One of the nice things about being in Wisconsin is Summerfest. I finally had a chance to get down there and it was a blast. Many thanks to Chris and Dan for organizing things and getting tickets for us.
Ironically, Matisyahu (the artist we went to see) doesn't really fit well with the usual musicofsound fare. There was very little electronic influence, no processing, nothing really innovative sonically at all. In fact, his music is very much a message of peace and understanding, perhaps more pertinent to a musicofmeaning blog. That being said, it was nonetheless the best time I've had in the city since moving here. Matisyahu was energetic, entertaining, and very talented. He sang, rapped, beat-boxed, and danced...all while wearing his orthodox jewish attire (complete with hat and shawl). I was keenly aware of the positive message of his songs (even though in many songs I could only understand half the words or fewer), and Chris mentioned to me how he feels uplifted when listening to his music. I'll definitely be purchasing some for my own listening. In fact, at my son's birthday party yesterday we used some of his free music online to play musical chairs with the kids.
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The uplifting aspect of his music is really interesting. I think the chord progressions he uses (and timbres too) have as much to do with the positivity as the message of the lyrics - like old Janice Capp Perry mormon-pop stuff. I don't think I'm profound in saying music in and of itself (lyrics aside, that is) has power to influence our emotions and attitudes. I think that's a very fascinating topic and wish there some sort of explanation grounded in science and physiology to describe this phenomenon. It would be fun to have a real nice conversation about this topic sometime and do some research into it. This comment box just isn't the right forum for this.
So, yeah, what the heck? How can some music make me smile and other music make me dour, independent of the lyrics? Some of it must be cultural, right? I mean, I've listened to some Japanese pop before and it does NOT put a smile on my face.
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