I hate to say so, but the remake of “We Are the World” for Haitian earthquake relief is an overproduced mess. Which is a shame since it’s for an undeniably noble cause. But auto-tune, bad rapping, too many stylistically different voices and the odd warbling of Wyclef Jean make this a musical disaster. [Read more →]
Why do we get stuck with bad music on ceremonial occasions? If we must sing the same songs over and over, couldn’t we at least be given decent melodies? I’ll give you three examples of what I’m talking about: “The Negro National Anthem,” “The Lord’s Prayer,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” [Read more →]
In a study published in Science in 2006 (“Experimental Study of Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market”), Princeton sociologist Matthew Salganik and his coauthors revealed how the opinions of others influence the popularity of a song. That’s not surprising, you might say, but the surprise was the extent to which popularity was actually controlled by a factor that had nothing to do with musical content. The identical song could be a hit or a failure simply depending on whether listeners saw that other people had downloaded it. [Read more →]
A musical theme park? Please, tell me no. I thought this was a parody when I stumbled upon it online, but sadly, it’s not. It’s hard to figure out exactly what Freestyle Music Park, located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is designed to be — some minotaur-like cross between an entertainment complex and a theme park, for certain — but what is the point? Many of the rides feature musical connections: for instance, “Monstars of Rock,” a “monsterific reunion concert with all your favorite dearly departed rock stars” (!); “Get Off of My Cloud,” where eight “festively colored balloon baskets” ascend to the heavens (perhaps with Stones to help you plummet back to earth?); and “Ring My Bell,” a collection of traditional midway games “with a unique musical twist.” Of course, there’s also a Guitar Hero Arcade. [Read more →]
Copyright © 2008 Song of Fire. Design by Anthony Baggett.
