Hard News: The Sound of Music
111 Responses
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I've found James Blake's music attractive too, and those Alex Clare and Jamie Woon tracks sound good at first listen too. But I guess I've been confused by their characterisation as "post-dubstep". I know that dubstep is more than just wub-wub basslines and angry, spotty young men in hoodies who spend far too much time playing first-person shooters, but I struggle to connect these quieter tracks (along with a lot of tracks from other artists such as Burial) with the supposedly characteristic griminess, fiddly triplets and half-time snares of dubstep.
I imagine that someone with a longer and less superficial aquaintance with the genre would see them as part of a continuous and broad tradition, but for me coming in relatively cold they seem to share more with 90s/00s trip-hop, ambient and downbeat. If that Jamie Woon "Night Air" track is post-anything, it sounds post-house to me.
Which sounds all very nitpicky, and I'm not trying to put anything in a box, but I'm just a bit confused and intrigued about the musical strands that led to these new trends.
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I have some doubt about the music contributing positively to the atmosphere at teh games - I'd say that the W'gton Sevens over the past few years, and the enormous amount of fun people obviously have there, has been a much bigger factor in getting kiwi fans to loosen up.
But I'll know more about that after the weekend as I'll actually be attending a couple of matches rather than sitting at home watching.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
It seems odd to me that out of the lanky, cleancut, pale, post dubstep contenders James Blake gets more press than Jamie Woon.
I'm only just discovering Jamie Woon -- and actually via his intriguing remix of Lana Del Rey's 'Video Games'. BUt yeah, I plan to investigate further.
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This isn't relevant to anything except in a general Friday musicky way. Gaga actually singing and wearing an actual dress! Who knew??
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I’m generally of the view that the right music makes everything better. I get it that the IRB (and also the bozos running Super XV and Tri Nations games) think that there is a need to entertain the crowd and produce the best possible atmosphere. And I can see the point in playing music between games at a two-day long seven-a-side tournament. But, really, at a test match do we need music at all?
Watching Ireland strangle Australia or (insert any of the various great stouches from this RWC) is the entertainment. A jam-packed stadium creates quite the atmosphere.
The great games are not enhanced by the music. The dull games (and there have been surprisingly few at this RWC) are not salvaged by the music.
In fact, I think the music probably interferes with the crowd experience. It would have been nicer to hear the Irish supports belt out Molly Malone or Black Velvet Band (as they did throughout the second half of their 50-point hiding from Auckland in 1992) or the Fijian bloke 20m from me get to finish his rant on Samoa’s unhealthy sexual attraction to taro before they were drowned out by generic anthem rock.
But we should be glad of small mercies. At Eden Park at least the music volume has not been as injurious to aural health as the public address system at Waikato Stadium has been in recent years. And the IRB didn’t employ the local Cock Rock FM DJ to exhort us to scream our support of the home team, holler “Deee Fence”, etc. That was a truly awful experience.
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I’ve always thought it would be great to have an actual live soundtrack, like the orchestra in old movie theatres, think of the build-up to a try. Maybe Tama Renata Once were Warriors styles with David Kilgore and how about Chris Mathews with grant Fell and Bevan Sweeney.
Just not Haley Whatshernamer. -
If you want rugby music it has to be Tchaikovsky
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
I LOVE the idea of a live orchestra doing the music for a Rugby match. That would be so cool.
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I’m hardly an aficionado but, with the help of other people here, I think I’ve learned enough about some of the murkier points of rugby to enhance my appreciation of the game.
As I watched the England/Rumania game in Dunedin’s new stadium, I had the distinct impression that most of the crowd didn’t understand much about the game, and weren’t really there to experience rugby as a sport displayed by some of its finest exponents; rather, they were there for the party. They showed their costumes, Mexicanised their waves, booed anything that seemed to disadvantage their team, roared approval whenever somebody made a run for the line, caught up with the recent activities of friends, and ate and drank.
I gained respect for the players, who somehow managed to concentrate on their game despite watery people running on and off, doctors tending to the fallen every few minutes, teammates making training and exercise runs around the field, security people and photographers, TV crews, Mexican waves, huge screens showing all sorts of colourful things – only some of which related to the game – and the music. Sitting not far from one of the speakers, I found the music uncomfortably loud. Couldn’t hear the radio commentary in my earphones at all, really.
It was an experience to see Jonny Wilkinson in the flesh, lining up a kick with his La Petomaine pose: but he looked really lonely. Both teams were having meetings at the other end of the field, and goodness only knows what the crowd were focused on. The referee seemed to be the only person in the stadium giving him any attention at all – until the ball actually got over the crossbar.
The music is part of something that’s more to do with the packaging of a show than the enhancement of a sport. From what I could tell, it seemed to be achieving that very well – like loud music at any party, I guess.
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Howies and the Boys "My old Mans an All Black" would have been good to let the IRB know how far we have come.
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I've been very impressed by the choirs singing the national anthems. Much better than the usual overblown cabaret warbling.
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Rich Lock, in reply to
I LOVE the idea of a live orchestra doing the music for a Rugby match. That would be so cool.
There's an amateur/fan brass band which plays at England soccer matches - around a dozen instruments in it. They play the theme from the great escape. Then they play it again. Then they play it again. Then they play it again. And when they're bored of that, they play it again.
Be careful what you wish for. You might end up screaming and sobbing for another Jordan Luck chorus.
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Lilith __, in reply to
like the orchestra in old movie theatres, think of the build-up to a try.
I gather the old-time silent-movie pianists often didn't get a practice run so had to keep an eye on the movie so they could extemporise the music to fit the scene. Must have added a whole other dimension to the viewing experience.
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I've enjoyed the mariachi trumpet but have not been able to afford to endure it at a stadium. The experience may well be more palatable diluted through the telly. Wafts of Black Eyed Peas certainly are.
I guess there must not have been any stipulation by RWC2011 Ltd about NZ music when they tendered the contract. Shame they've let down the focus on local throughout the tournament's visual branding and opening ceremony.
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My daughter loved the music at the match we went to; me, not so much. So as long as the IRB's target market is 7 year old girls and not 28 year old men, they're doing a good job.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I've enjoyed the mariachi trumpet but have not been able to afford to endure it at a stadium. The experience may well be more palatable diluted through the telly. Wafts of Black Eyed Peas certainly are.
In our South Stand seats at Eden Park, it was impossible to ignore the shithouse ZM rave-pop because it was really, really loud. The trumpet, I'm fine with -- it's a bit of fun. Ditto the pulse while the TMO deliberates.
I guess there must not have been any stipulation by RWC2011 Ltd about NZ music when they tendered the contract. Shame they've let down the focus on local throughout the tournament's visual branding and opening ceremony.
We were told it was chosen for "international appeal", but it seems they really went for "very cautious and extremely obvious".
Apparently the guy brought in to run it at one stadium was enthusing about one particular tune: Blur's 'Song 2'. i.e., the most overplayed ground music in all sporting history.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I've been very impressed by the choirs singing the national anthems. Much better than the usual overblown cabaret warbling.
Me too. Although Dan Slevin harshed my buzz by telling me that most of what you hear on the telly is recorded, with a little live voice over the top.
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Sacha, in reply to
chosen for "international appeal"
Those foreigners would never appreciate NZ culture. Oh, wait..
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Pete Sime, in reply to
I went to England-Romania too and I really enjoyed it. As a Kiwi I wasn't going to sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, so the Mexican waves were a fun part of crowd participation. Going to a sporting event these days is not a passive activity and the biggest roar of the night was when the Romanians scored their sole 3 points. The result was a foregone conclusion, but that's why you back the underdog. You're right about the music playlist, it was rubbish, but the live performances - the Army Band and the choral national anthems were top notch.
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James Butler, in reply to
Me too. Although Dan Slevin harshed my buzz by telling me that most of what you hear on the telly is recorded, with a little live voice over the top.
My understanding is that the orchestra is pre-recorded, but the singing is all live - might be wrong though. Could find out, I haz contacts.
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
I gather the old-time silent-movie pianists often didn't get a practice run so had to keep an eye on the movie so they could extemporise the music to fit the scene.
Oh yes, it was quite a job apparently. As it happens, Eric Clapton did the background incidental music for Edge of Darkness in a single take.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
My understanding is that the orchestra is pre-recorded, but the singing is all live - might be wrong though. Could find out, I haz contacts.
Could you? I'd love to know for sure.
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Why Why Why?
At Wales vs Namibia we had at least four different Tom Jones songs. If I'd been a Welsh fan I think I'd have been offended by that summation of the culture. The fans around me clearly weren't, because they sang Delilah themselves several times.I had been fearing that we were going to get the Feelers' cover of Right Here Right Now at every possible occasion, but I haven't heard it once, thank gawd. Did that bad idea actually get squashed?
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Fan fear...
I know it's lost argument but at what point did it become
necessary to play music to entertain the crowd ...I'm with you on this one, it's makes even
less sense, to me, with cricket... -
Sacha, in reply to
Edge of Darkness
Brilliant series. Haven't mustered the courage to check the US remake.
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