Lecture 3 - Recording Culture, Counterculture and Musical Transmission

Jamaican history

columbus brought indigenous taino ppl under spanish rule then most were wiped out through slavery, killings and disease so spanish brought a bunch of african slaves to replace them for labour, then england captured island and set up plantations (sugar, coffee and indigo), then 80% of country were enslaved ppl, started rebellion which caused importation of labourers from india and china, rastafarianism started in the 30s (garvey) and got independence in 62

maroons

the slaves who escaped central part of jamaica and set up autonomous communities with the taino ppl left on the island

syncopation

refers to a rhythmic emphasis on the offbeats or weak beats

skank/ska upstroke

key characteristic of reggae and ska music, instrument plays short syncopated notes usually on guitar associated with skanking dance moves

israelities - desmond deker (1969)

the first jamaican song to top UK singles chart and billboard top 10 in US, sung in patois to describe tribulations of rude boy lifestyle

rastafarianism

movement of coming together and having a broad black identity as opposed to more specific cultures from africa

jamaican recording industry

marketing internationally mainly in UK, sold as novelties or one hit wonders, leslie kong (big producer involved in founding many major jamaican labels)

king tubby

used improv and self repair audio equipment to create dub (style of reggae characterized by heavy usen of reverb, delay and echo)

lee (scratch) perry

highly influential reggae producer, worked with bob marley and the wailers, had a rough approach (kind of hear where the cuts are, hear the grain of the records being used) mixed with strong sense of reggae groove, some recordings of bob marley re-done with american and british musicians to sell internationally

afro-caribbean immigration in uk

post ww2: many immigrants from the carribean went to the UK (windrush generation, used them to fill post-war labour shortages), created anti immigrant push back, afro-carribean brits felt more economic instability (unemployment, police brutality and targeted racial violence)

windrush generation

large number of immigrants from west indies into england in the 50s

counterculture

a culture that positions itself as separate from and/or in opposition to mainstream culture, can be highly influential on personal identity, goes past music fandom (fashion, political beliefs, slang, even drugs)

sound system culture

had big impact on american hip hop, its a group of disc jockeys, sound engineers and MCs that play jamaican music, happened during windrush generation, the term MC comes from sound system culture (master of ceremony), moved to the diaspora in the uk, rejection of mainstream politeness and british values specifically, very involved in politics and soundsystems (set up on the street, lots of speakers and emphasis on the base so you could listen to reggae cause it wasnt being played on the radio)

DJ Cool Herc

father of hip hop, born in jamaica and grew up with sound system culture

toasting

rhythmically spoken lyrics over a beat, predates rap

rudie cant fail - the clash

blended rude boy and punk subcultures leading to influence and crossover due to rejection off stiff upper lip british cultural ideals, rejection of assimilation into british cultures, importance of collective music experience: concerts for punk vs sound systems for reggae served a similar purpose

thatcherism, race and class

the thatcher gov tried to control inflation and shift blue collar labour overseas, closed mines, mills, and factories leading to mass unemployment, disillusionment among youth (especially working class), little hope for good jobs, increased dissatisfaction with polite, stoic and mainstream british culture, counterculture way for people to build community, sus law (random searchers by police that heavily targeted black ppl

2 tone ska revival

focused on coventry (had punk influence), 2 tone refers to fact that many of the bands were mixed race, associated with skinhead culture and usually had lyrics condemning racist offshoots of that culture, ex: the specials’ ghostown and the selecter’s murder

third wave ska

had heavy punk influences (no doubt, sublime and rancid), elements of dub became integrated into lots of musical styles like goth music, post punk, jungle, etc, lots of space for texture, reverb and delay, two step moshing direct descendent of skanking

northern soul

short lived youth dance scene from the early 60s to 70s, focused in north and midlands of england, all night dance parties, specific style of clothing and dance

record collecting culture

valued rarity and depth of musical knowledge of the DJ in northern soul, ppl engaged in culture both at dances and second hand record shops + stalls

northern soul movement

subculture built around music not music creation, based on consuming experiencing music from a different culture in a communal setting, focus on flops (unsuccessful recordings more rare and therefore more valued in the scene, radio demos particularly valued)

selecters and DJs

both sound system culture and northern soul had profound impact on rise of DJ as cultural figure, valuing musical knowledge of recordings, not just musical performance/ability to play instruments, scenes/cultures based on recordings and curation of recordings instead of live performance

emergent identification (haddon 2017)

occurs when music helps create developing relationship or alliance between different social groups (ex: british punk + reggae fans connecting through shared venues + anti-racist activism)

imaginary identification (haddon 2017)

occurs when ppl imagine or protect an identity onto another culture, typically through exoticism or stereotypes, without having to understand its lived realities

homological identification (haddon 2017)

music reinforces existing associations between musical styles and social groups

macrohistorical identification (haddon 2017)

where meanings attached to music change over time

augustus pablo (haddon 2017)

jamaican musician known for his melodica playing an distinctive instrumental reggae

rastafarian utopianism (haddon 2017)

the spiritual and political vision of an idealized africa as a homeland and an alternative to the oppression of colonial society

subaltern performativity (haddon 2017)

marginalized person can adopt and transform elements of the dominant culture to express identity and resist power structures

exoticism (haddon 2017)

representing another culture as strange, mysterious, primitive or fundamentally different from one’s own

colonial power asymmetry (haddon 2017)

unequal relationships shaped by colonial histories where dominant groups have greater power to represent, interpret or benefit from marginalized cultures

soundscape composition (nimilan and chapman 2017)

music created by manipulating sounds to communicate ideas about places, environments and the experience of listening, article argues king tubby’s dub reggae does this using familiar musical sounds and transforming them so ppl can connect to it

acoustic ecology (nimilan and chapman 2017)

study of how sound connects ppl to their surroundings and influences how they experience the world

high pass filtering (nimilan and chapman 2017)

reducing lower frequencies while emphasizing higher ones

riddim (nimilan and chapman 2017)

instrumental musical backing used as basis for a song or dub version

soundscape (nimilan and chapman 2017)

sonic environment as experienced and understood by a listener

sonic abstraction (nimilan and chapman 2017)

processing sound so that is becomes altered or less familiar while potentially retaining links to its source

sonic juxtaposition (nimilan and chapman 2017)

placing original and processed sounds near each other so listeners can compare them

dropout (nimilan and chapman 2017)

removing instruments from a mix and sometimes bringing them back later