Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Poetry of Song: Album Review Scavenger Hunt


Visit the 2 links below and read the album reviews. Then, find one of your own and answer the questions that follow. 

1. Fleet Foxes (great band, by the way)


3. Find one of your choice. 

As evidence of your perusal, post a comment response to the following questions:


1. List every adjective from the Fleet Foxes review.


2. For the review of your choice, select a passage to paste here and describe the literary qualities that make it exemplary. 


3. Students tend to have difficulty integrating fluid quotations into their own writing. Copy and paste at least 3 excerpts from the 3 reviews that incorporate quoted song lyrics. After each sentence, create a grammatical map of the sentence structure. Example: David Fricke writes, "I wonder if I'll see/Any faces above me/Or just cracks in the ceiling," Pecknold sings in "Montezuma," imagining his deathbed.= Quote+Subject+Predicate+Preposition+Song Title+Participial Phrase. No, you can't use this one. 

4. Copy and paste Will Hermes' thesis statement here. Which of his sentences encapsulates his most profound analysis of the album? Where did you find it?


5. What type of bird is that? Why did Mr. Kefor put that picture on this post?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

David Littlefield

beauty second Pacific Northwest gleaming acid-folk warming dazzling romance exotica Incredible

Underneath, loaded blown battered impending chirpy, disarming glow stubborn gorgeously rewritten reduced young inspiration

Jared F. said...

Question #1: skin-deep, gleaming, acid-folk, warming, choral, dazzling, spaced-cowboy, Indo-Celtic, blown, battered, impending, chirpy, disarming, young, period-perfect, stubborn, reduced, true.

K. Paltt said...

Scavenger Hunt
1. skin-deep, second [album], Pacific Northwest, gleaming acoustic [guitars], acid-folk [brush strokes], warming choral [harmonies], vocalist[-songwriter], dazzling, early [-Seventies rock], spaced-cowboy [romance], Indo-Celtic [exotica], incredible, trouble [-songs], blown, battered, impending [mortality], chirpy, disarming [voice], young, period-perfect [glow], stubborn, raw, reduced, and then “young” again
2. In Will Hermes’ review on Paul Simon’s album, I found the passage “Yeah, yeah: Everyone's a critic” to be of importance. I found this phrase heavily ironic because he is referring to a quote in the song [the quote criticizing radio music], and he is now not only criticizing the album, but now Hermes is criticizing the character in the song for being a critic.
3.
"It seems like our fate/To suffer and wait for the knowledge we seek,"
Almighty (in one of a few album appearances) bitches while driving "a pre-owned '96 Ford" down the highway: "Check out the radio/Pop-music station/That don't sound like my music to me."

4. I have no idea what the thesis statement was…
5. Vulture; I believe this is because critics tend to pick [insert whatever their critiquing here] apart, and vultures are notorious of cleaning a carcass.

PS: best scavenger hunt ever

Anonymous said...

1. skin-deep, gleaming, acid-folk, warming, dazzling, spaced-cowboy, incredible, trouble-song, loaded, blown, battered, impending, chirpy, disarming, gorgeously.
2. For this go-round, Dead Hearts have honed their sound, strengthened their songwriting, and become much less reliant on a specific kind of song structure. Singer Derek Dole sounds better than ever, something that’s immediately noticeable as the shouts of "These are the restless nights! These are the sleepless nights!" follow the rhythmic drum patterns that lead “Dusk” from the beginning. The powerful gang vocals are well accented by some more intricate guitar work that the band might not have thought to use on previous efforts. It’s clear they’ve let the style of Modern Life Is War influence their change in direction, but not to the point of copy. It’s still Dead Hearts, and it’s still as energetic and passionate as ever. To call it a re-invention teeters on the overdramatic, but this is certainly a band who’s tinkered with their formula to create something that fans of the band might not have expected a year or two ago. I can only imagine that this newfound comfort and intensity will allow the band to progress, and get even better with time. This review uses roughly the same technique as the Fleet Foxes review, extensive use of adjectives and in some ways imagery.
3. Singer Derek Dole sounds better than ever, something that’s immediately noticeable as the shouts of "These are the restless nights! These are the sleepless nights!"- subject+quote=sentence……"If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw . . . and you would wait tables and soon run the store," he sings in the gorgeously appointed title song. -Quote+prep phrase….."Dazzling Blue" feels just as organic, combining country-folk melodies with South Indian percussion in a love song about driving out to the beach on Long Island.
4. On "The Afterlife," an African-pop-flavored standout from his 12th solo album, Paul Simon describes the wait at the Pearly Gates like it's a trip to traffic court, all long lines, mumbled excuses and jokey asides.
5. A vulcher
-rob cormier

Anonymous said...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KNU6AXsKV5M/TcFM2j-3_2I/AAAAAAAABCs/NA3po-ktYmw/s1600/vulture.jpg


Image came from ^ (/vulture.jpg) so ill guess its a vulture, and you put this here because this is a sccavenger hunt, and vultures are the scavengers of nature.

david littlefield

Panos N said...

1. Second, Pacific Northwest, gleaming, warming, Helplessness, early, Incredible. blown, battered, impending, chirpy, disarming, young, perfect, stubborn, gorgeously, title.

2. “Ghostface Killah is so charismatic, he can brag about being an old coot and make it sound badass. "New rappers need to skip town/This is East Coast music, Grandpa Ghost is around!" Ghost, now 40, raps. His ninth album is a return to gritty form after an uneven 2009 R&B experiment, Ghostdini: On track after track, he blows dust off some dirty-soul loop, with boasts as inspired as ever ("Catch me in a little hut in Benin, village-style, feeding the children") and street-crime storytelling as vivid as ever ("It was the night before he got popped/Big jars of haze, Cheech and Chong bong in the spot/Tropicana, strawberries, diced bananas . . ."). Get the guy a "Hip-Hop's #1 Grandpa" T-shirt.”

This review by Jonah Weiner on Ghostface Killah’s latest album, Apollo Kids, displays simple syntax and subtle humor. Despite being concise, the review certainly does cover the overall feeling and theme of album.


3. "If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw . . . and you would wait tables and soon run the store," he sings in the gorgeously appointed title song. = (Quote+subject+predicate+preposition+article+adverb+verb+adjective+noun)

"Check out the radio/Pop-music station/That don't sound like my music to me." Yeah, yeah: Everyone's a critic.

(Quote+Subject+Predicate)

"New rappers need to skip town/This is East Coast music, Grandpa Ghost is around!" Ghost, now 40, raps.
(Quote+Subject+Adjective+Predicate)

4. On "The Afterlife," an African-pop-flavored standout from his 12th solo album, Paul Simon describes the wait at the Pearly Gates like it's a trip to traffic court, all long lines, mumbled excuses and jokey asides.
“Simon's first album in five years is full of heavy business: life's meaning, beauty, brutality and brevity.” Hermes’ most profound analysis comes in the first paragraph.

5. The bird is a vulture. The picture is posted because this activity is a scavenger hunt, therefore similar to the life of a vulture as they are scavengers.

Jaron C. said...

1. Second, gleaming, acoustic, acid-folk harmonium, hammered, warming, choral, dazzling, spaced-cowboy, Indo-Celtic, trouble, blown, battered, impending, chirpy, disarming, young, fighter's, period-perfect, glow, stubborn, gorgeously, title, reduced, true, young dear.
I am pretty sure that there should be a lot more adjectives. I probably missed many of them.

2. The Fray – “The Fray” Album Review BBC
Sometimes the songs generate the emotional weight The Fray clearly hope for. The single You Found Me packs a punch, thanks to its hauntingly simple piano hook and surging, impassioned chorus, as well as lyrics which see Slade challenge God for his apparent indifference. And both the harmony-borne Absolute and bruising We Build Then We Break slowly work their way under your skin, like Chris Martin at his most introspective.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/rdf9

I thought that this passage from the review was extremely well written. It concisely speaks of the songs on the album that, according to the reviewer, are favorable and why they are. Although it is a relatively short passage, it is able to make points quickly and effectively.

3. Fleet Foxes
"If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw . . . and you would wait tables and soon run the store," he sings in the gorgeously appointed title song.
Song lyrics + Subject + Predicate + Prepositional Phrase

Paul Simon
On "Love Is Eternal Sacred Light," a roadhouse-blues jam that rides a ghostly techno pulse, a character who appears to be the Almighty (in one of a few album appearances) bitches while driving "a pre-owned '96 Ford" down the highway: "Check out the radio/Pop-music station/That don't sound like my music to me."
Preposition + Song title + Appositive + Subject + Appositive + Stuff in Parentheses + Predicate (?) + Stuff in quotes + Prepositional phrase + Song lyrics

The Fray
When they're coupled with hackneyed lyrics – as on Happiness, which insists, ''happiness feels a lot like sorrow, let it be'' – the results are neither inspired nor inspiring.
Something + Appositive + Song lyrics + Subject + Predicate

4. "Ultimately, So Beautiful or So What is a spiritual meditation that can't answer the big questions: Does God exist in a world of pain and inequality? Is there an afterlife? All Simon seems to know for sure is that there is love, and there is beauty — and that, afterlife or no, great songs live forever."

There were other sentences that I thought might be able to be considered the author's thesis statement, but I thought this last sentence, or combination of sentences, encapsulated the overall concept, or thesis about the album. It was the last two sentences in the review.

5. I think that the bird is a vulture, but I have absolutely no idea as to why you (Mr. Kefor) put it on the post. Maybe because critics are like vultures, ripping apart artists’ albums and lyrics…maybe.

Taylor Saltmarsh said...

1. Deep, gleaming, acoustic, acid-folk, hammered, warming, dazzling, early, spaced, dosed, Indo-Celtic, incredible, trouble, blown chances, Battered, impending, chirpy, disarming, young, fighter’s spirit, perfect, stubborn, peace, healing, raw, gorgeous, reduced, true, young, dear
2. 'The Black Parade' unfolds in the physical realm; with no eternal zombie afterlife to cushion things when the day comes.” This excerpt from the album review of The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance discusses the whole essence and idea behind the Black Parade’s theme and complex story line. The words that they used in this excerpt make it sound nice.
3. "Check out the radio/Pop-music station/That don't sound like my music to me." Is saying that music today isn’t his music but someone else’s.
4. Ultimately, So Beautiful or So What is a spiritual meditation that can't answer the big questions: Does God exist in a world of pain and inequality? Is there an afterlife? All Simon seems to know for sure is that there is love, and there is beauty — and that, afterlife or no, great songs live forever. I found this sentence at the end of his album review and it best describes what he thought of the album.
5. Vulture because they hunt for things similar to a scavenger hunt.

Mike W. said...

1.) Skin-deep, second, Pacific Northwest, gleaming, acoustic, acid-folk, warming, choral, vocalist-songwriter, dazzling, early-Seventies, spaced-cowboy, Indo-Celtic, incredible, blown, battered, impending, chirpy, disarming, young, period-perfect, stubborn, reduced, true, title.

2.) “Probably the first album to successfully merge the seemingly disparate sounds of rap and heavy metal…, but many would argue that it has yet to be surpassed in terms of influence and sheer brilliance -- though countless bands have certainly tried.” Although this excerpt from the Allmusic review for the amazingly ground-breaking, self-titled album “Rage Against the Machine” is simplistic and contains little literarily exemplary language, it holds a nearly universal message. The message conveyed reaches the minds of music enthusiasts even without the complex language. There has always been a disconnect between rap and metal, but Rage Against the Machine came out of nowhere with a powerful album that hit fans of both genres with a similar effect on both sides; intense satisfaction.

3.) Fleet Foxes: David Fricke writes, "If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw . . . and you would wait tables and soon run the store," he sings in the gorgeously appointed title song.= Quote + subject + predicate + prepositional phrase.

Paul Simon: Will Hermes writes, “It seems like our fate/To suffer and wait for the knowledge we seek,” Simon sings amid a sharply syncopated groove and heavenly electric riffs.= Quote + subject + predicate + prepositional phrase.

RATM: Andrew Hartwig writes, "F*ck you, I won't do what you tell me". The band had to remove this line for the radio edit.= Quote + subject + predicate + prepositional phrase.

4.) “On "The Afterlife," an African-pop-flavored standout from his 12th solo album, Paul Simon describes the wait at the Pearly Gates like it's a trip to traffic court, all long lines, mumbled excuses and jokey asides.”
“ ‘So Beautiful or So What’ is a spiritual meditation that can't answer the big questions: Does God exist in a world of pain and inequality? Is there an afterlife? All Simon seems to know for sure is that there is love, and there is beauty — and that, afterlife or no, great songs live forever.” This excerpt, found at the end of the album critique, seems to contain Will Hermes’ deepest examination of Paul Simon’s new album.

5.) This assignment was a scavenger hunt, and the bird found in the picture attached to the blog is one of the most well-known scavengers found in the natural world. So, if any animal was to be placed on an assignment titled “scavenger hunt,” the vulture would seem to be the most necessary.

Anonymous said...

1. Skin-deep, gleaming, acoustic, acid-folk, brush, harmonium, hammered dulcimer, warming, choral, dazzling, early-Seventies, Sunflower-era, spaced-cowboy, Indo-Celtic, trouble-songs, blown, impending, chirpy, disarming, fighter’s, period-perfect glow, stubborn, gorgeously, reduced, true

2. Album Review: The Allman Brothers Band by the Allman Brothers Band (1969) [http://sfloman.com/allmanbrothers.html]

Excerpt: Best known for a live show that could last for several hours long, the core of the Allman Brothers Band's sound was the dual guitars of Duane Allman (arguably the greatest slide guitarist ever) and Dickey Betts, along with the gritty blues growl and atmospheric keyboards of Gregg Allman, who was also the band’s primary songwriter, at least early on. Not easily dismissed, the stellar rhythm section, which included two drummers, Butch Trucks (who grooved the band along) and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (who with his jazz background added color and shading), as well as bassist Berry Oakley (a melodic, powerful player), provided the tight backing that enabled the lead players to forcefully shine.

This album review includes a lot of descriptive detail of each individual song on the album. It evokes a lot of picturesque imagery of each song. It also includes a narrative of the band's beginning story. Simple diction and syntax embellished with detail is what this review includes.


3. Fleet Foxes:
David Fricke says “If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw... and you would wait tables and soon run the store,” he sings in the gorgeously appointed title song.
Quote + subject + predicate + article + adverb + adjective + adjective + noun
Paul Simon:
Will Hermes says “It seems like our fate/To suffer and wait for the knowledge we seek,” Simon sings amid a sharply syncopated groove and heavenly electric riffs.
Quote + subject + predicate + preposition + article + adverb + adjective + noun + preposition + adjective + adjective + noun
Allan Brothers:
he did not actually quote any lyrics in this album review


4. Will Hermes thesis is: On “The Afterlife,” an African-pop-flavored standout from his 12th solo album, Paul Simon describes the wait at the Pearly Gates like it's a trip to traffic court, all long lines, mumbles excuses and jokey asides.
The sentence that encapsulates his most profound analysis of the album is found at the end of the review. It is as follows: Ultimately, So Beautiful or So What is a spiritual mediation that can't answer the big questions: Does God exist in a world of pain and inequality? Is there an afterlife? All Simon seems to know for sure is that there is love, and there is beauty – and that, afterlife or no, great songs live forever.

5. This is a picture of a vulcher. It was probably chosen because this was a scavenger hunt and vulchers are scavengers; or, because vulchers are vicious animals and review writers tend to be vicious when dissecting an album.

-Meagan Elliott

Anonymous said...

1.skin-deep gleaming acid-folk warming choral dazzling spaced-cowboy blown battered impending chirpy disarming young period-perfect gorgeously young

2.The singing, dancing, acting, power-coupling superhuman known as Beyoncé has held no-last-name-necessary status for almost a decade now. Yet somehow — against all the rules of our gotcha tabloid society — she steadfastly retains an old-fashioned, almost Garboesque mystery in her private life, granting only the occasional, pleasantly evasive interview. We are left to glean what we can from her songs and performances, which, though strikingly dynamic (only the dead of soul and lead of foot could resist smashes like ''Crazy in Love'' and ''Irreplaceable''), remain oddly disconnected from Ms. Knowles herself, who appears otherwise as serene and unblinking as a beauty queen.
On her third solo CD, which purports to be her most confessional yet, does she finally break through her superstar scrim? Not really. But I Am...Sasha Fierce does offer two compelling sides of the singer. The album is a two-disc set, one the work of ''Beyoncé'' (romantic, vulnerable,soft), the other by her alter ego, ''Sasha Fierce'' (aggressive, sexual, and, well, fierce).
The first two singles — one from each disc, released simultaneously — demonstrate the contrast between her dueling personae. The ''Beyoncé'' disc's heartrending ''If I Were a Boy'' soars with melodic swells and unwavering in-his-skin sentiments (''I think I could understand/How it feels to love a girl/I swear I'd be a better man''). On the other hand, ''Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),'' from the ''Sasha'' half, is all bouncy hand claps and post-breakup sass (''Kept crying my tears/For three good years/You can't be mad at me''), a giddy, high-stepping hybrid of lyrical kiss-off and fizzy jump-rope jam.
On ''Beyoncé,'' there are some lovely ballads, including ''Disappear,'' with its sweet guitar-picking and delicate harmonies, and the soaring ''Halo'' and ''Ave Maria'' (the latter does riff on the classic aria, but it's not an actual cover). And several of the high-gloss bangers on ''Sasha'' are more than equal to the gauntlet laid down by ''Single Ladies.'' ''Diva,'' with its metallic kick drum and sly vocal stutters, carries itself like the feminine companion to Lil Wayne's hypnotic summer hit ''A Milli,'' while the crunk-dusted come-on ''Video Phone'' and the spiky, Europop throb of ''Radio'' expertly taunt the boys — and fill the dance floor.
The collection might have been better served had she edited it down to one disc, rather than belabor what ultimately seems like a marketing gimmick. And while fans will surely speculate, there's little in the lyrics that feels more revealing than previous emotional fire-starters such as 2006's ''Ring the Alarm.'' But who said we had a right to that, anyway? For all the pop-fantastic satisfaction that Beyoncéthe entertainer provides, the public can surely reward her by leaving Beyoncé the private citizen well enough alone.

While I think most album reviews are too critical and all-knowing, I think this author does a good job at bringing positives to light rather than focusing so much on the negatives. The author gave some good examples of the types of songs that are found on her two conflicting cds that make up “I Am... Sasha Fierce.”

CW

Anonymous said...

3."If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw . . . and you would wait tables and soon run the store," he sings in the gorgeously appointed title song.
Quote + Subject + Predicate

"It seems like our fate/To suffer and wait for the knowledge we seek," Simon sings amid a sharply syncopated groove and heavenly electric riffs.

Quote + Subject + Predicate + Preposition

On the other hand, ''Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),'' from the ''Sasha'' half, is all bouncy hand claps and post-breakup sass (''Kept crying my tears/For three good years/You can't be mad at me''), a giddy, high-stepping hybrid of lyrical kiss-off and fizzy jump-rope jam.

Song title + Subject + Predicate + Quote + Predicate
4.Ultimately, So Beautiful or So What is a spiritual meditation that can't answer the big questions: Does God exist in a world of pain and inequality? Is there an afterlife? All Simon seems to know for sure is that there is love, and there is beauty — and that, afterlife or no, great songs live forever.

This thesis statement is found at the very end of the critique. Will Hermes answers the question “So what?” that is being asked when writing a thesis statement

5. The bird is a vulture and you chose it because a vulture picks apart their prey, like album critics do to the albums they review.


CW