What's all the Hype?

I am sure many of you music lovers are familiar with the music blog, ‘Hype Machine’, but if you’re not then I suggest you become familiar with it. Basically it is a database for certain music blogs that circulate the Internet. It is explained on the web site: “We are creating tools that empower independent voices that write about music. We think a select group of passionate people can produce more engaging conversation than a huge social mob, or a rigid hierarchy of editors. We amplify their posts and the audio they choose, to help this vibrant culture spread.” (Check out the FAQ to find out more info about the site here).

You can search any song, and if the song you’re looking for has been uploaded onto a selected music blog, it will come up in your search. If you create an account, you can start making your own playlist by clicking on the heart that appears beside each song. These ‘favourites’ become your playlist – one you can access anywhere there is a computer so you don’t need to bring your iPod to parties in order to DJ and share your music with your social network. You can follow your friends and other hype m users that have similar music tastes as you, and search other people’s. What I really like about this blogging site is that it is all about sharing – you cannot download off of the website, only listen. As stated on the web site, “The Hype Machine does not offer any tracks for download. We provide a list of tracks that are currently being discussed on blogs, not the files themselves. If you discover a song or artist you like, we encourage you to support them by purchasing their music”. What this makes the web site is a collaborative sharing database compiled by the people for the people, serving as a promotional tool for certain artists and bloggers as well. You can make your own page your personal collection of favourites, which I see as a personal remix of all of the available songs - and no two playlists will be the same.

I encourage you all to make an account and start your playlist! You'll be surprised at how many new songs and artists you can discover in a matter of minutes that might just become your new favourite thing to listen to. Here's my playlist, if you care to check it out!

Collaborate and remix!

This may be just a shameless plug, but I think it also has relevance for our course. In another cultural studies class a group of mine (including a couple of our KS400 classmates) are working on an event at the KW Art Gallery.

The event is a pre-screening of a film by Althea Thauberger called Not Afraid to Die. Althea creates her films in collaboration with members of various communities including students, members of the military and song writers/singers. Her goal in collaboration is to give these people a voice where they may not have had one before.

In the film we are pre-screening, Althea works with a student of hers, filming at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria. Althea sings the soundtrack to the film herself. The song can be considered a kind of mash-up of two different songs, one of which is a miners folk song, the other is a song the artist had stuck in her head while making the film.

The artist does not prescribe meanings to her work. Her method is more to release the work to the public, and allow the audience to take from it the meaning that they choose. This is what our event is about. Our goal at the event is to gather responses from the audience on what their thoughts and interpretations are on the piece. We will gather written, video, and audio responses, which will be displayed with the work when it is exhibited at the gallery at the end of March.

If you are interested in the event, here is some more information
http://free-admission.com/2011/03/04/feedback-loop/

The Event is taking place this Thursday March 10th from 7-9 pm at the KW Art Gallery (Located in The Center in the Square)