The Five Best Music Videos Of 2017, Ranked

(via Uproxx) by

Music is an audio-based medium (duh), but the associated visual elements also form a big piece of how we understand it. Album covers are very often our first look at an record, so they better at least start to tell the story of the album, or give listeners some inkling of what they’re in for. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Similarly, songs try to tell a story or express a feeling, so if you’re going to forever tie it to an accompanying video, the audio and the visual better mesh in a way that makes both profoundly and undeniably better. Credit where it’s due: There were plenty of videos that accomplished that in 2017, which led to a long list of candidates for this list, which, in case the headline wasn’t descriptive enough, breaks down the five strongest music videos that came out this year. There were a few that stood out among the others, though, and these are them…

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The Five Best Music Videos Of 2017, Ranked

Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

(via the Ohio State University website) By: Misti Crane

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Remember those drawn-out, dramatic intros into the pop power ballads of the 80s? They’re all but gone in today’s chart toppers, according to new research, and listeners’ short attention spans may be to blame.

Intros that averaged more than 20 seconds in the mid-80s are now only about 5 seconds long, the study found.

Depending on what rocks your musical world, the popularity of streaming services might be to thank or to curse for a move away from the instrumental intro, said Hubert Léveillé Gauvin, a doctoral student in music theory at The Ohio State University. His study appears in the journal Musicae Scientiae

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https://news.osu.edu/news/2017/04/04/streaming-attention/

Give Connie Francis Some Respect… Really

With apologies to Mr. Seger, rock and roll sometimes “forgets.” Sometimes inexplicably so. Consider, if you will, the case of one Connie Francis, (nee’ Concetta Rosemarie Franoconero of West Orange, New Jersey), a star of the highest caliber of song and screen in the genre’s development, and included too rarely in conversations of the all-time greats. It’s hard to pinpoint any particular reason why this should be, but rather than dwell upon the reasons  for Connie’s absence in the conversation, let’s try to accentuate the positive and give her her proper due.

Connie Francis was a whirlwind. Her biggest hits – “Who’s Sorry Now,” “Stupid Cupid,” “Lipstick On Your Collar” – were ubiquitous radio fare between her first Top 40 hit in 1955 and her final one in 1964. Her star turn in the movie, Where the Boys Are, confirmed her as a multi-dimensional talent. The movie has aged shockingly well, its humor mostly intact. Her charm was complete and undeniable. Her mezza-soprano was a genuine gift of nature. She sold more than 200 million records…

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Give Connie Francis Some Respect… Really

Chrysalis Orchestra: Rock Re-imagined

Rock like you’ve never heard it before.
An orchestra like you’ve never seen before.
An event like you’ve never experienced before.

Introducing Chrysalis Orchestra- a brand new concept in entertainment brought to you by the legendary Terry Ellis, music visionary and co-founder of Chrysalis Records.

Imagine the greatest rock anthems of all time performed with all the power and magnificence of a complete symphony orchestra. But this is not a typical orchestra with musicians sitting pinned behind their music stands. Instead, it’s a forty piece “rock band” with young musicians, each one a virtuoso on his or her instrument, and each one a great performer, on their feet, interacting with the audience.

In its look, its sound, and in every other way, Chrysalis Orchestra is a big show, with dynamic and powerful performances that will get the audience out of their seats. There are no vocalists or electric guitars – it’s an orchestra playing reinterpretations of the rock songs we all know and love, in tribute to the great composers of the rock era. Rather than the music of Mozart and Beethoven, it presents the familiar compositions of Page and Plant, Cobain, Springsteen and the other outstanding writers of their time, with all the rock and roll energy of the original versions.

This is rock in its full glory, celebrated by a generation that grew up with it, and a new generation experiencing it for the first time. The music is timeless; Rock Re-imagined.

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Take a trip through music history with the Great 78 Project

By digitizing songs recorded on 78 rpm records from the 1890s to the 1950s, project preserves old music for future generations.

(via opensource.com) by Chris Hermanson

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me a link to the Great 78 Project, “a community project for the preservation, research, and discovery of 78 rpm records.” The project is supported by the Internet Archive, George Blood, and the Archive of Contemporary Music. Its purpose, first and foremost, is to convert old recordings into digital audio to preserve those historic performances for future listeners. Currently it’s working to digitize the 200,000 or so 78 rpm records it has collected, and it’s actively looking for contributions to add to its collection.

I think this is an exciting project that should be of interest to anyone who enjoys exploring music—and especially those involved in the open community. In this article, I’ll look at a few things you may want to know about the project…

Read more:

https://opensource.com/article/17/9/great-78-project

Boston: Two Tributes to the Classic First Album

Rock N’ Roll Band: What We Can Learn from Boston’s Debut Album

by S.P. Burke

http://www.magazine.tonereport.com/mag/0935566001502385839

Boston’s Debut Album isn’t a Guilty Pleasure–It’s One of the Best Records Ever

by Tim Sommer

Boston’s Debut Album Isn’t a Guilty Pleasure—It’s One of the Best Records Ever

 

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