It's no news that pop artists tend to quote music from the past. And despite my growing enmity for modern pop music, I was floored when I saw Beyonce's last video:
With the exception of the VJ'ing (oh how I love VJ'ing!) at the end of the video, I counted maybe 9 camera changes. This means these girls have their choreography down. But let's look deeper. Three women in black and white performing advanced choreography. This is an obvious throwback to groups like The Supremes or The Shirelles. But it's here musically to! The "oh-oh-oh" lines imitate melodic nuances common to 'Oldies' music, as well as the simplistic lyrics and the intuitive song structure (kudos for both!). However, the underlying electronic accompaniment and harmonic nuances are very new, just as many of Beyonce's dance moves and the slight touch of modern feminism in the lyrics.
Beyonce has always been vocal about her love for classic R&B performers, and there's no doubt her experience in "Dreamgirls" rubbed off on her, but to see everything culminated in this way is pretty cool. Subtle, yet very effective.
Another example:
Oingo Boingo's "Stay," from the album "Dead Man's Party." Elfman first started The Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo to record a film soundtrack. It then turned into a cabaret performance ensemble, and then a ska band called Oingo Boingo. And it never stopped changing. Midway through the 80's, Elfman's compositions became... different. Here's a great example. The microphone he's using and the way he holds himself (usually) seems to be a throwback to Oldies singers. I.e. The Beatles. The Beatles had a profound influence on Elfman, and it's all over Boingo's last studio album, so to see these subtle nods to the band, as well as to many other bands, is not very striking.
And musically. The song tries to imitate Indian vocal nuances and an Eastern flavored drone. But then, the chorus is totally different. In fact, the chorus, and even the structure of the lyrics throughout the song, sounds like it was written in the late '50's. Even though ostinatos and synthesizer tracks typical of the 1980's dominate the color of the music, it's construction is very obviously pulling from different places. I'm sure there are other elements I'm missing in the video portion (please let me know if you can think of any). For example, Why the Western theme? Given Boingo's cabaret roots, it's not too surprising, but it's still kind of odd. And Elfman always has to have a ghost...
Check out their anything from "Dead Man's Party" or "Insanity" or "Useless" from "Boingo." Between gamelan, pentachords, Oldies, Beatles, post-minimalism, and alternative rock, Elfman proved himself to be a very creative composer almost 30 years ago. And we still haven't caught up.
One more. Warning: this one's slightly disturbing.
Mr. Bungle - Travolta (retitled "Quote Unquote" due to licensing issues.) I can't begin to nail down every element of the video (although the Saturday Night Fever scenes are pretty obvious). Bungle always draws from the most obscure sources they can. Kind of. But check out 1:51ish again if you missed something. That's right, it's the opening track from "Grease." And Bungle's first album had a very circus-y sound, but it's done very, very intricately. The song structure was influenced by John Zorn's file-card method (he was their producer), and it features elements of various genres. If you can help me nail down more of these references, well, I'd be extremely happy...
Note: Anything by Mike Patton is probably post-modern. If you want to check out some really difficult-yet-intriguing music, Mr. Bungle is the place to start. (Their last album, "California," is much, much, much more accessible, but all three of their albums are incredibly well-composed and performed. We're talking virtuosic here.)
But there ya go. A bit of post-modernism in pop music. Just my way of procrastinating <justifiably>.
With the exception of the VJ'ing (oh how I love VJ'ing!) at the end of the video, I counted maybe 9 camera changes. This means these girls have their choreography down. But let's look deeper. Three women in black and white performing advanced choreography. This is an obvious throwback to groups like The Supremes or The Shirelles. But it's here musically to! The "oh-oh-oh" lines imitate melodic nuances common to 'Oldies' music, as well as the simplistic lyrics and the intuitive song structure (kudos for both!). However, the underlying electronic accompaniment and harmonic nuances are very new, just as many of Beyonce's dance moves and the slight touch of modern feminism in the lyrics.
Beyonce has always been vocal about her love for classic R&B performers, and there's no doubt her experience in "Dreamgirls" rubbed off on her, but to see everything culminated in this way is pretty cool. Subtle, yet very effective.
Another example:
Oingo Boingo's "Stay," from the album "Dead Man's Party." Elfman first started The Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo to record a film soundtrack. It then turned into a cabaret performance ensemble, and then a ska band called Oingo Boingo. And it never stopped changing. Midway through the 80's, Elfman's compositions became... different. Here's a great example. The microphone he's using and the way he holds himself (usually) seems to be a throwback to Oldies singers. I.e. The Beatles. The Beatles had a profound influence on Elfman, and it's all over Boingo's last studio album, so to see these subtle nods to the band, as well as to many other bands, is not very striking.
And musically. The song tries to imitate Indian vocal nuances and an Eastern flavored drone. But then, the chorus is totally different. In fact, the chorus, and even the structure of the lyrics throughout the song, sounds like it was written in the late '50's. Even though ostinatos and synthesizer tracks typical of the 1980's dominate the color of the music, it's construction is very obviously pulling from different places. I'm sure there are other elements I'm missing in the video portion (please let me know if you can think of any). For example, Why the Western theme? Given Boingo's cabaret roots, it's not too surprising, but it's still kind of odd. And Elfman always has to have a ghost...
Check out their anything from "Dead Man's Party" or "Insanity" or "Useless" from "Boingo." Between gamelan, pentachords, Oldies, Beatles, post-minimalism, and alternative rock, Elfman proved himself to be a very creative composer almost 30 years ago. And we still haven't caught up.
One more. Warning: this one's slightly disturbing.
Mr. Bungle - Travolta (retitled "Quote Unquote" due to licensing issues.) I can't begin to nail down every element of the video (although the Saturday Night Fever scenes are pretty obvious). Bungle always draws from the most obscure sources they can. Kind of. But check out 1:51ish again if you missed something. That's right, it's the opening track from "Grease." And Bungle's first album had a very circus-y sound, but it's done very, very intricately. The song structure was influenced by John Zorn's file-card method (he was their producer), and it features elements of various genres. If you can help me nail down more of these references, well, I'd be extremely happy...
Note: Anything by Mike Patton is probably post-modern. If you want to check out some really difficult-yet-intriguing music, Mr. Bungle is the place to start. (Their last album, "California," is much, much, much more accessible, but all three of their albums are incredibly well-composed and performed. We're talking virtuosic here.)
But there ya go. A bit of post-modernism in pop music. Just my way of procrastinating <justifiably>.
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