Shakira is a prominent Colombian singer whose unique music, dance, and singing styles have allowed her to distinguish herself from the rest of her colleagues.
Although Shakira fits in the pop genre, her music does not sound like typical pop music. Her songs are often a mix of styles that in turn develop a new unique musical style. For example, her recordings “Eyes Like Yours” and "Whenever, Wherever (Arab Remix)" incorporate Middle Eastern elements, while “Objection” incorporates tango. These different mixtures of styles show that Shakira doesn’t want to be a typical pop singer. She’s adventurous and takes risks in trying new things. Luckily for her, the risks she has taken have resulted in a worldwide positive response from the public (as shown by her best-selling albums).
"Eyes Like Yours": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkCdu6lK5xY
"Whenever, Wherever (Arab Remix)": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23gVS1ZxhbE
"Objection": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_QQOGLdOCo
Dance style is another aesthetic quality that differentiates Shakira from the rest of the singers. During her concerts, Shakira's hip movements are a major part of her performance and never fail to fascinate the audience. She always incorporates belly dancing (a Middle Eastern element). The flowy movement gives her freedom and allows her to express herself in a way that wouldn't be possible through singing alone. The audience loves it and it is part of what makes her Shakira.
One last quality that disinguishes Shakira is her voice. When one of her songs is playing, it is easy to recognize it as Shakira's because of the unique timbre of her voice. It is somewhat nasal but beautiful and unmistakeable.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Latcho Drom: Part 2
The second part of the movie Latcho Drom depicts the migration of the Roma people from the Middle East to Eastern Europe. In this part, there were two major musical scenes: 1) villagers coming out of their houses in Romania, and 2) nomads singing next to a railroad in Slovakia.
The first scene shows a group of Romanian villagers happily making music outside their homes. I noticed five different instruments: four violins, one flute, one acordion, two santours, and two other large chordophones. In this scene, everyone is gathered around the musicians enjoying themselves. One thing I found interesting about this scene is that only men play instruments while women just acompany them with their singing and clapping; perhaps this is a subtle suggestion of a patriarchal hierarchy. In the train scence that takes place in Slovakia, nomads play, sing, and entertain a child and his mother. Here, I only saw three instruments: a violin, a metal jar that is used as an idiophone, and two spoons beat together that are also used as idiophones.
From the descriptions above, it is clear that the Romanian scene has many conventional instruments (including chordophones and aerophones). The scene from Slovakia also shows a chordophone (the violin), but does not include any aerophones. The most interesting instruments from this scene are the idiophones because they are not conventional. The nomads use daily utensils (spoons and a jar) as their musical instruments.
Latcho Drom is undoubtedly a very interesting film. At the begining I didn't think I would be able to follow the movie because the English translation is minimal and no dialogue takes place. However, I later realized that in this movie the music is what truly matters. Parts of the songs are translated and the translation provides enough information for the viewer to understand what's taking place. The purpose of the film is not only to describe the migration of the nomads and how the music-cultures of the different regions they traversed influenced their own music-culture, but also to show the suffering and hardships faced by this group of people. This becomes especially evident in this second part of the film. For instance, in one scene, there's a girl and a woman singing a mournful song in a train. Their song says, "Everyone hates us, we're chased, we're cursed." In another scene, a man sings, "God has condemned us to wandering." Hearing these songs is depressing, but they illustrate nomad reality. "Gypsies" are at the bottom of the social ladder and experience rejection from the rest of society. Latcho Drom also depicts the miserable living conditions of the nomads. They constantly move from place to place and are forced to live under detrimental conditions. For example, there's a scene that shows how the nomads were living on trees during a cold winter in Slovakia. It is amazing how these people survive.
The first scene shows a group of Romanian villagers happily making music outside their homes. I noticed five different instruments: four violins, one flute, one acordion, two santours, and two other large chordophones. In this scene, everyone is gathered around the musicians enjoying themselves. One thing I found interesting about this scene is that only men play instruments while women just acompany them with their singing and clapping; perhaps this is a subtle suggestion of a patriarchal hierarchy. In the train scence that takes place in Slovakia, nomads play, sing, and entertain a child and his mother. Here, I only saw three instruments: a violin, a metal jar that is used as an idiophone, and two spoons beat together that are also used as idiophones.
From the descriptions above, it is clear that the Romanian scene has many conventional instruments (including chordophones and aerophones). The scene from Slovakia also shows a chordophone (the violin), but does not include any aerophones. The most interesting instruments from this scene are the idiophones because they are not conventional. The nomads use daily utensils (spoons and a jar) as their musical instruments.
Latcho Drom is undoubtedly a very interesting film. At the begining I didn't think I would be able to follow the movie because the English translation is minimal and no dialogue takes place. However, I later realized that in this movie the music is what truly matters. Parts of the songs are translated and the translation provides enough information for the viewer to understand what's taking place. The purpose of the film is not only to describe the migration of the nomads and how the music-cultures of the different regions they traversed influenced their own music-culture, but also to show the suffering and hardships faced by this group of people. This becomes especially evident in this second part of the film. For instance, in one scene, there's a girl and a woman singing a mournful song in a train. Their song says, "Everyone hates us, we're chased, we're cursed." In another scene, a man sings, "God has condemned us to wandering." Hearing these songs is depressing, but they illustrate nomad reality. "Gypsies" are at the bottom of the social ladder and experience rejection from the rest of society. Latcho Drom also depicts the miserable living conditions of the nomads. They constantly move from place to place and are forced to live under detrimental conditions. For example, there's a scene that shows how the nomads were living on trees during a cold winter in Slovakia. It is amazing how these people survive.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Latcho Drom
The movie Latcho Drom ("Safe Journey") depicts the migration of nomads from South Asia to the Middle East. After watching the first part of this movie, it is evident that music plays a major role in their lives. There were three major musical scenes: 1) nomads under a full moon, 2) an Egyptian couple dancing, and 3) a takht ensemble playing in a Turkish teahouse in Istanbul. In these three scenes there were many musical instruments, some different and some similar to each other.
In the first scene, I saw an instrument that I had never seen before and that did not appear in any of the other scenes. I don't know the name of it but it looked like a pottery pot/vase. It seemed like they were using it as a drum; it was interesting. There was also a stringed instrument that looked like a bouzouki. In the second scene, what stood out the most to me was the tambourine. There was also another drum that resembled the tambourine but without cymbals, and an instrument that resembled the Chinese erhu . I also saw another type of drum; I think it's called a dholak. The third scene showed the typical instruments of the takht ensemble: 'ud, qanun, nay, tambourine and violin. The instruments in the three scenes were similar in that they all included some type of drum, stringed instrument, and cymbals.
The director of Latcho Drom was trying to demonstrate how the nomads absorbed the various music cultures they encountered into their own music. The director did this through the children in the movie. Every time they stopped somewhere, the "gypsy" kids were very curious to find out what was going on around them. They watched very closely the musical performances of the region they were in and tried to imitate the performers. Then they went back to the "gypsy" settlement and show the rest of the nomads. In this way, as they traveled through different parts of the world, the "gypsies" picked up different musical styles that made their way into "gypsy" music.
In the first scene, I saw an instrument that I had never seen before and that did not appear in any of the other scenes. I don't know the name of it but it looked like a pottery pot/vase. It seemed like they were using it as a drum; it was interesting. There was also a stringed instrument that looked like a bouzouki. In the second scene, what stood out the most to me was the tambourine. There was also another drum that resembled the tambourine but without cymbals, and an instrument that resembled the Chinese erhu . I also saw another type of drum; I think it's called a dholak. The third scene showed the typical instruments of the takht ensemble: 'ud, qanun, nay, tambourine and violin. The instruments in the three scenes were similar in that they all included some type of drum, stringed instrument, and cymbals.
The director of Latcho Drom was trying to demonstrate how the nomads absorbed the various music cultures they encountered into their own music. The director did this through the children in the movie. Every time they stopped somewhere, the "gypsy" kids were very curious to find out what was going on around them. They watched very closely the musical performances of the region they were in and tried to imitate the performers. Then they went back to the "gypsy" settlement and show the rest of the nomads. In this way, as they traveled through different parts of the world, the "gypsies" picked up different musical styles that made their way into "gypsy" music.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
The Influence of Real Life's Events on Music
A real life event that had a deep influence on music in our day and age is the Middle Eastern attack of the U.S. twin towers and the subsequent US-Iraq War. After September 11, 2001, artists recorded songs relating to the human suffering that was taking place at the time. But what caused the most controversy and heightened response from various artists was President Bush’s decision to declare war on Iraq. After this declaration of war, many artists became political activists and used their positions as entertainers to reach out to the public. They recorded songs and made videos that condemned the war and promoted peace.
One of such war-denouncing groups is The Black Eyed Peas, who recorded a song titled “Where is the love?” The chorus of this song explicitly describes the situation at the time: “People killing, people dying, children hurt, and women crying…These people got me questioning, where is the love?” By recording this song not only did The Black Eyed Peas openly criticize the war, but they also tried to raise consciousness by posing an important question: What’s happening to the world?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJV9EMkv0u4
The famous punk-rock band Green Day also recorded several songs against the war. In fact, most of the songs in their album “American Idiot” criticize the war in one way or another. For instance, the video of the song “Wake Me Up When September Ends” shows a lot of war scenes and the song itself describes the war as a nightmare. This song is about a young man who goes off to fight in the war and leaves his girlfriend behind. In the song he basically states that he wants to go to sleep and not be woken up until the end of September (and its aftermath) because reality is just too harsh and he can’t face it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLSUdF2d_uI
From the examples above, it is evident that music continues to be an outlet for popular political discontent. However, the music itself also had an impact on society. This type of songs and their negative portrayal of the war influenced people’s opinion. Although they may not have been the sole reason to condemn the war, these songs definitely contributed to people’s disapproval of it.
One of such war-denouncing groups is The Black Eyed Peas, who recorded a song titled “Where is the love?” The chorus of this song explicitly describes the situation at the time: “People killing, people dying, children hurt, and women crying…These people got me questioning, where is the love?” By recording this song not only did The Black Eyed Peas openly criticize the war, but they also tried to raise consciousness by posing an important question: What’s happening to the world?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJV9EMkv0u4
The famous punk-rock band Green Day also recorded several songs against the war. In fact, most of the songs in their album “American Idiot” criticize the war in one way or another. For instance, the video of the song “Wake Me Up When September Ends” shows a lot of war scenes and the song itself describes the war as a nightmare. This song is about a young man who goes off to fight in the war and leaves his girlfriend behind. In the song he basically states that he wants to go to sleep and not be woken up until the end of September (and its aftermath) because reality is just too harsh and he can’t face it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLSUdF2d_uI
From the examples above, it is evident that music continues to be an outlet for popular political discontent. However, the music itself also had an impact on society. This type of songs and their negative portrayal of the war influenced people’s opinion. Although they may not have been the sole reason to condemn the war, these songs definitely contributed to people’s disapproval of it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)