Þeyr — “Killer Boogie”
Performed for the music documentary Rokk í Reykjavík.
U2 — “Gloria”
A couple of years ago, while lounging around the living area in our cozy on-campus apartment, I overheard my roomate and his girlfriend talking about Christian music, or—more specifically—the popular bands that Christians like to “claim” as one of their own. Two of the more popular bands she cited were Coldplay and U2. Coldplay was mildly shocking, but U2 I could understand. If you’ve ever heard anything off of their second album, October, you’ll know they went through a really big “We love Jesus” phase. “Gloria” is the best of the “We Love Jesus” tracks and one of their most kick-ass songs ever.
I cannot recall my roommate’s reaction.
…
Also, this video is proof that Bono has never had an fashion sense.
This fascinating, brilliant 20-minute video narrates the history of the “Amen Break,” a six-second drum sample from the b-side of a chart-topping single from 1969. This sample was used extensively in early hiphop and sample-based music, and became the basis for drum-and-bass and jungle music — a six-second clip that spawned several entire subcultures. Nate Harrison’s 2004 video is a meditation on the ownership of culture, the nature of art and creativity, and the history of a remarkable music clip.
[Even more than all that, I think it’s a great example of Richard Dawkins’s concept of the meme, its replication and its evolution into alternate forms in order to propogate its own survival.
…
And here’s a link to the book Against Intellectual Monopoly.]
