The Contagious Reviewed

The Contagious are a three-piece studio project from Sydney Australia, blending the sounds of the guitar, vocals, the sitar, apparently, and a driving rhythm section. The band follows the conventional song writing formula of soft rock combining powerful guitar solos with influences of traditional rock with traces of pop.  Listening to the band, it’s evident there’s elements the 80s coming through. It’s appropriate to compare The Contagious with the likes of Bon Jovi, Journey and others.

There’s something to be said about the lyrics too. They speak for themselves. The band continues to follow themes explored in rock. Thoughts of love, disheartenment, determination and longing seem to be the key features of this EP.

With 20 years of musical experience, they have become a trio of ‘epic proportions’. The title track ‘Night Street’ seems to be the portrayal of a lost soul walking through the depths of darkness alongside her struggles that she has endured in her lifetime.

Nevertheless we see a determined character blossom, eager to find her way into the light. United with a strong presence of a guitar, alongside powerful, yet angelic vocals from lead vocalist Annalivia. The whole thing comes together in a masterpiece of creativity. There’s a sense of escapism coming through in this song. The need to leave a life behind, and fight for a new beginning!

‘Tomorrow (You’ll Be Gone)” seems to take a different direction. There’s a clear contrast. It moves away from salvaging a relationship to becoming a survivor. An independent woman ready to take on the world. This track has to be one of my personal favorites. The lyrics reveal a strong woman. Someone who has no intention of denying her efforts put forward in a relationship. There’s no denying though, the music delivers an emotional connection with its audience. You start to feel sympathy for the woman pouring her heart out. The guitar really does bring deep routed emotions to centre stage.

This self-titled EP is well written, well produced, and well executed. The chorus in each track is catchy and hooky and the strong vocals and outstanding guitar solos hold the whole thing together. These things are strategically placed to help audiences identify the type of genre they are listening to and, importantly, to make them listen again.

One last thing I want to mention is the cover art. Annalivia, standing proud, head held high. The use of vibrant, bright colours like yellows and orangy reds leaves a strong impression of an independent woman oozing with confidence. It’s time to modernize the 80s’ sound with the Contagious in a very positive way!

                                                                          

Five Factors Of Horror

Following my previous post surrounding the psychology of horror, entitled ‘The Horrific Psychology’. (If you haven’t read it yet – go now! What are you waiting for?) For years, directors have tried to captivate their audience with an essence of enthusiasm and an excess of emotional feed. Not many people have managed to achieve this. There are very few who in fact have. Names that have marked themselves on the map: Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King, William Fredkin alongside a few others, are all fathers to horror classics we all know and love. The Exorcist, The Shining, and Psycho are considered by a majority of movie lovers, as well as critics, to be a ‘must see movie’ title. Spending so much time with media and movie analysis has helped me uncover the true elements of the making of a Hollywood horror movie.

What do you think of when I say conventions and connotations? Maybe this is the first time you’ve seen these words together on a page of A4 and you find yourself screaming at me to continue to form sentences and unravel movies behind the scene! It might seem as if I was just throwing words at you, but not at all; stick with me on this one!

Denotations, connotations, and conventions are what make a movie. In horror, these seem to be a little more apparent. I like to think of these three components; conventions, denotations and connotations are what help the audience to identify the genre of movie they’re watching. Excuse me for stating the obvious!

I’m here to suggest whether this theory / methodology is still in existence today. Traditionally, when we watch a horror movie, there are five factors we, as an audience look out for.

• Red font (credits)
•   Mise-en-scene (props) knives, masks etc.
•  Iconography (blood, secluded locations, eerie music, vulnerable characteristics, so on and so fourth).
•   Good vs evil
•  Location / atmosphere / environment

So, these are what you would in a conventional horror movie. As part of my research, I found myself going back; watching some of the classics these past couple of days has made me realize the contemporary pattern of horror movies still exists today. As well as the examples above, I’ve still yet to understand why brunette females are more superior to blondes? Who wrote the rules, and what’s the logic behind it? This is still apparent to the horror movies of this generation. When we look at titles such as Paranormal Activity, Saw, Nightmare on Elm Street, and its other predecessors, we see a divide. Girls are always at a disadvantage in the horror scene. If I were to be specific, I’d say blonde teens are the vulnerable ones, while the brunettes bring on the battle with the villains, ‘demonoids’ and secluded houses that never seem to have electricity!

However, there are sometimes cracks in the system, especially when we look at a movie based on Stephen King’s novel – Carrie, a portrayal of a teenage girl who’s left as the odd one out among her classmates. However, she still manages to make her presence known with her powers of telekinesis. Here, we see a change of pattern occurring as Carrie is portrayed as a blonde teen who starts out as a passive character then emerges into an active and dominant presence.

Coming back to the houses, have you noticed 9/10 they’re strategically placed on a road that leads to nowhere – odd isn’t it? At least it works!

If you have a close relationship with horror, then I’m sure you’ve noticed one fact that seems to be a concrete element within its movies. If a female character in her teens is in a relationship, and she loses her virginity, this stood for one thing. Maybe this was Hollywood’s way of letting movie enthusiasts know sleeping with your boyfriend without wedlock is a cardinal sin! Hence, the ultimate punishment is death.

Anyway, let’s not make this article any more somber than it needs to be. Instead, let’s talk about the funniest / irritating truth in horror’s existence. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about the character’s reaction to utter panic and fear. If there’s one thing that’s got me screaming “WTF are you doing” during a horror sequence, it’s when characters run the opposite direction to safety.

Why climb through an open window, when you really should be heading for the front door, and hiding into the inner depths of darkness? Seems to be a little less time consuming, don’t you think? Another thing, why run upstairs? Did you forget to even consider the time it takes to use the stairs, let alone the likelihood of tripping on the staircase when you have an axe murderer chasing after you? I guess this is why directors like Wes Craven created movies like Scary Movie, so we can laugh at our own expense!

Baby Mama Drama: Call A Babysitter, Not A Rapper!

alised how true and significant a statement: ‘Ignorance is bliss’ can be. As part of the hip-hop community, we prepare ourselves for ignorance at its core. It irritates hip-hop listeners, or at least find it amusing, whilst it’s a rapper’s strongest weapon.

Unfortunately, people often associate hip-hop with gangsters, curse words, and girls. Wake up! Embrace a new perspective on life and music. In fact, let’s give hip-hop a new name. How about ‘hidden poetry?’ Why ‘hidden poetry’? Because most people look on the surface and don’t bother to delve deeper into the music. “Excuse me; can I have the attention of the class for one second?” Twelve years ago, a rapper made alphabet soup and created humour. However, it wasn’t just any artist it was a ‘white’ rapper. Who most believed was a one hit wonder.

Controversy hit the world, and caused an earthquake during the summer of 1999. The hip-hop industry introduced a man with a twisted sense of humour. Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem. With multiple personalities, Eminem has the freedom to draw attention. These personas are as follows:

Eminem – The rapper with a sense of humour

Slim Shady – The rapper with a twisted sense of humour

Marshall Mathers – The artist who portrays his struggles in real life.

Of course, there are many other rappers to bring forward; like Tupac, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, and Notorious B.i.G. Imagine your Mum and Dad going through your music collection; suddenly she stops, her next sentence is “You can’t listen to that, your factory settings change!”

“You always was a black queen, mama. I finally understand for a woman it ain’t easy tryin’ to raise a man. You always was committed, a poor single mother on welfare. Tell me how ya did it. There’s no way I can pay you back, but the plan is to show you that I understand. You are appreciated!”

Are these the words of a man who should be condemned for his trail of thought? Or is it a man who truly understands and appreciates women’s existence? I’m not going to sit here, and say rappers like Tupac doesn’t at the same time refer to women as “bitches” and “hoes”. However, that’s only the surface, if we look into it on a deeper level, we see there’s a story behind every beat. Every lyric, and every track.

I remember it like it was yesterday, 15 years old with Tupac, and Dr. Dre blaring out of my speakers. My Mum reacting to every swear word she heard. “It’s just curse words, how can you call this music?” Ten years later, and she still feels the same. However, I never gave up on hip-hop.

Hip-hop had a whole new era; Eminem definitely succeeded because for the first time, hip-hop wasn’t about colour anymore. He used, and still uses his colour to his advantage. It’s one of the many reasons that helps him to relate to kids.

However, Marshall Mathers LP (2000) contrasted to the previous year’s release. It gave most people reason to hate the white rapper with passion! The LP makes reference to a far more aggressive, violent, and offensive persona. The album makes reference to gays, lesbians and furthermore displays violent outburst towards his former wife.

The album concept triggered protests and campaigns against the white rapper labelling him a homophobe in January 2001. Nevertheless, Eminem’s star shone brighter.

“I feel like I’m walking a tight rope, without a circus net. 
I’m popping percocets, I’m a nervous wreck. I deserve respect; but I work a sweat for this worthless cheque ‘Bout to burst this tech, at somebody to reverse this debt. 
Minimum wage got my adrenaline caged.
 Full of venom and rage, especially when I’m engaged and my daughter’s down to her last diaper. That’s got my ass hyper. I pray that god answers, maybe I’ll ask nicer.”

Then there was the second verse:

“My life is full of empty promises, and broken dreams! 
I’m hoping things will look up, but there ain’t no job openings.
 I feel discouraged hungry and malnourished. Living in this house with no furnace, unfurnished, and I’m sick of working dead end jobs with lame pay.”

These lyrics illustrate the struggles of a young father just like you or me. Craving for success, as he tries to give his daughter a better life, he’s not a crazed lunatic. I’m not going to sit here and deny that Eminem is an extremist. This is evident throughout his career.

Parents often see Slim Shady before Marshall Mathers, which forces Eminem’s glass to overflow with controversy.

Eminem makes a very powerful statement in  “Who Knew?” on the album ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ (2000) and presents an eye opener for parents.

“I’m like, “Guidance – ain’t they got the same moms and dads, who got mad when I asked if they liked violence? 
And told me that my tape taught ‘em to swear. What about the make-up you allow your 12-year-old daughter to wear?
(Hmm?) So tell me that your son doesn’t know any cuss words, when his bus driver’s screamin’ at him, f**kin’ him up worse.”

Isn’t this something to think about? I’m not going to sit here and deny that music holds some kind of influence towards the new generation. Is it fair to point fingers at an individual who’s determined to express their life experiences through the art of creativity? We are all responsible for our own actions. Therefore, it all depends on the listener’s self control and willpower. As they have the choice to react either positively or negatively. I stress once more, it’s a matter of choice.

All this unnecessary drama brings  unanswered questions to mind. It forces me to consider the existence of extremists in the music industry.

Rock’n’Roll has its very own chick: Pink. Another extremist with similarities to Eminem. Her lyrics and music videos lead way to debate. Her release of “F**king Perfect” gave critics reason to scream. The music video for this song rang bells for critics and listeners.

Furthermore, as I write this article it encourages me to discuss Britney Spears’ influence on the younger generation. I always say it’s wrong to be prejudice against people. However, there’s a time and a place for everything. Keeping this in mind, I want to pose the following question; why is it OK for Britney Spears to release songs that jeopardizes women.  “Toxic”, and “Slave for you” express controversy clear as day. It cleverly influences changes in a male’s perspective very easily. Why is it OK for extremists like Pink and Lady Gaga to cause a debate? – it’s all just baby mama drama!