Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Gosh, where do we start with this one?
Photograph: Alamy
Our class had taken a field trip to the British Library Digital Labs Symposium which ended up being like an awards show for the most cutting-edge projects associated with local research groups. There was free food, an explicit call to "network" (a term that gives me the willies when spoken aloud), and a number of creative projects.
The keynote speaker who kicked things off at the ripe hour of 10 a.m. was problematic in several different ways. Armand Leroi's talk entitled "The Science of Culture" basically used a number of infometric ways of tracking what lyrics and chords and instruments had been used in American Top 40 charts since 1960. While initially quite intriguing and entertaining, one ended up asking after all his graphs and boasts: "What is the point of culture if it can be so distilled?"
PRESENTATION
At any event, it is always important to know your crowd and Armand Leroi, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Imperial College, came up blind and deaf in this regard. Leroi is no stranger to controversy. He enraged Beatles fans by dismissing their music as "ditties for prepubescent girls" -- at one point all of Liverpool wanted his head on a stick. He claimed he had the charts to support their non-innovation.
As for the British Library Symposium, Leroi's first one or two bawdy, edgy jokes about sex and music had at first produced a few chuckles but when he kept continuing, you could see many of the women and several men grow a bit uncomfortable. At one point, he launched into a full examination of how Robin Thicke's and Pharrell Williams's 2013 hit song "Blurred Lines" was accused by the estate holders of Marvin Gaye of copyright infringement. The accusation was that Thicke and Pharrell lifted the style, chord and drumming progression of Gaye's "Got to Give it Up." A lawsuit ensued (ahem) and Gaye's estate proved victorious. Leroi was surprised that Gaye's legal team had won and had called Thicke's number, "a good song by the way." So while he went into a detailed tirade of the legal implications of "Blurred Lines," he did not utter one word of the huge number of controversies around the misogyny of the song, the video, and its celebration of date rape culture. The outrage of the song's popularity, at least in the US, was an enormous story that dragged on for weeks. Evidence can be found here in the HuffPost, in the UK's Telegraph, and in The Daily Beast.
Credit: 7000 in Solidarity
Beyond that there were more penis jokes in the presentation than there were about the musical contributions of women, even pop stars like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Madonna, Pat Benatar, or The Go-Go's. While Leroi went through pains to emphasize how hip-hop in the 1990s is where we (as in the listeners of Top 40 charts in the US and UK) saw true musical diversity and divergence, he did nothing to look at other forms of music like punk, disco, reggae, alternative/grunge rock or electronica.
CONTENT
My feeling I guess is why just stop at instrumental composition if one is going to use the full weight of data analysis to judge at which points music became more diverse? (Leroi claims that the 1980s were a flat point because of the droll drum machine background of Disco and New Wave!) Of course, Hip-Hop was a laudable new form of music and cultural expression that picked up steam by making it on the charts of the 1990s with stars like N.W.A., Public Enemy, and Tupac Shakur (I do love me some Tupac!). And maybe this was part of Leroi's purpose: to look at the early 90s as a time when African-American R&B and Hip-Hop artists finally "made it" by becoming successful and breaking into the Top 40. But why stop at sound composition? What about looking at record labels (were there any indie labels that were breaking into the top 40)? How about gender and sexual makeup of bands and groups? Provenance (which cities were put on the map - for instance, Seattle, definitely, by 1992)? If Leroi really wants to do something to win over his critics, he could launch more of a musical/bibliographic exploration of how unknown African-American bands had FIRST came up with new forms of music before moneyed, white groups appropriated the music and brought it to the masses on the Top 40 (which Leroi used as a platform for most of his research).
Courtesy of FX
I'm afraid his lecture encapsulated why so many liberal arts and humanities majors like me are up against a cold, infometric 21st century that is giving us the heebie-jeebies. Human beings are still human beings no matter how much are actions are measured and manipulated. There is a richness to our emotional lives and our backstories and our trials and tribulations. You can't strip the music from the story. You can't divorce the writer from the novel. What is the point of the humanities if it is going to be distilled into its elemental existence? What is the point of living? In high school, many insecure young people find their "voice" in chorus or in a an English or creative writing class. Many young people learn about harmony and confidence and cooperation while playing in the school band. To not take these factors into account is to deny our humanity. There's going to be a big backlash soon if it hasn't already started.
REFLECTIONS
I'm of two minds when it comes to pastiche or the celebration or imitation of another's work, life, or art in a light-hearted but generally respectful way. When DJ Dimitri from Paris with his lounge/bossa nova track, Une Very Stylish Fille, lifted several quotes from my one of my favorite films, Breakfast at Tiffany's, I find it hilarious and charming. In fact, pastiche and remixing is what rave and hip-hop culture was all about in the 90s. When Madonna went full tilt and launched her hit song and video VOGUE in 1990, people were thrilled. I was eleven at the time but as I had come to know myself as a gay teenager I understood that VOGUE had a connection to the ballroom scene of New York in the 80s where so many black and latino GLBT kids had been kicked out of their family homes and found refuge in "houses," and in music, dance, competition, and community. For me, this communal knowledge came in the form of a recommendation of a documentary called Paris is Burning which had also been released the same year as VOGUE. Did Madonna give enough "props" to the drag ball scene of New York in her super-hit? Was there enough cultural conversation, enough credit where credit is due? I'm sure there is still a lot of discussion about credit and shine amongst the drag ball community.
Courtesy of FX
For fun, I have been watching POSE on BBCiPLayer and have come to know this community in an even deeper and more intimate way. While a tad saccharine at times, I was deeply moved and entertained, especially over the course of Season 2. Obviously, my life in white suburban Boston as a youngster in the 90s was a far cry from the drag ball scene of a multi-colored New York in the 80s. All we shared was a sexuality, an outsiderness in some ways. But our experiences were vastly different. Creativity and community is SO important when one is faced with disadvantages. I'm not claiming to be a social justice warrior but I do want to make sure I retain a sensitivity and a cultural curiosity of where artistic movements come from. I'm hoping Armand Leroi can give his subjects the same generosity.
Courtesy of FX
Our class had taken a field trip to the British Library Digital Labs Symposium which ended up being like an awards show for the most cutting-edge projects associated with local research groups. There was free food, an explicit call to "network" (a term that gives me the willies when spoken aloud), and a number of creative projects.
The keynote speaker who kicked things off at the ripe hour of 10 a.m. was problematic in several different ways. Armand Leroi's talk entitled "The Science of Culture" basically used a number of infometric ways of tracking what lyrics and chords and instruments had been used in American Top 40 charts since 1960. While initially quite intriguing and entertaining, one ended up asking after all his graphs and boasts: "What is the point of culture if it can be so distilled?"
PRESENTATION
At any event, it is always important to know your crowd and Armand Leroi, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Imperial College, came up blind and deaf in this regard. Leroi is no stranger to controversy. He enraged Beatles fans by dismissing their music as "ditties for prepubescent girls" -- at one point all of Liverpool wanted his head on a stick. He claimed he had the charts to support their non-innovation.
As for the British Library Symposium, Leroi's first one or two bawdy, edgy jokes about sex and music had at first produced a few chuckles but when he kept continuing, you could see many of the women and several men grow a bit uncomfortable. At one point, he launched into a full examination of how Robin Thicke's and Pharrell Williams's 2013 hit song "Blurred Lines" was accused by the estate holders of Marvin Gaye of copyright infringement. The accusation was that Thicke and Pharrell lifted the style, chord and drumming progression of Gaye's "Got to Give it Up." A lawsuit ensued (ahem) and Gaye's estate proved victorious. Leroi was surprised that Gaye's legal team had won and had called Thicke's number, "a good song by the way." So while he went into a detailed tirade of the legal implications of "Blurred Lines," he did not utter one word of the huge number of controversies around the misogyny of the song, the video, and its celebration of date rape culture. The outrage of the song's popularity, at least in the US, was an enormous story that dragged on for weeks. Evidence can be found here in the HuffPost, in the UK's Telegraph, and in The Daily Beast.
Beyond that there were more penis jokes in the presentation than there were about the musical contributions of women, even pop stars like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, Madonna, Pat Benatar, or The Go-Go's. While Leroi went through pains to emphasize how hip-hop in the 1990s is where we (as in the listeners of Top 40 charts in the US and UK) saw true musical diversity and divergence, he did nothing to look at other forms of music like punk, disco, reggae, alternative/grunge rock or electronica.
CONTENT
My feeling I guess is why just stop at instrumental composition if one is going to use the full weight of data analysis to judge at which points music became more diverse? (Leroi claims that the 1980s were a flat point because of the droll drum machine background of Disco and New Wave!) Of course, Hip-Hop was a laudable new form of music and cultural expression that picked up steam by making it on the charts of the 1990s with stars like N.W.A., Public Enemy, and Tupac Shakur (I do love me some Tupac!). And maybe this was part of Leroi's purpose: to look at the early 90s as a time when African-American R&B and Hip-Hop artists finally "made it" by becoming successful and breaking into the Top 40. But why stop at sound composition? What about looking at record labels (were there any indie labels that were breaking into the top 40)? How about gender and sexual makeup of bands and groups? Provenance (which cities were put on the map - for instance, Seattle, definitely, by 1992)? If Leroi really wants to do something to win over his critics, he could launch more of a musical/bibliographic exploration of how unknown African-American bands had FIRST came up with new forms of music before moneyed, white groups appropriated the music and brought it to the masses on the Top 40 (which Leroi used as a platform for most of his research).
I'm afraid his lecture encapsulated why so many liberal arts and humanities majors like me are up against a cold, infometric 21st century that is giving us the heebie-jeebies. Human beings are still human beings no matter how much are actions are measured and manipulated. There is a richness to our emotional lives and our backstories and our trials and tribulations. You can't strip the music from the story. You can't divorce the writer from the novel. What is the point of the humanities if it is going to be distilled into its elemental existence? What is the point of living? In high school, many insecure young people find their "voice" in chorus or in a an English or creative writing class. Many young people learn about harmony and confidence and cooperation while playing in the school band. To not take these factors into account is to deny our humanity. There's going to be a big backlash soon if it hasn't already started.
REFLECTIONS
I'm of two minds when it comes to pastiche or the celebration or imitation of another's work, life, or art in a light-hearted but generally respectful way. When DJ Dimitri from Paris with his lounge/bossa nova track, Une Very Stylish Fille, lifted several quotes from my one of my favorite films, Breakfast at Tiffany's, I find it hilarious and charming. In fact, pastiche and remixing is what rave and hip-hop culture was all about in the 90s. When Madonna went full tilt and launched her hit song and video VOGUE in 1990, people were thrilled. I was eleven at the time but as I had come to know myself as a gay teenager I understood that VOGUE had a connection to the ballroom scene of New York in the 80s where so many black and latino GLBT kids had been kicked out of their family homes and found refuge in "houses," and in music, dance, competition, and community. For me, this communal knowledge came in the form of a recommendation of a documentary called Paris is Burning which had also been released the same year as VOGUE. Did Madonna give enough "props" to the drag ball scene of New York in her super-hit? Was there enough cultural conversation, enough credit where credit is due? I'm sure there is still a lot of discussion about credit and shine amongst the drag ball community.
For fun, I have been watching POSE on BBCiPLayer and have come to know this community in an even deeper and more intimate way. While a tad saccharine at times, I was deeply moved and entertained, especially over the course of Season 2. Obviously, my life in white suburban Boston as a youngster in the 90s was a far cry from the drag ball scene of a multi-colored New York in the 80s. All we shared was a sexuality, an outsiderness in some ways. But our experiences were vastly different. Creativity and community is SO important when one is faced with disadvantages. I'm not claiming to be a social justice warrior but I do want to make sure I retain a sensitivity and a cultural curiosity of where artistic movements come from. I'm hoping Armand Leroi can give his subjects the same generosity.
