1.
Alarm signal
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In the field of animal communication, an alarm signal is an antipredator adaptation referring to various signals emitted by social animals in response to danger. Many primates and birds have elaborate alarm calls for warning conspecifics of approaching predators, for example, the characteristic alarm call of the blackbird is a familiar sound in many gardens. Other animals, like fish and insects, may use other non-auditory signals, an animal who signals an alarm is called an alarmer. Different calls may be used for predators on the ground or from the air, often, the animals can tell which member of the group is making the call, so that they can disregard those of little reliability. Evidently, alarm signals promote survival by allowing the receivers of the alarm to escape from the source of peril, when an animal calls attention to itself by signalling, it may be more likely to be eaten by a predator than if it had kept quiet. This intuition has been verified by data on ground squirrel predation rates. However, there is some evidence that alarm calls can increase individual fitness as well. Alarm calls are often high-frequency sounds because these sounds are harder to localize and this cost/benefit tradeoff of alarm calling behaviour has sparked many interest debates among evolutionary biologists seeking to explain the occurrence of such apparently self-sacrificing behaviour. If alarm-calling is truly an example of altruism, then our understanding of natural selection becomes more complicated than simply survival of the fittest gene, other researchers, generally those who support the selfish gene theory, question the authenticity of this altruistic behaviour. For instance, it has observed that vervets sometimes emit calls in the presence of a predator. Studies show that these vervets may call more often when they are surrounded by their own offspring, another theory suggests that alarm signals function to attract further predators, which fight over the prey organism, giving it a better chance of escape. Others still suggest they are a deterrent to predators, communicating the animals alertness to the predator, one such case is the eastern swamphen, which gives conspicuous visual tail flicks. Vervet monkeys are the example of both animal alarm calls and of semantic capacity in non-human animals. They have three distinct calls for leopards, snakes, and eagles, and research shows that each call elicits different responses, campbells mona monkeys also generate alarm calls, but in a different way than vervet monkeys. It has been suggested that this is a homology to human morphology, similarly, the cotton-top tamarin is able to use a limited vocal range of alarm calls to distinguish between aerial and land predators. Both the Campbell monkey and the cotton-top tamarin have demonstrated abilities similar to vervet monkeys ability to distinguish likely direction of predation and that these three species use vocalizations to warn others of danger has been called by some proof of proto-language in primates. However, there is evidence that this behavior does not refer to the predators themselves but to threat. Another species that exhibits alarm calls is the Barbary macaque, Barbary macaque mothers are able to recognize their own offsprings calls and behave accordingly
2.
Single (music)
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In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
3.
Homogenic
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Homogenic is the third international solo album by Icelandic musician Björk, released in September 1997. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B and Markus Dravs, the music of Homogenic was a new style for Björk, focusing on similar-sounding music combining electronic beats and string instruments with songs in tribute to her native country Iceland. Homogenic was originally to be produced in her home in London, Homogenic marked the first of several production collaborations between Björk and Mark Bell, whom Björk would cite as a major influence on her musical career. The album peaked at number twenty-eight on the Billboard 200, five singles were released from Homogenic, Jóga, Bachelorette, Hunter, Alarm Call and All Is Full of Love. After an extensive tour in 1996, Björk returned to her home in Maida Vale with an urgent need to write new songs as a form of therapy, Björk would let audio engineer Markus Dravs into her home studio to start creating new songs. Björk wanted to create an album with a sound and only one flavour. The album began with the title of Homogeneous, but Björk shortly afterwards changed it to Homogenic. The sessions with Dravs and Björk were casual, with Björk allowing Dravs freedom with the album, Björk only left the studio to cook meals for the both of them. One of the first songs created during the sessions was 5 Years which Dravs created the fast beat for, the progress of Homogenic in these sessions was halted due to a media sensation caused by the suicide of Björks stalker Ricardo López. To deal with the stress of being at home during this incident, the characters image inspired a song titled So Broken which she sang to herself in her kitchen. The song was included on the Japanese import of the album. To record in away from the sudden unwanted media interest. Björk went to Málaga and arranged to meet with flamenco guitarist Raimundo Amador, Björk had originally intended to stay in Málaga only briefly, but later decided to record the entirety of Homogenic there. Björk made a trip out of the country before staying in Spain. As she had done since moving to London, Björk returned to Iceland for Christmas, while there, she wrote more new songs for Homogenic, including Jóga. Before returning to Spain to record, Björk was sidetracked by a worldwide press tour for the promotion of her remix album Telegram. Björk had intended to produce the album alone, but she abandoned the idea and sought out a group of collaborators including Dravs, Howie B, Guy Sigsworth. Howie B had worked with Björk previously on Debut and Post, the American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan almost contributed to the production of Homogenic, but were unable due to their production on the album Wu-Tang Forever, which had taken longer than planned
4.
A-side and B-side
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The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78,45, and 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records, whether singles, extended plays, or long-playing records. Creedence Clearwater Revival had hits with both A-side and B-side releases, others took the opposite approach, producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side, the earliest 10-inch,78 rpm, shellac records were single sided. Double-sided recordings, with one song on side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records. There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations did not play recorded music until the 1950s, in this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important, the side did not convey anything about the content of the record. The term single came into use with the advent of vinyl records in the early 1950s. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side, under this random system, many artists had so-called double-sided hits, where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts, or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places. As time wore on, however, the convention for assigning songs to sides of the record changed. By the early sixties, the song on the A-side was the song that the company wanted radio stations to play. It was not until 1968, for instance, that the production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom. In the late 1960s stereo versions of pop and rock songs began to appear on 45s. The majority of the 45s were played on AM radio stations, by the early 1970s, double-sided hits had become rare. Album sales had increased, and B-sides had become the side of the record where non-album, non-radio-friendly, with the advent of cassette and compact disc singles in the late 1980s, the A-side/B-side differentiation became much less meaningful. With the decline of cassette singles in the 1990s, the A-side/B-side dichotomy became virtually extinct, as the dominant medium. However, the term B-side is still used to refer to the tracks or coupling tracks on a CD single. With the advent of downloading music via the Internet, sales of CD singles and other media have declined. B-side songs may be released on the record as a single to provide extra value for money. There are several types of material released in this way, including a different version, or, in a concept record
5.
CD single
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This article is about the 12cm single. Not to be confused with 8cm single, the standard in the Red Book for the term CD single. A CD single is a single in the form of a standard size compact disc. It is not to be confused with the Mini CD single, the format was introduced in the mid-1980s but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s. With the rise in digital downloads in the early 2010s, sales of CD singles have decreased, commercially released CD singles can vary in length from two songs up to six songs like an EP. Some contain multiple mixes of one or more songs, in the tradition of 12 vinyl singles, depending on the nation, there may be limits on the number of songs and total length for sales to count in singles charts. Containing four tracks, it had a limited print run. CD singles were first made eligible for the UK Singles Chart in 1987, the Mini CD single format was originally created for use for singles in the late 1980s, but met with limited success, particularly in the US. The smaller CDs were more successful in Japan and have become more common in Europe. By 1989, the CD3 was in decline in the US and it was common in the 1990s for US record companies to release both a two-track CD and a multi-track maxi CD. In the UK, record companies would also release two CDs but, usually, these consisted of three tracks or more each. Pressure from record labels made singles charts in some countries become song charts, allowing album cuts to chart based only on airplay, without a single ever being released. At the end of the 1990s, the CD was the single format in the UK, but in the US. In Australia, the Herald Sun reported the CD single is set to become extinct, while CD singles no longer maintain their own section of the store, copies are still distributed but placed with the artists albums. That is predominantly the case for popular Australian artists such as Jessica Mauboy, Kylie Minogue and, most recently, Delta Goodrem, the ARIA Singles Chart are now predominantly compiled from legal downloads, and ARIA also stopped compiling their physical singles sales chart. On a Mission by Gabriella Cilmi was the last CD single to be stocked in Kmart, Target and Big W, sanity Entertainment, having resisted the decline for longer than the other major outlets, has also ceased selling CD singles. In Greece and Cyprus, the term CD single is used to describe a play in which there may be anywhere from three to six different tracks. These releases charted on the Greek Singles Chart with songs released as singles, in September 2003, there was talk of ringtones for mobile phones outstripping CD singles sales for the year 2004
6.
12-inch single
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The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time compared to typical LPs. This allows for levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range. This record type is used in disco and dance music genres. They are played at either 33 1⁄3 or 45 rpm, 12-inch singles typically have much shorter playing time than full-length LPs, thus require fewer grooves per inch. This extra space permits a broader dynamic range or louder recording level as the grooves excursions can be greater in amplitude. Many record companies began producing 12-inch singles at 33 1⁄3 rpm, although 45 rpm gives better treble response and was used on many 12-inch singles, the gramophone records cut especially for dance-floor DJs came into existence with the advent of recorded Jamaican mento music in the 1950s. With the 1967 Jamaican invention of remix, called dub on the island, those specials became valuable items sold to allied sound system DJs, who could draw crowds with their exclusive hits. The popularity of sound engineer King Tubby, who singlehandedly invented and perfected dub remixes from as early as 1967. By then 10-inch records were used to cut those dubs, by 1971, most reggae singles issued in Jamaica included on their B-side a dub remix of the A-side, many of them first tested as exclusive dub plates on dances. Those dubs basically included drum and bass-oriented remixes used by sound system selecters, the 10-inch acetate specials would remain popular until at least the 2000s in Jamaica. Most likely, the use of exclusive dub acetates in Jamaica also led American DJs to do the same. In the United States, the 12-inch single gramophone record came into popularity with the advent of music in the 1970s after earlier market experiments. In early 1970, Cycle/Ampex Records test-marketed a 12-inch single by Buddy Fite, the experiment aimed to energize the struggling singles market, offering a new option for consumers who had stopped buying traditional singles. The record was pressed at 33 rpm, with run times to the 7-inch 45-rpm pressing of the single. Several hundred copies were available for sale for 98 cents each at two Tower Records stores. Another early 12-inch single was released in 1973 by soul/R&B musician/songwriter/producer Jerry Williams, 12-inch promotional copies of Straight From My Heart were released on his own Swamp Dogg Presents label, with distribution by Jamie/Guyden Distribution Corporation. It was manufactured by Jamie Record Co. of Philadelphia, PA, the B-side of the record is blank. The first 12-inch single made specifically for DJs was actually a 10-inch acetate used by a mix engineer in need of a Friday-night test copy for famed disco mixer Tom Moulton, the song was Ill be holding on by Al Downing
7.
Box set
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A box set or boxed set is a set of items packaged in a box, for sale as a single unit. Artists and bands with a long and successful career often have anthology or essential collections of their boxes of music released as box sets. These often include rare and never-before-released tracks, some box sets collect previously released boxes of singles or albums by a music artist, and often collect the complete discography of an artist such as Pink Floyds Oh, by the Way. Other music box sets focus on a compilation of boxes of different artists from a genre such as Big Band jazz, 1960s rock and roll. They generally feature a collection of various hits from some of the top artists of a particular genre. The scope of such box sets varies widely, with some genre-specific box sets focusing on boxes of a specific style, two of the best known companies for making box sets are Legacy Recordings and Rhino Records, both have won multiple Grammy Awards. Prior to Rhino and Legacy, companies such as Time-Life Records, in rare cases, box sets contain all original material such as In Search of The, a 13-disc set by Buckethead, or Klaus Schulzes Contemporary Works duo. In classical music, box sets contain all works of a certain composer or all works in a certain genre, like symphonies or chamber music, performed by a certain orchestra. Films, television, and other programs on Blu-ray and DVD are sometimes sold as box sets, as were certain titles on the now discontinued VHS. Some box sets contain different versions of one film, as in the case of Blade Runner, for example, one can buy box sets of the plays of Shakespeare, collection of J. R. R. Tolkien novels, or Ansel Adams photographic prints, there are now also digital boxed set collections, such as 21 Shades of Night
8.
Dance-pop
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Dance-pop is a pop and dance subgenre that originated in the early 1980s. It is generally up-tempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable, the genre, on the whole, tends to be producer-driven, despite some notable exceptions. Dance-pop borrowed influences from other genres, which varied by producer, artist, such include contemporary R&B, house, trance, techno, new jack swing, funk, synthpop, electropop and some forms of europop. Dance-pop is a mainstream style of music and there have been numerous pop artists. As the term started to go out of fashion by the late 1970s to early 1980s, other terms were commonly used to describe disco-based music, such as post-disco, club. Dance-pop music emerged in the 1980s as a combination of dance and pop, or post-disco, Dance-pop music was usually created, composed and produced by record producers who would then hire singers to perform the songs. In the beginning of the 80s disco was an anathema to the mainstream pop, according to prominent Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Madonna had a huge role in popularizing dance music as mainstream music, utilizing her charisma, chutzpah and sex appeal. Erlewine claimed that Madonna launched dance-pop and set the standard for the genre for the two decades. The staff of Vice magazine stated that her debut album drew the blueprint for future dance-pop, in the 1980s dance-pop was closely aligned to other up-tempo electronic genres, such as Hi-NRG. Prominent producers in the 1980s included Stock, Aitken and Waterman, during the decade, dance-pop borrowed influences from funk, new jack swing, and contemporary R&B. Other prominent dance-pop artists and groups of the 1980s included the Pet Shop Boys, Mel and Kim, Samantha Fox, Debbie Gibson, by the 1990s, dance-pop had become a major genre in popular music. Several dance-pop groups and artists emerged during the 1990s, such as the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Backstreet Boys, during the early 1990s, dance-pop borrowed influences from house music, as well as contemporary R&B and new jack swing. Additionally, also in 1998, Cher released a song called Believe which made usage of a technological innovation of the time. An audio processor and a form of pitch modification software, Auto-Tune is commonly used as a way to correct pitch, since the late 1990s, the use of Auto-Tune processing has become a common feature of dance-pop music. Celine Dion also released a dance-pop song Thats the Way It Is by the end of 1999 and it has a moderately slow tempo but an up-beat song. At the beginning of the 2000s, dance-pop music was still prominent, nonetheless, as R&B and hip hop became extremely popular from the early part of the decade onwards, dance-pop often borrowed a lot of its influences from urban music. Dance-pop stars from the 1980s and 1990s such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Janet Jackson, in Madonnas case, her album Music contained elements of Euro disco, especially the successful eponymous lead single. Britney Spears album Blackout contained influences of Euro disco, the mid-to-late 2000s saw the arrival of several new dance-pop artists, including Rihanna, Kesha, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry
9.
Songwriter
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A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as rock or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies, pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own publishers, while others have outside publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees and college diplomas, a knowledge of modern music technology, songwriting elements and business skills are necessary requirements to make a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules, the legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law, song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters. Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity, songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal 9-to-5 hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writers draw, an advance on future earnings, the publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up, unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. In Nashville, young writers are often encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract, songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company, so that he could. keep as much as possible, songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song
10.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
11.
All Is Full of Love
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All Is Full of Love is a song by Icelandic musician Björk, taken from her third studio album Homogenic. Written by herself, the lyrics are inspired by the presence of love in the advent of spring, the more popular version of the track, the original mix solely produced by Björk, was used in the accompanying music video, but did not appear on the album. The version used for the record is a remix by Howie B and has a minimalist approach, the video version features a combination of electronic beats and string instruments. A remix by the German IDM duo Funkstörung was released as a single in the summer of 1998, All Is Full of Love subsequently received a full single release in 7 June 1999 to coincide with the premiere of its music video. While some music critics declared that the song was one of the highlights on Homogenic, in the United States, it became a dance hit. The song and its video were released two years after the release of the album for artistic merit rather than promotional purposes. All Is Full of Love was included as the track on compilation album Greatest Hits. Some regard All Is Full of Love as the first DVD single release, the songs visual garnered acclaim from critics and is commonly regarded as one of the best music videos of all time and a milestone in computer animation. The subject of analysis and scrutiny, it was on permanent display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and has been included in various art exhibitions. Björk has performed All Is Full of Love in five of her tours and it is one of the singers most idiosyncratic songs, and has been covered by various artists. All Is Full of Love, the track of Homogenic, was the albums last song to be written. Produced by Björk, the version of the song was replaced at the last minute by Howie Bs version. It was inspired by the spring while producing the album in Málaga, after living in the mountains among other people for six months, Björk felt lonely, but a morning walk in April inspired her to write the track. She had a winter and then she realized it was spring after she could hear the birds singing. She wrote and recorded the song in half a day, in keeping with Homogenics theme as a tribute to Björks native Iceland, the track was inspired by Icelandic mythology, such as the Ragnarök. The previous track, Pluto, stands for death and destruction, Björk also called it a song about believing in love and expressed that love isnt just about two persons. Even if youre not getting love from Person A, it doesnt mean theres not love there, however, she also described it as taking the piss, considering it the most sugary song ever. As the song opposes the rest of Homogenics macho aesthethic, Björk has said it could have included on Vespertine
12.
The Mod Squad (film)
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The Mod Squad is a 1999 American mystery film directed by Scott Silver and starring Claire Danes, Omar Epps and Giovanni Ribisi. It is based on the television show of the same name. Peggy Lipton and Clarence Williams III who played Julie and Linc in the original series, Julie Barnes, Pete Cochran and Lincoln Hayes are three minor delinquents who choose to become undercover cops in place of serving their jail terms. Adam Greer is murdered, the set out to find the real culprits. The Mod Squad received negative reviews by critics, Rotten Tomatoes reported that 3% of critics had given the film positive reviews, based upon a sample of 63. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay, but lost out to another television show turned movie Wild Wild West. It was also a box office bomb, grossing only $15.4 million out of its $50 million budget, the Mod Squad at the Internet Movie Database The Mod Squad at AllMovie The Mod Squad at Rotten Tomatoes The Mod Squad at Metacritic
13.
Los Angeles Metro Rail
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Metro Rail is an urban rail system serving Los Angeles County, California. It consists of six lines, including two rapid transit lines and four light rail lines serving 93 stations. It connects with the Metro Liner bus rapid transit system and also with the Metrolink commuter rail system. Metro Rail, which had a daily weekday ridership of 362,135 as of July 2016, is owned and operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It has been extended significantly since that time and several further extensions are either in the works or being considered. In Los Angeles Metro terminology, common with most other metro systems, Metro Rail lines are named after colors, and these colors are used to distinguish the lines on Metros maps. Metro also uses colors for its Metro Liner services, some Metro Rail lines have no colors assigned to them yet. There is currently a proposal to all metro rail and BRT lines with letters. This proposal would be implemented after completion of the Regional Connector project, assigning letters in the order that the lines were, or will be. Six Metro Rail lines operate in Los Angeles County, The Red and Purple lines follow a fully underground route, the Blue, Expo and Gold Line routes run in a mix of environments, including at-grade street running, at-grade ROW, elevated, and underground. Future system expansions are expected to use shared light-rail rights-of-way, stations include at least two ticket machines, wayfinding displays, electronic displays, and bench seating. Surface stations are designed with shade canopies, many suburban stations also have free or reserved parking available and some have bike storage available. After many years lacking them, locking fare gates have been phased in at all underground stations, most stations are unstaffed during regular hours. Call boxes are available at most stations to allow employees at the Metro Rail Operations Control Center to assist passengers with concerns, all street-level light rail stations feature platforms with segregation from nearby roads and sidewalks. All heavy rail stations have a mezzanine, the mezzanine is often decorated with artwork while the platform level typically has a simple. The large majority of rail stations are either at ground level or elevated. All heavy rail stations are located underground, each station features unique artwork reflecting local culture and/or the function of transit in society. Subway stations and tunnels are designed to resist earthquakes of up to magnitude 7.5, wi-Fi and cellular phone service will be installed in stations and tunnels along the Metro Rail system as a $800,000 project
14.
Alexander McQueen
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Lee Alexander McQueen, CBE was a British fashion designer and couturier. He is known for having worked as designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His achievements in fashion earned him four British Designer of the Year awards, McQueen committed suicide in 2010 at the age of forty. Born on 17 March 1969 in Lewisham, London, to Scottish taxi driver Ronald and social science teacher Joyce and he reportedly grew up in a council flat, but, in fact, the McQueens moved to a terraced house in Stratford in his first year. He attended Carpenters Road Primary School, started making dresses for his three sisters at an age, and announced his intention to become a fashion designer. While serving his apprenticeship, McQueen attended the Rosetta Art Centre led by Yvonne Humble, the skills he learned as an apprentice on Savile Row helped earn him a reputation in the fashion world as an expert in creating an impeccably tailored look. While on Savile Row, McQueens clients included Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Charles, at the age of 20, he spent a period of time working for Koji Tatsuno before travelling to Milan, Italy and working for Romeo Gigli. McQueen returned to London and applied to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and it was during this period that McQueen relocated to Hoxton, which housed other new designers, including Hussein Chalayan and Pauric Sweeney. He promptly asked her to him for his third collection, The Birds at Kings Cross. Katy England continued to work with McQueen thereafter, greatly influencing his work – his second opinion, McQueen designed the wardrobe for David Bowies tours in 1996-1997, as well as the Union Jack coat worn by Bowie on the cover of his 1997 album Earthling. Icelandic singer Björk sought McQueens work for the cover of her album Homogenic in 1997, McQueen also directed the music video for her song Alarm Call from the same album and later contributed the iconic topless dress to her video for Pagan Poetry. McQueen also collaborated with dancer Sylvie Guillem, director Robert Lepage and choreographer Russell Maliphant, designing wardrobe for theater show Eonnagata, McQueens early runway collections developed his reputation for controversy and shock tactics, with trousers aptly named bumsters and a collection titled Highland Rape. In 2004, journalist Caroline Evans also wrote of McQueens theatrical staging of cruelty, in 032c magazine, referring to his dark, McQueens bumsters spawned a trend in low rise jeans, on their debut they attracted many comments and debate. Michael Oliveira-Salac, the director of Blow PR and a friend of McQueens said, McQueen also became known for using skulls in his designs. A scarf bearing the motif became a celebrity must-have and was copied around the world, McQueen has been credited with bringing drama and extravagance to the catwalk. He used new technology and innovation to add a different twist to his shows, the silhouettes that he created have been credited for adding a sense of fantasy and rebellion to fashion. McQueen became one of the first designers to use Indian models in London, the president of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, caused a stir when he appointed McQueen head designer at Givenchy in 1996, succeeding John Galliano. Upon arrival at Givenchy, McQueen insulted the founder by calling him irrelevant and his first couture collection with Givenchy was unsuccessful, with even McQueen telling Vogue in October 1997 that the collection was crap
15.
Beck
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Beck Hansen, known mononymously as Beck, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is mostly known for his composition, as well as a palette of sonic genres. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style. Today, he musically encompasses folk, funk, soul, hip hop, alternative rock, country and he has released 12 studio albums, as well as several non-album singles and a book of sheet music. Born in Los Angeles in 1970, Beck grew towards hip-hop and folk in his teens and began to perform locally at coffeehouses and he moved to New York City in 1989 and became involved in the citys small fiery anti-folk movement. Returning to Los Angeles in the early 1990s, he cut his breakthrough single Loser, which became a hit in 1994, and released his first major album, Mellow Gold. Odelay, released in 1996, produced hit singles, topped critic polls and he released the psychedelic Mutations in 1998, and the funk-infused Midnite Vultures in 1999. The soft-acoustic Sea Change in 2002 showcased a more serious Beck and he is reportedly working on a thirteenth studio album, with the singles Dreams and Wow having already been released. Two of Becks most popular and acclaimed recordings are Odelay and Sea Change, the four-time platinum artist has collaborated with several artists and has made several contributions to soundtracks. Beck is married to actress Marissa Ribisi, and is an active Scientologist, Beck was born in Los Angeles, to David Campbell, a Canadian-born musician, and Bibbe Hansen, a visual artist and former Warhol superstar. Bibbes mother was half Jewish, while Bibbes father, Al Hansen, was partly of Norwegian descent, Beck has said that he was raised celebrating Jewish holidays, and that he considers himself Jewish. Becks mother grew up amid New Yorks Andy Warhol Factory art scene of the 1960s, but moved to California at age 17 and his father is a Canadian-born arranger, composer and conductor who worked on hundreds of albums and numerous films. Beck began life in a house near downtown Los Angeles. As a child, he lived in a neighborhood just off Hollywood Boulevard. By the time we left there, they were ripping out miles of houses en masse and building low-rent, giant apartment blocks, the lower-class family struggled financially, moving to Hoover and Ninth Street, a neighborhood populated primarily by Koreans and Salvadorian refugees. He was sent for a time to live with his grandparents in Kansas. Since his paternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister, Beck grew up influenced by church music, Beck also spent time in Europe with his maternal grandfather, Al Hansen, a visual collage artist and a pioneer in the avant-garde Fluxus movement. Beck obtained his first guitar at 16 and became a street musician, during his teens, Beck discovered the music of Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore and X, but remained uninterested in most music outside folk until many years into his career
16.
Matmos
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Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances. After being signed to Matador Records for nine years, Matmos signed with Thrill Jockey in 2012, the name Matmos refers to the seething lake of evil slime beneath the city Sogo in the 1968 film Barbarella. In 1998, Matmos remixed the Björk single Alarm Call, subsequently, Matmos worked with Björk on her albums Vespertine and Medúlla, as well as her Vespertine and Greatest Hits tours. In November 2004, Matmos spent 97 hours in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as artists in residence, performing music with friends, musical guests and onlookers. The live album Work, Work, Work, essentially a best of collection of the session, was released as a download from their website. In 2011, Matmos participated in an evening of events with the visual arts organisation Auto Italia South East. The event was produced in collaboration with record label Upset The Rhythm. co. uk/ Upset The Rhythm and included contributions from experimental electronic musicians Jon Wiese, Matmos have since collaborated with a large number of visual artists and arts organisations, including Cafe Oto and Metal. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are also a couple, as stated in an interview in BUTT Magazine, schmidt formerly worked as a teacher in the New Genres Department at the San Francisco Art Institute. This brought the band to relocate their home base to Baltimore in August 2007, Daniel also has a personal dance music project, The Soft Pink Truth. He is a writer to the online music magazine Pitchfork Media. Interview with Matmos Aural States blog, New Music Box — “People & Ideas in Profile. ”“Your Brain on Music with Matmos and Daniel J. Levitin. ”The Sound of Young America, February 21,2007. “We’re a Half-Breed Music Mutant Thing. ”
17.
AllMusic
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AllMusic is an online music guide service website. It was launched in 1991 by All Media Guide which later became All Media Network, AllMusic was launched in 1991 by Michael Erlewine of All Media Guide. The aim was to discographic information on every artist whos made a record since Enrico Caruso gave the industry its first big boost and its first reference book was published the following year. When first released onto the Internet, AMG predated the World Wide Web and was first available as a Gopher site, the AMG consumer web properties AllMusic. com, AllMovie. com and AllGame. com were sold by Rovi in July 2013 to All Media Network, LLC. All Media Network, LLC. was formed by the founders of SideReel. com. The following are contributors to AllMusic, as of this date, All Media Network also produced the AllMusic guide series that includes the AllMusic Guide to Rock, the All Music Guide to Jazz and the All Music Guide to the Blues. Vladimir Bogdanov is the president of the series, in August 2007, PC Magazine included AllMusic in its Top 100 Classic Websites list. All Media Network AllGame AllMovie SideReel All Music Guide to the Blues All Music Guide to Jazz Stephen Thomas Erlewine Official website
18.
Official Charts Company
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The OCC is operated jointly by the British Phonographic Industry and the Entertainment Retailers Association. Since 1 July 1997, CIN and then the OCC have compiled the official charts, prior to this date, the charts were produced by a succession of market research companies, beginning with the British Market Research Bureau in 1969, and later by Gallup. All of the OCCs charts are published weekly on Friday nights, from 3 August 1969 until 5 July 2015, the chart week ran from Sunday to Saturday. Genre-specific charts include UK Dance Chart, UK Indie Chart, UK R&B Chart, UK Rock Chart, the Scottish Singles and Albums Charts ― and the former Welsh Singles and Albums Chart ― appears in listings within the Official Charts Company. It is a regional listing reflecting how sales towards the UK Singles Chart, the Welsh Singles and Album Chart served the same purpose in Wales. It also charts the UK DVD Chart and UK Budget Album Chart, while their music charts are now Friday to Thursday, their video charts remain Sunday to Saturday. On 5 September 2008, the Official UK Charts Company rebranded itself as the Official Charts Company and it later dropped the word Company and became just Official Charts. From May 2012, a new chart was launched – the Official Streaming Chart and this counts audio streams from streaming services Spotify, Deezer, Blinkbox Music, Napster, amongst others. In April 2015, the UKs first vinyl record chart was launched by the Official Charts Company due to the surge of interest in the sector. The chart was launched following the growth of the sector in the UK for the year in a row. Beginning in 2017 the Official Charts Company changed its methodology for calculating the Top 40, prior to January 2017,100 streams counted as one sale of a song. From January onward, the ratio became 150,1, UK Albums Chart UK Singles Chart UK Video Charts UK Singles Downloads Chart UK Album Downloads Chart British Phonographic Industry Official Charts Company website
19.
YouTube
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YouTube is an American video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California. The service was created by three former PayPal employees—Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim—in February 2005, Google bought the site in November 2006 for US$1.65 billion, YouTube now operates as one of Googles subsidiaries. Unregistered users can watch videos on the site, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Videos deemed potentially offensive are available only to registered users affirming themselves to be at least 18 years old, YouTube earns advertising revenue from Google AdSense, a program which targets ads according to site content and audience. YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, Hurley had studied design at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Chen and Karim studied computer science together at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Karim could not easily find video clips of either event online, Hurley and Chen said that the original idea for YouTube was a video version of an online dating service, and had been influenced by the website Hot or Not. YouTube began as a venture capital-funded technology startup, primarily from an $11.5 million investment by Sequoia Capital between November 2005 and April 2006, YouTubes early headquarters were situated above a pizzeria and Japanese restaurant in San Mateo, California. The domain name www. youtube. com was activated on February 14,2005, the first YouTube video, titled Me at the zoo, shows co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo. The video was uploaded on April 23,2005, and can still be viewed on the site, YouTube offered the public a beta test of the site in May 2005. The first video to reach one million views was a Nike advertisement featuring Ronaldinho in November 2005. Following a $3.5 million investment from Sequoia Capital in November, the site grew rapidly, and in July 2006 the company announced that more than 65,000 new videos were being uploaded every day, and that the site was receiving 100 million video views per day. The site has 800 million unique users a month and it is estimated that in 2007 YouTube consumed as much bandwidth as the entire Internet in 2000. The choice of the name www. youtube. com led to problems for a similarly named website, the sites owner, Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment, filed a lawsuit against YouTube in November 2006 after being regularly overloaded by people looking for YouTube. Universal Tube has since changed the name of its website to www. utubeonline. com, in October 2006, Google Inc. announced that it had acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in Google stock, and the deal was finalized on November 13,2006. In March 2010, YouTube began free streaming of certain content, according to YouTube, this was the first worldwide free online broadcast of a major sporting event. On March 31,2010, the YouTube website launched a new design, with the aim of simplifying the interface, Google product manager Shiva Rajaraman commented, We really felt like we needed to step back and remove the clutter. In May 2010, YouTube videos were watched more than two times per day. This increased to three billion in May 2011, and four billion in January 2012, in February 2017, one billion hours of YouTube was watched every day
20.
Discogs
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Discogs, short for discographies, is a website and crowdsourced database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs. com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc. and are located in Portland, Oregon, US. While the site lists releases in all genres and on all formats, it is known as the largest online database of electronic music releases. Discogs currently contains over 8 million releases, by nearly 4 and he was inspired by the success of community-built sites such as Slashdot, eBay, and Open Directory Project, and decided to use this model for a music discography database. The sites original goal was to build the most comprehensive database of music, organized around the artists, labels. In 2003 the Discogs system was rewritten, and in January 2004 it began to support other genres. Since then, it has expanded to include rock and jazz in January 2005 and funk/soul, Latin, in January 2006 blues and non-music were added. On 30 June 2004, Discogs published a report, which included information about the number of its contributors and this report claimed that Discogs had 15,788 contributors and 260,789 releases. On 20 July 2007 a new system for sellers was introduced on the site called Market Price History. However, at the beginning of 2008, the Market Price History was also free of charge for all users. In late 2014, the company released two new beta websites, gearogs lets users add and track music equipment like synths, drum machines, and other electronic music making equipment. At the start of 2015, the company began another beta project — Bibliogs, users can submit information about their books, physical or electronic, different versions and editions, and also connect different credits to these books. 21,000 books were submitted by the end of 2016, the project remains in its beta phase. The license has since changed to a public domain one. Prior to the advent of this license and API, Discogs data was only accessible via the Discogs web sites HTML interface and was intended to be viewed only using web browsers, the HTML interface remains the only authorized way to modify Discogs data. On 7 June 2011 version 2 of the API was released, notable in this release was that a license key was no longer required, the default response was changed from XML to JSON, and the 5000 queries per day limit was removed. On 1 November 2011 a major update to version 2 of the API was released and this new release dropped support for XML, data is always returned in JSON format, however the monthly data dumps of new data are only provided in XML format. Additionally the Premium API service was dropped, on 24 June 2014 Discogs deprecated their XML API in lieu of a JSON-formatted API
21.
Human Behaviour
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Human Behaviour is a song by Icelandic recording artist Björk from her album Debut. The song was released in June 1993, the song was produced by Björks longtime collaborator Nellee Hooper. Human Behaviour is an art pop song with lyrics reflecting upon human nature, the song and music video were inspired by British broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough. Critics praised Human Behaviour and deemed it a highlight of the album, the song was an underground smash, which peaked at number two on the dance charts and reached number 36 in the UK Singles Chart. The music video was directed by Michel Gondry and is the first time the two collaborated, the video, as the song, is a story about the relation between humans and animals, from the animal point of view. Human Behaviour was written by Nellee Hooper and Björk, and was produced by Hooper, the song was first written in 1988 when Björk was still the leading singer of The Sugarcubes, but she decided not to release it with the band. The song was inspired by David Attenborough documentaries and by the relation between humans and animals, Björk explained to Rolling Stone, talking about the inspiration for the song, Human Behaviour is an animals point of view on humans. And the animals are definitely supposed to win in the end, the song was also inspired by the riff from Ray Brown Orchestras Go Down Dying. This is the first song on the Isobel song cycle, a cycle in Björks discography which goes from Human Behaviour to Wanderlust. The B-side contained in the edition of the single is the reggae-influenced Atlantic. Its lyrics talks about Björks family, My son has eight grandmothers and eight grandfathers and its about the love, Human Behaviour bears influences from electronica, alternative rock and alternative dance. The melody-line of Human Behaviour was originally called Murder for Two, however, the band didnt know what music to play to the melody-line, so Björk used it for her debut album. The percussion intro is a mix between African and Asian rhythms and contains a sample from Go Down Dying by Brazilian artist Antonio Carlos Jobim, the song opens with sounds of drums and snapping, during the second verse a bass is heard. Björk sings the bridge accompanied by strings, the song continues with a keyboard solo and finishes as Björk sings Theres definitely, definitely, definitely no logic/Human. In the album version, as the song out, the second track Crying begins. The music video was directed by Michel Gondry, and this was the first time he, Björk talked about the video in an interview with Rolling Stone, Human Behaviour is an animals point of view on humans. And the animals are definitely supposed to win in the end, so why, one might ask, is the conquering bear presented as a man-made toy. I guess I just didnt think it would be fair to force an animal to act in a video, I mean, that would be an extension of what Im against
22.
Venus as a Boy
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Venus as a Boy is a song by Icelandic musician Björk. It was released as the single from her 1993 album Debut. The song was written by Björk and was produced by Nellee Hooper, the single was released in August 1993, a month after the release of the album. The song was inspired by a boy who saw everything from a beauty point of view, Venus as a Boy features a musical ensemble made up of Indian instruments like tablas. The song received mixed reviews critics, who discussed Björks musical shift. The song did not chart well in any nation but managed to enter the UK Singles Chart Top 30, the accompanying music video was directed by the British music video director Sophie Muller. The clip shows Björk in a kitchen while shes cooking some eggs and was inspired by the favorite book Story of the Eye. Björk performed the song on different TV appearances, including Top of the Pops, cover versions of Venus as a Boy were done more than 30 times by other artists. The song was written by Björk and was produced by Nellee Hooper and it was one of the last tracks to be recorded for the album. The song was inspired by a person but Björk never revealed who it was. Although, it is supposed that this person is Dominic Thrupp with whom Björk had a relationship at the time of writing. In both songs Corky Hale plays the Harp, Björk described the composition of the song in an interview with David Hemingway, I think I wrote it in my living room in Iceland and sang it into my dictaphone. Later, by accident, we were going through sounds and I found this broken bottle sound and it wasnt intentional but it sounded great. It was one of the last songs recorded for Debut - the album was ready to go, sometimes the more unpredictable side of me does several headstands and flicks-flacks once the album has been delivered and the best song come out. Björk played keyboards in the song, I dont use samplers much, I will usually gather soundbanks for each album and will then play them in on keyboards. This applies for simpler beats in songs like Venus as a Boy, the song is influenced by different genres, like chillout, avant-garde and jazz. Since Björk wanted the album to sound like an Indian soundtrack, many tracks including One Day, Come to Me, the strings were accorded by Talvin Singh and recorded in Bombay. The track received mixed reviews from music critics, on a similar note, Kate Narburgh of The Chronicle, citing the Mellow vibes accent Venus as a Boy, hoped that Björk wont waste her vocal talent on such talentless music
23.
Big Time Sensuality
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Big Time Sensuality is a song by Icelandic singer Björk, released as the fourth single from her 1993 album Debut. Big Time Sensuality lyrics deals with her relation with her friends, the song features house grooves and electronic bass-sounds. The single release was actually the Fluke Minimix, which is a mix by Fluke, critics praised the song and the remix calling them saucy and commenting on their house and pop flavors. A different edit of the Fluke remix was featured in the video for the song, directed by Stéphane Sednaoui, in which Björk dances. The video was praised by critics and fans and received rotation on MTV channels. The video edit of the Fluke remix was featured in Björks Greatest Hits. Big Time Sensuality was one of the last songs to be written for Debut, and was planned to be the first single from the album. It was then intended to be the single, but it got delayed again by the success of Play Dead. The song was co-written by Björk and Nellee Hooper and produced by Hooper, the lyrics deals with enjoying life to its fullest and, in spite of its name, it was inspired by Björks friends. The lyrics deal also with braveness, I’ve got a lot of courage and you should allow yourself to be scared. It’s one of the prime emotions and you might almost enjoy it, funny as it sounds, and find that you can get over it and deal with it. If you ignore these things, you miss so much, but when you want to enjoy something, especially when it’s something you’ve just been introduced to, you’ve got to have a lot of courage to do it. I don’t think I’m more courageous than most people, I’m an even mixture of all those prime emotions. After the release of Debut, Björks songs received numerous remixes from different producers, Big Time Sensuality received three different remixes from the Fluke. One of them, called the Fluke Minimix, was chosen by Björk to receive a single treatment instead of the original, and the remix was performed on different occasions and a music video was made of it. An extended version of the Fluke Minimix was used as the version of the song. However, this version was not available until the release of Björks Greatest Hits, the single also contained Glóra and Síðasta Ég as B-sides, two songs that were recorded by The Elgar Sisters, a group formed in the early eighties by guitarist Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson and Björk. Glóra is a track which features a flute-solo played by Björk
24.
Violently Happy
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Violently Happy is a song by Icelandic singer Björk, released as the fifth and final single from her album Debut in 1994. The song was written by Björk and Nellee Hooper, who helped her in writing and producing most of the album, the lyrics speak of Björk feeling a love so intense that it is actually dangerous, requesting that her lover return to calm her down. Violently Happy peaked at #13 in the UK and reached #4 on the US dance charts, the song was released in March 1994 and received positive reviews from music critics, which praised its musicality and its dance-pop appeal. Björk performed the live on TV a few times, including on Top of the Pops. Violently Happy was released as the last single from Debut and demonstrates this musical shift, Björk explained, Björk further said that the song was inspired by her living in Reykjavík and being far away from her lover, For me, its quite a brave thing. Its like putting your diary out for everyone to read, of course, I didnt put everything in, I very carefully edited it. The lyrics are autobiographical as Björk stated, Its just the same as if you go out with a mate and get drunk and get to the stage and you wake up next day and think fuck. Sometimes you feel fine, sometimes you feel embarrassed, sometimes you feel a friend has told you something they shouldnt have, I think our instincts know when youve given too much. Violently Happy is a track influenced by techno. Its genres range from dance to synthpop, the song begins with a nearly a cappella section, in which Björk sings the line Since I met you/ this small town/hasnt got room, underscored only by ambient sounds. When Björk continue the verse For my/ big feelings percussion starts to play, the song is dominated by techno grooves mixed with percussions and drums. After Björk finishes the second refrain, a funk-rock oriented interlude starts, portions of the melody are influenced by, if not directly lifted from, Björks earlier composition Im Hungry from The Sugarcubes album Stick Around for Joy. Violently Happy received generally positive reviews music critics. ”In the end, she and Mr. Hooper resort to studio wizardry to gesture at inexpressible feelings, sampling one syllable. The song was defined bittersweet by Heather Phares of Allmusic, and insanely addictive by Sean McCarthy of The Daily Vault, brantley Bardin of Details commented that Songs like “Violently Happy” summed up a worldview that put all its faith in emotional abandon instead of logic. “Too much cleverness, ” says Björk, “is the worst disease in the world, give us a laugh—make us happy. The music video was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, to shoot it, Björk flew to Los Angeles in January 1994 and she found herself involved in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and as such the shooting was postponed until the next day. Nettie Walker, Björk co-manager, recalled the event and described Björks peculiar behavior, When she did the video for Violently Happy in LA, she was there in the middle of the earthquake. She described it like, a rumbling, deep in your stomach, which is exactly Björk
25.
Play Dead (song)
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Play Dead is a song by Icelandic singer Björk, and was released as the only single from the soundtrack of the 1993 crime drama The Young Americans. The song wasnt included in the first edition of Debut but was included as a bonus track. The song was written by Jah Wobble, Björk featuring David Arnold, the song, inspired by the main character of the film, was released in October 1993. A mainly trip hop-influenced track, the song charted in the top 20 in the UK, Ireland, an accompanying music video was released, featuring images from the film. Play Dead was included in Björks 2002 greatest hits album Greatest Hits, the song was co-written by Jah Wobble, Björk featuring David Arnold. Björk was asked to write the melody and lyrics for the song, while Wobble wrote the part and Arnold composed the score. Björk described the writing as very difficult because the character in the film was suffering and going through tough times. The song is underscored by moody strings and its lyrics about acting numb to prevent emotional pain. Björk wrote it from the characters point of view, In the film, he had a girlfriend who just wanted him to be happy and in love. It was just me trying to imagine what he would say to her, things he never actually said to her in the film but things he would have said to her. Björk also sings on the tracks Opening Titles and Leaving London on the soundtrack CD of the film, in both the film and soundtrack, Leaving London crescendoes into Play Dead as a single arrangement. In both the album and the version, the song is actually a remix by Tim Simenon. Described by Derek Birkett as one of the best things Björk’s ever done, mal Pearchey of Vox described the song as incredibly sophisticated after the eclectic drama of The Sugarcubes. The Tech journalist Fred Choi, while reviewing Greatest Hits stated that the song is compelling, on a similar note, Alexis Petridis of Blender stated that Play Dead boasts a chorus that’s both original and implausibly epic. A modified version of the song was used in 1995 on the launch advert for the new Vauxhall Vectra. A cover of the song appears on the edition of the album Into by the Finnish band The Rasmus. It is available on many of their singles as well, including Madness, in 2007, The Swedish band Pain covered the song on the album Psalms of Extinction. The music video was directed by Danny Cannon, who also directed The Young Americans, in the video, Björk performs the song in an empty bar that is shown in the film
26.
Hyperballad
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Hyperballad is the fourth single from the studio album Post by Icelandic recording artist Björk. Like the rest of her songs, the song was written by Björk, the recording sessions of Post and hence Hyperballad were set in Compass Point Studios, The Bahamas, to save tax money. Hyperballad infuses folktronica and acid house, the lyrical content discusses a dream that Björk experienced, in which she wakes early before her lover and throws small objects off a cliff, watching them smash. She imagines her body in their place, which makes her feel better about returning to her safe home, Hyperballad was heavily lauded from contemporary music critics, who stated that it was the best song of Björks career. The songs lyrical content, vocal performance and experimentation in its production and composition were also highly praised, the song was moderately successful in the countries it charted in, including Finland, Australia, United States, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A music video was shot for the single, featuring a digitalized Björk running through a field, Björk performed the song at the 1997 Tibetan Freedom Concert in New York, which was recorded by Sylvia Massy for Capitol Records. This live version was included on the second disc of the Tibetan Freedom Concert album released later that year. Hyperballad was written by Björk, like the rest of her previous songs, the song was also co-produced by Björk and Nellee Hooper, who had contributed in other Björk albums. Like the rest of the album, recording sessions of the song was set in Compass Point Studios, musically, the song alters from folktronica to acid house. The chords and lyrics in the move in three-bar phrases. The choruses are in four-bar phrases and it combines a house beat with a string section conducted by Brazilian musician Eumir Deodato. Heather Phares from Allmusic compared the song to the work of Aphex Twin, lorraine Ali from Rolling Stone said that Björk turns fantasy into morbid but honest wonderment for Hyperballad. Heres what she sings over a sweeping, panoramic vista, I imagine what my body would sound like slamming against the rocks, a reviewer from Sputnikmusic said The lines inspiration and importance are mysterious to everyone but Björk herself. As “Hyper-Ballad” begins to draw to an end the beat begins to pick up pace and gives hypnotic vibe. While listing the song at number 69 on their 100 Best Songs of the 1990s and she said it was about the art of not forgetting about yourself in a relationship and this was reflected in the music which altered from gentle folktronica to drum and bass-tinted acid house. In the lyrics, Björk describes living at the top of a mountain and she throws objects off while pondering her own suicide. The ritual allows her to exorcise darker thoughts and return to her partner, Björk stated that I feel that words can have a mysticism or a hidden meaning. On Hyperballad, the idea that Im throwing car parts from a cliff is about getting out my frustrations
27.
It's Oh So Quiet
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Its Oh So Quiet is a song by American singer Betty Hutton, released in 1951 as the B-side to the single Murder, He Says. It is a cover of the German song Und jetzt ist es still, performed by Horst Winter in 1948, with music written by Austrian composer Hans Lang, the English lyrics were written by Bert Reisfeld. A French title, Tout est tranquille, was performed in 1949 by Ginette Garcin, the song was covered by Icelandic musician Björk in 1995. It was released as the single from her second album Post and remains her biggest hit, reaching number 4 in the UK. Fuelled by the Spike Jonze-directed music video clip, the single also shot Björk into the spotlight in Australia, in the United Kingdom the single has been certified as Gold, having sold upwards of 400,000 copies. Despite being her biggest hit between general public, the song did not manage to get to Björks 2002 compilation Greatest Hits, the singles for which were voted by fans via online survey. A version of Its Oh So Quiet was used in a Maybelline advertisement, normal life resumes during the next verse with the return of slow motion. This theme continues throughout the video and this video is based on Jacques Demys 1964 film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg. The video begins as Björk emerges from an extremely dirty washroom in an auto shop and she dances along with the auto workers for the first chorus, then emerges from the shop. During the second chorus, she dances tap with a few people outside of the auto shop, Björk continues to walk along the street, dancing with several elderly women and their umbrellas before settling to rest her arms on top of a mailbox for the final verse. The mailbox comes alive and dances along with Björk during this chorus, Björk then runs down the street and into the road, where the rest of the town has decided to join her for one large dance number. The video ends with Björk floating up above the townsfolk and hushing the viewer
28.
Isobel (song)
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Isobel is a song by Icelandic musician Björk from her 1995 studio album, Post. The story of Isobel has been explored in Human Behaviour and Bachelorette, the track was released as the second single for the album as two different CD releases in August 1995. Most commentators were enticed by Isobel, which they declared one of the highlights of the Post album, the single peaked at number eighteen on the Finnish Singles Charts, twenty-three on the UK Singles Charts and forty-seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart. The song was included in the compilation album Greatest Hits, whose tracks were selected by fans through a survey, the accompanying music video of Isobel was directed by frequent collaborator Michel Gondry and represents the story the lyrics convey. The surreal video resembles a film and garnered acclaim from critics. Björk has performed Isobel on various shows and in five of her tours. Isobel had an origin among the most complicated in the contained in Post. The songs lyrics were written in collaboration with Icelandic poet Sjón, Sjón would become a frequent collaborator throughout Björks career. Björk came with the melody for Isobel during a Christmas visit to her native Iceland, Deodato explained his work, In some of the songs I followed her secondary vocal lines, there was very little harmony and very few chords. I was doing that on Isobel too, where I wrote a natural C in a line that was in B minor. Much later on I learned that Björk is the type of singer who will sing the A sharp in A minor, the lyrics were the final addition to the song. The original idea for the dates back to late 1994. Interpreting the incident as a kind of omen, she tried to create a story and she recalls, Id been fighting like a lunatic, and going completely bonkers. I knew that if I waited for three months, threw away the book, preferably burning it, then Id wake up one morning with the lyric, but I badly wanted this song on the album. I didn’t know what to do, thus she decided to contact Sjón, explaining the story of the title character to him. The song forms a trilogy with Human Behaviour of Debut and Bachelorette of Homogenic, Björk explained, In Human Behaviour, shes a little girl. In Isobel, she moves to the big city and big lights, in Bachelorette she takes over and trees grow over the city. Their respective music videos, directed by Michel Gondry, represent this story, in a 2008 interview with Stereogum, she also included Oceania of Medúlla and Wanderlust of Volta in this narrative cycle
29.
Possibly Maybe
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Possibly Maybe is a song by Björk, released as the fifth single from her 1995 album Post. It is a song with deep tones and soft beats that reflects on potential love. There were three different single releases, this was the first Björk single to be released in three parts, two of these three parts are rarities in the music world in that their A-side is not the first track. The first CD came with a slipcase that could house the other two. The song was covered at least 12 times by other artists, the song details different stages of a breakup. Björk says it was the first unhappy song I wrote, I felt ashamed writing a song that was not giving hope. The melancholic piece was dedicated to her relationship with Stéphane Sednaoui. Rumours have persisted that Björk recorded the song in the nude, Björk was sued by British electronic musician Scanner for the uncleared sample of telephones ringing at the start of the track. Later on, when the issue was solved, the version of the song included the sample again. The video shows Björk in a variety of different rooms in an apartment and she is primarily shown in a large, stylish bedroom with modern décor. These scenes are intercut with shots in ultra-violet lighting and she is also shown in three other rooms, submerged in the bathtub of a bathroom, an Asian-themed room, and a room full of stereo equipment. These scenes are intercut with an image of her dressed all in white. The majority of objects appearing in the video were Björks own, the music video was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui, curiously, the song actually talks about him. Short interviews with both Stéphane and Björk discussing the video are included on the Stéphane Sednaoui Directors Label DVD, a short making-of for the singles B-side, Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu, was recorded as part of the corresponding album Chansons des mers froides by Hector Zazou. The track was performed during the Post Tour, a performance of which can be found on the 1998 live DVD/VHS Live at Shepherds Bush Empire, to support the release of Post, the song was performed on the UK TV show Later. With Jools Holland on 17 June 1995 with legendary slide guitarist BJ Cole and this performance was featured on Björks 2003 DVD release Later. Björk also performed the track on TFI Friday on 1 November 1996 to promote the single release. The track was included on a 1996 ChildLine charity album release, whose cover-art featured a parody of the Post cover
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Bachelorette (song)
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Bachelorette is a song by Björk, released as the second single from her 1997 album Homogenic. Released on 8 December 1997, the song was written for a film by Bernardo Bertolucci. The lyrics for Bachelorette were written by Sjón, a friend, the music video was noted for its surrealistic art direction, leading to a win at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. that make the song stronger and more dramatic. Björk herself describes the story as Isobel goes to the city. The surreal music video was directed by longtime Björk video collaborator Michel Gondry and it features Björk as Bachelorette, a woman who finds a book buried in her garden that begins to write itself, describing what Bachelorette does as she describes it, the book is entitled My Story. She takes the book to a house, Clark Publishing, in an unspecified large city that may be Chicago, and she. The book becomes popular, and is turned into a musical. The musical version includes the story of the musical itself, so at some point a mini-theater is shown on the stage, at some point later in the musical this mini-musical features an even smaller version of itself, with an even smaller stage audience. The publisher, who is in the audience, becomes disgusted with seeing so many versions of himself. The book becomes unpopular, and the original copy begins unwriting itself, because of this turn of events, a chain reaction occurs in the nested theatres, causing each to be nullified and revert to nature. Ultimately, the entire city de-evolves into the garden that appeared at the outset, the unwritten book finds its resting place buried in the ground once more, and Bachelorette ends up dancing and surrounded by wildlife. The video was based on an idea by Björk, who saw Bachelorette as a continuation of the character portrayed in Isobel. The song lyrics of Isobel were also written by Björks longstanding co-writer Sjón, as Gondry describes it, this character is leaving the forest and she decides to go to the city to have a normal life. She tries her best and it doesnt work out and she comes back to the forest, the art direction of the video was heavily praised. The video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction, the song has been covered by Turkish singer Müslüm Gürses as Aşk Tesadüfleri Sever and is given his name of album in 2006 and artist Voltaire. Tori Amos has also covered the song in concert, though not to be confused with another song written, the song has been covered by French Post-Black Metal band The Great Old Ones in 2013. The story can be found here, list of Bachelorette releases Bachelorette webpage
