The End

As Com 435 comes to a close, I can't lie, I'm a little bit happy.
I do feel I benefited a lot from the course, such as learning about really helpful technologies such as Google Docs (Which is quite awesome!)

But I won't lie, I'll be glad to get away from Twitter..I'm so ashamed that I had to activate it on my cell phone haha.

For my technology poster, I made a presentation for Sun Micorsystem's new music recommendation technology.

It is like Pandora, but better. It's completely computer animated and does the same work that takes a Pandora staff member 20 minutes to do in 3 minutes. The computer actually determines the genre and then the system gets information about the music from more credible sources (Music Reviews, blogs, etc) and cross references those to recommend music that you might actually like!

I never use Pandora because it usually recommends things I don't want to listen to. This site appears to be more accurate!

It was fun to learn about something that i might actually use! Plus I got to include a giant picture of John Mayer on my poster so I was a happy camper!

It's been a great semester.
I hope you've all enjoyed the song selections and were open to new types of music.

So here is the final one! This song just makes me happy. Plus the video is so awesome!
"Strawberry Swing" by Coldplay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYtk1ZOUUue
(If this link doesn't work, just go to YouTube and type in the song and artist. For some reason the copy and paste feature on my computer is acting up...)
Enjoy!
Rock on!
Kimmy

For our final project for Com 435, we were to present an emerging technology to the class by competing with elaborate poster presentations to compete for our classmates' attention. It seemed somewhat like a third grade science fair in my opinion, which is part of why I actully had fun attending.



If we liked someones' presentation, we were to use our cell phones to tweet about it.



I looked high and low for technologies about music, but few presented themselves. I hope to change that for when I present on Friday!

How about some Ray LaMontange...
"Trouble"
Because with all the work I had to do this week, trouble is what I felt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp3ltmw6cml

"Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime"

I consider myself to hold very high standards when it comes to music. That said, I don't believe that the holidays are justification for us to listen to bad music all season.

Don't get me wrong, I love one cheesy Christmas song after the next, and most of the classics are beautiful, I mean, come on, who can deny Bing Crosby?

But this is the time of year where I get excited to pull out some really good songs which I feel a little bit guilty listening to any other time of year.

One of my friends just introduced me to a new website Lala.com which has about any song you could ever think of.

I also enjoy searching Google to find my favorite artists' renditions of classics.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Coldplay
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLaughlin
"Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" By Jack Johnson

Each song is classic but the gets a little bit of flare from the artist that covers it.

I love to find new, nontraditional Christmas music as well.

My favorite Christmas song is "All That I Want" by The Weepies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0EJbr0rFV4&feature=PlayList&p=3C7EDDA78EE64DDD&index=1

So check it out!
And join in on the Christmas caroling this year!
"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!"

Kimmy

The announcement of the Grammy Award nominees is like an early Christmas gift for me...

I was pleasantly surprised by a few nominations this year.

Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band, The Fray, u2, Deathcab for Cutie, David Bryne and Brian Eno, Jason Mraz, Kings of Leon, and the guy who engineered Ray LaMontange's latest album are all up for nominations, but I'm most thrilled for nominations for progressive rock hippies, MGMT and Paris based rockers, Phoenix!!!

Taylor Swift, Beyonce, The Black Eyed Peas, and Lady Gaga all have a bunch of nominations and certain technologies make it easy to see how people feel about the academy's choices for nominees.

However you feel about the nominees, it is easy to post your feelings on Twitter. The nomination list came out last night and was in the top 10 topics tweeted about today.

If you're not familiar with all the nominees, there is no better (or easier) way to find out their music by simply popping their name into google or YouTube.

For a full list of the 2010 Grammy Nominees go to http://www.grammy.com/

MGMT is up for 2 awards, including best new artist!
Check them out!

"Kids" by MGMT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAmcpsN1GL4&feature=related

Rock on!
Kimmy

I Listen to Music that is used in Commericals

If someone were to ask me to describe my music taste, I could easily tell them that I listen to a lot of the music that is used in advertisements.

I was watching TV yesterday and was pleased to hear "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit in the HD Palm Pix commercial!

I usually know most songs in commercials, but when I don't, it's an awesome way to find new music. Commercials have led me to discover artists such as the Weepies and Oren Lavie. Thank goodness for the Internet, because I would have no way to find out who these artists were that were making me want to buy cars and shop at JC Penny's.

It's great, you can type in the commercial to Google and almost instantly find the song you want. Then you just YouTube it and can hear it for free...and if you're like me, it will lead you to purchase an album!

Oh, the power of advertising...or in my case, the power of music in advertising.

Below are some commercials which have AWESOME music in them.
Enjoy!
Kimmy

"1901" by Phoenix in a Cadillac commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHuZJJUNDyc


"Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit in a PSP commercial from Canada ( I Couldn't find the Palm Pix Commercial)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHuZJJUNDyc

"Stars" by the Weepies in an Old Navy Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVikPdlgYVw

"The Way I Am" by Ingrid Michaelson in an Old Navy Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-7luX488iY

"Trouble" by Ray LaMontange in a Traveler's' Insurance commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G7bGBUlx2M

"A Punk" by Vampire Weekend in an HP Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BunlV_t2JAI

Evolution of Sound

I've come to a simple realization. I hate Twitter.

Before I merely thought Twitter was just stupid, especially if you have an account on the Facebook in which you can update your statuses in an instant so your friends can know what you're doing at every second of everyday. . .

Kimmy likes "Say Yes to the Dress"
Kimmy is "at work"
Kimmy is "updating her facebook status."

I promise by facebook status updates are not this mundane nor frequent, and I must admit that I enjoy entering the more exciting or humorous aspects of my day to day scene on the facebook so my friends can make fun of me, but Twitter takes it to a whole other level.

Once I was forced by my Emerging Technologies class to 'Tweet' so to speak, I have come to the realization that not only do I think it's stupid....but I think it's ridiculous.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand the for mate, I can follow people without their permission, and what's up with the 30 plus friends made me follow when I signed up? (One of which was John Legend...that one is okay!)

The only thing that I like about Twitter is that I can follow John Mayer and his witty, charming, and handsome tweets...(yes a tweet can be handsome!)

I was, however, impressed when I learned that I could type in a key word and find all the tweets including that word or phrase at my finger tips.

For example, I typed in "Battle Studies" which is John Mayer's new album released on Tuesday, and yield TONS of results!

Speaking of John Mayer's new album, I went to purchase the new album and received a free vinyl with the album! Thank God not all old technology is dead. The quality of vinyls is amazing. My rant at Twitter makes me want to rant about how much better sounding records are as opposed to MP3s, but that maybe saved for another day...

So check out "Who Says" off of the John Mayer's new album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWg6EzdX-04&feature=fvst

Boy, he's pretty!
Rock on!
Kimmy

P.S....Iroinically enough, John Mayer LOVES Twitter....we all have our flaws I suppose.

Gaga

I have never felt as popular as I have in the last two weeks.

Last Friday, the Purdue Student Concert Committee (SCC) announced that Lady Gaga with special guests KiD CuDi and Jason Derulo would be coming to Purdue on Thursday, January 14.

As vice president of SCC, I've know about the show for well over a month now. As SCC members, we are required to keep the show secret until we come to an agreement with the university, promoters, and press as to when to make an official announcement of a show to the public.

So I was shocked when I started to receive texts from friends a week or so prior to the announcement asking if Lady Gaga was coming to campus!

As the days approaching the announcement passed, I got more and more texts from people wanting to know if the rumors were true.

By the night before the announcement, I received a text message from a friend that "Lady Gaga had taken over the Facebook."

Sure enough I checked online and everyone and their mom was talking about Lady Gaga coming to Purdue....there was even a Facebook event created about the show.

It is crazy how the use of social media and text was able to spread the word about the show before it was even announced. Texts and the Internet make information so much more accessible.

If you're going to the show, tickets are on sale tomorrow at 10am!

I'm really excited for the show because it's gonna be so entertaining.
Even the support acts, KiD CuDi and Jason Derulo have big followings.

So this weeks song recommendation is actually the song "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap...let me explain.

Jason Derulo's single, "Whatcha Say" is actually a sample from this Imogen Heap song that came out a few years ago. I couldn't believe it when I heard the Derulo version, but I dig both.

So you can compare:

First Derulo-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBI3lc18k8Q

Second Heap-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cpSv2mNhhc

It's a really weird song, but you'll get past it...


Rock on!

Kimmy

Lots of us procrastinate in different ways. I for one, will listen to music while I'm studying, and decided I would rather look up lyrics to songs than study anymore. A growing form of procrastination is in the form of gaming. Video games, computer games, board games, card games, you name it. Even if you don't have another person to play against, there are games that are designed for single players and even programs in which gamers can play against the computer.

Games have their positives and their negatives. Trivia can help you learn new things and card games can help your strategic skills. However, some games allow people to remove themselves from reality if they take it too seriously or can isolate people, hindering their social skills and limiting their amount of physical activity.

In my experience, the most popular video games of my college career have been RockBand and Guitar Hero. In these musically inclined video games, players simulate playing a musical instrument while playing rock hits.

Not gonna lie, it's pretty fun, not that I'm any good. I usually only do the singing component considering my hand eye coordination is somewhat lacking.

Rockband has a pretty impressive music collection and Beatles RockBand was a huge success. I don't play too often, but when I do, I usually stick to the same few songs.

I'm a big fan of Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Lover Boy", but my favorite to sing is a song by a band that I think is way underrated and all to often mistaken for a one hit wonder band.

Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger" is my favorite song to play on RockBand because it's a great song...and coincidentally, it's my song recommendation for the week.

So give it a listen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8OipmKFDeM

I would also like to take this time for a moment of silence, since considering about a month ago, Oasis announced their official break up. Can't the Irish brothers just get along? When they do, the music's great.

Rock On.
Kimmy

While home on October break, I decided I was going to make the most of my time and get some studying done. I was on a role until a very familiar guitar introduction caught my attention as it played during an episode of 90210 which my sister was watching. I recognized the song immediately to be "Many Shades of Black" by one of Jack White's many side bands, The Raconteurs. I was instantly bummed that such a great song was used in such as distasteful television program, but excited that such a song would be exposed to a new audience who probably needs a music makeover anyways. (I'm assuming if the rest of the viewers are anything like my baby sister, they swoon over the Jonas Brothers just as she does.)

As the first verse of the song was being sung, I realized that it was a female singing. I was a little taken aback considering that besides the voice singing the song, everything else about the song was identical to the original. Usually in the case of many covers, artists will change up the arrangement or do something to make their cover distinguishable from the original. Further listening allowed me to recognize the female voice to be Adele, last year's Grammy winner for Best New Artists (she beat out the Jos Bros). I of course Googled the song and found that it was not a cover, but a collaboration of the song with Adele and the Raconteurs.

Collaborations are so interesting because they take ideas for different people and really bring something new or different to the table that only one person may not be able to produce on their own. Just like our study guide using Wiki technology, we all are contributors reaching toward a common goal.

Collaborations in music are everywhere, and when done properly, are refreshing, interesting, and can produce some amazing sound.

I also loved that I was able to merely Google what I was looking for and find it instantly. I also love that "google" is now a verb...

So the song for the week...

"Many Shades of Black"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kok-ZmsTqQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JCYS7Wm0rI

The first link is the original Raconteurs cover. The second is the Adele/Raconteurs collaboration.
Oh ...and if the links don't work, just google them :)

Rock on.
Kimmy

Live Music, Mud, and Text Messaging

A few months ago, I was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, well if you're a music lover that is. My uncle who lives in Austin, TX, live music capital of the world, graciously offered to buy my three-day pass to the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival! All I had to do was make my way down to Austin and I was set. Even though I was broke, I knew I would kick myself until tomorrow if I let this opportunity pass me by, especially considering the line up:

Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon, Andrew Bird, John Legend, Phoenix, Passion Pit, The Dead Weather (Jack White's latest band), Crooked Vultures (featuring Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin), Girl Talk, Bon Iver, Bell X 1, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blitzen Trapper, the B 52s, Ben Harper and the Relentless 7, the Airborne Toxic Event, Avett Brothers, White Lies, Raphael Saadiq, Grizzly Bear, the Decembrists, and Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears were just some of the 130 plus bands to rock the Austin the weekend of Oct. 2-4th.

I wanted to make the most of this weekend and to be honest, without the latest technology, I would have not been as fully prepared as I was to engage in the best weekend of live music I have ever experienced.

I couldn't believe how much I relied on the interaction of the Facebook to help make the most out of this weekend. Music festivals such as ACL, Lollapalooza, and Bonnaroo are all jumping on the emerging technologies bandwagon to help die hard music fans make the most out of their weekend.

By becoming a fan of ACL Fest 2009 on the Facebook, I was one of the first to know when the Beastie Boys and Lilly Allen had to cancel their appearances at the fest and who their replacements would be.

Also through the Facebook, I was able to plan out my own personalized schedule of the acts I wanted to see. Not only could I see when the artists I wanted to see were playing, what stages they were playing on, and whether or not they conflicted with another group I wanted to see, but the Facebook informed me of how many other people were interested in seeing this act if any of my friends had also showed interest in seeing a particular act. This made it so much easier to compare schedules with my uncle who wanted to see The Airborne Toxic Event at the same time I wanted to see Grizzly Bear. In the end we opted for Grizzly Bear because they played directly after Bell X 1, a band my uncle and I both wanted to see, whose stage was set up next to the stage Grizzly Bear was playing. If we had chosen to see the Airborne Toxic Event, we would have had to make the walk half way across the park to their stage, missing a good portion of their set. Without the ACL Facebook application, we wouldn't have had such easy access to this information which would have resulted in missing out on some amazing live music.

Another interesting trend that music festivals are incorporating is the use of mass text messages. ACL allowed music lovers to sign up for ACL text alerts that gave festival goers important information about their favorite artists in a fast and efficient manner. If there were schedule changes or give aways, ACL goers were informed immediately. Texts were sent out to remind fans if their favorite artists would be at the Waterloo Records autograph booth. It was a great tool that led to a much more enjoyable weekend.
ACL 2009 was one of the best weekends of my life. I heard so much amazing live music, visit a beautiful part of the country, and even dance in the mud! (The park in which ACL is held just renovated its land, spending two million dollars on putting grass and sod in the park. There was a torrential down pour day 2 of the fest making the beautiful grassy field one giant mud slide.)
Of all the acts I saw, my favorite was by a French band called Phoenix whom I started listening to back in March. They were completely overwhelmed by the size of the crowd that came to see them. The lead singer announced that is was the largest crowd they had ever played for and could have not been more gracious. Phoenix sounded amazing and gave me one of my favorite ACL memories.
Here is a video someone posted on YouTube of their song “1901”!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WiPijq9VZ0&feature=related

It was amazing, and I love that I can watch it again any time I want!

Hope you like it!
Kimmy

Posters and Posers

Relating things I learn in class to things in music helps me retain the information better. This week we learned about the difference between assessment and conventional signals.

Online, assessment signals are signals in which the signal given off is directly related to the trait a person is claiming to identify with. For example, online, one can only obtain a email address ending with ".edu" if they are associated with a university.

Like wise a person who not only owns, but knows every word to every Bob Dylan song would be giving off an assessment signal. The trait of owning and knowing the words to all the songs is directly associated with being a pretty big Bob Dylan fan.

Conventional signals are signals that can still be given off even if the person signaling does not necessarily posses the trait they are trying to identify with. For example a person can have an email address that states student@gmail.com, but they may or may not be a student. Since it is a GMail account, a person can put whatever they want before the domain, therefore allowing them to give off signals that they may or may not be associated with.

May college students have Bob Dylan posters in their rooms simply to say, "Look at me! I like Bob Dylan." But ask them to sing "Tangled Up in Blue" and there in lies your proof that they were giving off a conventional signal. Here the characteristic they are claiming to identify with is not directly associated with the trait of being a Bob Dylan fan. You don't need a poster to be a fan, but you do need a love of the music.


This week's song suggestion:

"Skinny Love" by Bon Iver

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pelzrd1wWIA

Why, oh why did I wait until this past week to start listening to Bon Iver, especially when I've known about them for months now?

It's okay, I plan on seeing them this weekend at Austin City Limits Fest to make up for it!

Kimmy

P.S. Isn't his guitar in this video just beautiful?

"Times, they are a-changing..."

Emerging technologies seem to effect everything we do. From how we communicate with one another, to how we enjoy our favorite movies and TV shows. With all the advancements in technology, nothing has been quite as effective for me personally than the way I experience music. Music has been such an essential factor in my life since the time I was in the second grade and bought my first album on cassette tape; TLC's "Crazy, Sexy, Cool."

Through the course of this semester, I will be blogging about how the changing in music technology effects the life of music. Not only the way listening to music has changed, but how we experience it, share it, and the role it plays in all of our lives.

That and I'll be recommending some really boss songs! (I have pretty good taste, if I don't say so myself.)

I hope you enjoy my disscussions and the songs I post! After all, the best way to know anything about me is through the music I listen to!

So until next time, give "Moth's Wings" by Passion Pit from their 2009 album "Manners" a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px12JPgc0ic

Hope you like it!
Rock on!
Kimmy

First Post, First Song

Listen to "Moth's Wings" by Passion Pit! NOW!

http://ztanes.blogspot.com/