened to "I Knew You Were Trouble" (video, lyrics, song info).

Next we listened to "My World" (video, lyrics) by Spyair (info). The student who chose this song likes it for the positive thinking message in the lyrics.

The next song was on that theme of positive thinking: "All About That Bass" (video, lyrics, song info) by Meghan Trainar (info).

Next up was "Love Song" (video, lyrics, song info) by The Cure (info). The student who chose it feels like this song is part of his life soundtrack. I have to admit that I really like this song, too, both lyrically and musically. The video is a juxtaposition of the sweet lyrics with the strange visual of the lead singer.

A student asked me a question that led me to talking about music from Mali. I told the class that my favorite female singer is Oumou Sangare (info) from Mali. Her voice is magical to me in all the styles she sings, but to give the class an example of her music I chose "Yala" (video). In this song I am fascinated by the rhythm of her singing -- it's so different from Western music!

Here's an example of the mix of Western/Malian where Oumou duets with Alicia Keys (info) on Keys' hit "Fallin" (video, lyrics, song info).

Mali has *many* great bands. In the south of the country the population + bands are black, but in the Sahara desert in the North it's a totally different style. A great example of the desert music is "Cler Achel" (video, song info) by Tinariwen (info).

Ah, but if you guys want to know my current favorite mix of African music with Western rock, check out JuJu: "Nightwalk" (video). BTW, that African instrument making all that noise has only *one* string!! The band is Robert Plant's current backing band.

The world music I played inspired a student to next choose "Sassafras" (video) by Lila Downs (info). The student who chose this song mentioned that she looks like the famous painter Frida Kahlo (info).

The next choice was a Korean indie rock band, Peppertones (info). We listened to their song "Beginner's Luck" (video).

I can't remember how we go to this song, but the next one was "I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" (video, lyrics, song info) by Black Kids (info). The lead vocal sounds a lot like the singer from The Cure before.

At the end of class a student asked me to play an example of German indie music. The first band that came to mind was Die Toten Hosen (info) and the song "Tage Wie Diese" (video with lyrics below, song info), though I'm sure my German friends would suggest even better examples of German indie music. 


With that class was over for the day. We will not have class next week, 26 November, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. I hope to see everyone on 3 December for our last(!!) class of the quarter. Since it's the Thanksgiving and Christmas season theme for this class will be songs that you listen to around Christmas or that remind you of times with your family.