Dartmouth Soundoff: Branching out for the summer
If I'm going to be totally honest (as if this column hasn't been my internet confessional before), I've been listening to a lot of country music recently. (Spoiler: this column isn’t about country! Please keep reading!) Heck, one of my housemates told me that she can tell when I’ve been driving her car because the stereo is turned to the country station. My choice of country music doesn’t include anything that can't be summed up by this summer's iTunes top country chart (Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, etc.), so I wouldn’t be opening any new doors by talking about it.
But summer makes us want to try new things (I mean, isn't that why we're all in Astro?), so this could be the time to discover a new niche. While all of the following genres are much too complex to be summed up in a single paragraph, I've simply laid out some starting points to ignite new obsessions. You never know, Orange County Ska may do for you what country is currently doing for me.
East Coast 90's Rap
A movement that started in the 1970s in New York City, East Coast rap (along with its geographical counterpart, West Coast rap) laid the groundwork for the current hip-hop and rap scene. Artists like Public Enemy and Run DMC are legends of the 80's, but the big players of the ’90s continue to be relevant today. Yes, Jay-Z’s career began well before Magna Carta Holy Grail. And many cite Nas' "The World is Yours" as one of the most influential hip-hop songs of all time.
Dead Presidents— Jay-Z
The World Is Yours— Nas
West Coast 90's Punk
We all know every word to Blink-182’s "All The Small Things." (Bonus points if you know all the words to “Fat Lip” by Sum 41). But what happened between The Ramones of the 1970's and the pop-punk songs we listened to when we were 14? Well a lot actually, despite the unchanged chord progressions. The West Coast — with all the surfing, skateboarding and, uh, cultural vegetation — was a crucial part of this scene. Before American Idiot practically became the new Nickelback, Green Day actually made meaningful contributions without having to play to massive arenas. While smaller punk bands have come and gone in the spans of the below bands' careers, these guys have beat out drug addictions, skateboarding injuries and the music industry’s whims to remain relevant well past the year 2000.
Basket Case — Green Day
Come Out and Play — The Offspring
Wings — Social Distortion
American Ska
A more niche scene from the above subgenre, Ska's current remnants in the United States trace their origins to Southern California. The movement took the distorted guitars and aggressive snare drum of the punk scene, blended them with some syncopated rhythms and moving bass lines true to the original Caribbean — and later New Orleans — genre and a whole new scene was born.
She Has a Girlfriend Now — Reel Big Fish
Santeria — Sublime
Dog House — No Doubt
Americana
As country music’s cousin, Americana is perfect for summer nights. It’s a fluid genre, dominated by acoustic instruments — the kind of music that small town dwellers and nostalgic souls will appreciate. I mentioned an album from The Milk Carton Kids in a post last term with some heavy Americana influences, like them, most of the big names in Americana produce music that fits in multiple genres.
Murder in The City —The Avett Brothers
Miss Ohio —Gillian Welch
Impossible Germany —Wilco
Synthpop
Pop music goes through phases. The boy bands of the late ’90s and early 2000s relinquished their position at the top of the charts to artists with more hip-hop or urban sounds. In the past few years we have seen the revival of what some describe as synthpop. What started out as a popular niche for artists like Daft Punk and Robyn has now totally infiltrated the charts. Britney Spears, Ke$ha — the whole freakin' planet is using synthpop techniques. So where exactly did these synthpop sounds come from? I'm still waiting for Calvin Harris to do a remix on "Take On Me."
Take On Me — A-Ha
Everybody Wants to Rule the World — Tears for Fears