Klik op een omslag om naar Google Boeken te gaan.
Bezig met laden... Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-Listening, and Other Moodsongdoor Joseph Lanza
Geen Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. A book that delves into the history of muzak. It's one of those areas of culture that is unavoidably pervasive and intrusive, yet most people say they just tune it out. The questions I always have are, how do you ever choose a music for the mood of everyone, and is it really wanted by the majority? What volume do you set it at? Was piped-in music ever intended for the acoustic echo effect of warehouse buildings for shopping? Just who is this music for? It used to be that this music was way in the background, instrumental, and much less intrusive than today. This is what Joseph Lanza liked. I wonder if he likes what muzak's philosophy has become now? geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
It's campy, it's cool, empty, intrusive, trite, and treacly. It's Big Brother singing. Call it what you will -- elevator music, Moodsong ® easy listening, or Muzak ®. For a musical genre that was supposed to offend no one, it has a lot of enemies. Musical cognoscenti decry its insipid content; regular folk -- if they notice -- bemoan its pervasiveness; while hipsters and campsters celebrate its retro chic. Mindful of the many voices, Joseph Lanza's Elevator Music sings seriously, with tongue in cheek, the praises of this venerable American institution. Lanza addresses the criticisms of elites who say that Muzak and its ilk are dehumanized, vapid, or cheesy. These reactions, he argues, are based more on cultural prejudices than honest musical appraisal. Says Lanza, today's so-called mood music is the inheritor of a long tradition of mood-altering music stretching back to the ancients; Nero's fiddle and the sirens of Odysseus being two famous examples. Contemporary atmospheric music, Lanza argues, not only serves the same purpose, it is also the inevitable background for our media-dominated age. One of Lanza's premises, to quote Mark Twain, is that this music is "better than it sounds." "This book will have succeeded in its purpose," he writes, "if I can help efface...the distinction between one person's elevator music and another's prized recording." Joseph Lanza is an author, producer, and music historian. His most recent book is Russ Columbo and the Crooner Mystique. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
Actuele discussiesGeenPopulaire omslagen
Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)781.5The arts Music General principles and musical forms Kinds of musicLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
Ben jij dit?Word een LibraryThing Auteur. |
Also, I would hope that if this book was ever revised and re-released for newer trends in Muzak, they would delve into the popular YouTube music genre that is lo-fi hip-hop and chillhop; I would love to read an oral history behind the rise of anime girls wearing headphones while studying to SoulChef and L'indecis. ( )