The Film Opens On A Post Stroke Alan Lomax

The film “Searching for Sugar Man” focuses on a legend folk music star, Sixto Rudriguez, who is more popular than Elvis in South Africa but fails to gain fame in the United States. He knows nothing about his fame in South Africa and has no idea how he is deified there. The whole story is told in a linear way to present a dramatic journey of finding Rudriguez. It is not followed an old-fashioned “rough start-road to success-dream come true” style (Ning). It is a display of two parallel worlds of a legend music hermit. An artist who regards art as his ultimate faith in life remains unmoved either by gain or loss.

Hank Snow was a popular and important musical artist, active before 1960, who is not included in the Dalhousie University 2017 - 2018 Popular Music until 1960 course. Hank Snow’s, “country standard I’m Movin’ On, a twelve-bar blues, came out before 1960. ” In this paper I will argue that Hank Snow and his song I’m Movin’ On must be a required listening in this course as he has had historical significance, has influenced musical artists (several that are covered in this course) and most importantly he is a Nova Scotia native with a successful musical country career on an international scale. I will provide relevant background information on Hank Snow as well as proof of his importance in the areas of historical significance, musical influence

Popular singer Elton John once said; “music has healing power; it has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours”, and for most, music is the portal to an out of body experience. African American lyricists especially have been found to use the art of music to escape the real world, commencing from the slavery era and onward. The blues song titled The Tracks of My Tears does just that; expresses the ability to remove your soul from a treacherous reality. Similarly, the lyrics from popular modern songs, written by black artists, speak volumes about what is presently going on in the country, parallel to the way African American slavery songs did. Music written at an earlier period have been found to correlate to music of the past through providing strong emotion toward present day commentary.

Christopher Bruce based the production on the “sexual war” he witnessed growing up in the 1960’s. His intention was to celebrate the music of The Rolling Stones and use the qualities of the songs to reflect this. The production is set in the 1960’s when the rights of males and females began to equalise.

Gay musicians felt this John song was a message to Brian Epstein, featuring a Dylan influenced folk rock sound. It is...

You could see the glimmer of hope on all of the inmates’ faces when they heard the music playing. Andy granted his fellow inmates a little piece of humanity, even if it was for a short period of time.

From the creation of harmonies to singing to instruments, music has been an abstract form of human expression. Although an auditory collection of pitches and volumes, musicians can manipulate the same notes and bring them alive for their audiences. The true emotion and energy that’s felt in music really comes from the player as feelings are transferred to and through the listener. This interaction between performer and the house is catharsis, the complete release of strong repressed emotions. Thanks to the musician, music has the ability to grasp people and cause them to sense emotions and feelings without lyrics or images even being necessary. Although it’s believed we can only hear with our ears, something about music makes it emotionally if not physically tangible. In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues,” a narrator certainly unaware of the impact of music invites himself to experience jazz for the first time. Baldwin uses the final scene of his story to argue that music has an effect on those who are able to experience it. Baldwin does this in one single moment by letting the fixed, practical minded, “well-intentioned” narrator experience catharsis from jazz as his growing, free-spirited brother communicates with him through jazz.

“The warden threw a party in the county jail. The prison band was there and they began to wail. The band was jumpin' and the joint began to swing. You should've heard them knocked-out jailbirds sing.” These lyrics from Elvis Presley’s hit song “Jailhouse Rock” clearly illustrate how teenagers reacted to his new brand of music, Rock ‘n’ Roll in the 1950s. Elvis and his music came in a time when the baby boomers were teenagers and beginning to identify themselves and discover music. The civil rights movement was just about to begin, and the tension between whites and blacks was just beginning to decrease. The two races found companionship when listening to music, and Elvis helped to connect the dots even more. Elvis was a music icon that the

In these songs, one can unearth the heart’s deepest desires—desires that are so basic, so undeniably human, that they cannot help but underscore the dehumanizing condition of slavery.

This music is not useful as background music. It cannot be used in the same way the 30 years worth of Miles’ previous music can be used. It demands attentiveness. It is militant and arrogant. It is sometimes more a display of audacity and an assertion of absolute independence then a lovely palette to summon dreams. The dream is over. All the romantic ballads and pleasurable entertainment is history. With this sound he describes a new reality for which he invents a

Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film production of the Anthony Burgess novel, A Clockwork Orange, is a truly unforgettable film.  It is narrated by one of the most vicious characters ever put on screen, Alex DeLarge.  The promotional poster for the film advertised it as "The adventures of a young man whose principle interests are rape, ultra-violence, and Beethoven" (Dirks 1).  Needless to say, music plays a very important role in A Clockwork Orange.  The expressive use of music in this film gives the viewer a look into the psyche of the vicious Alex, a psyche that equates violence with art.  By doing so, the film shows us the complexity and duality of the human mind through a character who loves both

Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash (2014) follows Andrew Neiman, a fame-driven drummer joins the studio band at a prestigious music school, Shaffer Conservatory where he is acquainted with the manipulative and vigorous Terence Fletcher who pushes him to his limits. The salient themes of volatile and manipulative student-teacher relationship, overcoming adversity and relentless pursuit of perfection are accentuated through cinematic techniques such as mise-en-scène, cinematography, and sound design and editing. The scene which exemplifies these themes are when Andrew Neiman is competing against two drummers, Ryan Connolly and Carl Tanner, to “earn the part” of becoming the main drummer of a jazz composition called Caravan (1936) composed by Duke Ellington.

Although this movie does not showcase the time period using clothing or unique hairstyles, it reflects the 60s through the different music that Adrian includes in his radio station. Adrian plays songs from James Brown, the Beach Boys, and references icons of the time such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The rebellious nature of the music reflects not only Adrian’s attitude, but also the rebellion against the war that took off

Before hearing this lecture, I had no concept of the types of music in concentration camps, much less a sense of the music within World War II. The lecture taught me how music and the arts are something that can’t ever be stopped. Even though it’s not mandatory for human life or a lucrative career it has permanently etched a place inside of culture and the continuation of history.

Much of Thomas Newman’s music is rooted in the sounds of the deep south, with several interesting cues written for an eclectic ensemble including such weird and wonderful instruments as a bowed travelling guitar, a Vietnamese banjo, a jaw harp, bass marimbas, a tonut and the omnipresent saz. Occasionally, the music attains a kind of hypnotic sensibility that draws the listener in, but at other times it