Monday, April 21st, 2008 // Paperhouse
I’m too tired today to tackle any large, complex issues in the world of music. It’s spring outside, and suddenly there are 20 times more people that go to Carnegie Mellon than there were a month ago. All of these people are sitting across the Cut with their newly rediscovered arms and legs exposed, listening to whomever’s stereo won the volume competition by the Fence. What I am noticing, however, is that the music coming out of these stereos is largely the same music that was played last spring, and the spring before that. In fact, a lot of it is the same music that students were listening to in high school, because that’s what was on commercial radio and behind the advertisements on television for things like Mountain Dew and Doritos.
Frankly, it’s pathetic. You’re building robots and telling jokes about the fourth dimension while listening to Dave Matthews Band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Goo Goo Dolls, and Oasis. Regardless of the merit of these bands individually (which is, itself, debatable), there is absolutely no reason, and no excuse, for them to be on repeat.
Discovering new music has become almost distressingly easy these days. The Internet, that little thing most students are hooked up to 24/7, has a wealth of resources. There’s a handful of popular websites that connect you to artists similar to those you know and like, such as last.fm and Pandora (even if they get it wrong sometimes). There are also music blogs that offer plenty of free MP3 downloads, and user-driven sites like (see article to the left) that put a personal touch on discovering new sound on the Internet.
Of course, the Internet is not the only place to discover new music. Right on campus, in the basement of the UC, is WRCT, a free-form radio station with programming that ranges from blues to hip-hop, to avant-garde neo-Dadaist musical hodgepodge. While you’re not guaranteed to like everything that’s playing every minute of the day on WRCT, chances are you be able to find at least one program to tune into for a little bit every week and hear what’s new in the music world. In addition to WRCT, the Activities Board brings plenty of great acts right to campus to check out each month — it doesn’t get much easier than that.
So while I am too tired to tackle any complex musical issue, I do feel responsible for trying to help fix this one. We talk about music as being the universal language, yet so many people fail to expand their vocabulary. I’m tired of feeling like I’m in one of those bad ’90s college movies when I’m on my way to class. Step up, Carnegie Mellon. Listen to better music.
-M. Callen
Sunday, April 20th, 2008 // Paperhouse
I’m too tired today to tackle any large, complex issues in the world of music. It’s spring outside, and suddenly there are 20 times more people that go to Carnegie Mellon than there were a month ago. All of these people are sitting across the Cut with their newly rediscovered arms and legs exposed, listening to whomever’s stereo won the volume competition by the Fence. What I am noticing, however, is that the music coming out of these stereos is largely the same music that was played last spring, and the spring before that. In fact, a lot of it is the same music that students were listening to in high school, because that’s what was on commercial radio and behind the advertisements on television for things like Mountain Dew and Doritos.
Frankly, it’s pathetic. You’re building robots and telling jokes about the fourth dimension while listening to Dave Matthews Band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Goo Goo Dolls, and Oasis. Regardless of the merit of these bands individually (which is, itself, debatable), there is absolutely no reason, and no excuse, for them to be on repeat.
Discovering new music has become almost distressingly easy these days. The Internet, that little thing most students are hooked up to 24/7, has a wealth of resources. There’s a handful of popular websites that connect you to artists similar to those you know and like, such as last.fm and Pandora (even if they get it wrong sometimes). There are also music blogs that offer plenty of free MP3 downloads, and user-driven sites like muxtape.com (see article to the left) that put a personal touch on discovering new sound on the Internet.
Of course, the Internet is not the only place to discover new music. Right on campus, in the basement of the UC, is WRCT, a free-form radio station with programming that ranges from blues to hip-hop, to avant-garde neo-Dadaist musical hodgepodge. While you’re not guaranteed to like everything that’s playing every minute of the day on WRCT, chances are you be able to find at least one program to tune into for a little bit every week and hear what’s new in the music world. In addition to WRCT, the Activities Board brings plenty of great acts right to campus to check out each month — it doesn’t get much easier than that.
So while I am too tired to tackle any complex musical issue, I do feel responsible for trying to help fix this one. We talk about music as being the universal language, yet so many people fail to expand their vocabulary. I’m tired of feeling like I’m in one of those bad ’90s college movies when I’m on my way to class. Step up, Carnegie Mellon. Listen to better music.
Sunday, April 13th, 2008 // Paperhouse
I remember walking home from high school one afternoon six years ago, listening to Sonic Youth’s Washing Machine on my Discman. Somehow, despite the insistence of all the press I had read and the recommendations of my friends, I hadn’t really been into Daydream Nation, the band’s landmark album that is supposedly its most influential, if not its best.
I had this odd habit at the time that I feel other people might understand. When I’d get a new album, if it was good, I’d only listen to the first half of it for months. At that age, I would get obsessed with new music easily and, honestly, the first few tracks on my favorite albums kept me busy for weeks. Anyway, at this point, six years go, I hadn’t actually gotten around to listening to the last track on Washing Machine, “The Diamond Sea.”
What took me over at first was the simplicity of the composition. The characteristic mirroring of the vocal line in the guitar and the simple drumming were absolutely beautiful. The guitars were restrained and almost gentle. I continued listening and was probably daydreaming about something unrelated when I suddenly started paying attention again: Around six or seven minutes into the track — the piece is about 19 minutes long — I realized what I was listening to. It was noise. A straight-up wall of distorted noise. There was no melody, no vocals. This was the first time ever that I truly enjoyed listening to noise.
Since this incident, I’ve learned two important lessons about listening to music. First, albums may contain hidden treasures. It is my duty as a seeker of awesome sounds to find these treasures if they exist. Second, foreign genres of music are just like vegetables. You hate them when you’re young, refuse to try them, and hate them when you do. Then on some odd day you randomly eat something with broccoli in it, declare it tasty, and recoil in horror at the sudden cognitive dissonance.
One of my favorite places on the Internet to get served up musical vegetables is www.muxtape.com, a sort of online mix tape simulator. The premise of the site is simple: You get one username and 12 MP3 uploads, none of which can be over 10 megabytes large. After uploading songs you can change their order and share your username with your friends who can then get on the site and stream the tracks you put up in their browser. There are no comments, no stats, and no contact info for the muxtape makers. The front page of the site has links to a random selection of tapes, which I’ve been having a lot of fun exploring. Since they’re all made by people, the track selections are often very eclectic and fun.
