Also...

We met in the gutter, we shared a smoke or two...oh Cribbage

Dear Cribbage,
We first met when I was eight, though my appreciation and recognition of your credence amongst card games came much later. It was my Memere who first suggested we convene. "Oh Kris, I'm about to consummate my skills with your Pepere and cribbage in the kitchen, would you like to join?" It sounded bawdy; I opted to watch. Next thing I knew, your bodily board was laid, your cards dealt, and ardent tension ensued after just two cribs. Unaware of the implications, I had boarded your kiddy-coaster peaking only to reveal the macho twister on the distant edge of the amusement park, desiring so to reach its glorious zenith. Pepere lashed out, "Ah HAH!" with his double double run that would peg 16, while Memere maintained tenure of her composed demeanor. With her unrevealed Jack-Jack-Jack-5 hand, she gently closed her eyes and cut the deck, eager to re-clench her lead. Crib-Almighty-Bless-You, a 5 was cut (A stroke which I now know was undoubtedly a gift bestowed by your Cribbage Deity that reward those with skill and composed demeanors- I am working on the latter and will soon gain their favor). The pegging began. I was enthralled in your alien point system. The shouting of fifteens, 2,4,6,8! "Nobs, I'll surely skunk you now, hun!" Oh the insanity! Later that afternoon, after Pepere had finished Memere's perfunctory household duties (a small price to pay for his loss as his temper administered some bellowing of sorts) I decided we must court and I embarked upon my first game: the result of which was the onset of a prolonged record of defeat. Since that day, I've gained recognition for boosting even the most inexperienced and pitiful player's morale. It is not a reputation I had strived for, but it is one that I have come to accept and embrace with honor and pride. I'm trying to stay focused on the positive, you see. I hope you understand that I want this relationship as much as you do, honest! Just cut me some slack, and for Cribs sake, put out more. What do you say?

See you at dinner sweets,
Kristen

DO IT. http://cribbage.org/

FIRST RADIO SHOW!

I had my first radio show tonight. It started off kinda shaky, with a computer that crashed and wouldn't start and a malfunctioning i-pod dock. But with a few jokes, a PSA about raisins, and some Dosh to hold us over (thanks Tricia) all turned out okay. 

Who knew having a radio show was so much fun? Have a dance party, hang out with good friends, talk about shit, and play whatever muzic I want. Man. My mom does this for a living? Another thing she's gotten right.

Here is the info about the show:

The Road Trip 

with The Red Bullet

Tuesdays, 8 - 10 pm EST

104.9 in the Back Bay area and

online at WRBBradio.org

Flyers to come designed by Ross Robert Yates. Fuck yeah. 

The schtick for my show is that each week I will be playing music from a different location. This week, I played music solely from my hometown of Minneapolis, MN. I had on my good friend Tricia from the land of the lakes and we talked about the MN music scene, hot dish, and sightings of Prince at the supermarket (it happens). 

Here is the playlist: 

Dosh “Mpls Rock and Roll” from The List Take
Fred Savage and The Unbeatables “Cliff Turk Sucks” 
Happy Apple “Paulies Quick Temper Has Gotten Him Into a Few Jams” 
Atmosphere “Always Coming Back Home to You” from Seven's Travels (Rhymesayers / Epitaph 2003)
Brother Ali “Forest Whitaker” from Shadows on the Sun (Rhymesayers)
Dessa “Everything Floats” from FalseHopes
Prince “Let's Go Crazy” from Purple Rain
Lucy Michelle & the Velvet Lapels “When the World Turned Off It's Lights” from Orange Peels and Rattlesnakes
Cloud Cult “Living on the Outside of Your Skin” from Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus
Zibra Zibra “Goodnight Rockstar!” 
Brother & Sister “b e s t s i s t e r e v e r” 
The Replacements “Beer for Breakfast” from All For Nothing/Nothing for All (1984)
Down and Above “Montana” from Vena Cava
P.O.S. “De la Souls” from Audition (Rhymesayers)
Eyedea & Abilities “Now” from E&A
Bob Dylan “I Want You” from Blonde on Blonde (1966)
Sims “Key Grip (fax)” from Lights Out Paris
Cecil Otter “Lakeshore Drifter” from Fasehopes
Atmosphere “Yesterday” from When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (2008)
Doomtree “Slow Burn” from FalseHopes
Digitata “What's Cookin?” from sexually transmitted emotions
Bob Dylan “Don't Think Twice, It's Alright” from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Tune in next week for tunes from the Baltimore, Maryland area with special guest star Andy Cush (incuding music from the Cushmeister himself).

YEAH COLLEGE!

Writing papers about Girl Talk? Fuck Yeah

Here is a paper I wrote for my English class about Girl Talk. Also about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Kelly Clarkson. Intrigued? Read on....

The title of the paper is "Musical Reproduction: Modifications, Mash-Ups, and the Mix CD."

The ability to reproduce artistic works entirely changes the context in which art is interpreted. Historically, the single location in which a specific work of art existed was part of an individual artistic experience. When the ability to reproduce art became easy and effortless, the process of giving meaning to art became much more complex. Textual information and what is seen before or after a piece directly affects viewer’s relationship with that work. More importantly, the reproduction lends itself to the possibility of serving a vast amount of contrasting functions. In Ways of Seeing, John Berger states that, “Reproduction makes it possible, even inevitable, that an image will be used for many different purposes” (148).

Berger’s position on artistic reproduction is relevant to 21st century music. “Maps” is a 2003 rock hit by the band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The song has a catchy melody, simple lyrics, and recognizable guitar riff. When the single was released in 2004, it became an instant hit. The ability to make physical reproductions of this song allowed it to be bought, downloaded, and loved by millions across the country.

The millions that heard this song did so as the musicians intended through the artists’ deliberate recording. However, the song traveled to the listener, rather than the listener to the song. This means that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had no control over the context in which their work was heard. Listeners could choose to listen to the song loudly or quietly, with the bass turned up or down, with friends or all alone. They could choose what to listen to before or after they heard this song and which lyrics are meaningful. The reproduction of the work takes away the artist’s control over the context of the piece. As Berger would say, the meaning “multiplies and fragments into many meanings” (143).

Despite the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ regular play on radio stations nationwide and invitation to the prestigious Grammy Music Awards, the band has managed to maintain an identity as an independent, alternative band. This goes beyond the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s musical sound to the presence and persona of the band itself. Lead singer Karen O embraces a personality far from the typical pop star. The singer is recognized for her outrageous, dynamic, and memorable fashion statements and regularly performs intense dance sequences during live performances.

In addition, the band retains its indie identity by rejecting the conventional craving for stardom and fame. In an interview with The Observer, Karen O claimed to have “ambitions for our music and our art” rather than status and popularity (Hanley 2). When the band’s fan base suddenly grew substantially, Karen O decided to spend a year away from the musical scene getting “plugged back in to the normal life” before recording another album (Hanley 2).

Listeners of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs could conceivably know about the band’s eccentric profile and dismissal of conventional artistic standards before their listening experience. Listeners may appreciate this song more because of the band’s longstanding “indie” credibility, even though the band has become popular enough that they have entered the mainstream. This shows how the context in which a piece of art is understood has an effect on the work’s meaning. A listener’s previous knowledge about the band, exposure or lack of exposure to other types of music, and prior associations with the tune will play a role in the meaning they create during their listening experience.

Berger pointedly states that meaning associated with art is easily modified or changed (143). Individuals can choose to draw different meaning from the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s song based on their personal background. According to Berger, “the way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe,” (134).

The relationship between reproduction and the meaning of a work of art goes beyond the changing context in which a piece is interpreted. The reproduction of art enables it to be altered to serve entirely unrelated purposes. “Since U Been Gone” is a 2004 pop hit by singer Kelly Clarkson. A listener does not have to examine the song too closely to detect its similarities to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps.” Even to the untrained ear, the guitar break from Clarkson’s song is nearly identical to a quickened version of the break in “Maps.” While the chord progression is nearly identical, Clarkson’s song attracts a much different audience. With a polished production value, clean pop vocals, and romantic lyrics, the song has a greater mainstream appeal.

An interesting question to ask is why Kelly Clarkson has swiped this distinct guitar riff from this particular band. It is possible that Clarkson accidentally imitated this sequence of notes without any knowledge of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs previous recoding of it. While this coincidence is conceivable, the uniqueness of the riff and exactness of Clarkson’s emulation make it seem highly unlikely.

Another possibility is that Clarkson was trying to gain success by mimicking the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s in her own style. It is notable that both “Maps” and “Since U Been Gone” are songs about lost love. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs primary lyric is, “They don’t love you like I love you” and Clarkson sings, “You’re dedicated, you took the time / It wasn’t long till I called you mine.” Clarkson could have included the riff and lyrics into her song to try to appeal to the large “indie” crowd that provided the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s with their success. Contrastingly, Clarkson could have been inspired by the riff in “Maps” to write “Since U Been Gone,” assuming that audiences would not take note of the similarities between the two songs.

The undeniable likeness of the two pieces reflects the changing authority of art that comes from reproduction. In an interview with The Rolling Stone, Karen O stated, “If it wasn’t [Kelly Clarkson] it just would’ve been Ashlee Simspon,” (Sheffield 2). This attitude reflects Berger’s sentiments about the inevitability of reproduction to destroy the authority of art. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs do not hold the rights over the arrangement of a few notes of melody. It is possible that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs also copied this riff, intentionally or otherwise, from a previous artists work. The lines of possession of artistic works are hazy. Reproduction has permitted all art to become recycled, and no single artist holds complete authority over all parts of an original artistic work.

Girl Talk is a musician that reproduces art in a much different way. Girl Talk borrows entire samples from other musicians, mashes them together into mixes, and creates his own unique piece of music. He offers very little original instrumentation, instead relying almost entirely on the pre-recorded words, melody, and harmony of other musicians to serve as his source of artistic expression.

In one of Girl Talk’s mash-ups, he crosses Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” with an array of vastly different musicians, including Nine Inch Nails, Nelly Furtado, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

This is an entirely different form of reproduction. There is no pretense with Girl Talk that the music he creates is original. If every combination of musical notes has already been produced in one way or another, as I established earlier, than the only way to create “new” music is to recycle those notes that have already been played. Rather than directly copying a series of notes as Kelly Clarkson has done, Girl Talk reorganizes recognizable artistic works in a fresh order.

The authority of the piece is more preserved in this method of reproduction than those previously mentioned. Girl Talk listeners easily identify the songs they are familiar with. It could be argued that Girl Talk acts as an advertiser for other artists, increasing general interest and awareness of their original work. In an interview with Pitchfork Magazine, Girl Talk said, “I don’t think I’m creating competition for the artists; it’s just further spreading the message” (Richardson 5). Listening to Girl Talk often makes me want to hear the entire song he samples. Yet this form of obvious reproduction is illegal while the less overtly reproduced piece Clarkson produced is not.

The illegality of musical mash-ups pushes one to question the legality of other forms of artistic duplication. Girl Talk rearranges previously recorded works of art, changing what comes directly before and after the original pieces. Is this any different than burning a mix CD of assorted artists? What about published collections of various musicians? Movie soundtracks? Should songs be played at all during movies, when they cannot be properly identified and claimed?

Girl Talk generally samples recognizable popular and mainstream tunes. While some of his choices are less known, the majority, including The Cure, The Beastie Boys, and Michael Jackson, are assumed to be familiar to the average listener. It is possible that this is one of the primary reasons for Girl Talk’s musical success. Listeners identify with Girl Talk’s music and easily place it in the context in which they know it. As I previously mentioned, the context in which a piece of art is understood is crucial to its relationship with the listener. Because the music Girl Talk samples has already been contextualized by the majority of listeners, they already have memories, experiences, and personal stories associated with the tunes.

By mashing together many popular tunes in a short period of time, Girl Talk is able to appeal to the audience’s preconceived contextualization at a heightened rate than traditional musicians. Each listener will have a unique reaction to his work based on their previous experience or lack of experience with the tunes he samples. Even if the listeners don’t have a positive reaction to Top 40 hits like “Since U Been Gone,” they are most likely familiar with the tune and have some association with it. They may find the song humorous, annoying, or nostalgic to a certain period of their life. The actual reaction of the listener is insignificant, because the point is that it already exists and it is fleeting. The listener need only to wait a few seconds for the mash-up to progress into a Peter, Bjorn, and John song that they may have a positive emotional reaction to.

Girl Talk plays to listener’s emotions based on their preconceived musical connections. Musican’s like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or Kelly Clarkson must independently develop a sense of musical intimacy with their listeners. This is not always easy to do, which may be one reason why artists like Kelly Clarkson are tempted to “borrow” segments from previously familiarized musicians. Girl Talk does the same thing as Kelly Clarkson in a less conventional way.
When a piece of music is recontextualized, the meaning associated with the original piece is also recontextualized. The next time a listener hears “Since U Been Gone” after they hear Girl Talk sample it, they may recall Girl Talk’s rendition and react to it differently. It is possible that they have never heard the tune before. In this case, the authority of the song entirely belongs to Girl Talk.

Regardless, the listener’s relationship to the piece of music has changed. This is another possible reason for Girl Talk’s popularity. Because Girl Talk samples over 300 songs in a 60-minute period, he recontextualizes listeners preconceived musical associations at an increased rate. Listeners could potentially identify 300 previously separate artistic experiences with one musician: Girl Talk.

The relationship between the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kelly Clarkson, and Girl Talk amplify the important role context plays in artistic experience. The context in which a listener experiences a piece of music undoubtedly affects their relationship with that song. The reproduction of musical work allows the context in which the song is understood to be endlessly changed and modified. This changes not only how it is received by its audience, but also how it can be manipulated to serve contrasting functions.



Works Cited

Berger, John. “Ways of Seeing.” Ways of Reading. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,
2005.
Clarkson, Kelly. “Since U Been Gone.” Breakaway. RCA Records, 2004.
Hanley, Lynsey. “Affirmative Action.” The Observer. 26 Feb 2006.
Sheffield, Rob. “Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Goth, Nerd, Slut.” The Rolling Stone. 7 April 2006.
Richardson, Mark. “Interview: Girl Talk.” Pitchfork Magazine. 6 October 2008.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs. “Maps.” Fever to Tell. Interscope Records, 2003.

OUR LIVES ARE TOO GOOD. NO, SERIOUSLY.

Chances are you've seen all these before, but the sweaty pictures commemorating this week needed to be present in this blog.  

Wednesday= Girl Talk

Thursday= The Dodos (no pictures unfortunately)

Friday= Dan Deacon Round Robin Tour

Okay, I'm still getting a rush from this weekend, and I know you guys are too.  Whenever Girl Talk shuffles up on the Room 510 speakers there is a ridiculous amount of excitement.  This also happens when walking to class, in the shower, while jogging, during class, at ABP, during cribbage games, when you get water in the middle of the night, at work, riding the T, food shopping, and while cooking dinner.

I'm speaking for the three of us when I say:

FUCK YEAH WE LOVE THIS

At Long Last: Apple Picking!

Last Sunday, we planned to go apple picking.

It rained all weekend, but we said: Fuck it, we're going (god damn it).

We came back with 40 pounds of apples, 2 pumpkins, and 3 pairs of wet feet.

It was worth it.

Apple crisp, apple butter, pumpkin pudding, and roasted pumkin seeds are in the process of creation.

APPLES.

PUMPKINS.

GOATS.

St. Vincent > The Office

Looking for any easy way to loose friends? Simply utter the following 2 statements: 

1. I have only ever seen half an episode of "The Office."

2. I didn't think it was funny. 

Last Thursday, during the season premiere, I was not sitting in front of a television. I was standing in a courtyard of an art museum, far away from any staplers or fax machines, breathing in the cool autumn air and enjoying some free live music.

St. Vincent performed a free show for Student Night at the MFA. I didn't have quite as spiritual an experience as this individual (below), but it was enjoyable none the less. 

Recently Discovered

Its so simple really.  I cannot believe I've never bothered to make one before.

Mix milk, yogurt, ice, and some frozen fruit together in a blender.

WHY then, is this the first time I have ever made a smoothie?

And now, I JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH.

This one is a mango-banana I made in the spare 20 minutes between class yesterday.

Was it worth the rush?

OH YES.