Episodes

Episode #1: “Hearing Queer Horror”

In this episode, we discuss the soundscapes of Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal (2013-2015), which employs near-constant musique concrète to invite the audience into the show’s psychological turbulence. We use Hannibal to examine queerness in horror, sonic depictions of disorientation and insanity, innovative trends in contemporary horror, and what exactly horror music allows us to feel and understand beyond the jump scares.

I. Clips & Sounds

  1. Season 2 soundtrack selections
  2. S2E10 “Naka-Choko”: (22:40-25:30)
  3. Season 2 fight scene (contains violence)

II. Readings

  1. A bit of background on how Brian Reitzell created the soundtrack (1, 2)
    1. “‘When my parents got divorced, I wanted to spend my time laying in the garage listening to the washer and dryer,’ he said of his 5-year-old self. ‘Loud, immersive, changing. It was music to me.’”
  2. Tompkins: Mellifluous Terror: The Discourse of Music and Horror Films
  3. Nielsen & Finn: Blood in the Moonlight: Hannibal as Queer Noir
  4. Abbott: Not Just Another Serial Killer Show: Hannibal, Complexity, and the Televisual Palimpsest
  5. Case: Tracking the Vampire
  6. Neilsen & Finn: Becoming: Genre, Queerness, and Transformation — Just read the intro pg. 1-9
  7. Woolsey: Monstrous Resonance — Skim if you’d like, or pick a few parts to read
  8. Edelman: No Future — An interesting bit of queer theory
  9. Crain: Lovers of Human Flesh
    1. “The body is a convenient boundary for the definition of the self. In theory, a sort of social anthropology may rationalize cannibalism or homosexuality, but in practice, the peculiar act violates that boundary. The act offers an ecstatic union; it offers to relieve the self of the burden of selfhood; it offers a chance to surrender the body, to consume or be consumed by another. … Cannibalism and homosexuality violate the distinctions between identity and desire; between self and other; between what we want, what we want to be, and what we are. This is why they are appealing; this is why the nineteenth century American man is horrified to discover that they appeal to him.”
  10. Benshoff: Monsters in the Closet — Check this out if you’d like an extended history of representing queerness as monstrosity in film, otherwise just read this quote for the relevant thematic thing:
    1. “On the other hand are a multitude of horror films which employed more radical postmodern aesthetic practices to challenge the dominant formal notions of the horror film genre and their ideological underpinnings. These practices (which have been spoken about at length by others) include: [1] pastiche, with which I would include a high modern self- reflexivity and/or the yearning for nostalgia already mentioned, [2] the slippage of the signifier/death of the subject/death of the transcendental signified, and [3] schizophrenia as a mode of presentation/reception (which can perhaps be theorized as a result of [1] and [2]).’ In moving away from a monolithically constructed subject and its concomitant strict adherence to binary oppositions, this type of “utopian” postmodern artifact opens onto the theorization of “queemess” and celebrates the Bakhtinian carnivalesque – a polyvocal hodgepodge of images culled from different races, genders, and sexual positionings, as well as both high and low art.” (212-213)

III. Time Stamps

  • 00:00:00 — Group intro
  • 00:03:05 — Intro to the episode topic
  • 00:05:08 —What horror scores do you like / what sounds scare you?
  • 00:07:30 — Familiar music in horror
  • 00:11:17 — Blurring diegetic and non-diegetic sound
  • 00:15:10 —Under vs overscoring
  • 00:19:15 — Queerness, the other, monstrosity
  • 00:25:49 — Refusing binaries, The Silence of the Lambs controversy   
  • 00:31:20 — Sonic representations of psychosis and disorientation
  • 00:39:40 — Repetition
  • 00:42:25 — Conventions in horror scoring
  • 00:45:55 — Cross-cultural horror
  • 00:52:20 — Criticisms of horror as a genre of the body
  • 00:58:10 — Productivity of horror as a genre of the body

IV. Transcript

Episode #1: “Hearing Queer Horror” TranscriptView Transcript

Episode #2: “ Music and Nostalgia During COVID-19“

We are lacking points of social contact now more than ever, and many of us find connection through popular media such as commercials, TV, movies, video games, and music. In this episode, we discuss the phenomenon of musical nostalgia during the pandemic and how it might differ from other forms of nostalgia.

I. Clips & Sounds

  1. TikToks that use the transition sounds from Hannah Montana as a soundtrack for “rating” random things (1, 2) 
  2. TikToks that make fun of Disney Channel movies (1, 2)
  3. “‘90s Infomercial Guy” TikTok account
  4. TikTok account (@doyoulovethe2000s) that reposts videos from the 2000s

II. Reading

  1. Barrett & Janata: Neural responses to nostalgia-evoking music modeled by elements of dynamic musical structure and individual differences in affective traits

III. Time Stamps

  • 00:00:59 — What music have you been using as a “safety blanket” during COVID, and at what age did you originally listen to this music, if it’s not new music?
  • 00:18:32 — Romanticizing nostalgia 
  • 00:25:03 — Favorite TikTok audios
  • 00:29:26 — Social media (specifically TikTok) fulfilling the desire for social connection, especially through nostalgia
  • 00:35:06 — Jameson’s postmodernity theory
  • 00:41:28 — Is there anything people have seen on other people’s social media that you’ve never seen or interacted with before, but you were inspired to do so because somebody else talked about it?
  • 00:49:43 — Is it healthy to revert to nostalgia during this time? Is it fair for brands to be capitalizing on this?
  • 00:50:36 — Nostalgia and capitalistic consumption practices 
  • 00:51:25 — Nietzsche’s “On the Use and Abuse of History for Life”
  • 00:58:23 — How will kids today experience nostalgia in the future?

IV. Transcript

Episode #2: “Music and Nostalgia During COVID-19” TranscriptView Transcript

Episode #3: “Mood Music for the Revolution“

In this episode, we discuss music that encourages the understanding of Black narratives in America. Specifically addressing the questions: how has the movement for Black lives, from the Civil Rights Era, to now, Black Lives Matter, shifted narratives through generations? And how is the music we partake in reflect or even influence how these narratives shift?

I. Songs

  1. Louis Armstrong — “Black and Blue“
  2. Billie Holiday — “Strange Fruit“
  3. Stevie Wonder — “Living for the City“
  4. Marvin Gaye — “What’s Going On“
  5. YG — “FDT” (ft. Nipsey Hussle)
  6. Lauryn Hill — “Black Rage“
  7. Orion Sun — “Mama’s Baby“
  8. Kendrick Lamar — “DAMN“
  9. Noname — “Song 33“
  10. J. Cole — “Snow on tha Bluff“

II. Readings

  1. Redmond: We Insist: A Century Of Black Music Against State Violence
  2. Pak: The Tragic Story Behind Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”
  3. Hastings: Gen Z Perspective on Black Lives Matter
  4. Spanos; Grant: Songs of Black Lives Matter: 22 New Protest Anthems
  5. Haylock: Why is J. Cole coming for Noname?
  6. Bellan: Gen Z Leads The Black Lives Matter Movement, On And Off Social Media

III. Time Stamps

  • 0:00 — Intro & Questions
  • 1:45 —  “Strange Fruit” & “Black Rage”
  • 3:50 — “Living for the City” & “What’s Going On”
  • 8:55 — “FDT”
  • 14:05 — Noname & J. Cole
  • 16:59 — The Black Arts Movement & Intersectionality
  • 22:49 — Technology as a Driving Force
  • 26:00 — Sampling
  • 28:15 — TikTok & BLM
  • 29:15 — Will We Achieve Real and Final Change?
  • 32:35 — Closing Thoughts

IV. Transcript

Episode #3: “Mood Music for the Revolution” TranscriptView Transcript

Episode #4: “Billie Eilish and the Concept of the Musical Genius”

A pressing issue that has faced not only the modern music industry, but music consumption for centuries is that of the concept of the musical genius. In this episode, we examine various iterations of the “genius” archetype and how it can often be a driving force behind a musical artist’s entire career. We look at Billie Eilish as a case study for the most recent occurrence of the music industry’s “genius.”

I. Clips & Sounds

  1. Billie Eilish — “bad guy” 
  2. Billie Eilish — “bad guy” (Live From Saturday Night Live)
  3. The making of Billie Eilish’s SNL performance
  4. Slow motion video of Billie Eilish at the 2020 Grammy Awards
  5. Billie Eilish — “all the good girls go to hell”

II. Readings

  1. Coscarelli: Billie Eilish Is Not Your Typical 17-Year-Old Pop Star. Get Used to Her.
  2. Burney: Music, Men, and Manners In France and Italy, 1770
  3. Pellegrini: Unnatural Affinities: Me and Judy at the Lesbian Bar
  4. Heartz: Classical
  5. Fleeger: Deanna Durbin and the Mismatched Voice
  6. Nettl: In The Service of The Masters
  7. Barret: ‘Just a voice and youth’: Shirley Temple, Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland and the rise of the musical child star in the 1930s. 
  8. BBC Newsround: Billie Eilish at the Grammys: A timeline of her life and career 
  9. Bouwhuis: Billie Eilish’[s] “all the good girls go to hell” and the embodiment of individualism
  10. Mastroianni: Billie Eilish is labelled a GENIUS for this slow-mo video
  11. McAuliffe: Opinion: Billie Eilish drops genius debut album
  12. On Air With Ryan Seacrest: The Genius Decision Billie Eilish’s Parents Just Made
  13. Waterston: Rehabilitative rewiring: Treating Tourette syndrome with fMRI and neurofeedback

III. Time Stamps

  • 00:01:44 — Background of the musical genius myth
  • 00:10:19 — Female prodigies in music
  • 00:14:32 — Adultification
  • 00:23:11 — How does Billie Eilish’s slow motion red carpet video make her “genius”?
  • 00:29:12 — Billie Eilish’s SNL performance of “bad guy”
  • 00:35:17 — Alana’s conspiracy theory about Billie Eilish and FINNEAS’ ages
  • 00:43:02 — Billie Eilish’s similarities to Post Malone, who is not usually considered a genius
  • 00:51:58 — Closing comments

IV. Transcript

Episode #4: “Billie Eilish and the Concept of the Musical Genius” TranscriptView Transcript

Episode #5: “The ‘O’ Word”

We treat “opera” as a grossly overgeneralized umbrella term when it is far from that! In this episode, we highlight a variety of opera pieces while discussing the operatic canon’s place in today’s society.

I. Clips & Sounds

  1. Aria: Purcell — When I am laid in earth — Dido’s Lament— (1689, alleged premiere) (English)
  2. Chorus (technically a septet): Handel — Di timpani e trombe —Agrippina (1709) (Italian)
  3. Trio: Mozart — Soave sia il vento (Act I trio) — Cosi fan tutte — (1790) (Italian)
  4. Sextet: Rossini — Ma, Signore (Act I Finale) — Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) — (1816) (Italian)
  5. Chorus: Verdi — Va pensiero — Nabucco — (1842) (Italian)
  6. Duet: Strauss — Die Uhr Duett (The Watch Duet) — (1874) (German)
  7. Duet and chorus: Poulenc — Ave Maria — Dialogue des Carmelites (The Dialogue of the Carmelites) — (1953) (French)
  8. Aria: Muhly — I see Forio standing still — Marnie — (2017) (English)

II. Time Stamps

  • 00:00:41 — The premise of the episode
  • 00:23:18 — How Agrippina was updated to reflect contemporary times
  • 00:28:55 — Current trends in opera
  • 00:34:53 — The significance of opera & its commentary on pop culture
  • 00:42:26 — Will opera ever die?

III. Transcript

Episode #5: “The ‘O’ Word” TranscriptView Transcript

Episode #6: “Animals and Music, Music and Animals“

In this episode, we discuss a number of topics concerning the relationships between non-human animals and the thing we call music, such as music-making capacities in species other than our own, human musical representations of other species in our own musical practices, and the use of “the animal” in performance and other art forms.

I. Songs

  1. Ludwig van Beethoven — “Pastorale” Symphony No. 6 in F Major, II. Andante molto mosso (specifically the “birds” at 12:25)
  2. Maurice Ravel — L’enfant et les sortilèges, “Duo miaulé”
  3. Olivier Messiaen — Catalogue d’oiseaux, I/42: No. 6, L’alouette lulu
  4. Laurie Spiegel — Anon a Mouse
    1. Synopsis
    2. Libretto
  5. Kyoko Kobayashi — “Cat Canon”
  6. Paul Horn — “Haidda” 
  7. Jim Nollman — Playing Music With Animals
  8. Oswald Wiener and Helmut Schoener — Animal Music/Tiermusik 
  9. Roger Payne — Songs of the Humpback Whale 

Songs selected by the group:

  1. Torrey: George Clinton — “Atomic Dog” by George Clinton
  2. Matthew: Walter Martin — “We Like the Zoo (‘Cause We’re Animals Too)”
  3. Liv: “Hello Little Girl” from Into The Woods

II. Readings

  1. Animals & Society Institute – “Defining the Animal Turn with Harriet Ritvo” and “Defining Biosemiotics with Alison Sealey”
  2. Doolittle and Gingras – “Quick Guide to Zoomusicology”
  3. Martinelli – “Introduction (to the issue and to zoomusicology)” 
  4. Doolittle – “Crickets in the Concert Hall: A History of Animals in Western Music”
  5. Lockwood – “A Singing Hesperomys”
  6. Mundy – “Evolutionary Categories and Musical Style from Adler to America”
  7. Chaudhuri – “‘Of All Nonsensical Things’: Performance and Animal Life”
  8. Mundy – “Why Listen to Animals?”

III. Time Stamps

  • 00:00:24 — Overview of the topic
  • 00:28:45 — Everyone shares songs they selected that involve non-human animals in some way
  • 00:37:32 — “Wolf Project” gatherings
  • 00:41:06 — Human efficiency
  • 00:54:54 — Animation’s influence on how we perceive animals
  • 00:58:10 — The significance of visual language

IV. Transcript

Episode #6: “Animals and Music, Music and Animals” TranscriptView Transcript

Episode #7: “PC Music, Hyperpop, and the Existence of Genre“

We recorded this episode three days before SOPHIE’s untimely death on Saturday, January 30th, 2021. As one of the pioneers of hyperpop, SOPHIE was a true visionary and we’re thankful for the work she shared with us. Although her life was short, her legacy lives on. We dedicate this episode to SOPHIE.

In 2013, British music producer A.G. Cook founded the record label PC Music. The label’s known for exaggerating elements of 1990s and early 2000s pop and electronic music, such as the use of vocal effects and synthesizers. In this episode, we discuss PC Music, the advent of hyperpop, and the existence of genres in music today.

I. Songs

A. Proto-PC Music (before 2013)

  1. “Better Off Alone” by Alice DJ
  2. “Show Me Love” by Robin S
  3. “L’Amour Toujours” by Gigi D’Agostino
  4. “Barbie Girl” by Aqua
  5. “We like to Party! (The Vengabus)” by Vengaboys
  6. “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” by Eiffel 65
  7. “Pop the Glock” by Uffie
  8. “Believe” by Cher

B. Early PC Music (2013-2016)

  1. “Beautiful” by A.G. Cook
  2. “Like You” by Dux Content
  3. “Every Night” by Hannah Diamond
  4. “Broken Flowers” by Danny L Harle
  5. “Cos I Love U” by A.G. Cook

C. Early “PC-adjacent” (2013-2016)

  1. “Hey QT” by QT
  2. “LEMONADE” by SOPHIE
  3. “Vroom Vroom” by Charli XCX

D. PC Music today (2017-present)

  1. “Silver” by A.G. Cook
  2. “Dare (PM)” by Namasenda
  3. “Invisible” by Hannah Diamond
  4. “popular” by umru & Laura Les
  5. “Airhead” by A.G. Cook

E. “PC-adjacent” today (2017-present)

  1. “Track 10” by Charli XCX
  2. “Gone” by Charli XCX & Christine and the Queens
  3. “2099” by Charli XCX & Troye Sivan
  4. “visions” by Charli XCX
  5. “Ocean of Tears” by Caroline Polachek
  6. “Not Okay” by SOPHIE

F. Proto-Hyperpop (anything before 2019)

  1. “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada
  2. “Like a G6” by Far East Movement, DEV & The Cataracs
  3. “TiKToK” by Kesha
  4. “Boom Boom Pow” by Black Eyed Peas
  5. “Flamingo” by Kero Kero Bonito
  6. “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” by Skrillex
  7. “Bangarang” by Skrillex (feat. Sirah)

G. Hyperpop (2019-present)

  1. “745 sticky” by 100 gecs
  2. “money machine” by 100 gecs
  3. “hand crushed by a mallet” by 100 gecs
  4. “Rich B**** Juice – Laura Les Remix” by Alice Longyu Gao
  5. “Thos Moser” by food house

II. Readings & a Podcast Episode

  1. The history of PC Music, the most exhilarating record label of the 2010s by Dazed
  2. Too Pop? Too Weird? A.G. Cook of PC Music Is Stepping Out on His Own by The New York Times
  3. A.G. Cook Is Changing Popular Music As We Know It by American Songwriter
  4. How A.G. Cook became pop’s great disruptor by The FADER
  5. The 2010s Were the Decade That Genre Collapsed by Vice
  6. This is Hyperpop​: A Genre Tag for Genre-less Music by Vice
  7. A.G. Cook & The Art Of A Perfect Pop Song by the Recording Academy
  8. The Pitchfork Review:​ “100 gecs and the Mystery of Hyperpop” (podcast) by Pitchfork

III. Time Stamps

  • 00:01:01 — Initial reactions to songs
  • 00:06:52 — Opinions on the term/genre name “hyperpop”
  • 00:07:51 — Sincerity/authenticity in hyperpop
  • 00:32:48 — Discussing the future of hyperpop

IV. Transcript

Episode #7: “PC Music, Hyperpop, and the Existence of Genre” TranscriptView Transcript

Episode #8: “Love Songs”

In this episode, we discuss a variety of songs that illustrate just how many different ways there are to interpret the feeling known as “love”.

I. Songs

  1. “Absolutely Cuckoo” by The Magnetic Fields
  2. “Cómo Te Quiero” by Khruangbin
  3. “[They Long to Be] Close to You” by The Carpenters
  4. “The Louvre” by Lorde
  5. “Let It Be” by The Beatles

II. Timestamps

  • 00:00:38 — Discussing “Absolutely Cuckoo” by The Magnetic Fields
  • 00:09:55 — Discussing “Cómo Te Quiero” by Khruangbin
  • 00:17:52 — Discussing “[They Long to Be] Close to You” by The Carpenters
  • 00:30:02 — Discussing “The Louvre” by Lorde
  • 00:34:36 — Discussing “Let It Be” by The Beatles & sharing additional thoughts about love & nostalgia

III. Transcript

Episode #8: “Love Songs” TranscriptView Transcript

Episode #9: “‘Misandrist’ Female Singer-Songwriters of the Nineties”

In this episode, we discuss how the “misandrist” female singer-songwriters of the nineties were progressively feminist for their time, and how people’s perceptions of them would be similar and/or different in today’s day and age. The three main artists we discuss are Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, and PJ Harvey.

CW: This episode contains mentions of sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.

I. Artists discussed

1. PJ Harvey

– Dry (album)
  • “Dress”
  • “Sheela-Na-Gig”
– Rid of Me (album)
  • “Legs”
  • “Rub ‘Til It Bleeds”
  • “Man-Size”
  • “Dry”
  • “Snake”
– To Bring You My Love (album)
  • “C’mon Billy”
  • “Send His Love To Me”
  • “The Dancer”

2. Fiona Apple

– Tidal (album)
  • “Sullen Girl”
– When The Pawn… (album)
  • “On The Bound”
  • “Limp”
  • “Paper Bag”
  • “Fast As You Can”

3. Tori Amos

– Little Earthquakes (album)
  • “Silent All These Years”
  • “Precious Things”
  • “Leather”
  • “Me and a Gun”
– Boys for Pele (album)
  • “Blood Roses”
  • “Professional Widow”

II. Readings

PJ Harvey

Fiona Apple

Tori Amos

Episode #10: “Playlists and Mixtapes”

In this episode, we discuss the art of playlist and mixtape-making as a form of musical dialogue, allowing listeners to establish connections between songs in meaningful ways.

I. Readings

  1. “The Music That Makes Us” from On the Record: Music Journalists on Their Lives, Craft, and Careers by Mike Hilleary
  2. The Joy of Mixtapes by Lavinia Greenlaw
  3. The Art of the Playlist by Eric Harvey
  4. Playlist Making is a Delicate and Personal Art Form by Katherine Bry
  5. Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss by Rob Sheffield