music

How do we define a musical genre today in a world of technology, musical evolution and overlap? Simple genres of the past – rock, blues, folk, pop and jazz -- are harder to define than ever and increasingly difficult to distinguish from one another.

The Artist, this year’s Oscar winner for best picture, is usually described as a silent film (or ‘mostly silent,’ because of Jean Dujardin’s spoken words in the closing shot). What sometimes remains mostly silent in the discussion of the film is its music: not just a companion to the film, as so many original scores are, but one of the stars.

Cake doesn’t find itself on the top of the pop charts too often, but it’s not because they aren’t talented. This alt rock quintet blends jazz, funk and occasionally bluegrass or country all while singing about whatever the hell they want. Not only that, but lead vocalist John McCrea’s sardonic drawl infuses irony into just about any subject.