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Alternative Rock

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an umbrella term describing music from the 1980's with a wide variety of stylistic approaches and a decidedly DIY independent attitude

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Audio Home Recording Act

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a law passed by Congress in 1992, which among other things, allowed consumers to make personal copies of copyrighted material

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B-Boying

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often called "break dancing" is a style of street dance that originated as a part of hip hop culture among African American and Latino youths in New York City during the early 1970's

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CBGB

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a club located at 315 Bowery in New York's Lower East Side that was the focal point of the city's punk scene

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Compact Disc

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a digital storage media introduced in 1982 by Sony and Phillips

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Crew/Posse

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informal neighborhood groups formed as a means of providing identify and support for their members

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Digital Sampler

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a synthesizer that digitally records (samples) sounds that can be played back and manipulated from a MIDI instrument

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DIY

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a musical development evident in both the punk and alternative music scenes that actively challenge the separation of contemporary society into listeners and trained music specialists.

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Disco

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dance oriented pop that incorporates synthesizes drum machines and lush orchestrations that emerged in the late 1970's

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DRM

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digital rights management the term for any one of several technologies designed to limit the number of digital copies can be made of a file

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Drum Machine

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an electronic instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments

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Dub

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a technique of mixing interesting sections of different songs together first used by Jamaican DJs

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Emo

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an umbrella term described a 1990's music style that combined a hardcore punk musical esthetic poetic and self-indulgent lyrics and a go-for-it love performance attitude.

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Fusion

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a musical genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock music complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental, compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations

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Gangsta Wrap

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a rap style emerging in the 1990s characterized by lyrics using first person accounting of gang related themes that include violence, rage and sexual degradation.

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Grunge

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a sub-genre of alternative rock that emerged in the late 1980s from the Pacific Northwest combing heavy metal and post-punk elements; primarily responsible for bringing alternative rock into the mainstream

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Hardcore

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a sub-genre of punk rock that originated in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s serving as a transition between punk and the more intense form of heavy metal known as thrash metal

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Hip-hop

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a collection of urban art forms emerging in the South Bronx during the late 1970s including lifestyle fashions fast-talking comedy break dancing graffiti art poetry double Dutch jump roping and music

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Industrial

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a 1980s punk style that incorporated nontraditonal sounds from synthesizers avant-garde electronics and mechanical sources to infuse the sounds and ethos of modern industrial life.

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Island Records

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the record label founded in 1961 by Charles Blackwell that initially became known for its reggae releases

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Lip Syncig

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moving the lips to synchronize with a prerecorded song, giving the impression that the song is being performed live

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Live Aid

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international musical festival organized to raise funds for Ethiopian refugees

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Mento

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the indigenous folk music of Jamaica

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MIDI

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an acronym for musical instrument digital interface a digital transfer protocol introduced in 1983

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MTV

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Music Television, a TV network introduced in 1981 with programming that focuses on music.

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New Wave

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a second wave of punk that incorporated pop oriented sensibilities

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Old School Rap

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the first generation of rap music which usually had themes of fun and partying

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Philadelphia International Records

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record label created by Philadelphia-based songwriting duo Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff that introduced the Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP)

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PMRC

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Parent's Music Resource Center a watchdog group organized in 1985 to "educate and inform parents of this alarming new trend......towards lyrics that are sexually explicit."

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Pogo

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a violent body-contact style of dancing associated with punk music

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Rastafarianism

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a religious movement whose followers believe they will be repatriated to their African homeland and escape Babylon (a metaphor for their oppressors in the New World).

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Reggae

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the Jamaican music that evolved from the combination of indigenous folk, American R&B and traditional Afro-Caribbean music.

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Riddim

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the intertwined patterns played by the bass and drums in reggae

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Rock Steady

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a Jamaican music that is slower and more relaxed than ska and is the immediate predecessor

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Saturday Night Fever

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a 1977 American Film that showcased aspects of the music, the dancing and the subculture surrounding the disco era; symphony-orchestral melodies, haute-couture styles of clothing, pre-AIDS sexual promiscuity and graceful choreography.

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Scratching

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a technique used to transform a turntable into a musical instrument quickly pushing and pulling records on the turntable, resulting in a variety of effects: loops, musical bursts and backward playback

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Ska

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a Jamaica musical style that combines characteristics of mento and American rhythm and blues, and is based on the use of an accented subdivision after each beat.

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Slap-bass Technique

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a technique for playing the electric bass guitar first conceived by Larry Graham

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Toasting

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spontaneous commentary to music by Jamaican DJs that creatively involved rhyming, interesting verbal sounds, the use of different dialects and nonsense syllables.

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Voice Box

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an effect pedal used most often on the guitar that allows the sound of an instrument to be shaped by the performer's mouth and vocal cavity, resulting in what sounds like a talking instrument.

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Fusion/Jazz Rock

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-extensive use of electronic instruments: electric piano (Fender Rhodes), synthesizers -pieces range from simple melodies with vamps and open forms to complex through composed, section compositions -brought rhythmic complexities to the rock style- not only individual melodic, but in terms of mixed and odd meters -use of "extended-harmony" chords, such as 9th, 11th, and 13th chords, and other alterations- more than the plain triads and 7th chords of traditional rock. -interest in non western musical concepts (world music) and 20th century classical composers -incorporated melodic blues lines to the rock style -instrumentation includes saxophone, trumpet, and trombone.

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Funk

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-most important element: the rhythmic groove, especially between the bass and drums -typical instrumentation: bass, drums, guitar, electric keyboards, horns -minimalism: simple 2 and 4 bar repeating phrases that create a trance-like effect -the rawest and earthiest form of black pop to date -vocalists employ shrieks, screams, grunts, etc.: group vocal charts common

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Soft Soul (TSOP)

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-highly produced and orchestrated; smooth vocals -medium tempo dance tunes; slow, torchy romantic ballads -predecessor to disco and more recent romantic soul styles -center of development: Philadelphia -great commercial and crossover appeal

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Disco

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-pop oriented dance music whose most important characteristic is the relentless pounding emphasis on every beat -produced in the studio using synthesizers and drum machines -lush string orchestration, predominant use of percussion instruments, vocal charts

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Reggae

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-combines influences from Jamaican folk (mento), American R&B, Afro-Caribbean music -intertwined patterns played by the bass, drums, and guitar known as "ribbim" -lyrics often refer to social injustices, political dissent, racism -identification with Rastafarian movement

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Punk

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-raw, angry, nihilistic: characteristic by a do-it yourself attitude -represented a rebellion against post-60s rock and against society in general -music was simple, repetitive and louder than mainstream rock; rejected long, technically demanding instrumental solos -attitude was one of anger, frustration and anti-government and anti-society -counter culture associated with clothing styles, body pins, etc.

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New Wave

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-a post-punk style with commercial pop sensibilities -utilizes influences from R&B, reggae, techno-pop -synthesizers frequently used

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Grunge

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-punk influences both in music and in attitude -slow plodding tempos -simple chord progressions -avoidance of virtuosity pretension or posturing -start-stop dynamics -lyrics are often of dark and murky themes, sung in a plaintive lamenting manner -accompanying fashion included plaid flannel shirts ripped jeans stocking caps and mountain boots

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Rap

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-rhythmic and rhyming spoken lyrics with rhythmic accompaniment heavily influenced by funk and disco -use of sampled sounds and pieces of existing songs that are repeated to create a minimalist, hypnotic effect -early rap (old school) included the use of scratching and back spinning of turntables to create percussive effects -often has a shuffle or swing beat, with heavy accent on the back-beat (beats 2 and 4)

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Gangsta Rap

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-lyrics use first-person accounting of gang-related themes that include violence, rage, and sexual degradation -hard-hitting angry vocal delivery -guns, sirens, and other urban effects often used

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