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: Popular Culture
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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Wokepedia: Mozart in the Jungle, Missy Mazzoli
Second in my “Wokepedia” series of case studies of consciousness-raising Wikipedia edits. Mozart in the Jungle This Netflix show about a hard-living group of classical musicians is a current favorite of mine, and stars Latino[…]
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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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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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If You’re Feeling Like a Pimp, Luke… : The Unexpectedly Fresh “Last Jedi”
I think the critical consensus is that all of us –steeled for disappointment after the travesty of the prequel trilogy –were perhaps just a little overly celebratory of The Force Awakens, a film that exceeded[…]
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My Dream Episode of SNL
I’ve been watching SNL for over 25 years now, and with all due respect to the common wisdom that your favorite SNL cast is your first cast, it’s as funny now as it’s ever been.[…]
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