Kramer work

1. Timbaland - The Way I Are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5rLz5AZBIA&feature=artistob&playnext=1&list=TLQ7dMxktUP2o

Is in some ways ironic.
Considers music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts.
Considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music.

2. Stockhausen - Gesang der Junglinge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XfeWp2y1Lk

Challenges barriers between low and high styles.
Shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity.
Questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values
Includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures.
Considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music.
Encompasses pluralism and eclecticism.
Locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers.

3. Alvin Lucier - I Am Sitting in a Room

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfssj80oNuM

Does not respect boundaries between sounds and procedures of the past and of the present.
Considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music.
Includes fragmentations and discontinuities.
Presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities.
Locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers.

4. David Bowie - Life on Mars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ

Is in some ways ironic.
Challenges boundaries between low and high styles.
Considers music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts.
Embraces contradictions.
Presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities.
Locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers.

5. The Bloodhound Gang - Mope

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2NFl86LX3Q

Does not respect boundaries between sounds and procedures of the past and of the present.
Challenges barriers between low and high styles.
Shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity.
Includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures.
Considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music.
Includes fragmentations and discontinuities.
Locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers.

Kramer's Theory

1. Isn't a rejection OR continuation of modernism. Has aspects of both a break and an extension
2. Is in some ways ironic.
3. Does not respect boundaries between sounds and procedures of the past and of the present.
4. Challenges barriers between low and high styles.
5. Shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity.
6. Questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values
7. Avoids totalising forms (e.g., does not want entire pieces to be tonal or serial or cast in a prescribed formal mold)
8. Considers music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts.
9. Includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures.
10. Considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music.
11. Embraces contradictions.
12. Distrusts binary oppositions.
13. Includes fragmentations and discontinuities.
14. Encompasses pluralism and eclecticism.
15. Presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities.
16. Locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers.

Mixtape

I chose to have Bowie as the front cover of my mixtape. Doggy Bowie though.

1. Waldorf Worldwide - Good Charlotte
2. Crisis in the Slow Lane - The Xcerts
3. Conversation Piece - David Bowie
4. Holiday - Weezer
5. Bar Italia - Pulp
6. Even if it Kills Me - Motion City Soundtrack
7. Bennie and the Jets - Elton John
8. 99 Red Balloons - Goldfinger
9. Indoor Living - Motion City Soundtrack
10. Aberdeen 1987 - The Xcerts
11. ADHD - Blood Red Shoes
12. The Motivation Proclamation - Good Charlotte
13. Glory Days - Pulp
14. After Hours - We Are Scientists
15. Safe in LA - Gold Motel
16. I Sing I Swim - Seabear
17. Pretenders to the Throne - The Beautiful South
18. Harlow's Song - Good Charlotte
19. Los Angeles Worldwide - Good Charlotte

I've chosen songs that have memories attached to them or that I can relate to, but they all mean a great deal. There's a lot of Good Charlotte and Pulp as they were my favourite bands at high school so they remind me of a lot. There's a lot of Motion City Soundtrack as I can relate to the lyrics and how Justin Pierre feels a lot of the time. I've written something about each song:

Waldorf Worldwide:

Good Charlotte are my absolute number one favourite band and have been for 6 years. I always listen to this song (or any off their first album) when I’m sad because it is so happy and hopeful. I also love that even when they weren’t yet doing so well, they were so cocky. They knew they were going to get somewhere.

“All I wanna do is make somethin from nothin . It's GC baby and we're workin with somethin. We'll be self-made millionares, these lives we'll lead without a care, oh yeah. And we'll see what we'll be.”

Crisis in the Slow Lane:

Once I met a band I liked called The Xcerts and then became friends with them. On my 16^th birthday I went to Brighton and I saw them and they got me presents and dedicated this to me, it made the most perfect birthday and I get all happy when I hear it.

“We are tired of being alone, destroy a head but not your own; and if we make it, to see morning coffee. Then I swear you'll find an answer, yeah I swear you'll find an answer.”

Conversation Piece:

“Wouldn't think to look at me, that I've spent a lot of time in education. It all seems so long ago. I'm a thinker, not a talker, I've no-one to talk to, anyway.”

Holiday:
On my 18^th birthday I was in Brighton again and Owain and I put his iPod on shuffle and decided that the first one would be my birthday song. It was this and it was actually also kind of relevant so now reminds me of Brighton, too.

“Don't bother to pack your bags, or your map. We won't need them where we're goin'. We're goin' where the wind is blowin'. Not knowin' where we're gonna stay.”

Bar Italia:
This is my number one favourite song. I remember it from when I was little and my mum would always play it and then when I was about 13 and got into Pulp for myself I fell in love with it. When I see Pulp in July I’m going to Bar Italia. Cus I can. If I based my decisions solely on music then Pulp would be my numero uno band. I absolutely love ‘em.

“If we get through this alive, I'll meet you next week, same place, same time. Oh move, move quick you've gotta move. Come on it's through, come on it's time. Oh look at you, you, you're looking so confused, what did you lose?”

Even if it Kills Me:

“But if I had a little more time to kill I'd settle every little stupid thing, yeah, you'd think that I would. But I'm too tired to go to sleep tonight. And I'm too weak to follow dreams tonight. For the first time in a long time I can say that I want to try to get better and overcome each moment. In my own way.”

Bennie and the Jets:

This is my favourite Elton John song and just one of my favourite songs. I love Augusten Burroughs and when this was used in the film adaptation of Running With Scissors it kind of just confirmed my love for it. Not ashamed.

99 Red Balloons:

Even though it’s a cover, it’s probably my favourite Goldfinger song. On my 18^th I went to an 80s night at a club and the original came on so this reminds me of then but also every time I’ve thought it was smart to get really drunk and show everyone that I can sing the chorus in really awful German.

Indoor Living:

“I've got so much to talk about but I don't wanna let you, I don't wanna let you down. Last call for societal knockdowns, measure my endeavors loosely based on someone else's song. Melodrama and a bottle of wine. Yeah, here's to self expression, here's to everyone that's dead. Bring back the days that fell behind. I'm all wasted conversations in the corner of an empty room. So don't ask me out, don't make me try. 'Cause I don't wanna let you down.”

Aberdeen 1987:

My favourite Xcerts song. In 2009 they invited me to their album launch, which was on a little boat on Loch Ness. It was just the band and some friends and family and when they played this we turned all the lights off and they didn’t even play the instruments, we just all sang it together and it was really lovely.

“I'm your new best friend, yeah I'm your new haircut. Yeah I'm the alcohol that burns down your neck and into your gut. And I was cold outside and your screams are loud and I'm trying to wrap up, I find it hard as I stumble to the ground.”

ADHD:

Another one that just describes how I feel and everything. Blood Red Shoes’ lyrics are never hugely imaginative or deep, but I still relate to them a lot. There is absolutely no point in me putting any lyrics from this song here, because they are useless.

The Motivation Proclamation:

“Motivate me, I wanna get myself out of this bed. Captivate me; I want good thoughts inside of my head. If I fall down, would you come around, and pick me right up off the ground? If I fall down, would you come around, and pick me right up off the ground?”

Glory Days:

“Oh and I could be a genius, if I just put my mind to it. And I, I could do anything if only I could get 'round to it. Oh we were brought up on the Space-Race, now they expect you to clean toilets. When you have seen how big the world is how can you make do with this? If you want me I'll be sleeping in - sleeping in throughout these glory days.”

After Hours:

This just reminds me of my friends and all the things we used to do before I got all boring and stopped leaving the house.

“We’re finally drunk enough that we’re finally soaking up the hours that everyone else throws away. And if we have to go now I guess there’s always hope, tomorrow night will be more of the same.”

Safe in LA:

Los Angeles is probably my ultimate number one have to go there ever place. To go there would mean seeing Hollywood, David Bowie’s star, Joel and Benji Madden’s DCMA store…it has everything I want to see. I’ve been told it’s not that amazing but I’ll have to find out for myself.

“Maybe we're right, maybe we're wrong. Maybe we're both too far gone. Coast away, waitin' for the day when we're both safe in LA.”

I Sing I Swim:

Once I was recovering from a migraine in the dark and I asked Owain to put on the Where the Wild Things Are trailer so I could listen to it. From there we listened to a related video that was this song by Seabear. I fell in love with them, but this always reminds me of then.

“Throw me a dream please; it's been a dreamless sleep. For such a long time, such a long time. Sing myself awake, watch the branches break. No one could ever take your place.”

Pretenders to the Throne:

Even though chances are it isn’t about it at all, this song always makes me think of Brighton and how excited I get when I’m going there. But I guess the beauty of the song is the ambiguity of it, so I can make what I want of the lyrics.

“Is it Dublin with its culture and its wit? Madrid with its market square? Paris with its bustling cafes? Hull with its musical flair? Do you know where I'm gonna go? None of you have guessed, so none of you can know. If you've been, that's not where I mean. It's got class and it's got excellence like you've never seen. Your town is dragging me down.”

Harlow’s Song:

One of my favourites from Good Charlotte’s new album. It’s by Joel Madden about his daughter Harlow and it makes me want a relationship with my dad like theirs – Joel adores Harlow. It also reminds me of Mia as she’s the closest thing I have to a child (luckily) and I love her more than anything. It reminds me of the need I feel to protect her from everything in the world and how I have no idea how I’ll cope when I move away.

“And tomorrow when you wake I'll be next to you, the protection from the day. When the tears fall down your face like morning dew, I'll be there to put a smile on your face. And I'll say I don't wanna live this life without you, I don't wanna spend the night without you, I don't wanna know what it's like, I can't dream without you.”

Los Angeles Worldwide:

I wanted to close on this one as it’s an update of Waldorf. Good Charlotte wrote this for their Greatest Remixes album and it’s all about how they got where they wanted to – the lyrics are just changed slightly to be made relevant.

“Take away the platinum records now look what I got - I got my girl, I got my daughter, that's a hell of a lot. And no one's ever trying to shut this down, I'd have a party for the haters but they're never around. I had dreams of putting food on other people's plate now we go to the arounds and they never make us wait.”

Shot Analysis - Bathroom

The bathroom was set up to be a stark contrast with the performance scenes. It is bright and colourful, showing partly that the reality of his life isn't as exciting or gritty as his life with the band.

Props: The shot is generally quite bare, I took a lot out of the bathroom to get this image. The only real props are the cigarette and lighter. The fact that he is smoking in the bathroom is to say something about his lifestyle etc.

Costume: Same as throughout, shows dirtiness. Also reflects the genre.

Lighting: Bright. Used daylight and a lamp to get this level of brightness and also upped the contrast in the shot to make it look even brighter.

Shot Analysis - Drums

This shot is a kind of introduction to the performance. It shows Joe's bedroom in its transformed state as performance space and prepares the viewer for the switch.

Lighting: Much darker than any previous scenes. Used the light in the room but also a bright lamp behind the flag and one behind the camera to illuminate the scene - despite wanting it to look dark and grimy, I needed it to be bright enough so that the viewer can see everything in shot.

Props: A lot of effort went into setting up this room. I first had to strip it bare of defining features like clothes, hangers, bedding, cups etc and I then recreated it. In this scene we see the room setting itself up piece by piece, however in this shot we only see the drum kit and flag. This is enough to insinuate that we are going to see a performance. The drum kit is laid out correctly for realism. The flag shows our viewer the kind of band The Likely Lads are and where they are from. Also shows The Libertines influence.

Shot Analysis - Head in Hands

In this scene we wanted to show how Joe is feeling as he wakes up.

Props: The bed has been stripped bare to show his carelessness and the state of the place in which he lives. Many things were also removed from the room but we see pens, CDs and a Beatles clock if we look close enough. These were all kept in intentionally to show what kind of guy he is and that he is a musician.

Lighting: Only used diegetic lighting here - daylight. We positioned Joe directly under a window so he is completely bathed in light and his hands covering his face show us that it is blinding him. This is to give the impression that he perhaps has a hangover and the audience could maybe empathise with him for this reason. The brightness of this scene will contrast greatly with the performance - during performance, this appears to be an entirely different room.

Costume: Joe has just woken up but is fully dressed, giving the impression that he has slept in these clothes. This gives us our very first impression of the kind of grimy, careless person that he is. He also wears a Reading wristband, giving us further hints to the fact that he is a musician.

Long shot - blur

This is a long shot of Joe getting up. It is blurry intentionally to give a feeling of disorientation similar to that which he would also be feeling. The shot comes into focus as he walks towards the camera

Lighting and colour: Still very bright, shows that it is midday and he has only just woken up. This again shows us what kind of person Joe is.

Props: We can see the drumkit here, hinting to the fact that there is going to be a performance later on in the video. This is all we can really see, and hopefully the audience will notice it.