Gtaylor's Blog

  Britney Spears was a large part of the pop world as I was growing up and her music videos were very different than other artists. Britney started in performing arts at a young age and eventually made her way to auditions for Disney, commercials, and then was introduced into the music world. Her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time , was released on January 12, 1999. While she did not write this song, it was written by Swedish record producer and songwriter Max Martin and Rami Yacoub (Macias, 2016) and first released in the US. This quickly went to number one on the charts and eventually sold more than 10 million copies in the United States (Britannica 2024). In the music video, it really showcases the intricacies of performance and how much energy she was putting into her projects. Since she had such success with her first hit, she collaborated with Max Martin and Rami Yacoub for her second album  Oops!... I Did It Again. S he collaborated with a wide range of producers and writ

For my musical trip, I decided to take a trip back to where I attended high school, Utqiagvik, Alaska. Also known as Barrow, my family and I have lived there for roughly 7 years and I have seen and listened to some great Iñupiaq music and performances. Living there gave me a great opportunity to see the value and cultural significance of music and dance. During any get together or celebration, multiple dance groups perform to drummers. While the music I have listened to does not necessarily speak any words but if they did it was usually Iñupiaq. It is made up of mostly chants and dance moves. The above video is at a celebration called Kiviq. This is a gathering and celebration that occurs every other year where a bunch of different cultural groups meet. All the other villages of the North Slope are invited to several days of singing and dancing, and sharing of food. Mostly, it means Iñupiat dance groups from all over the place, sometimes people even come in from Canada and participate

Throughout history music has been enjoyed by all whether it was live or like today and we can enjoy it in our own home. Have you ever wondered how we got to being able to play music from our phones? The first time music was able to played at home was when Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. In 1877 we got the first machine that could play back audio after inscribing it. It went through a couple different stages of being recorded on tin foil and cardboard to wax, and then in 1887 the gramophone was made of hard rubber and shellac before being constructed with vinyl (Electrohome Blog).  This video gives a brief history of the phonograph and plays one of the very first things ever recorded. Fast forward a little in history and we get to 1960 and 1970, while radios took mainstream and record players were still being sold, this was considered the Golden age of record players and vinyl. Higher quality of playback was happening and turn-tables were starting to be used in other recordings t

  "Jenny (I Wanna Ruin Our Friendship)" is by an electropop virtual band called Studio Killers. The band is made up of four members, vocalist and designer Cherry, keyboardist Goldie Foxx, DJ Dyna Mink, and manager Bipolar Bear. Each members true identity is unknown but the bands origin is the United Kingdom, Finland, and Denmark. While the song I chose was released back in 2013, it made a reappearance in 2021 on social media when they re-released it with German artist, Kim Petras. It was written, produced, and performed by the Studio Killers with additional songwriting by Rob Davis (Discogs). The song is 3:36 with a BPM of 134 (Beatport) and a bar signature of 4 beats per bar. "Jenny" charted at #7 on the US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs on Billboard in 2020/2021 as well as #2 on official Finnish charts (Suomen virallinen lista). It is played in the key B major. There are 5 chords when you look at it and they are Am, F, C, Dm, and G. The feeling of the music is a very

"Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie is part of their album Plans . It is a blend of indie rock and indie pop. It was released August 8, 2005 and written/composed by Benjamin Gibbard and produced by guitarist Chris Walla. The are from the United States. It reached #1 on the US Adult Alternative Songs and #60 on the US Billboard  Hot 100 in 2005-2006 (Billboard). While listening to this song, I get swept into the acoustics of the guitar, the catchy melody, and like Elsa Bray wrote in The Independent,  ""a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere" summing up the effect it has on its listener." I couldn't agree more. The way this song can be played on repeat and to relate to certain lyrics and interpreting them into your own meaning "...where soul meets body" could have so many meanings to it and for me it means you are meeting yourself where you are. You are becoming one with yourself and learning to "... let the sun wrap its arms a

  Hey everyone, my name is Garrett Taylor. I am currently a full-time staff member for UAF and just graduated from UAF this past May with my bachelors in Biological Sciences with a concentration in cell and molecular biology. I enjoy playing video games and board games, reading, and hanging/being around my friends. I have lived in Alaska for around 7 years now. I have lived in Barrow up on the North Slope, Cordova down in Southeast, but I have mainly lived in Fairbanks to attend school and work here. This photo is of me. Unfortunately, I do no play any music. I dabbled with the violin in 5th grade which was roughly 13 years ago at this point? I do enjoy listening to music. Growing up, our car radio was always todays country. Now that I am older, I still listen to country but not nearly as much. I mostly listen to indie and a lot of pop music and todays top hits. As of now I have only been to one concert and it was One Republic and that was a long time ago. I do not even listen to them