Shameless Plug For My Personal Interests
Since there's been talk of blogs being self-indulgent AND the theme of music has come up, I'm taking this blog moment to write about a current obsession of mine. No, Wendy, I don't mean "looking for creative ways to get thrown out of the program." That was last semester's obsession.
What I mean is Project Jenny, Project Jan. They're a fab little musical "group" from Brooklyn. I saw them live at Johnny Brenda's in Philly--which I recommend, should you happen to go to the City of Escalating Crime*...er, uh, I mean...City of Brotherly Love.
The reason I mention them is that they're a great example of the new media used in music performance. The band consists of 2 guys--one sings (Jeremy) and the other (Sammy) plays...his computer. Sammy's actually listed as "Programmer" in the band's description.
While electronic/computerized instruments have been around for some time--even well before I had my collection of Erasure on cassette--I haven't been to a concert/show before where there was one guy on a microphone and the other guy jammin' on his Mac. I've been to clubs where the DJs are mixing on their Macs (something my b/f--a "classic" vinyl DJ thinks is cheating. THERE'S another conversation to have about nm, huh?) but not to a "live concert." Brings to question what a "concert" is.
There's pre-recorded music that then gets mixed and "played" by the Sammy. Jeremy sings and jumps around on stage (bringing most of the energy to the show). In the background they have DVD clips of old movies and television shows (remediation?) synched to what's going on on stage and in the music. It's awesome. I loved it. I didn't need a "band" like i usually want at a show.
There's more to say here and something clever to relate to our reading for this week, but I've got somewhere to be shortly....
Maybe you Smart Kids can draw the connections....
*actually, Philladelphia is a fantastic city. You should go. Have a look at the Liberty Bell. Throw a penny on Ben Franklin's grave. Consume a cheesesteak at Pat's while youse stand ou'side wit the otha Paizans.