Last time, we looked at Janelle Monae’s self description as “the random minor note you hear in major songs” and hinted that was somehow related to the artificiality of the even-tempered Western European scale. But[…]
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Category: Music
That Random Minor Note, Part I: Janelle Monae
In her excellent new song, “I Like That,” multi-talented singer and former android Janelle Monae refers to herself as the random minor note you hear in major songs. A commentator on Genius interpreted this as[…]
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I’m Not There: Film Review
Repost I knew even before the house lights went down that I needed to approach this film in the right frame of mind. I knew not to expect a rational or linear plotline, that my[…]
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Reconstructivist Art: Mona Lisa
Repost: Wyclef Jean’s Mona Lisa as an example of Reconstructivist Art Mona Lisa was a little noted deep-album cut from hip-hop impresario Wyclef Jean’s multiplatinum album The Carnival (1997). A radical reinvention of the remixed[…]
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Django Jane’s African Beat
Perhaps to showcase her many sides, the incomparable Janelle Monae released two very different songs/videos in advance of her hotly anticipated new album, Dirty Computer. A few weeks ago I showcased her funky, bubbly, sex-drenched[…]
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7 Best Dylan Covers
I’ve always been fascinated by cover songs. The vast majority of them just make you long for the original. But every once in a while, someone does one that brings the song a whole new[…]
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Seven Nation Army
It can be tough sometimes to separate the greatness of a song from the greatness of a particular performance of that song. And in the case where a great songwriter is also an amazing performer[…]
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Princess Janelle
The late great Prince always claimed he was “50-50 girl.” Well, apparently when his male half departed this earthly plane, his female half was reborn as Janelle Monae’s new alter-ego in this smoking new video.
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Stevie Wonder: Philosophical Music
It occurred to me recently that in my survey of philosophical music I had too long overlooked perhaps the premiere philosopher of transcendent pop music, Mr. Stevland Wonder (an artist I had the exquisite pleasure[…]
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Alt Classical: The Jazz Connection
Repost from 2014 A month or so ago, I explored the “cover songs” side of alt classical music, a genre that combines the pleasures of classical music with the vitality of more modern forms. This[…]
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