Anthony- I completely relate to this as a student in that I'm always losing or misplacing things; sometimes I'm able to retrace my steps successfully and sometimes I'm not. The sound quality was very clear, both for the ambient noises and your own voice, and I love the sound of snow crunching underfoot (it's hard to describe my emotional reaction to such a specific sound but there it is). Additionally, my status as a TCNJ student puts me in a position to appreciate this more than the average (non-TCNJ) person. I think you could add even more ambient sound or make the ambient sound more continuous, which would contribute to the piece's sense of movement. For example, in the beginning there's a span of narration that doesn't have any ambient noise and, though I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, going from that silence to the noise of Eickhoff can be a bit jarring.
Ryan- The inclusion of the guitar was what really tied this piece together for me. It was peaceful and and smile-inducing and, for the most part, constant, which made this piece very enjoyable to listen to. I liked the idea of fading in and out between the vocal narration and the music, so at some points I was focusing on parts of the conversation and at other points on the guitar. For me, the nature of memory and our thought processes are very sporadic and the form of your audio clip matches this. The use of the echo effect was very interesting as well, and notable since not many of the pieces we saw utilized it in such an obvious way. At the end, the echoing laughter, both eerie and happy in a way, provides a good summarization of what the piece felt like on a personal level.
Kyle- Haha, so many distractions! Using the computer typing sounds in the beginning immediately reminded me of my own time on the computer and how difficult it can be to "stay still" mentally when there's so much stuff available at the tip of your fingers (even now, in my attempts to write out this blog post, I have so many different windows open in my browser). Even if I didn't quite understand the narrative at first, I got the sense of being bombarded with so much stimuli and information from various sources, which is essentially what happens in this technology-oriented world. The music definitely emphasized this feeling, it was fast-paced and intense and I felt myself getting pumped listening to it, though not in a way that would help me get more work done. I would have loved to know if the "protagonist" of this piece actually got his work done.
Kara- Very disturbing, and I mean that in the most effective way possible. The way in which you twist voices, specifically the psychiatrist's, definitely unsettled me and I think it had a lot to do with his monotonous, echoing tone. Likewise, the heavy breathing adds to that manic feeling of being placed in a position of having to remember some sort of traumatic event but being so reluctant about it. I feel like the piece on this blog is different from the piece you presented in class because I think I remember screams and the sounds of breaking glass in the one presented in class (though I'm not entirely sure). When remembering the screams/glass, I remember being startled and quite frightened because it contrasted so much with the relatively languid, surreal feel of the rest of the piece.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Between You and Me, Patryck Rebisz
This video particularly stood out in my memory both because of its storyline as well as the artist's stylistic choices. In regards to such style, the still images used are brightly colored and clear, a contradiction to the rather dark climax of the piece. I liked the stop-motion aspect because it adds a layer of the surreal, where we can look through the eyes of these characters (in particular, through the girl's camera) but are unable to affect what happens. Likewise, the pictures move and move forward with the story, but they are not fluid.
I'm also a bit of a sucker for character-driven pieces, and I see this as a video that follows the intersection of two seemingly unrelated lives. The circumstances by which they initially "meet" certainly evoke a very strong reaction, one which most women can identify with. Though it does not really present an original situation, it was needed to give us the camera as a plot point, the device by which the man finds the woman again. The man's journey to find the woman through the use of the photographs that we saw her take in the beginning is very sweet and satisfying (in a circular way).
Monday, February 7, 2011
Missed Class: Audio Sampling
David Bryne and Brian Eno, America Is Waiting, 1986
With its simple, repeated vocals and a conversely varied array of musical styles, this piece is layered and complex, but very discordant in my eyes. The shifting music styles that have been integrated into the piece make it unpredictable and even the beat seems to be slightly off; I can't mentally grasp it . In this way, I immediately contrasted it with the idea of 'pop' music, which is meant to be easily remembered and understood, appealing to the widest demographic. I am intrigued by the concept that "America is waiting..." but to be honest I'm not quite sure as to who or what we may be waiting for. Could it be that, like with this piece, we are constantly left waiting for some familiar refrain?
Emergency Broadcast Network (EBN), 1995
Unlike the previous piece, EBN is more cohesive with its included vocals and, even though the lines are sampled from various sources, they have been edited together to fit a more normalized sentence structure. The rhythm is upbeat and rather catchy, but I would not necessarily compare it to 'pop' in the way mentioned in my previous paragraph. The content, whether commenting socially or politically, reflects a culture of violence, reinforced by Mariah Carey's fervent high-pitched "alarm".
I appreciated the rather humorous use of movie/music figures, and was at the same time a bit disturbed by the violent and presumably non-fictional footage (?). Additionally, watching it with the video was very important for me because there was one moment at the end that left a lasting impression. As the edited clips get shorter and the pace faster, there begins to appear very short scenes of a man with a gun in black and white film (I don't know the origin of this clip). He is as quick to appear as he is to disappear, but at one point, the gun is facing the audience directly. perhaps it is the fleetingness of his appearance or the very clear image of a gun pointed straight at me, but I found this subtle addition to be a bit frightening.
With its simple, repeated vocals and a conversely varied array of musical styles, this piece is layered and complex, but very discordant in my eyes. The shifting music styles that have been integrated into the piece make it unpredictable and even the beat seems to be slightly off; I can't mentally grasp it . In this way, I immediately contrasted it with the idea of 'pop' music, which is meant to be easily remembered and understood, appealing to the widest demographic. I am intrigued by the concept that "America is waiting..." but to be honest I'm not quite sure as to who or what we may be waiting for. Could it be that, like with this piece, we are constantly left waiting for some familiar refrain?
Emergency Broadcast Network (EBN), 1995
Unlike the previous piece, EBN is more cohesive with its included vocals and, even though the lines are sampled from various sources, they have been edited together to fit a more normalized sentence structure. The rhythm is upbeat and rather catchy, but I would not necessarily compare it to 'pop' in the way mentioned in my previous paragraph. The content, whether commenting socially or politically, reflects a culture of violence, reinforced by Mariah Carey's fervent high-pitched "alarm".
I appreciated the rather humorous use of movie/music figures, and was at the same time a bit disturbed by the violent and presumably non-fictional footage (?). Additionally, watching it with the video was very important for me because there was one moment at the end that left a lasting impression. As the edited clips get shorter and the pace faster, there begins to appear very short scenes of a man with a gun in black and white film (I don't know the origin of this clip). He is as quick to appear as he is to disappear, but at one point, the gun is facing the audience directly. perhaps it is the fleetingness of his appearance or the very clear image of a gun pointed straight at me, but I found this subtle addition to be a bit frightening.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Ubu Sound Narratives
Paula Claire, Breeze, Energygalaxy and Astound, 1971
Like the other pieces in the "Disintegrating Languages" series, Paula Claire's works have a special emphasis on words and their breakdown thereof. Her poetry is meant to reflect a sense of "mobility" (in her own words) and I certainly didn't view the pieces as any sort of structured or traditional form at first listen. Similarly, her interest in breaking down words into their "atoms", their fundamental pieces, is most greatly reflected in Energygalaxy, where the speakers are virtually unintelligible.
Initially, I wasn't quite sure what to make of her works, though I was very interested in the thematic element of manipulating language. In listening to the pieces, I had a very visceral and fearful reaction to the way they were presented. The slightly disembodied, echoing voices, along with their increasing ferocity, evoke in me some sort of foreboding. However, though I did have this very strong reaction, I do not feel as if I fully understand the pieces, even after reading the brief description of the artist on the site. While the play on language is evident, I did associate the pieces with darker themes than perhaps what they were meant for.
Kathy Acker, Redoing Childhood, Miss Savage's School for Girls, 2000
Unlike Claire's pieces, Acker's work reflects a more clear narrative, and a more direct, even blunt, usage of language. It is very much apparent that her narration comes from a book, as I could very easily compare a transcript of the piece to something bound by letters and chapters even without knowing where it came from.
In regards to the effect of listening to it as an audio piece, her integration of various music styles was particularly noteworthy. Early in the piece, the upbeat and almost peppy song in the background of the narration was completely incongruous with her statements of adolescent angst and budding sexuality, but for me it worked. The contrast served the somewhat surreal and bizarre nature of the piece.
Like the other pieces in the "Disintegrating Languages" series, Paula Claire's works have a special emphasis on words and their breakdown thereof. Her poetry is meant to reflect a sense of "mobility" (in her own words) and I certainly didn't view the pieces as any sort of structured or traditional form at first listen. Similarly, her interest in breaking down words into their "atoms", their fundamental pieces, is most greatly reflected in Energygalaxy, where the speakers are virtually unintelligible.
Initially, I wasn't quite sure what to make of her works, though I was very interested in the thematic element of manipulating language. In listening to the pieces, I had a very visceral and fearful reaction to the way they were presented. The slightly disembodied, echoing voices, along with their increasing ferocity, evoke in me some sort of foreboding. However, though I did have this very strong reaction, I do not feel as if I fully understand the pieces, even after reading the brief description of the artist on the site. While the play on language is evident, I did associate the pieces with darker themes than perhaps what they were meant for.
Kathy Acker, Redoing Childhood, Miss Savage's School for Girls, 2000
Unlike Claire's pieces, Acker's work reflects a more clear narrative, and a more direct, even blunt, usage of language. It is very much apparent that her narration comes from a book, as I could very easily compare a transcript of the piece to something bound by letters and chapters even without knowing where it came from.
In regards to the effect of listening to it as an audio piece, her integration of various music styles was particularly noteworthy. Early in the piece, the upbeat and almost peppy song in the background of the narration was completely incongruous with her statements of adolescent angst and budding sexuality, but for me it worked. The contrast served the somewhat surreal and bizarre nature of the piece.
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