Thursday 31 March 2011

When Rolling Stone revised its 500 Greatest Songs Ever list, it dropped these ones. There must be some kind of an aesthetic pattern here. Mediocrity widely and readily read as greatness? The whole idea of ranking a set of the 500 greatest songs ever leads to a situation like this. Although I am disappointed that they dropped the Funkadelic song. Once outside a nightclub I saw a red convertible, women sitting on the back seat, blaring Boston's "More than a Feeling," narrowly avoid a fender-bender.


"Da Doo Ron Ron by The Crystals (#114)
"Lose Yourself by Eminem (#166)
"Sh-Boom by The Chords (#215)
"Band of Gold by Freda Payne (#391)
"Kicks by Paul Revere & the Raiders (#400)
"I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly (#406)
"Crossroads by Cream (#409)
"Lola by The Kinks (#422)
"Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels (#428)
"Keep A-Knockin' by Little Richard (#442)
"By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Glen Campbell (#450)
"Stagger Lee by Lloyd Price (#456)
"One Fine Day by The Chiffons (#460)
"Search and Destroy by The Stooges (#468)
"It's Too Late by Carole King (#469)
"Free Man in Paris by Joni Mitchell (#470)
"On the Road Again by Willie Nelson (#471)
"One Nation Under a Groove by Funkadelic (#474)
"Graceland by Paul Simon (#485)
"Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac (#488)
"You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Dusty Springfield (#491)
"Then He Kissed Me by The Crystals (#493)
"Desperado by Eagles (#494)
"Rainy Night in Georgia by Brook Benton (#498)
"The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy (#499)
"More Than a Feeling by Boston (#500)

Tuesday 29 March 2011

The Wilhelm Scream

Do you know the Wilhelm Scream?
It is naturally the name of James Blake's album, but it is also a very known film scream.
Since I am doing my thesis on screaming I thought I would just share it with you.
Found this video clip with the scream used in several different films. It is in Danish, but the scream is universal! Just listen.


If you wanna know what the guy says it is more or less the info, you can find on Wiki - here in English:

The Wilhelm scream is a film and television stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the film Distant Drums.[1] The effect gained new popularity (its use often becoming an in-joke) after it was used in Star Wars and many other blockbuster films as well as television programs and video games.[2] The scream is often used when someone is shot, falls from a great height, or is thrown from an explosion.


The sound is named for Private Wilhelm, a character in The Charge at Feather River, a 1953 western in which the character is shot with an arrow. This was believed to be the third movie to use the sound effect and its first use from the Warner Brothers stock sound library.[3]

he sound effect originates from a series of sound effects recorded for the 1951 film Distant Drums. In a scene from the film, soldiers are wading through a swamp in the Everglades, and one of them is bitten and dragged underwater by an alligator. The scream for that scene was recorded later in a single take, along with five other short pained screams, which were slated as "man getting bit by an alligator, and he screams."

The fifth scream was used for the soldier in the alligator scene—but the 4th, 5th, and 6th screams recorded in the session were also used earlier in the film—when three Indians are shot during a raid on a fort. Although takes 4 through 6 are the most recognizable, all of the screams are referred to as "Wilhelm", by those in the sound community.



Thursday 3 March 2011

Archival Sound Recordings

Amazing Sound Archive from the British Library.
http://sounds.bl.uk/
Logged in with your Goldsmiths Students Password, downloading is possible.
Enjoy!