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Hello, Stars and Stripes!
Though I haven't been inspired to write here much lately, I do have a new project that involves sound media and thus I've assembled a podcast about Bush's recent visit to Prague during which he heard a song from the Czech Minister of Defense. Isn't it lovely how music bridges cultures?
powered by ODEO
You can play it by clicking on the player above or access the .mp3 directly at http://odeo.com/show/13231103/1185530/download/HelloStarsAndStripes.mp3. (And not to brag, but despite the improvised tone, you should know that I recorded and mixed that live all in one take—look Ma, no editing! Sorry about the low volume on most of it. But hey, nobody's perfect. Oh, and yes I played some music off vinyl—thanks to George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra for their rendition of the Sinfonietta.)
As I say, I'm not really adding anything here, just putting gathering together the music. Also, I think one of the things no one has mentioned is the rather significant possibility of parody—is it not possible that the Gagarin song was somehow making parallels between the Russians and Americans? Is not the new version a little too much to reflect the forthrightly simple sentiment it offers on the surface? To me, it seems like there is a lot of room for irony, and parody is a mode often employed in Czech humor. Just a thought, there.
Following is a list of links I refer to in the podcast:
*Voice of Europe's post
*Skriker's Gagarin post (listenable 1961 version)
*Radio Prague's piece
*Parkanova's CT24 interview
*Curda’s YouTube video (includes an entertaining debate about how people feel about the missile shield project in the Czech Republic; listenable new version)
*Improvised Vocal version at YouTube
Tags: podcast, music, czech
powered by ODEO
You can play it by clicking on the player above or access the .mp3 directly at http://odeo.com/show/13231103/1185530/download/HelloStarsAndStripes.mp3. (And not to brag, but despite the improvised tone, you should know that I recorded and mixed that live all in one take—look Ma, no editing! Sorry about the low volume on most of it. But hey, nobody's perfect. Oh, and yes I played some music off vinyl—thanks to George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra for their rendition of the Sinfonietta.)
As I say, I'm not really adding anything here, just putting gathering together the music. Also, I think one of the things no one has mentioned is the rather significant possibility of parody—is it not possible that the Gagarin song was somehow making parallels between the Russians and Americans? Is not the new version a little too much to reflect the forthrightly simple sentiment it offers on the surface? To me, it seems like there is a lot of room for irony, and parody is a mode often employed in Czech humor. Just a thought, there.
Following is a list of links I refer to in the podcast:
*Voice of Europe's post
*Skriker's Gagarin post (listenable 1961 version)
*Radio Prague's piece
*Parkanova's CT24 interview
*Curda’s YouTube video (includes an entertaining debate about how people feel about the missile shield project in the Czech Republic; listenable new version)
*Improvised Vocal version at YouTube
Tags: podcast, music, czech
Posted 15 June 2007 at 12:55.
A graduate student in music and anthropology writing a dissertation about music in Moravia, the eastern third of the Czech Republic. At some point, the Czech Republic's "second city" (that would be Brno) captured my attention, and I've since been blogging about events, arts, music, and other stuff—basically whatever interests me in and around the cityscape. I'm not living in Brno now, but I keep up with the cultural pulse from afar as best I can.
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