Listen to the tracks your group has been assigned. Remember, everyone in the group has to listen to and discuss each of the assigned tracks--this is collaborative work, not delegated work. As you listen, take thorough notes; Hawk has a tendency to cite authors and generate lists, which you will need to be able to accurately summarize in order to answer the questions. I suggest you listen to each track as a group, discuss it, answer the questions, and then move on to the next track. Remember, this is not a race; Hawk gives detailed, nuanced, and difficult readings of each track, so take your time discussing what he says and answering these questions. Remember, you need to answer the questions for each track--not for the review as a whole:
- What is the purpose of this review? (This may change from track to track.)
- What is the thesis of this review? (This will most likely be implicit)
- How would you define Hawk's approach to this review? (This may change track to track.)
- Provide a thorough summary of the review, including all key terms, authors, lists, and concepts. Keep in mind this is a summary, which means information should be condensed. Still you need to retain all the vital information and nuance.
- What do you gain from reading this review (Is this merely a reading, opinion, or interpretation? Do you learn something about the band, track, genre, or philosophy? Do you make a relatable personal connection?)
- How does the medium help or hinder this review?
Noah, Mikayla, Jack & Bisha
ReplyDelete"Digimortal"
1. The purpose of this review was to bring meaning to the lyrics and music.
2. The thesis of the review was pretty much saying that humans work and get on the grind until they die and live is pretty much meaningless if you make it that way. Also war of humans vs machine.
3. Hawk was very deep and intellectual about this song. The review was very wordy. He was creating a narrative that was seemingly not there.
4. Smith calls the band a "concept" band at the beginning of the review because all of their songs and albums connect to a common story. Hawk then goes on to say what the song is about, and he calls it the "death of innocence". In the third paragraph he pulls his own personal experience into the idea of "death of innocence" according to his educational career, life after education and the journey to death.
5. We think that this review is more of an interpretation of the song. We learn that the band is a concept band and that a lot of their songs deal with a philosophical reading into life. Some of us felt that personally the reviewer was reaching too far into the song, but some felt that the lyrics really did come together under his example. Parts of our group felt they didn't listen to the music enough to understand, which probably led to their disapproval of the review.
6. We felt that this medium hindered us because we could only listen to one thing at a time. It would have been nice to have him talk about a section and then play it after.
Claire Spence, Chloe Rafferty, Frank Tkach, Lelia Rice
ReplyDelete1. The purpose is to talk about what the song is about and how he connects the song to society in a deep manner.
2. The thesis is about reading through the transcript and how we will move forward with technology, but the question is only posed and not answered.
3. Hawk's approach is to introduce them and mainly stating facts and not opinionated. He is basically just close-reading the lyrics.
4. It is just one super long description and a raid about technology, and suggests that the subject of the song is similar to that of the book Transpositions by Rosi Bradatti. He thinks that Christian and Islamic fundamentalism is a way of pushing back against this sort of evolution and relates back to the paradox that is included in Bradatti's book.
5. This review is more of an interpretation since it is the introductory track for the rest of the album. We learn the way that the band sees their music from an inside source. It shows that they are philosophical and sing about deep topics like wondering "what they will become."
6. The music in the background is both helpful and hindering. It helped to understand the song that he was reviewing but at times, the song was too loud to understand Hawk talking.
Noah, Mikayla, Jack & Bisha
ReplyDelete"No One"
1. The purpose of this review was to use the song "No One" as an example of the genre and production of the genre.
2. The thesis of this review is that rock music is a connection between humans and machine and that different genres like country and blues contributed to the creation of rock. Rock is a tradition not just a style or a genre.
3. He talks about genre history to make sense of the song - how the song relates to the genre.
4. Hawk explains how rock music is a connection between humans and machines. The logic of the song comes from the tradition of rock music. Rock music is a hybrid between blues and country music.
5. This review is more of a reading than an opinion or interpretation. He actually talks about the music and not just his personal connection to the lyrics. He brings up more about the instrumentals and guitars and PA system. Humans are electronic. We learned about the history of rock and its origins. we don't really make a relatable connection to the song because we don't listen to metal or rock as a group.
6. This was a little better because he wasn't just talking about lyrics but the music and the music was able to be heard in the background as opposed to words.
Group 5- Byte Block Mary Ashley Boykin, Zach Speaks, Jacob Mcleland
ReplyDelete1. It is to explain what the band is getting at because this song is like the answer to the first question posed in the album. The reviewer also explains how the band uses the word flesh to describe the aspect of humanism that lies at the core of this song.
2. The thesis of this review is that we are all getting separated and torn down by the internet. We are no longer a group of people because we have isolated ourselves.
3. He was just trying to explain the song rather than building it up or breaking it down. It was a very objective review.
4. The reviewer starts by stating the opinion that technology has made us as humans drift apart. He also brings up that we are abusing global capitalism by spending money on things that we shouldn't and that is why the music industry is suffering. He describes this as a machine that we are all getting stuck in because we are fine with the status quo and don't want to challenge it. In this review we learn more about what the band stands for and the deeper meaning behind this track. We as a group do not really make a personal connection with this review.
6. The artists are appealing to a stereotypically anti-establishment crowd, so the medium is slightly biased.
Haley Strunk, Alex Pressley, Marshall Withington
ReplyDelete"(Memory Imprints) Never End"
1) The purpose of this review seems to be to expand upon the song and prove why it perfectly wraps up the album.
2) The thesis that the two seem to come up with is that despite the limited lyrics throughout the track, the song ultimately has a deeper meaning individually and as a closer for the album.
3) The approach that Hawk seems to take for this review is coming from a place of professionalism. It is obvious that he is educated on the subject and because of this is able to legitimize the track.
4) Hawk obviously likes the song. He believes that the song is a great closer because of the way that it incorporates all of the conflicting feelings from the album and brings them together into one cumulative song. He expresses the need for listeners to have background in this genre of music in order to understand and be fully impacted by the track. He discusses the ending lyrics of "will there never be an end" and connects it to the idea of being in a battle and seeing no end in sight.
5) As a group we believe that the major take away from this review is that there can be extensive meaning behind limited lyrics based off of the way that they are presented.
6) Listening to Hawk discuss in his own words rather than just reading the review makes it so that we can understand where exactly he is coming from and what words he emphasizes more than others.
Claire Spence, Chloe Rafferty, Frank Tkach, Lelia Rice
ReplyDelete1. This track review is half personal anecdote that gives the author's experience with Fear Factory and half track review.
2. Hawk's thesis asserts that this track is the epitome of the melding of digital and analog, which is why he decided to review this album in particular, even though it's not as loved by Fear Factory fans.
3. Hawk approaches this review as a personal piece detailing his history with fear factory, giving more sonic detail than lyrical detail.
4. This review begins in a dive bar in Texas, as an anecdote that is Hawk's introduction to Fear Factory. Moving forward in the review, Hawk describes the mix of heavy riffs and industrial sounds that symbolizes a transition from analog to digital. Hawk takes this idea and applies it as the general theme running throughout Fear Factory's history.
5. Personal background on Hawk and his personal feelings on Digimortal and Fear Factory as a whole.
6. In this particular review, the background music overall overpowered Hawk and thus was actually a detriment as it made his review muddled and less understandable.
linchpin
ReplyDelete1. the purpose of this review is hawk trying to explain the different kinds of metals.
2. the thesis is contrary to popular belief that linchpin does not fall into the new genre of new metal.
3. hawks approach to this track would be him trying state what he believes is true which is against popular belief.
4. the review starts with an observation about the groove of the song, the observation that was shared is the popular opinion. Then alludes into a discussion on "NU-Metal" and linchpin grouping into it. They seem to agree that the song has been wrongly grouped into the sub genre and should be kept as heavy metal.
5. We learned about there are several different types of metals
6. It hinder us from forming our own judgment due to the fact we couldn't hear the song for ourselves.
Invisible Wounds
1. in this review hawks praise this song, he personally had a connection to this certain song, he is defensive towards this track.
2. smith states "traditional fans must have really hated the relative slowness and clean guitars of "invisible Wounds""
3. he loves it. he is very defensive.
4. Hawks has an intimate relationship with this band and expresses his personal experience about this song.
5. insight about hawk, and learned how heavy metal can be relatable.
6. It hinder us from forming our own judgment due to the fact we couldn't hear the song for ourselves.
Talor, Emily, john david, tia hunter
Ben, Samar, Katherine
ReplyDeleteAcres of Skin
1. The point of the review was to compare the song to The Matrix and Linchpin and to touch on the motivations and purpose of the song.
2. Hawk says he is a teacher and intended for his students to relate the three topics of The Matrix, Linchpin, and their relationship to this song.
3. Hawk discusses the relationship between the creation of music to this song as well as the "battle" that humanity is fighting. It is a semi-formal and experience-based review.
4. Hawk compares Acres of Skin to multiple different situations. Firstly, he starts with The Matrix (a recently released movie in 2001), then he compares it to rising technology, and finally moves onto surgery. Overall, the song is used as an interface to technology and Hawk makes sure to point that out. He obviously knows the meaning of the song as he describes the fear of technology that the current generation has. Some key terms that he uses is The Matrix, fear of technology, dystopian, hybrid, invasion of technology, pessimism, warning, anticipation of technology, and overall, just the fear of what is to come in the rising technological generation.
5. We are all, frankly, disturbed by the song. The review definitely helps understand the background of it, however, it is still confusing regarding the fact that Hawk brought in so many different aspects and comparisons of the song.
6. As previously stated, Hawk both helped and hindered the song by writing it out. If he had used simpler terms and less of a redundancy in the comparisons it would have been easier to understand.
Back the Fuck Up
1. The point of this review is for Hawk to define Fear Factory's genre. He refers to them as Synthecists, despite fans wanting of them to be "genreists." Respectively, they are ones who combine multiple genres and artists who create new genres.
2. The thesis is to define Fear Factory's personal genre.
3. His approach is almost historical. There is not much about the song itself but how the song defines the band itself.
4.
5. We was hoping for more of a review of the song rather than the band.
6. I don't think the medium impacted the song or the review in the slightest.
***not done
Key words and topics that exist here:
DeleteFans
Fan interests
Genre
Genre-ists
Style
Hip hop
Rock
Rap
Hybridity
The actual nature of Fear Factory
Synthesis
1.) This tracks discusses the effects of digital music circulation.
ReplyDelete2.) Though digital music only seems to effect major record labels, it also has the potential to change music culture as we currently understand it.
3.) Hawk uses the song as a launching point from which to discuss cultural criticism.
4.) Basing his critique on work by Jeremy Schlosberg, Hawk argues that digitizing music may create bands relying on "super fans" who appreciate the music, which means that the band will cater to their fans leading not only to a loss of experimentation and artistry but also the fans' willingness to listen to other types of music. Overall, both music and music culture will degrade.
5.) I am provided with a new way in which to think about the effect digitally distributed music has on culture.
6.) Recording the review in audio allows Hawk's review to stay rooted to the music even when he extrapolates to other topics.