Pop Music: 1990's to Present

Pop Music: 1990's to Present

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• 1990's music brought forward the teen-pop and boyband genres from the 1980's. Contemporary R&B became popular throughout the 1990's, but was overshadowed by pop-rock and dance music by the second half of the decade.
• Teen-pop and boyband genres remained popular into the 2000's and the 2010's paved the way for electropop, synthpop, and electronic genres.
• The following slides show examples of pop music tracks, listen to the songs and try to pick out features like dynamics, instrumentation, and style.

White Stripes - Elephant

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• Elephant is the fourth album by the alternative rock group The White Stripes.
• The songs on Elephant are known for being intricate and diverse.
• The title song of the album, Seven Nation Army, is known for its iconic guitar riff that repeats throughout the song. Jack White uses his semi-acoustic guitar and an octave pedal to create a bass guitar effect for this song.

Taylor Swift - 1989

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• Released in 2014, 1989 is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.
• This album represents a departure from Swift's country style and a move towards pop.
• This album uses a lot of synthesised melodies and drum beats to create upbeat pop ballads.
• Swift has said that the album was inspired by late 1980's pop music.

Adele - 21

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• 21 is the second studio album by Adele.
• Released in 2011, 21 was influenced by folk, Motown soul, country, and Southern blues genres of music.
• Someone Like You is a softer piano ballad that contrasts the other more upbeat songs on the album.
• Rumour has it is very percussion-heavy and contains elements of doo-wop and Tin Pan Alley blues.

Alicia Keys - Girl on Fire

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• Girl on Fire is the fifth studio album by Alicia Keys.
• It is an R&B album with a mixture of conventional R&B songs and piano ballads.
• The most popular song on the album, Girl on Fire, has a heavy beat, quiet verses and big, empathic choruses. The song can be described as a midtempo R&B and hip hop song.

Coldplay - Ghost Stories

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• Ghost Stories is Coldplay's sixth studio album and was released in 2014.
• Coldplay wrote this album to be a stripped back, acoustic collection of music following their fifth album, Mylo Xyloto.
• The album explores the idea of past actions, and the effects they can have on your future.
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• Ghost Stories covers the genres of Pop, Alternative rock, Electropop, and Electronica.