(#26) / “Under the Radar” / (published) by Mark Redfern & Wendy Lynch Redfern/ (Magazine)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Under the Radar / (published) by Mark Redfern & Wendy Lynch Redfern

ISBN: 7447056683 / Under the Radar LLC

p. 97 / $5.99 (Retail)

2011 (July issue)

Body of Content

Summary: The YA magazine covers the music industry – though mostly the indie music scene.  The magazine features a dozen or so interviews with musical bands – mostly short interviews covering one to three pages.  Most of these interviews converse with the chief songwriter/singer – and not necessarily with the entire band.  These shorter entries still have a significant amount of photos (one to five photos) per interview – with the text to photo ratio around an equal 1:1 portion.  Each issue also features a longer, more formal interview – lasting five+ pages.  This July issue, Under the Radar talked to Annie Clark from the band St. Vincent.  The magazine contains a handful of other types of columns – including a section called “Digital Sampler” – which allows readers to digital hear (and/or download) musical tracks online with a magazine-provided password.  At the end of the magazine, over 10 pages are devoted to reviews – mostly music CDs, tracks, etc. – though some books, DVDs, and video games are also reviewed.   

Critique: For such a small production – started by a husband and wife versus a major publication company – the magazine is of good quality.  Under the Radar knows its target demographic – an audience mostly made of late teens and young adults.  The magazine represents a nice, balanced ratio of text to photo – (i.e. narrative to visual).  It is not overwhelmed by ads – nor does it read like a musical version of the Wall St. Journal.

The magazine offers a nice intentionality to its presentation.  It does provide a great deal of personal information about musical acts.  But it also offers an immersive amount of industry information – regarding new releases, album reviews, and sampling venues – making it a great source of functionality for reader advisory purposes.

Overall, magazines as a genre do not reflect the expertise of a journal article – or the comprehensiveness of a printed book – or the artistic aspirations of cinema.  But as a magazine, Under the Radar does a thorough job on providing interesting information.  And as such, looking more closely at the interviews, their feature article – an interview with Annie Clark of St. Vincent fame – demonstrates some interesting information.  The article talks about the process of recording, her song inspirations, the relationship between her third (new) album and her two prior releases, specific song details, and even biographical information including her formal education at Berklee College of Music in Boston and theories regarding the band/project’s name.  Though it may lack (compared to other formats) in particulars – or in scope – or in multimedia – Under the Radar is still a worthwhile read.

Teaser: Did you know that one of the tour musicians for Sujian Stevens also has a solo career?

Information about the Author: The magazine was founded in 2001 by Mark Redfern and Wendy Lynch Redfern – who have since married each other in 2007.  Mark is the senior editor of the publication, while Lynch controls the visual elements – photography, layout, etc.  The magazine mostly covers the American music scene – but special edition have also covered Canadian independent music – along with British pop acts (Wikipedia, 2011).

Supplemental Material

Genre: Indie Music / Popular Culture

Curriculum Ties: Music – industry information, band bios / Journalism – photography, writing styles

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Would you like a music source that provides sampling opportunities to quality bands – bands you might not have heard of – that are Under the Radar? 2) Have you ever wondered what inspired the lyrics to your favorite song – or performed the occasion for the composition of your favorite indie rock song? Under the Radar might just provide those answers.   

Reading Level: Usually teens need a little time to develop more independent music sensibilities – making this magazine more particular to teens 15-19 – than middle-school-aged teens.   

Challenge Issues and Defense: I did detect some language in the ads.  Magazines are hard to generalize – since each issue provides new content – and new opportunities for challenges.  The magazine appears as a lighter-toned “Rolling Stone” magazine – marketed towards teens – and generally should not represent too many challenge concerns.  Further, the advertisements within the magazine did not appear overly sensual or sexual in tone or content.   

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I wanted a neutral magazine – not target to only boys or only girls – and this magazine helped accomplish this desire.

Last Thoughts

References:

Wikipedia. (2011). Under the Radar [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Radar_%28magazine%29

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Shaded Red / Album – “Shaded Red”  

(#16) / Album: “Speak Now” / by Taylor Swift / (Music)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Album: “Speak Now” / by Taylor Swift

ASIN: B003WTE886 / Big Machine Records

67 minutes / $11.88 (Amazon)

2010

Body of Content

Summary: The album includes the following titles, in their album order: “Mine”, “Sparks Fly”, “Back to December”, “Speak Now”, “Dear John”, “Mean”, “The Story of Us”, “Never Grow Up”, “Enchanted”, “Better Than Revenge”, “Innocent”, “Haunted”, “Lass Kiss”, and “Love Live”.  The album contains 14 tracks – all written by Taylor Swift herself – along with Nathan Chapman collaborating as producer (Amazon, 2011).

The album stays within the genre of Taylor’s earlier works – still containing her female, twang-inspired voice – with country music instrumentation written – with pop melodies and music theory applications.  As such, the album regularly receives airtime on both Top 40 pop radio stations as well as country-devoted channels.

The album is Taylor’s most successful yet – having sold one million units in its first week alone.  Overall, in less than a year after its release, “Speak Now” has sold over 5.5 million albums globally –with 3.7 million coming from her domestic market (Wikipedia, 2011a).

Critique: Swift’s style includes love and relationships as the lyrical premises to the majority of her songs.  These lyrics – half self-discovery, half self-inspired – feature love ballads that many teens find identification with and semblance towards.  Content-wise, the lyrics are not very deep or meaningful to larger contexts.  But for commercial purposes, Swift knows her audience.

Consider the lyrics to “Mine” – notably the second verse:

            “Do you remember we were sitting there by the water? /

            You put your arm around me for the first time /

            You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter /

            You are the best thing that’s ever been mine” (Metrolyrics, 2011a)  

The lyrics are more about the promise and the hope of love – than they are about the resolution and fulfillment of love.  As teens are searching for love themselves – often finding relationships that are short-lived in duration – Swift writes songs that register with her teen fan base.

Or examine the lyrics to another song, “Sparks Fire”:

            “Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain /

            Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain /

            ‘Cause I see sparks fly /

            Whenever you smile” (Metrolyrics, 2011b)

Like the aforementioned blog entry (cf. Owl City), Swift’s lyrics have a light-hearted approach to them.  “Sparks Fire” continues this trend – positive, hopeful lyrics.  But other titles on “Speak Now” – like the songs “Dear John” and “Better Than Rejection” contain a slightly more angled message – dealing with rejection and betrayal.

Teaser: Taylor Swift releases a new album – filled with 14 tracks – all embodying her soft, country sensibilities. 

Information about the Author: Swift is one of the young stars of country music – and one star who has great crossover reach into more contemporary pop markets.  Releasing her first album at the tender age of 16, Swift’s first album (self-titled) produced five tracks reaching the Top Ten.  Although industry professionals discovered her in Nashville – a city that her family relocated to – Swift is originally from Pennsylvania.  Her second album (“Fearless”) went platinum – with “Speak Now” following with similar numbers.

Taylor also co-starred in the ensemble comedy “Valetine’s Day (2010) – a film by Garry Marshall – with Swift additionally contributing two songs to the movie’s soundtrack (MOG, 2011).  The 21-year-old performer represents a very successful musical artist, as Swift recent ranks (according to Forbes) indicate: 2009 earnings of $18 million, with 2010 and 2011 earnings of $45 million for each year (Wikipedia, 2011b).

Supplemental Material

Genre: Country / Pop

Curriculum Ties: Sociology/Psychology – relationships, pop culture, music business culture  

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Which songs on the album refer to real-life relationships – experienced by Taylor Swift? 2) The album length is over 67 minutes – how does that compare to Taylor’s two other albums?

Reading Level: Mostly a female audience – broad age demographic – though mostly ages 15 through 19.  

Challenge Issues and Defense: Hard to cite reasons against inclusion.  If any arise, the album’s strength is the high-demand/popularity of the album – along with Swift winning several industry awards.

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I wanted to include a different genre (i.e. country) to balance out my allowance of three musical entries.

Last Thoughts

References:

Amazon. (2011). Speak now [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Speak-Now-

Taylor-Swift/dp/B003WTE886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322358773&sr=8-1

Metrolyrics. (2011a). Mine lyrics [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.metrolyrics.com/mine-

lyrics-taylor-swift.html

Metrolyrics. (2011b). Sparks fly [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.metrolyrics.com/sparks-fly-

lyrics-taylor-swift.html

MOG. (2011). Taylor  Swift: Bio [Webpage]. Retrieved from

https://mog.com/artists/bio/mn289042/taylor-swift

Wikipedia. (2011a). Speak now [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speak_Now

Wikipedia. (2011b). Taylor Swift [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Taylor_Swift

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Hillsong United / Album – “Aftermath”   

(#15) / Album: “All Things Bright and Beautiful” / by Owl City / (Music)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Album: “All Things Bright and Beautiful” / by Owl City

ASIN: B004T5IW0C / Universal Republic Records

44 minutes / $6.99 (Amazon)

2011

Body of Content

Summary: Owl City returns for their third release – featuring the following songs in title order: “The Real World”, “Deer In The Headlights”, “Angels”, “Dreams Don’t Turn To Dust”, “Honey And The Bee”, “Kamikaze”, “January 28, 1986”, “Galaxies”, “Hospital Flowers”, “Alligator Sky”, “The Yacht Club”, “Plant Life”, and “Alligator Sky (No Rap Version)” (MOG, 2011a).  “Alligator Sky” represents the album’s first release – with the song featuring guest rapper Shawn Chrystopher and the album debuting in June of this year.  Owl City’s signature sound is again evident – with a heavy, synth-orchestrated collection of songs – that include catchy melodies and clear, tenor vocals from Adam Young.       

Critique: Young’s lyrics have subtlety – often ironic or pun-driven aspects to them.  But overall, the words in his songs have a transparent and positive connotation to them.  Young does not write humorous lyrics as much as words that hit directly but light-heartedly.  The unique thing about the lyrics is that they fit seamlessly with the music.  Both instrumentation and poetic musings are light and optimistic in tone.  Often, love is reoccurring theme.

Consider the lyrics to the chorus of “The Honey And The Bee”:

            “If the green left the grass on the other side /

            I would make like a tree and leave /

            But if I reached for your hand, would your eyes get wide?

            Who knew the other side could be so green?” (Metrolyrics, 2011b)

Young can even turn a song involving a horrific car accident and erratic ambulance ride into a light-hearted occasion, as he does in the song “Hospital Flowers”:

            “A high-speed collision gave a new sense of sight to me /

            And now my vision can render the scene /

            A blurry image of wreckage and roadside debris /

            Happiness returned to me through a grave emergency” (Metrolyrics, 2011a)

Owl City is music for a certain mood – in that it might take a certain mood to like it – or even that it might create a certain mood in the listener after hearing to it.  The lyrics and subtle compositional craft are affective – almost nostalgic – for something many of us now miss or downright lack – innocence.  

Teaser: “The songwriter behind the hit ‘Fireflies’ has a new album out!”

Information about the Author: Owl City is the creation of Adam Young – a pop composer from Minnesota.  Young – while living in his parents’ basement, working a day job for Cola-Cola – started Owl City in 2007.  Young is a one-person band – literally – using digital recording and computer engineering techniques for both composition and performance venues.  Penning his songs mostly on keyboards, Young uploaded new compositions to MySpace – and actually developed a following – leading to a contract with Universal Republic (MOG, 2011b).  

On occasion, Owl City invites guest vocalists – including Matt Thiessen of Relient K fame and solo artist Breanne Duren.  Live performances now often feature a slightly larger set – with the tour musicians including a drummer, violinist, cellist, guitarist, and supplemental keyboard player (Wikipedia, 2011).   

Owl City’s has released one EP – “Of June” (2007) – along with three studio albums – “Maybe I’m Dreaming” (2008), “Ocean Eyes” (2009), and “All Things Bright and Beautiful” (2011) (Wikipedia, 2011).

In one interview, the singer-songwriter relates, “I’ve never really had anything I wanted to say, really, to anybody – but there has always been a mood that I wanted to convey via sound – which is optimism” (Owl City, 2011).  On his sudden rise to fame and opportunity, Young ponders, “Music became a fan of me [first]… and then I started to make it, and I loved it [back]” (Owl City, 2011).      

Supplemental Material

Genre: Pop / Electronica

Curriculum Ties: Music – multi-track recording techniques / History – excerpt from Reagan speech regarding the Challenger tragedy  

Booktalking Ideas: 1) How does a store retailer for Cola-Cola become a pop sensation? 2) Did you know that lead singer Matt Thiessen of Relient K and Adam Young of Owl City are good friends?   

Reading Level: Heavy interest on Owl City’s MySpace account helps shows the strong teen support behind this young songwriter’s craft.  The same holds true – looking at concert venues.  Owl City probably best interests teens in grades 7 through 10.  

Challenge Issues and Defense: The music is not squeaky clean – one song “Deer in the Headlights” references rejection and accusations of stalking – but overall, the songwriter writes clever but simply pop lyrics and melodies – doubtful that any parent or group would object to his content.  

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I like the background story of Adam Young – and I have listened to each of his album – enjoying the most-recent release the most.   

Last Thoughts

References:

Metrolyrics. (2011a). Hospital flowers [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://www.metrolyrics.com/hospital-flowers-lyrics-owl-city.html

Metrolyrics. (2011b). The honey and the bee lyrics [Webpage]. Retrieved from

            http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-honey-and-the-bee-lyrics-owl-city.html

MOG. (2011a). All things bright and beautiful [Webpage]. Retrieved from

            https://mog.com/albums/mn54612621/owl-city/all-things-bright-and-beautiful  

MOG. (2011b). Owl City [Webpage]. Retrieved from https://mog.com/artists/bio/mn597709/

owl-city

Owl City (2011). Owl City – Owl City road stories[Video]. Retrieved from

http://owlcitymusic.com/videos/view/4

Wikipedia. (2011). Owl City [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl_City

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Ayleron  / Album – various songs/playlists   

(#14) / Album: “Brand New Eyes” / by Paramore / (Music)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Album: “Brand New Eyes” / by Paramore

OCLC Number: 431300605 / Fueled by Ramen

 $10.40 (Amazon)/ 40 minutes

2009

Body of Content

Summary: The eleven songs from the album, in order, are the following tracks: “Careful”, “Ignorance”, “Playing God”, “Brick By Boring Brick”, “Turn It Off”, “The Only Exception”, “Feeling Sorry”, “Looking Up”, “Where The Lines Overlap”, “Misguided”, and “All I Wanted” (MOG, 2011).  The band features a rock-heavy sound – with a well-processed studio production.  For many of the songs, the guitars are heavily compressed – providing a well-polished sound that is probably difficult to duplicate in live performances.  Fans of Paramore will once again recognize that the majority of the songs feature upbeat rock anthems – much in the same style as previous albums.  Tight drum work – well-executed with quick fills – again ring familiar.  The songs do offer a few lighter tracks – in particular “The Only Exception” (featuring acoustic guitar) and “Misguided Ghosts” (featuring acoustic guitar with more ethereal vocals).           

Critique: The band is a rock band – most assuredly – but they contain elements of punk rock.  The speed (i.e. tempo) is consistently north of 120 beats per minute.  But the tempo does not – for the most part – reach levels of complete “thrashing” like speed metal or pure punk rock bands.  The instrumentation is pretty consistent – bass guitar, two distortion guitars, drum kit, and lead vocals.  Supporting orchestral instruments or miscellaneous solo inclusions are absent on the record – as many emo/punk bands represent bare-bones instrumentation.      

The lyrics also contain a punk theme of self-dependence and general rebellion – which might explain their interest among teen listeners.  Granted, Paramore’s version of lyrical rebellion contains a subdued message compared to early 80s acts in the same genre.  That general, undefined teen angst is embodied in songs like “Ignorance”:

            “Where’s your gavel? Your jury? /

            What’s my offense this time? /

            You’re not a judge, but if you’re gonna judge me /

            Well, sentence me to another life” (Metrolyrics, 2011a)

Or consider the song “Playing God”:

            “You say that I been changing /

            That I’m not just simply aging /

            Yeah, how could that be logical? /

            Just keep on cramming ideas down my throat” (Metrolyrics, 2011b)

The difficult part with angst lyrics – particular borderline emo/punk acts – is that the verses come across somewhat whiny and self-entitled.  The true spirit of earlier 80s punk is more chaotic and anarchist.  Paramore’s lyrics contain angst as a general sentimental – more loathsome than a rallying cry for punk-inspired world change.  The band is a rock band with punk traits; but they are not a full-fledge punk ensemble.    

Teaser:  Haley is small in appearance, but her voice has the power of someone three times her size!

Information about the Author: The band’s current lineup includes Jeremy Davis (bassist) and Taylor York (guitarist) along with Haley Williams (lead vocalist) – filling out the roster with tour musicians for live performances.  The band did have two founding members – both brothers – Josh and Zac Farro – leave the band recently (Paramore, 2011).  Paramore has released three albums to date: “All We Know Is Falling” (2005), “RIOT!” (2007) and “Brand New Eyes” (2011) (MOG, 2011).  The band claims various other bands as influential into their signature sound – including Jimmy Eat World, Sunny Day Real Estate, Thrice, Death Cab for Cutie, and New Found Glory (Paramore, 2011).

The band is based out of Franklin Tennessee.  Critically, the band received a Grammy Award nomination for “Best New Artist” – receiving notice after “RIOT!” – which sold two millions copies globally (Paramore, 2011).  The band is a rather young act – and at the time of the conception, only Davis was older than 18 – notably, Haley started as a 13-year-old charter member (MOG, 2011).  Arguably, their most successful song is “Decode” from the Twilight soundtrack, which has received over 56 million hits on YouTube (2008) – although the band does have six songs above 19 million view counts on the site (YouTube, 2011). 

Supplemental Material

Genre: Rock / Alternative

Curriculum Ties: Music – studio production, guitar technics, female vocal range  

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Have you heard the tracks off their latest studio album – from the same band that brought us “Decode” from the Twilight soundtrack?

Reading Level: Currently, as a very popular rock band, Paramore caters to Top 40 rock sensibilities – with teen interest mostly grades 9 through 12.   

Challenge Issues and Defense: The album does contain some language – but the album is not considered explicit.  Either way, that detail will not stop most teens from listening to the album if they like the band.  I could not find edited versions of the album/songs – if the library finds the case necessary.  

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: This is one of the few modern rock bands – emerging over the last five years – that I actually enjoy.

Last Thoughts

References:

Metrolyrics. (2011a). Ignorance [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.metrolyrics.com/ignorance-

lyrics-paramore.html

Metrolyrics. (2011b). Playing God [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.metrolyrics.com/playing-

god-lyrics-paramore.html

MOG (2011). Pararmore [Webpage]. Retrieved from https://mog.com/albums/

mn33257063/paramore/brand-new-eyes

Paramore. (2011). Paramore bio [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.paramore.net/bio/

YouTube. (2011). Search results for Paramore [Webpage]. Retrieved from

            http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=videos&search_query=

paramore&search_sort=video_view_count

YouTube. (2008). Paramore: Decode [Official video]. Retrieved from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvnkAtWcKYg

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Sanctus Real / Album – “Pieces of a Real Heart”