Today 7 students (2 new) came to talk about their first song/cd they bought.
While I set up the equipment we watched a bit of a song by by Wagakki Band (info) which was a band YouTube suggested to me when I wrote last week's blog. I posted a question to the LOM Facebook group asking if any of the Japanese students know about this band, but it turns out that in my class only Chinese students know about this Japanese band, hahahaha! However, since the name of the song we watched was in Japanese, I can't find it again as I write this blog, sorry!
The first song chosen on the day's topic was "Koi No Maiahi" (video, lyrics, song info) by O-Zone (info). What's funny about this song is that to my ears it sounds like it's sung in Japanese, but it's actually sung in Romanian!
One of the Chinese students recognized this song so we watched the Chinese version of it (video), which is in Chinese, not Romanian! Since this is the karaoke version, sing along!
At this point I asked everyone in class about whether music was often played in their family home. Most students apparently didn't have a lot of music playing at home!
Next I asked one of the new students what kind of music she likes. She said her favorite band is Mayday (info). As an example of Mayday we watched "Your Legend" (video, lyrics + song info), which is not necessarily the student's favorite song, just a recent song by the band. We talked about how bands start independent then seem to lose connection to passionate songwriting as they become more successful.
The first song that got the student into Mayday was "Embrace" (video, lyrics), so we had to hear that one! :-)
The next "first song bought" was "No Dejes Que" (video, lyrics, song info) by Caifanes (info), a band our student from Mexico City has played for us before. He bought this song on cassette originally. Caifanes was his favorite band as a pre-teen and this song was the first one he ever learned to play on guitar.
Next up was "光と影の間" (video) by Atlantis Airport (website) which is pretty much the opposite of the first song the student bought -- it's a new band she likes. It sounds related to her recent interest in modern jazz music. Cool song!
The next song was "Nuncucks" (video with lyrics, song info) by Jay Chou (info). I was surprised that the student chose this song as the student usually likes more mellow songs. He said it is true that he normally likes mellower songs. So we listened to another, mellower song of Jay, "Common Orange Jasmin (video with lyrics and translation below video, song info). While this song was playing all the Chinese students in the class talked about how this song brings back childhood memories.
To end the day I asked the other new student what kind of music she likes. She had had time by this point to think about what the first song she ever bought was so we listened to it: "Sk8er Boi" (video, lyrics, song info) by Avril Lavigne (info). She said she used to listen to it on repeat in the car. I asked how long her parents put up with that, and she laughed.
With that our time for the week was over. In honor of 1 May, which always brings riots in downtown Seattle and on Capitol Hill, this week's theme is protest songs. Or songs about May Day from your country. Or any song you have been listening to lately.
Today only 4 students came to talk music. Maybe it was because people decided to stay outside and enjoy the sunny spring weather?
I had read an album review about a jazz piano album ("Trilogy" (music, info) by Chick Corea (info) that said it was wonderful so I started class by asking one of the students, who is learning piano, if he also likes jazz piano music, in addition to the classical piano he plays. He said he much prefers classical.
By the way, my favorite instrument in jazz is the drums.
Speaking of jazz, Sunday, 19 April, I saw a GREAT concert by a local "jazz" band called Tuatara (info). But calling their music "jazz" gets into the whole question of "what is jazz?" because what they play is very different from Miles Davis, Chick Corea or bohemianvoodoo, all of which are considered jazz.
By the way, while the group is led by Barrett Martin, who was the drummer for Seattle grunge bands Screaming Trees and Mad Season, and Mike McCready from Pearl Jam is a guest artists on the album, it's definitely NOT rock. But it *is* very groovy and very creative. It's not rock music, but it rocks! Here's an example of what Tuatara's music is like (video).
Before we started talking about specific songs I asked the Japanese student in the class whether I should go see a performance of traditional Japanese "Gagaku". But once we watched a little clip of Gagaku I realized it's probably a bit too slow for me.
But it did remind me of how one of my very first Language Of Music students played Yoshida Brothers (info) "Rising" (video) for the class as an example of traditional + modern Japanese music. This song is really cool. And a few months later Yoshida Brothers played a concert in a small theater in Seattle and I went with the student to see the show. It was great -- I got to see a band I had never heard of before and she got to see a band that only plays big venues in Japan in a small Seattle theater!
[As I was writing this blog and looking for the Yoshida Brothers video YouTube presented me with an advertisement for a band that is doing the next progression of this modern + traditional concept: a band of all hot chicks and boys playing a whole host of traditional instruments overlaying frantic heavy metal (video). I'm kind of fascinated by this mix but I can't exactly say I like it.]
At this point in the class I started talking about some business ideas I have. I described the concepts to the class and asked them if they like the ideas. Let's just say I better hope I have a different target audience than my students.
The next song we played was "Ready Ready" (video, lyrics) by Los Dynamite (info). Unusually for Mexico, this band sings mostly in English.
We talked a bit about bands singing in English rather their mother tongue. This led to watching the video for "Real Thing Shakes" (video, lyrics, song info) by B'z (info). Apparently this band was very popular in Japan in the 1980's -- how have I never even heard of them?!?
In the 1980's the Japanese band all my friends liked was Loudness (info). Their most famous song in the US was "Crazy Nights" (video, lyrics, song info). But no one in the class liked this song.
The last song we listened to was by the band Perfume (info) from their performance at SXSW (video). Perfume is the most successful Japanese electronic bands currently. The presentation of the band isn't exactly musical, but it is creative and visually fascinating. I would file this more under "visual performance with music background" than "music". But it's all entertainment, right?
With that our time for the week was over. I'm still trying to decide what the theme for next week's class will be...
The first class of Spring Quarter! 7 students came, 2 of whom were new.
I started class by asking each student what they did during the Spring break. And I asked what music was the soundtrack to the break.
One student said she started listening to a lot of jazz during the break. An example as "Adria Blue" (video) by bohemianvoodoo (website). She said she likes the music to start the day because it's relaxing.
There are many "kinds" of jazz from traditional to relaxing to challenging. I've said it before and I'll say it again, one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever recorded was Miles Davis's (info) "Kind Of Blue" (videos, album info).
Another student discovered the band Silversun Pickups (info) over the break. He heard song "Panic Switch" (video, lyrics, song info) in a Starbucks in Portland, OR and Shazamed (website) it to find out which band it is. He said that so far he has only listened to the one Silversun Pickups album: he wants to become very familiar with it before moving to one of their other albums. Maybe he'll find a new favorite song later.
SZ note: the drummer in the "Panic Switch" video looks to me like Animal from the Muppets (video). I wonder if he does that on purpose?
One of the new students is from Italy so a student asked to hear a typical Italian singer/song. The song chosen was "I Belong To You" (video, lyrics, song info) by Eros Ramazzoti (info) with Anastacia (info). Interestingly, Anastacia is American but nobody in America knows about her while she is a huge star in Europe.
The next song was an other Italian group: Il Volo (info) singing "El Triste" (video, lyrics, song info).
Two students from class were going to see a concert tonight: Stone Temple Pilots (info). I asked one of the students to pick one of his favorite STP songs. He chose "Sour Girl" (video, lyrics, song info). Which is a nice song! But I think of the band as being more loud than that song: I think of them more like their first single, "Sex Type Thing" (video, lyrics, song info).
Now we asked the other new student to choose a song he likes. He chose "You Raise Me Up" (video, lyrics, song info) by Westlife (info). There can hardly be a bigger difference between Westlife and Stone Temple Pilots, but that's one reason I love hosting this conversation group!
The next song chosen was "Put The Gun Down" (video, lyrics) by ZZ Ward (info). The student who chose this song heard it first on the TV show The Voice (info). I have to admit, I kind of like The Voice. Here's the version of "Put The Gun Down" from The Voice that the student originally heard; she prefers this version to ZZ Ward's original.
Speaking of The Voice, there's a contestant originally from Seattle in the current season: Kimberly Nicole (info). "The House Of The Rising Son" (video).
The rhythm of "Put The Gun Down" reminded me of the song "Black Horse And The Cherry Tree" (video, lyrics, song info) by KT Tunstall (info). My favorite version of that song is the one where she plays it live on a TV show in France and builds the parts of the song up piece-by-piece using a sampler on stage, see link above. I could never keep track of all those parts!
The last song of the day was "Hostiles (live)" (video, lyrics, song info) by Damon Albarn (info).
With that, the first class of the quarter ended. Next week's class will be in the same room, HUB 307. Theme for next class will be "Songs About Springtime".
Today was the last class of Winter Quarter -- this quarter flew by! Only 6 students showed up, I guess attendance was low because people were studying for finals.
The theme today was music which students listen to while studying.
The first song we listened to was "Salut d'Amour" (video) by Edward Elgar (info), which is the song one of the regular students who plays piano is practicing.
The first "study" song chosen was "Get Lucky" (video with lyrics, song info) by Daft Punk (info). The student who chose this song likes the melody and the lyrics, especially "we've come to far to give up", as it relates to studying.
I mentioned to the class that this song reminds me a lot of the song from the 70's "Le Freak" (video, lyrics, song info) by Chic (info). Man, I *loved* this song when I was in middle school! It's probably not a coincidence that the guitarist for Chic plays on "Get Lucky".
Bands/songs often wear their influences on their sleeves but this week the landmark decision was made in US court that the song "Blurred Lines" (video, lyrics, song info) by Robin Thicke (info) and Pharrell (info, also on "Get Lucky") had copied "Got To Give It Up" (video, lyrics, song info) by Marvin Gaye (info). We talked a little about whether this court decision is fair.
The next "studying" song was "Swastika Eyes" (video, lyrics, song info) by Primal Scream (info). The student who chose this songs likes fast, loud music when he is studying. I can't imagine studying to this racket, but he got into one of the best universities in Japan, so it must work for him!
The next song chosen was "Azul" (video, lyrics) by the band Little Jesus (band Facebook page). The student who chose this song says it puts him in a happy mood.
That student mentioned that this weekend the Vive Latino Festival (info), the best music festival in Mexico each year was taking place.
One band playing the festival is Nortec Collective (info). We checked out their song "Tijuana Sound Machine" (video).
This made me think of the band Gotan Project (info). Their mix of modern and traditional tango style music is interesting to me. As an example of their music I played "La Gloria" (video, song info).
Someone mentioned that Clean Bandit (info), who has that sweet song "Rather Be" (video, lyrics, song info) is playing at the Showbox (website) on 21 April.
The next studying songs chosen were "Arabesques" (video, song info) by Debussy (info) and Kaleidoscope (video) by DJ Okawari (website).
At this point I learned that two of the students in today's class will be leaving Seattle at the end of this quarter! I asked them if they have any songs which mean "Seattle" for them.
One chose "All Of Me" (video, lyrics, song info) by John Legend (info).
The other chose "Treasure" (video, lyrics, song info) by Bruno Mars (info) because this quarter she was in Seattle is a treasured good memory.
With that our time for the day -- and the quarter -- were over. We will continue again on 8 April.
Today 9 students came to class.
The previous week I had mentioned to the class what my phone ringtone is and that led me to wanting to hear what the students have as their ringtones. So I started class by asking each person what his/her ringtone is.
To my great surprise, almost everyone has the default ringtone! They said it's too much hassle to change it or create a new one.
The one person who has a custom ring tone has "22" (video, lyrics, song info) by Taylor Swift (info). She put it on when she turned 22 years old herself and just hasn't changed it since.
Someone said they previously had "Don't Look Back In Anger" (video, lyrics, song info) by Oasis (info).
Another student had had "From Nowhere (demo version)" (video, song info) by Vaquero (info).
I know we next watched "Summer (live version)" (video) by Joe Hisaishi (info). But now I can't remember if the person who chose it said it was formerly a ringtone.
Someone else said they had a ringtone from "Saints Row" (info) video game, but I don't know which song or part of the game he used.
So much for ringtones... now we got into regular song choices.
One student said he is going to a concert this coming Sunday by 2:54 (info). We watched their song "Scarlet" (video, lyrics). Cool song!
One of the other students reminded us that she went to see a concert by Leighton Meester (info) the previous week. She said that it was a good concert. Her favorite song was "Heartstrings" (video, lyrics).
In an class a few weeks ago a student had said she was really into the artist Rodriguez (info), especially his lyrics, who the film "Searching For Sugar Man" (info) was made about. A student mentioned he watched the film. I still need to see that movie!
The next song chosen was "Youth Knows No Pain" (video with lyrics, song info) by Lykki Li (info). The student who chose this song likes the 60's sound of the song. He discovered it by a friend emailing a different song by Li, which the student didn't like, but then tried this song and likes it.
The 60's sound of that song inspired me to ask if one of the guys in the class who *loves* Arctic Monkeys has ever heard of the band The Last Shadow Puppets (info), which features the singer/guitarist for Arctic Monkeys. To me it's a brilliant update on the 60's sound. As a sample I played "The Age Of The Understatement" (video, lyrics, song info).
For some reason we started talking about "shoegaze" music (definition) and the next song chosen was "Uzu Ni Naru" (video) by Kinoko Teikoku (info) as an example of "the most shoe gaze of all shoe gaze bands". The student who chose this band like *all* their music!
The next song chosen was "おしゃかしゃま" (video, lyrics) by Radwimps (info). The student who chose this song said the band was very popular during his high school. He listened to them again this past weekend or the first time in a long time.
The next song was chosen by a new student: "Lalala" (video, song info) by Standing Egg (Facebook page). She started liking this band before they got popular.
Unfortunately I don't remember the explanations for why the last two songs of the day were chosen, but the songs were:
"15 Step (live at the Grammy's)" (video, lyrics, song info) by Radiohead (info).
and
"Give You What You Like" (video, lyrics, song info) by Avril Lavigne (info).
With that our time for the day was over.
