Analysis of Genre

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many different genres that are incorporated into modern musical culture and these can be mixed and combined together to create newer, not so typical genres. Examples of these could be Indie and Alternative musical genres that are relatively new to the industry and culture compared to other more refined genres such as Rock and Classical music.

Genres also have certain target audiences, such as punk rock is aimed at young adolescents and classical music is typically aimed at older people. However, as with every form of media these stereotypes can be subverted and basically everybody from all walks of life can watch and music video relating to practically all genres available.

For the Alternative musical genre that we chose with our song “Windows” by Joint Honours, the genre did not really take off until the later 1980’s/ early 1990’s when new bands like Nirvana stared to come out and experiment with typical genre conventions and turn it into something new and unique. The typical lyrical content usually always refers to either war or pop culture and that these bands convey a message that they don’t agree with it, i.e Green Days “American Idiot”. In addition, this doesn’t happen as often but the song’s lyrics can also refer to forbidden love and things you aren’t supposed to do with relationships like in Three Days Grace’s “I Hate Everything About You”.

The overall sound is basically rock or punk with either an electronic or rap undertone. For our chosen band Joint Honours they often use rap in-between the chorus of the song “Windows”. Examples for other bands that use electronical undertones are, Drowning Pool and Seether. This is possibly to emphasize the surrealness and the unrealistic nature of their music videos like Seethers “Remedy”.

In terms of visuals, this example from Seether makes the main singer look almost demonic and has evil undertones. This is most probably to reflect the lyrics that relate to drug use and its chaotic side effects. This is one aspect of life that alternative represents people as not every drug-taker is a scumbag but have reasons behind doing it, i.e the loss of a loved one.  The mise-en-scene of the music video also shows urban decay, which is typically found in most alternative music videos.  Also, for Ash’s “Orpheus” this goes with the idea of urban decay once again and shows typical alternative conventions, I,.e new trend clothes and long, shaggy hair. However this video does subvet the stereotype a little bit due to fast car racing scenes that art usually incorporated into alternative music videos.

 

 

The overall ideology behind alternative music is to convey to the majority of its audience that you are capable of anything if you put your mind to it and the fact that everything can be experimented with in order to create something truly amazing. The genres primary target audience is adolescents aged 12-30 but as with all genres it can appeal to anybody if they like it. It is aimed equally at males and females of all backgrounds. It doesn’t matter what class you are to listen to alternative music but usually it is middle-class people who listen to it due to their usual insecurity about life and the willingness to listen to music for inspiration.

 

The conventions of this genre are shown heavily in a promo for Skillets “Monster” Music video. This is due to the fact that it has typical conventions of a rock video but has alternative elements incorporated into it. Examples of this are the creepy surgery room as well as horror like characters. The narrative in this video shows amplification by the lyrics saying “I feel like a monster” and he man who is wrapped in cloth clutching his head in dismay. The promo uses a variety of camera shots but mainly uses basic ones like high-angle and close-up shots to build upon the horror of the scene. There is a typical rock performance throughout the video but it is challenged by the more exotic dance moves pulled off by the lead singer.

 

In conclusion, my two theories that go with this promo is that it relates to bad social events like war and poverty due to the lyrics frequently emphasizing upon feeling like a monster. Also, it could relate to how families get torn apart by illnesses like cancer etc and how they feel like a monster for causing distraught within the family.