For those who don’t know, horrorcore is a dismal scene often ignored by the rest of the world. The most famous horrorcore rappers out there won’t even acknowledge that they are part of the horrorcore scene. Everybody from the Insane Clown Posse to Necro, shuns the title with quickness.

Odd Future do too.

Theoretically, this could be because they don’t want people to associate them with some of the worst rappers in history (like Wicked Dub) or it could be because they don’t consider their music horror based.

The fact of the matter is that before horrorcore was adapted into a sort of gothrap by depressed, often overweight goth kids from the midwest, it was an expansion of hardcore rap. When you remove the goth element from rappers like stitchmouth, you’re left with some slackjawed white kid with anger management issues.

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All aren’t the same. Like Insane Poetry, another LA based rap group who appears to be part of the horrorcore world, they’re black and while I will normally state that music is not racial, this is a big deal. They aren’t being trendy or scene, they’re being genuinely antagonistic. Their anticonformity is more genuine because fewer black teens can get away with the kinds of statements they make than white kids can. When white kids decide they want to rap about murder and rape, they’re compared to death metal bands.

No one will compare Odd Future to a death metal band.

There is one more major difference between Odd Future and lame ass horriblecore douches like Sicktanic.

Their beats are tollerable. Now, don’t get me wrong, they are aggressive and brash but unlike the vast majority of horrorcore, these kids actually seem to bring it.

If you haven’t heard from these kids, you have to google the hell out of them. They are everywhere. Youtube, tumblr, twitter. You can download all of their albums on tumblr. http://oddfuture.tumblr.com

What’s really interesting, to me, is that unlike horrorcore groups like the ICP, OFWGKTA are actually being courted by mainstream labels. They just signed to one, even and hopefully for the best.

The best way to describe their music isn’t horrorcore, that’s for sure.  OFWGKTA are essentially a hardcore rap group. They’re a modern NWA. They’ve taken their raps to the next level of vulgarity and hostility but really, they’re doing nothing all that different. They’re just being 19 and cutting edge. They’ve taken the world by storm because of that natural teen aggression that lives so freely in rap music. They are antagonistic and antiauthoritarian and they are laughing themselves silly.

This year the bands who will perform across the 5 day festival will be:

Cangelosi Cards an American jazz band established and based in New York City. They are masters of swing and jive dance music, bluegrass and folk. They will attract a dance crowd to enjoy early American jazz and blues. Their speakeasy style and presentation will have you tapping your feet from the start to the end of their performance.

Transpiradansa! – a large youth orchestra from Belgium will be playing world music to dance to. The band consists of woodwinds, brass, strings, harp and accordions, polished to perfection with a fine rhythm section and two singers. Read more: http://www.myspace.com/transpiradansa#ixzz0zSC8KosP

Vanillounge from Germany will mix a new style of TIKI sound. The sound is Latin, R&B, Soul, Caribean, Pop Music, Jazz, modern Chill out and ambient music, Chachacha, Originals and Remixes, acoustic and electronic sounds. Read more about Vanillounge at this link: http://www.myspace.com/vanillounge#ixzz0zSCzn9SQ

DASH! an avantgarde funk ensemble from Amsterdam, combining virtuoso music and theatrics in one truly exciting package. Four brilliant vocalists are supported by a rhythmsection with deep grooves and basslines, and the swirling lines of the electric saxophone. The absence of chordal instruments makes for a unique, transparent sound. 

French trio the Remi Panossian Band has a focus on cool jazz piano. The trio of piano, double bass and drums serves up a mix of contemporary original tunes. For more information on Remi and his band visit this site: http://www.remipanossian.com/?page_id=home⟨=en

From Canada – Five Finger Rapids combine original tunes & favorite standards to deliver a show full of swing & soul with a northern twist. The band delivers smart lyrics, catchy melodies and arrangements that keep the audience on the edge of their seats with toes tapping. http://www.grantsimpson.net/

AlJawala band from Germany will have you bopping and dancing to new and different jazz trends. Fiery, cosmopolitan and fascinating are words used to describe this funky jazz/punk orchestra. Read more about AlJawala here: http://www.jawala.de/index.php?id=1

Chinese band Jinling Dragon will showcase local jazz expertise. Professor Dong Jin Ming the organiser of the Nanjing Jazz and World Music festival will bring his band to the stage this year to demonstrate the synergy between traditional Chinese instruments and the modern world of jazz. The band features at this site: http://www.dongjinming.com/projects/jinlingdragonband_engl.html

Music is a form of art created via the medium of sound and comprised of an variety of components which include pitch (harmony, melody), rhythm (meter, tempo) and sonic qualities such as texture and timber.    Culture and social context are the essentials that determine or constitute how music is defined, created, performed and valued.   According to French musi-cologist /semiotician Jean-Jacques Nattiez:

 ”the border between music and noise is always culturally defined-which implies that, even within a single society, this border does not always pass through the same place; in short, there is rarely a consensus…By all accounts there is no single or intercultural universal concept defining what music might be, except that it is ‘sound through time’ (Nattiez).”  

No matter how it is defined or interpreted, music plays vital role in the lives of people throughout the world.  Like all forms of art, its importance and value lies in the fact that is encompasses a holistic experience – physically, mentally, and spiritually.

The Republic of India is the second most populated country in the world and the seventh largest geographical area.  A multitude of ethnic groups with distinct cultural traditions, languages, and dialects comprise the South Asia subcontinent and such a factor is reflective in the music.   Rabindranath Tagore, profound Indian-Bengali polymath of the late19th/early 20th centuries and credited with having transformed/reshaped Indian literature as well as music, described music as the “purest form of art” that arises from the inner soul and is based on life experiences (Indie-Music).   Indian music – an infusion of traditional/classical genres as well as popular, folk, and R& B genres – was and continues to be a vital source cultural expression, religious inspiration, and pure entertainment in the lives of the Indian people. Carnatic and Hindustani music primarily comprise classical/ traditional Indian music.  Divinely orientated and mirroring Persian as well as Islamic influences, both genres emphasize instrumentation but is vocal centric.  Carnatic is primarily associated with southern India while Hindustani the northern part of the country.    Bhavageete, Lavani, Bhangra, Dandiya, Rajasthani, , Kolata, and a host of other forms constitute Indian folk music which unlike the classical forms is dance orientated and usually performed on non-crafted instruments made from readily available material (bamboo, coconut shells, pots, etc.).   Rich and diverse, Indian folk music is utilized for special occasions and educational purposes (Courtney).  

 The trends of modern Indian music include Indi-pop, dance music, and Rock & Metal emblematic of Western influences.    Rooted in Indian traditional/classical and folk music, a music genre indicative of Indian music changing with the times is Filmi – popular Indian music specifically written and performed for Indian cinema.  Cinema/film industry has become a very conspicuous form of mass entertainment since the inception of the 20th century.   The Golden Age of Indian cinema (1940’s-60’s) commenced with India’s independence (Gokulsing).  “It is through Film music that Modern Indian music finds its most popular expression” stated acclaimed Hindi, Malayalam, and Bengali composer/playwright/poet – Salil Chowdhury (Chowdhury).    Chowdhury was a master multi-instrumentalist and one of India’s most prodigious composers ever.    Indian cinema covers a broad/vast spectrum: however, it is often incorrectly associated solely with one element of the film industry - Bollywood.   An informal expression used to describe the Hindi-language film industry in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), Bollywood is a linguistic mixture/portmanteau of the words Bombay and the pinnacle city of the American film industry, Hollywood (Corliss).   Suffice to say, music/Filmi music is the common thread throughout diverse Indian cinema.   Accompanied by plush costumes and scenery, numerous melodramatic plotlines, and extraordinary choreography, Filmi music helps accentuate the rich and lavish nature/context of Indian cinema.   The lyrics are beautiful, poetic, and contribute to Filmi music’s appeal throughout the Indian Diaspora and the world at large.   

  Generally composed by the film’s musical director, Filmi music is performed by playback singers.  Film musical directorship reached its pinnacle in the 1940’s due notable music directors such as Pankaj Mullick, Naushad, and S. Rajeswara.   In the 50’s and 60’s, the elevation continued with composer such as Shankar Jaikishan, S.D. Burman, Madan Mohan, Roshan, Vasant Desai and a host of others.   A greater infusion of Western flavor in Filmi music came about in the 1960’s and 70’s, a key transitional period in Indian film.    The duos Nadeem-Shravan and Jatin-Lalit along with R.D. Burman were the progenitors of this infusion followed by Ilaiyaraaja and Raveendran – prominent composers/directors in the 70’s and 80’s.   From the 1990’s to the present the major musical innovators include Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, A.R. Rahman, Vishal-Shekhar, Yuvan Shankar Raja, and Harria Jayaraj.    A unique and essential element of Indian cinema, playback singers pre-records the songs for the actors/actresses to lip-sync.  Playback singers receive wide public admiration and garner fame/popularity equal to actors, directors, and musical directors.     In most cases they are classically trained but their repertoire can be versatile (Radhika).    Kundan Lal Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, Parul Ghosh, and Geeta Dutta are just a few among a cadre acclaimed singers that have brought notoriety to the profession.

Music serves as a form of individual as well as communal creative expression and mirrors the soul of a person and the multi-faced aspects of a people/culture.    Filmi and other diverse genres of Indian music are indicative of this aspect.  Chowdhury accurately summarized and prophesied the impact of Indian music when he stated:

The sources of Indian music are endless and its potentials are without limit. In the past Indian music obtained its inspiration and its ingredients from generations of inherited popular and classical music, as well as from western music. Today, as nations have achieved a much greater degree of closeness and cultural exchange has become so much easier, the opportunity for Indian music to disseminate widely and to expand its vision presents itself (Chowdhury).

As Indian music evolves it will continue to have an indelible and profound influence on its people in the country, throughout the Diaspora and the international community for years to come.

Bibliography

“Carnatic music.” In Encyclopedia Britannica (2007). Retrieved April 12, 2007, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online

Chowdhury, Salil.  “Evolution in Modern Indian Music.” Published in “Sangeetika” magazine, 1st Year Puja Issue (1959). Translated from the Bengali original.  http://www.salilda.com/ articles/evolution.asp

Corliss, Richard. “Horray for Bollywood!” Time Magazine: September 16, 1996. http:// www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985129,00.html?internalid=atm100.

Courtney, David.  “Indian Folk Music.” http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/ folk_music.html

Gokulsing, Moti K., K. Gokulsing, Wimal Dissanayake (2004), Indian Popular Cinema: A Narrative of Cultural Change, Trentham Books, p. 17.

Indie-Music. http://www.indie-music.info/hc3.asp

McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 63-69. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books

Nattiez, Jean-Jacques. Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music, Translated by Carol Abate. (Musicologie générale et sémiologue, 1987 (1990), 47-48, 55.

Rajamani, Radhika. “Realising a dream.” The Hindu:  (Feb 17, 2003).http://www.hindu. com/thehindu/mp/2003/02/17/stories/2003021701130200.htm

The Renaissance music changed very much from the Middle Ages.

One of the main different styles of music was Motet, which was a vocal composition primarily during the 14thcentury. Another type of music during the Renaissance was Mass, which was a part of the text of a Roman Catholic set to music, to be sung by a choir. The last Major music kind was Madrigal, a song with parts for several, usually solitary voices, that was popular in England in the 16thand 17thcenturies.

Greensleeves is one of my particularly preferred songs. Greensleeves (a madrigal song) might have been written by Henry the VIII. Madrigal used singing and instruments to perform songs. Madrigal also started secular songs. These songs didn’t have to do with religion. People started to write secular songs because they wanted to explore thoughts other then religion. This intrigued people to have fun with music and people did. Songs weren’t so gloomy now, as they were in the middle ages.

Renaissance music was so different from before, everyone could just love music. People sang more, learned to play more instruments and read music! There was just so much to do and learn in the Renaissance in all topics!

It no longer seems to be about the music, and is all about the politics, with all the Eastern countries sticking together and voting for their neighbours. This has become more and more apparent over the last few years, but even more obvious this year.

Our song titled “Even If”, has got to be one of the UK’s best entry for a long time, and Sir Terry Wogan even commented “It’s a disappointment,considering that Andy Abraham gave, I think, the perfomance of his life with a song that certainly deserved more marks than it got.”

When you see the marks that other songs got that were totally ridiculous in every way, you can understand why even Sir Terry himself is wondering whether to continue to be part of the annual show that he has been adding his funny comments to for years. Saying at the end of the contest “ I have to decide whether I want to do this again. Western European participants have to decide whether they want to take part from here on in, because their prospects are so poor.

I don’t think that we had the best song, but it was certainly better than many of the other countries and we certainly did not deserve last place. It is a sad but realistic fact that that even if the UK did have the greatest song, it is possibly no longer worth the humiliation as due to modern day politics, we are never going to win, or even come close.

A few years ago, according to his own words, he left singing after the Muttaheda Majlis-e-Amal, a coalition of six religious parties, came into power in the province of Pakhtoonkhwa. This government closed Nashtar Hall, a center of cultural activities of the province, and started targeting singers, musicians and artists.

This affected not only his life and career but disappointed the lovers of Pashto music too because Gulzar Alam had quite good popularity among them. He was insulted by the mullahs in the government; an attack on his office in Dabgari Bazar was enough to terrorize the whole music community and then the attacks on music shops bring a halt to the business.

So Gulzar Alam said goodbye to music but he was still under constant threat from the anti-Pashto elements. Eventually he was forced to shift his home to Quetta, Balochistan, and then he went to Karachi where he worked as taxi driver for a few months.

In the interview, he says that he was happy that the secular nationalist Pashtoon party, Awami National Party, won the Feb. 18 election and formed government in the province. After the election, according to his own words, Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti, Minister for Education Mian Iftekhar and leaders of the Party invited him back to Peshawar with full honor and advised him to start again his singing career.

Now everyone’s favorite Pashto singer is back in the field and the Pakhtoonkhwa government has opened Nashtar Hall for cultural activities. Indeed, it is very good news for the fans of Pashto music and Gulzar Alam.

According to
Wikipedia, she has fan base stretching from the tribal belt of Pakistan to southern parts of Afghanistan. She has sung in several languages: Pashto, Urdu, Punjabi and Persian.

With a voice as sweet and pure as honey and a face as innocent as a child of few months, she has impressed a wide range of young music fans which made her the most popular celebrity and “Queen of Pashto music”.

When she married in 2004, some people thought that she will quit singing like her predecessors, as in the traditional tribal life husbands don’t allow wives to sing and do other showbiz activities. Some great Pashto singers in the past have met this fate.

But Nazia made a historical record as not only she continued singing but drag her husband into singing. Now he is too a singer and both have released many albums. And people have liked their albums together.

Nazia and her husband’s albums are available on
Mastana
and some other Pashto sites that provide music.

The singer couple has a daughter of over one year age named Meena.

‘I love my husband more than my daughter because a living and loving husband can give me more children’ she said in a recent interview when asked whom she love most, husband or daughter.

It is a shocking fact that Nazia’s birthplace, the beautiful Swat valley of the Pashstoonkhwa province, is currently facing the indecent activities of the local pro-Taliban militants. They have strong presence in the area. They say that music is un-Islamic. They have destroyed several music centers and shops.