Blogger #3

Thibodeaux, Jourdan

English A

Professor Reyes

March 3, 2016

The Beach Boys Last Wave: Abstract

The last three original band members from The Beach Boys are Brian Wilson, his cousin Mike love, and their mutual friend Al Jardine. Brian’s brothers had passed away before the 2000’s. His brother Carl, passed away from cancer. Dennis passed away in the 80’s as the result of drowning. In 2012, Mike Love and Brian Wilson sit down to discuss a new tour for The Beach Boys. Brian and Mike are both in their seventies.

Although they now seem close in friendship and agree that family comes first, this is their first dinner together since the year 1999. Mike Love and Brian Wilson were estranged, like all The Beach Boys were. The band broke up over arguments about what direction to take the music in. Brian and Love could not be more different. In the days when they were still a band, Mike would have rather had their original surfer music while Brian preferred to branch out. They spent most of their time together in court, disputing over song credits and petty financial problems.

Despite the issues and disagreements, in 2012 they are in the middle of their 50^th anniversary tour. Touring fourteen countries in seventy three days. A month before this dinner, Brian Wilson and the remaining Beach Boys had been at Capitol Studios in the hope to re-record the song “Do It Again.” In the midst of that, Brian also convinced them to record a new track called “Think About The Days.”

Citations: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-beach-boys-last-wave-20120621?page=3

Blogger #3

                The Poet Behind The Doors: Jim Morrison's Poetry and the 1960's Counter-Cultural Movement




While there has been a wealth of literature on Jim Morrison, the lead singer of the Doors, little work has actually been done to engage in a serious critical study of his poetry and lyrics. As a result, critics have continually misrepresented his work (usually linking it to a drug culture), the poetic tradition from which he built, and, most importantly, his place within the context of the 1960s. Looking at both his poetry and his lyrics, this thesis begins to discover reasons for Morrison's fractured relationship with his generation. This relationship can be better understood by examining Morrison's work alongside two cultural phenomena that were incredibly popular during the 1960s: Eastern religion and also communal living. While, on the one hand, Morrison uncompromisingly insisted upon individuality, allowing people to become the creators of their own reality through their imagination, the spiritual practice of Eastern religion and the material practice of communal living on the other hand insisted upon people following specific creeds and doctrines to reach a higher level of spiritual cognition and/or inner peace. By understanding the reasons for this fractured relationship, we can not only better understand the context of "Five to One" and his notorious 1969 concert in Miami - two instances where Morrison insults his generation for their lack of willpower and their enslavement to a fixed system of order - but we can also see that Morrison himself was highly aware that his core message that he preached throughout his career (1966-71) was radically opposed to the messages and visions embraced by his generation.





Erkel, Steven Andrew. "The poet behind the doors: Jim Morrison's poetry and the 1960s countercultural movement." (2011).

Blogger #4

Due: Tuesday, 3/8

Types of Paragraphs

Create a paragraph for each. Each paragraph must be at minimum 5 sentences.

1. Description:  describe the the theme of your album
2. Informative: inform your audience about the album 
3. Persuasive: persuade someone to listen to it 
4. Definition: define and explain the genre

For this post, you will organize these paragraphs in any order you like.  The key is that each paragraph must transition smoothly to the next using transition and conclusion sentences.  Each paragraph must also have a clear topic sentence.  You must also create an introduction paragraph for these 4 paragraphs.  I suggest doing this at the very end once you see what you have written.  

Blogger #3

How the Weeknd Went From Broke in Canada to Sharing Stage With Taylor Swift  

BY SIMON VOZICK-LEVINSON

    Before he was The Weeknd, he was just Abel Tesfaye. A singer and producer. He was just shy and awkward. Rejecting interviews at times well being camera shy. He was this way until he dropped his first releases in 2011 of mixtapes. Republic Records flew to The Weeknd and the manager shut him down they said "they had no interest". Republic Records followed him for a year or so then got him to sign with them. That's when he dropped Kissland with this label. There was a time where he was spending more time in Los Angeles. Later on this opened doors for him in the soundtrack for Fifty Shades of Grey which was the song called "Earned It". Ariana Grande and did a duo called "Love Me Harder". From there he started doing collaborations with other artists and the fame grew more. Republic Records opened doors for The Weeknd but he also did. The Weeknd said "At one point, I didn't care." then he said right after "Now I want as many people to hear my music as possible." He soon puts out other songs like"Can't Feel My Face" and "Tell Your Friends" that was co-produced by Kanye West. These just talk about being homeless, nights of substance abuse, and meaningless sex. "The Hills" was a hit also combined with all the other ones. Due to this now he's on stage with Taylor Swift and the audience will know his lyrics, he says "Taylor Swift's audience can listen to me, but so can the street kids. I want to touch it all."

Works Cited

Vozick-Levinson, Simon. “How the Weeknd Went From Broke in Canada to Sharing Stage With Taylor Swift.” RollingStone.com. Web. 02 March 2016.

Blogger #3

Brandy Norwood

Brandy wants to bring R&B back. Yesterday afternoon, RCA and Chameleon Records invited select media to preview 11 tracks from Brandy's upcoming sixth album, "Two Eleven", dropping October 16th. It's Brandy at her most realized romantically shaky, vocally sharp and musically sound, thanks to an honors corral of producers and songwriters spanning Sean Garrett, Bangladesh, Frank Ocean, Mario Winans, Hit Boy, Ester Dean, Harmony and more.

Over the course of her decades long career, Brandy has become a woman before our eyes, outgrowing the baby lamb naïveté of 1994 Brandy and assuming the role of self actualized woman (2002's Full Moon). It was with 2004 Afrodisiac that she faltered in her steps, openly wallowing in a bitter divorce, before rising above the dancing flames on 'O8's Human. On Two Eleven, she juggles heartache and romantic solace, a nod to past delusions filtered through the hindsight of 33- year old reticence. 

Throughout "Two Eleven", a nod to her birthday and the date of mentor Whitney Houston's death, Brandy is as quick to pledge allegiance to lovers as she is to scorn them. On the upcoming Sean Garrett- penned single " Wildest Dreams," the follow up to lead track " Put It Down" ( featuring Chris Brown), the emotional rug is pulled from under her: " Never in my wildest dreams did I think someone could care about me/ not just the way you love me, but you know I'm emotional. 

"Two Eleven" still a work in progress set to include 15 tracks, also features the Frank Ocean  written "Scared of Beautiful," which will become a duet pending the Odd Future singer's vocal addition. Over double time instrumentation, Brandy stops seeking reciprocity and focuses inward. "I wonder why there's no mirrors on these walls no more / You can't tell me why you're so terrified of beautiful," she sings. She's looking only to herself- no man to safety net her feelings and she is ready to face her reflection. 

Work Cite

www.rollingstone.com/music/news/Brandy-wants-to-bring-r-b-back-with-new-album

    

blogger 3

Tomorrow bad seeds was formed by Moises Juarez the lead singer and Mathew McEwan the guitars/turntablist in Hermosa beach, California in 2004. Mats cousin, Johnny McEwan joined the band as their drummer later that year. The band had two bass players over the years the original bass player was Al Arnado, after he left the band he was replace by Andre Davis. They also added Sean Chapman later on as a guitar player and backup vocalist; he was a long time friend of the band he even to high school with some of them. The band use to be from a graffiti crew called TBS; they use the acronym to come up with the band’s name Tomorrow Bad Seeds. They released their reggae rock album Early Prayers in June 2007 with the independent label Urban Tone Records.  After dropping their debut album they toured all over Hawaii 4 times that year..(Wikipedia)

blogger #3

                   

Paulette Smith

February 25, 2016

                                                           " Take Care "

                  Drake as know Aubrey is hip-hop king . Drake Started off as a childhood star as he staring in the hit TV show "Degrassi". As Drake  ventures off he became a  rapper/ singer and is  signed to Lil Wayne's YMCMB recording  label. Drake started off with Mixtapes and made his way to making platinum albums. With his Amazing voice and  talent he is unstoppable. From his TV career, being signing to YMCMB, and Platinum albums. Drake is the best of the best. Some people like him and some do not, but Drake is carefree.  On Drake's "Take Care"  album he expresses he inner soul, which he  collaborate with artistes  such as,  Nicki Minaj , Stevie Wonder, Andree` 3ooo , and Lil Wayne and many many more.

                  To begin with,  on Drake's "Take Care" album which came out in 2012, he expresses his inner soul. From songs  off the album like  " Over My Dead Body"  and " HYFR" and  " Headlines". Drake takes Hip-Hop and R&B to  whole another   level.  All these songs off the album he collaborate with top artistes in the game. Making his album "Take Care" Platinum and  number one on Billboard charts. This time around, Drake has a better grasp on his own notoriety and the mind-fucks that come with it. While he expressed wonderfully wounded trepidations about his sudden rise on Thank Me Later, he's learning to embrace it more here. They say more money more problems, my nigga, don't believe it," he raps on closer "The Ride". "I  sure, there's some bills and taxes I'm still evading/ But I blew six million on myself, and I , feel amazing." And on "HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right)", he all but gives away his hand, turning his sadness into strategy: "What have I learned since getting richer?/ I learned working with the negatives could make for better pictures." And while he claims "I think I like who I'm becoming" on "Crew Love"-- about as ringing an endorsement you'll get from a guy so bent on exposing his own disappointments-- he's still more interested in contradiction than triumph. Even when staring at a pair of unnatural breasts, he highlights the incision rather than the size: "Brand new girl and she still growing/ Brand new titties, stitches still showing/ Yeah, and she just praying that it heals good/ I'm 'bout to fuck and I'm just praying that it feels good." Drake is  a genius, with all the hard work he put in this album this has to be his best work yet.

The cover of Take Care shows its star sitting at a table, dejected and surrounded by gold, like a hip-hop Midas. Considering some of the money-doesn't-buy-you-happiness sentiments inside, the picture is apropos enough. But it's much too obvious to truly represent what Drake and his crew have done here. A better image would be the grainy, amateur photo he released with "Marvins Room" when he originally leaked it in June, which shows the rapper walking away from a group of private jets, his face obscured by a puff of smoke making its way up to an overcast sky. It lets his reality do the heavy lifting while Drake stands by, taking it all in.

Drake has contribute to hip-hop in R&B in some many ways. He change the game in some many 

ways. He has continue to hold the crown. It will be hard to find another Drake and his music. His music is so relatable and connect with his fans on a whole another level. His music is encouraging and tells a story. Drake music hits top charts back to back and now is coming out with a new album with bigger and better hits.

 work cited list

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/take-care-20111111

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16039-take-care/