Although
the electronic duo "ODESZA" is new to the music industry, they have
successfully captured the hearts of millions of listeners worldwide with their
unique melodic tunes. The fundamental reason behind ODESZA’s exponential
popularity is how they have distinctively evolved the way electronic has
traditionally been created. Normally, electronic music is composed of a variety
of beats, which can get repetitive. On the contrary, ODESZA combines beats with
bass, drums and lyrics to create breathtaking songs, which are a very
refreshing modification to the customary themes in the electronic genre. As if
ODESZA’s music itself is not charming enough, the formation of the twosome is
both inspiring and genuine. Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight met as students
while attending Western Washington University. Beginning in 2012, the two
musicians began promoting their music online. Consequently, ODESZA received an
overwhelming amount of positive feedback and their fans begged for more.
ODESZA’s dramatic growth has lead to international tours (with sold
out shows), obtaining over 70 million plays on their tracks posted to ODESZA's Soundcloud account, and their fan base is still on the rise. ODESZA's triumph in the music industry will undoubtedly continue to explosively expand.
ODESZA's website gives a detailed history of the group's formation, upcoming tour dates, and a variety of resources to stream and/or download their music.
ODESZA's Soundcloud is a great website to listen to their music for free. It is frequently updated with their newest songs.
There is also a great Wikipedia page on ODESZA for additional history.
Art history is dominated by male artists and their works, while women’s work has consistently been marginalized. Paula Modersohn-Becker stands out a prominent female artist associated with German Expressionism at the turn of the twentieth century. She is credited with being one of the first women to paint the female nude, including self-portraits during her pregnancy, and depictions of nude women with their children. Her work was incredibly important because it represented a new vision of the female body, as only a woman can understand it. Aside from her art, Modersohn-Becker broke away from the role that women at the time were expected to play. After marrying fellow artist Otto Modersohn, she continued to focus on painting, instead of solely performing domestic duties, as was norm for women of her class and time. In fact she moved from the Germany countryside to Paris without her husband in order to focus on developing her art. Aside from being an important artist in the modern movement, I chose Paula Modersohn-Becker because she challenged the role of women and showed her viewers a new perspective of the female form.
Old Peasant Woman, 1905
Works-- This site provides extensive images of her works, listing each piece’s name, date completed, and location.
Biography--This article give a great biography of Modersohn-Becker. In addition, it provides context for her work within the larger framework of German Expressionism and modern art.
Personal Identity--This article explores how Modersohn-Becker found success as an artist while contemplating her other identities as a women, a wife, and a mother.
Jerome Robbins is a legendary choreographer of classical ballet, musical theatre, and film. His choreography has won many awards. His works include West Side Story, Peter Pan and Fancy Free. His choreography and concepts in West Side Story changed the way musical theatre was looked at. He brought a whole new array of subject matter, including murder, rape and gang violence. He was one of the first people to create an ensemble in which every person's character had a name and specific back story that dictated how they moved, danced, and spoke.
Fancy Free was the first classical ballet that Robbins choreographed. It is about three sailors on shore leave in New York City.
The film West Side Story came after the huge Broadway success that solidified Robbins' career as a choreographer.
Even when your interests don't tend toward the indie side of film making, Wes Anderson is still a need to know film maker. With his 1996 Debut of Bottle Rocket, Anderson's name has come up in critic reviews over and over for his style, award recognition, and recurring actor casting. With each new release, Wes Anderson's films capture the attention of mainstream audiences. There is never a doubt when watching a Anderson film, who directed it. His unique style can be attributed to how he shoots scenes, his most popular tool is the tracking shot, which gives movement and energy to each shot. Anderson's love of patterns and palettes shine through the set up of each scene. Also, his wide use of symmetry is very noticeable across all his films. I first saw Bottle Rocket when i was eight years old and since then he has been my favorite filmmaker, my particular favorite is The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, I have seen this film at least once every three months since it came out in 2004.
Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman at92YTribeca
Example of Wes Anderson's use of symmetry
A website devoted to all the happenings and current projects of Wes Anderson
This tumblr shows the unique palettes of the wide variety of shots across his films
On the Criterion there is a host of information about his films and a small blurb about him and his top 10 movies.
The year was 1982, the band was KISS. During the cold aftermath of guitarist Ace Frehley's ousting from the band, a new axe slinger was needed to take his place. This man was Vincent Cusano, better known by his stage name "Vinnie Vincent."
Since I was a young man, Vinnie has been a point of fascination for me. I remember the warm June night where I first stumbled upon an old video of him playing on Youtube.
The over-the-top wardrobe, the unapologetic shredding, the screechingly high vocals, the pyramid of amplifier cabinets, explosions and men running around on fire; this was the most 80s thing I had ever seen at the time, and I loved it. From then on, I was hooked, joining forums and reading interviews just to find out more about this illusive guitarist. Beyond the over-the-top lead playing and borderline graphic lyrics, what lied at the core was an extremely talented songwriter, yet also a recluse. Vinnie's first wife was murdered, his daughters had left him, and his state of affairs was really quite sad. In more recent news, Vinnie Vincent has been auctioning off his old stuff from guitars all the way down to belts for astronomical prices so he can afford to pay off his legal bills for his many royalty lawsuits against KISS. In spite of this, I'm still a huge Vinnie Vincent fan. Plus, crazy people are so much more interesting to read about.
Vinnie Vincent Fan Forum
Probably the most resourceful site in gathering Vinnie intel, Vinnie Vincent Fan Forum (formerly DoubleV) is composed of new and old Vinnie fans alike. Many of these men and women were lucky enough to see the Invasion on tour during their brief tenure in the late 80s, and several of them have even met Vinnie Vincent himself. Others are corresponding with him, though this is very hush-hush. As stated earlier, Vinnie Vincent is extremely reclusive and paranoid. He'll occasionally stop in on a few different accounts; where he'll have conversations with himself as several different people, praise himself, and generally cause mischief. This is a great forum with great people and my one stop shop for all of my Vinnie Vincent news. Everything from guitars and amplifiers used in the studio and on tour to who played keyboards on a certain track but was uncredited, these people know their stuff.
Decibel Geek
Founded by Tennessee native Chris Czynszak, Decibel Geek is another great resource for all things hard rock and heavy metal from the Eighties onward. On top of blog posts regarding hard rock and heavy metal, Decibel Geek also runs a very informative podcast about the same topics. Part of what makes Decibel Geek a great resource for Vinnie Vincent is their exclusive interviews with ex-VVI band members. They've done interviews with drummer Andre LaBelle, who played on several unreleased demos by Vinnie Vincent, vocalist Robert Fleischman who sang on the first Invasion album, and of course vocalist Mark Slaughter who sang on All Systems Go and toured with Vinnie Vincent Invasion for the first two albums (Mark Slaughter is perhaps best known for forming the band Slaughter in the early Nineties). Their interviews with people whom worked closely with Vinnie gives excellent insight into the behind-the-scenes goings-on with the illusive artist.
KISSFAQ
Home and haven for all KISS fans, KISSFAQ is another fan forum dedicated to the broad topic of KISS. Since the band has been around for over forty years and gone through several line up changes and phases (makeup, no makeup, etc.), the amount of information on band members is dense. With this rich history, a portion of it accounts for the time Vinnie Vincent spent in the band, and the best place to find information for that is on the forums. These men and women recount tales of meeting Vinnie, seeing him live either with KISS or with the Invasion, and other Vinnie related stories, such as spending a good deal of money on a box set that never showed up.
This is Common’s official website. It provides information
on his latest releases and news updates. It also provides links so that you can
purchase gear, music, or tour tickets. This is the first site that is updated when
new information is provided. There are links to his social media platforms (Facebook,
Instagram, youtube, twitter, etc.) and provides news updates. This site
provides the basic information on what he is doing and how to purchase memorabilia.
This site provides a biography of Common and discusses his
transformation from a young Chicago kid to an award-winning musician and actor.
It shows a timeline of his career, reviews of his work, and provides news
updates. The site also provides photo and
video galleries.
Here is a collection of some of Common’s greatest poetry
readings with Def Jam poetry. These recitals provided artists to comment on
their situations. The artists were given
a platform to discuss many topics from institutionalized racism to faith in
god. This shows how he is active within the African American community and how
he takes stands on political issues
I find Common interesting because he is a multifaceted
artist and actor who is continuing to push himself musically and as an actor. He has not shied away from political controversy if he felt it would benefit people who do not have the voice to speak up for themselves. As a musician he has been known as “a conscious” rapper who uses music to help
empower people. The words and subjects he chooses to use help depict the plights of the ghetto. Recently, he won an Academy award and a Golden Globe award for
his song “Glory” with John Legend. The song was the theme song from the 2014
film Selma, which portrays the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. Common has not been shy to express his opinions
on political injustice or racial inequality. He appeared many times on Def Jam
poetry which gave artists the platform to address our societal flaws. He was
recently received a large amount of criticism over some of his past songs (criticisms
of George Bush and "cop-killer" lyrics) after he was invited to the White House for an “evening of
poetry.” Common has also acted in twenty-five
films and seven television programs. He
has stated that he is in pursuit of an E.G.O.T. (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony
awards) which has only been done by twelve people in acting history. This is compelling to me because it shows his
versatility as an artists. He started as
an MC/poet and he has been able to grow and develop into a producer, actor, and
role model. He is inspirational because
through his work he has been able to create a difference for the disenfranchised.
Kenny Chesney is an artist who I have grown up listening to. When you look him up online, typical country photos and topics come up. He is a country musician who has been around for years and years. The main reason I find Kenny compelling and why I enjoy his music so much is because it reminds me of summer nights at our cabin in Lake Chelan. The country music, sunshine and friends is what I think about when I hear Kenny. His music is also great road trip music, country music in general is what I enjoy the most. My whole family is a country music fan and I've noticed in Bellingham, there aren't a whole lot of country fans. It's fun and special when I get to listen to Kenny with people around me because I can't do that much in Bellingham.
This link tell you about Kenny's life, he often writes lyrics based on life events also.
http://www.biography.com/people/kenny-chesney-12985738#mid-career
Kenny has a "no shoes nation" campaign type of thing going on. He loves his fans and his homeland. This website has photos, tour information and all the promotion type of deals on it.
http://kennychesney.com
Kenny is an idol to so many people and has a lot of supportive fans. He is also known as a good looking country music artist and has gotten a bit of attention for it. Here's an article about fellow country music artists and their take on Kenny.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6319541/billboard-cover-peek-kenny-chesney-objectification-women-country
