My school life Playlist.

The following is a mixtape of songs that remind me of school life and growing up, here it goes...

1.       Pure and Simple – The Lightning Seeds (I remember growing up at a small age, and this was the song that I remember being played on the radio)

2.       You’re Gorgeous – Babybird (My Mum loves it, my Dad hates, I’m stuck in the middle, and from Primary school to today, I still sing it)

3.       Something 4 the weekend – Super Furry Animals (During the early day’s it was a song that I always remembered, and only in recent years have I found out the artist. It also happens to be one of my favourite songs of all time)

4.       Flying without wings – Westlife (I got bought a microphone to sing this song, I would also perform it at family gatherings, with Westlife on the CD player backing me up)

5.       Make Me Smile – Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel (Great song. Also used on a great TV show, Renford Rejects, the Nickelodeon days)

6.       Basic Thuganomics – John Cena (I remember watching Smackdown when I got home from school in the week, and on a Saturday morning. Before John Cena became the superstar of the industry he is today, he used to be the ‘Doctor of Thuganomics’, something I will never forget)

7.       Men’s Needs – The Cribs (Great guitar riff, something that would instantly hit me whenever I heard it on the radio)

8.       LSF – Kasabian (I remember going to Asda with my mum, shortly after the release of Kasabian’s debut album, I looked at it for about 10 minutes before deciding, no, I’m not going to buy it. Yes, I regret it)

9.       Tiger Feet – Mud (In recent months, this song has overtaken Come on Eileen as my Karaoke choice, we all love a bit of cheese on occasions)

10.   Bide Your Time – The Courteeners (Arguably, my favourite song, by my favourite band)

11.   You’re Not Alone – The Enemy (I have seen this band live numerous times, and this specific song is the set finisher, it is the finale of a great night, it also links into the ending of my school, which hasn’t been a bad gig either)

12.   Walkaway – Cast (I always remember hearing this song when I was a small boy, and I still hear a lot today. One of my favourites of all time. Maybe it also a fitting finish to the end of my school life)

Explain why Scott Pilgrim vs the World was not as a big a success as first hoped.

After months of hype, those who eagerly awaited the arrival of ‘Scott Pilgrim vs the World’ finally got their chance to watch the film. Although, by the looks of the opening weekend sales figures, not many were actually awaiting the films release. Why? Might you ask, was the target audience even flinch a nerve when the film was released, hell, did the film even have a target audience. It’s time to find out.

It starts with the promoting the film to those who will be interested, cue target audience, to which I ask the question, who was the target audience of Scott Pilgrim, was it fans to comic books, who could finally see their ‘favourite’ comic guy come to life, or was it supposed to appeal to those were into their comedy-action films, not necessary comic books etc. In my opinion, this is first brick wall that was film was going to run into, and technically, they hadn’t even got out of the starting blocks yet. The marketing team, I do not believe knew who the film was going to appeal to, or even if the film had it’s own target audience, therefore it would have a very difficult task to market the film to the right people, and know the correct places to market them. If the man who you’ve cast to play Scott Pilgrim himself, Michael Cera, is even unsure on the marketing of the film, then you know you could have a slight on your hands, he was quoted as saying “a tricky one to sell. I don't know how you convey that movie in a marketing campaign. I can see it being something that people are slow to discover.” Cera pretty much is trying to disguise that he has no idea who the film.

From the moment the film begins, and the 8 bit technology were added to the universal logo (I thought I’d rebooted my Sega Megadrive at first, ready for a game of street fighter), you realised this was going to be a running theme throughout, and I do believe the parts that were reminiscent of a video game, worked well, such as the scene when Scott’s is in the toilet, and also the pastiches, such as when the laughing track was added to a scene, mimicking US sitcoms. Although, it once again reiterated the point that this film has no identity, it’s not billed or marketed as a pastiche, when it clearly shows foundations, and it’s considered more aesthetic to comic book readers, more than video game players, when there are clear references to Super Mario and Donkey Kong, which to me implies to me that the marketing team lost an audience here.

The film is about Scott Pilgrim, a slight lowlife in his early twenties, who’s in a band, but does this catch the ears of the music fans alike, no it doesn’t, and if the marketing team had of put more effort into the music side of the film, they could have gained more followers, another missed opportunity. American ‘shoe-gazer’, supplied the music for film. Personally, I don’t know if this was a great move, simply because Beck isn’t as relevant as he was in the 1990’s, since then he has become quite experimental, and has also entered a few grounds of self-indulgence, in my humble opinion. This could have switched of the some younger music fans, but could have appealed to those between the age of 20-30, which would have been into music during Beck’s peak.

Finally, if I was to hazard a guess as to why success Scott Pilgrim wasn’t as big a success as it should been, was simply, well, because the film itself wasn’t actually that good. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good, enjoyable film, but I wouldn’t label it as great. It is compiled with sub-standard actually from start to finish. I have never been a huge fan of Cera’s work, which is no respect to him, I just believe he lacks a considerable amount of charisma and drive in front of the camera, admittedly, I respect that he was most probably trying to portray a downbeat persona in the film. The glue of the film is a narrative that I wouldn’t describe as gripping, I had, had enough of the comic book fighting scenes after his first duel with Matthew Patel, let alone having to watch him do battle with another 6 ex’s, and this is where people turn off. If the film doesn’t have a strong story to tell, then why would the public to go and see it. Reading a comic book is hyper real, you know it’s not real, but the quality of writing forces you to believe it is real. The Mighty Boosh and is an example of hyper reality being used at it’s best, to guide the reader in the right direction, and people believe what is happing on their screen is real. Although, when Scott Pilgrim, in a comic book you can believe all this fighting, but after a 100+ ‘Kapow’s’, are visible after Scott strikes, you start to think, “No, this is too much”. Which leads to me say again, that I don’t believe the directors and producers were able to do a good enough job in transferring a video game and a comic book into reality, hence why the film wasn’t a big success, because when all is said and done, the audience just wasn’t interested and captivated. 

Explain why you think Summer Camp and Hurt are Postmodern or not.

Postmodernism, Postmodernism is something that many struggle to get their heads, a way of life that people fail to understand, it’s a theory that is often defined as being a rejection of Modernism, obviously, a unforeseen breaking of barriers, as well as a mixing of different cultures. Postmodernism can be seen be commonly seen in films and television products, but also in music.

Music is often stereotyped, your image, culture and social group often sets the standard of what genres you listen to, or in the eyes of people, what you music you ‘should’ listen to. Now, Postmodernism rejects this theory, different genres can be mixed, e.g. Hip Hop and Soul, look at ‘Watch the Throne’ for instance.

There are many bands that are now able to create music that they are not stereotyped with, all through Postmodernism. Look at Summer Camp, an English Two-Piece band from England. If somebody threw some headphones, and played one of their songs to you, you’d most probably think to yourself, “Your typical Indie band”, whereas if somebody played you the video to ‘Round for Moon’, it’s a whole new ball game. Before they’d released any actual images of themselves, Summer Camp still did a lot of marketing. This is a superb example of how you can use to Postmodernism to mess with peoples minds. For their album artworks and videos, Summer Camp used footage and images that were representative of American culture during the 1980’s, therefore you’d get the impression that they were a band from the states who grew up during the 1980’s, and few fans of television shows such as Different Strokes, and The Breakfast Club.

A critic of Postmodernism would say that Postmodernists are self indulgent and only care for themselves, doing things for their own enjoyment. Which is why I believe Summer Camp shows many signs of Postmodernism, they release a mysterious image of themselves, purely because if not aren’t offended if people think of being people who they are not.

Hurts, another British band, a band who have won NME Awards (Anti-pop awards), and got automatically categorised into being a indie, when front man Theo Hutchencraft was quoted as saying “This award is a victory for pop music”, after their triumph at the NME Awards. Which in my opinion is a great example of Postmodernism, they have broken boundaries of ‘pop’ and mainstream music, and made them accepted by organisations that aren’t as commercialised.

Hurts are more times than not selected into a ‘indie’ genre, but the music they create is actually a continuation of the Synth Pop era that took the UK by storm in the 1980’s, and was very pop friendly. This follows Jonathon Kramer’s theory that Postmodern music is a continuation of break, which is exactly what Hurts do, as they have revived synth pop music in a respectable manner.

Looking at all of Kramer’s theory on music, that is not the only theory that Hurts follow. He said audiences are both niche and mainstream. Bingo, that, without doubt applies to Hurt, their style of play adopts of mainstream audience, through the music they play, but their artistic essence is something that captures and attracts a very niche market.

They also follow bricolage, they have given this music a new meaning, although they obviously sound more modern compared to predecessors, they still follow suit in their musical play. Though Hurts don’t distribute the same meanings in their songs as bands such as Pet Shop Boys and Soft Cell did.

I firmly believe in my valid opinion, and I’m in no doubt that Hurts, though not traditionally, still hold Postmodern values, due to their mixing in cultures, and in the way that they create mainstream, but it attracts a niche market.

Finally, what does the future hold for Postmodern music? I couldn’t possibly say, for a genre such as Hip Hop, I believe that Postmodernism vibes will continue to run, it’s in their culture, and sampling is often vital to tracks, also in dance music, Postmodern music will most probably live on for a long time, the ‘success’ of it is something that I doubt, because the music created often fails to reach a big market, and therefore doesn’t gain much critique. However, in an alternative/indie music scene, something which I follow, I believe Hurts are a very unique band, which you rarely see nowadays, also Summer Camp, they made themselves stand out from a very overpopulated crowd of generic indie, using Postmodernism very well. However, apart from this, I don’t think that Postmodernism will have a particularly ‘successful’ future in the genre. This is mainly because many indie bands follow a strict culture, many a band who go on stage with a guitar in hand will, such as The Courteeners will show they’ve been influenced by The Stone Roses, and The Smiths, literally.

That’s just how they like it, though.

Hurts, research for presentation.

Hurts...





The synthpop music genre, has today become iconic within 80's culture, with bands such as The Human League and Soft Cell receieving overwhelming success with their hits. Hurts style of play pay's homage to their predecessors from 80's, but instead of attracting mainstream audiences, in contrast Hurts' music is very Niche, which follows Kramer's theory that music shows references to many cultures and traditions. Furthermore, it also argues the Kramer's point that music is both Niche and Mainstream.



Bricolage on Tainted Love, play Gloria Hunter, Soft Cell, and Marilyn Manson, talk about how the song have been developed, and given a new meaning, it started off a song you'd expect to be played in a 60's Cafe with dancing about to it, followed by Soft Cell's version, which became the theme to students parties, followed by Manson's version, who acknowledged the previous theme, but turned his version gothic, and almost made the song feel 'dirty' with the accompanying video.









Double act, this also pay's another homage to the 80's synth pop wave, with bands such as Soft Cell, Erasure and Pet Shop, also being acknowledged as double acts.





Hurts also follow Jean Baudrillard's theory of Postmodernism, he emphasises that barriers between art and social are no longer existent, during the time of Synthpop, Marc Almond, Andy Bell and Neil Tennant for example, and were often categorised, and put into a , whereas a Synthpop band today, such as Hurts, have shut that barrier, and are not frowned upon whatsoever for their extravagant on stage antics, and personalities.




Hurts, show signs of trying to grab the attention of critics from different audiences, though, through the release of singles. Their debut album 'Happiness' had 6 singles released, which is approximately half the album.

1. Better Than Love
2. Wonderful Life
3.Stay
4. Sunday
5. Illuminated
6. Blood, Tears & Gold

Plus 'All I want for Christmas is New Years Day' (Non-album Track) 

 Compare this to The Horrors, who released have released 3 singles from their album 'Skying', which is less than 1/3 of the album. This shows how Hurts are incorporating into modern music life, using ITunes etc. to get extra recognition not for their albums as a whole, but rater for the singles that are released from the album, individually. In my opinion, you can argue at this idea agree's with Kramer's view that "music shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity", as they go against other bands of their genre such as The Horrors, by releasing a shed load of singles, and will be contempt at being viewed as an 'Album Band'.



On the subject of Hurts' song Wonderful Life, the bands frontman Theo Hutchcraft said "It's basically based on two extremes: the first being a man who wants to kill himself and the second being love at first sight", Hurts once again follow suit with Kramer and his opinions on music, he said music today presents mutilple meanings, which is precisily what this song does.



To add onto that Hurts' lyrics also take you in to this Hyperreal world, where the stories of your life are excessive and extreme. These of this variety are something we buy into, even though it's likely you'll only ever see something like this on 'Eastenders', or if not, a British Drama such as 'This is England'.



Hurts in a sense, and not coincidentally, are ironic, their image and music on face value has all the makings of a pop band, but from one side of the spectrum, they are the complete opposite, in the fashion that most pop bands sing about happy/fairy tale endings, whereas Hurts discuss the bad, the not so happy endings, which is just honesty in retrospective.

The pragmatics the following songs conjure up are complete opposites, although the songs could be considered to have many similarities.






Basically, Hurts are just a in depth 'pop' band, but that's just how they like it.

Jonathon Kramer.

Media Theorist Jonathan Kramer says "the idea that postmodernism is less a surface style or historical period than an attitude. Kramer goes on to say 16 "characteristics of postmodern music, by which I mean music that is understood in a postmodern manner, or that calls forth postmodern listening strategies, or that provides postmodern listening experiences, or that exhibits postmodern compositional practices."
According to Kramer (Kramer 2002, 16–17), postmodern music":
1. is not simply a repudiation of modernism or its continuation, but has aspects of both a break and an extension
2. is, on some level and in some way, ironic
3. does not respect boundaries between sonorities and procedures of the past and of the present
4. challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles
5. shows disdain for the often unquestioned value of structural unity
6. questions the mutual exclusivity of elitist and populist values
7. avoids totalizing forms (e.g., does not want entire pieces to be tonal or serial or cast in a prescribed formal mold)
8. considers music not as autonomous but as relevant to cultural, social, and political contexts
9. includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures
10. considers technology not only as a way to preserve and transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of music
11. embraces contradictions
12. distrusts binary oppositions
13. includes fragmentations and discontinuities
14. encompasses pluralism and eclecticism
15. presents multiple meanings and multiple temporalities
16. locates meaning and even structure in listeners, more than in scores, performances, or composers

80's Culture. The Research.

For the purposes of this case study, I am researching synth culture during the 1980's, as that is what Summer Camp deal with.

Synth music was taking over the charts, bands such as Culture Club, The Human League, and Soft Cell were as popular as ever. These bands were fronted by make up wearing, and extravagant dressing males, and this was considered 'Fine', yes, they were also seen in suits, but when dressed in the outlandish fashion, not seen before, because accepted it, and didn't criticise it.

Men such as Gary Numan may have so, so successful with their music, but still, their inspiration lives on today.

'New Wave' was started in Britain, so even on American shows that wanted feature this music on their shows, came to British artists, such as Simple Minds, who recorded 'Don't you forget about me' for The Breakfast Club.

Television series were often portraying a togetherness, such as Different Strokes, a show a two adopted boy's, the show represented family life being a real close bond, and Saved by the Bell was about a close knit group of friends during their teens. Both of these shows imply that you should you spend most of your time with those who mean the most to you.

America was represented as being a really 'nice' place to live (It still is like that), the sun always seemed to be out, dressing in a 'Preppy' fashion was popular, hence Zack Morris' nickname in Saved by the Bell.

The work 'Bright' springs to mind when watching any of the clips.

Very stereotypical approach in plot lines.

Explain why some people do not understand the concept of Postmodernism.

Postmodernism, the rejection of Modernism, churned out with the mixing of cultures, catches the eye of many, yet, at the same time Postmodernism is despised by others. This is quite often due to the severe contradictory nature that comes with Postmodernism, and also because of it's ability to purposely make something that's 'bad', just so it meets the criteria. I, myself am not hugely enthusiastic about the diea of being a Postmodernist, although, on occasions I partially agree with a few of it's elements.

A large part of Postmodernism that people struggle to get their heads round is, and come to terms with is the idea of 'Pluralism', this is the theory that Jean Francois Lyotard, that we have given up the idea of grand narrative, and that everything is the same, and nothing is unique anymore. In my opinion, this arguements is covered in flaws. Answer me this, how can two television shows such as The Office and The Mighty Boosh follow the theory of Pluralism? The former is based on the day to day goings on in a working office, and the latter is based inside a hyped up, exaggerated, created universe, adopting plot lines that could not take place in reality. Yes, they are both commercially produced shows to provide entertainment for it's viewing public, but that does not mean that you can label these shows the 'same'.

Whilst in discussion over The Mighty Boosh, Fielding and Barrett heavily use another Postmodern element within their work, that people do not understand, this is Hyperreality, which is easiest defined as 'Accepting something for what it is', and The Boosh is an ideal way to show this. When you watch The Mighty Boosh, you are taken into this extraordinary land, then when we see Vince Noir dressed up in his extravagant pieces of clothing, that when you see anybody else dressed up in that fashion, you utter the words 'Gimp', or more explicitly 'T***'. However, when you see Fielding, you see it as being very natural, and don't think much of it, in other terms, 'You accept it for what it is', Furthermore you rarely see/hear anybody refuse to watch The Mighty Boosh due to the fact it challenges realistic experiences.

'Homo with a Shotgun', terrible name, plot line, acting, setting, oh, the list goes on. Yes, I believe it is a horrendous film, however, I doubt the creators of the film would be terribly offended by my remarks, as it's a Pastiche towards other action films, mimicking them. I agree with the homage, showing your inspirations by paying respect to them in your pieces of work, but really, what is the point of going to extreme lengths to produce a 'bad' film, just to mimic others? I really don't think it has a valid point.

Finally, I do understand that people do not agree with concepts of Postmodernism, I don't myself, I do believe methods such as paying homage work well. Although, I believe many Postmodern judgments are naive, as well as contradictory, plus too narrow minded to take other views into account, clarifying that I won't be becoming a Postmodernist anytime soon.

Note: I was about to discuss Derrida's theory of Bricolage, but I ran out of time.