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<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Saiu no Wall Street
Journal, 20 de Agosto de 2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><font size=5
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><font size=5
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>Music's New Mating Ritual<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:12.75pt'><b><font size=3 color="#666666"
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#666666;font-weight:
bold'>As genres are fused, cryptically named hybrids emerge; the story behind
'gypsy punk'<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-weight:bold'><span id=byl>By JOHN JURGENSEN<br>
<span class=atime1><i><font face="Times New Roman">August 18,
2007; Page P1</font></i></span></span><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Indie
Hindi, socaton, skurban. You may feel like you need a dictionary the next time
you go shopping for music.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
music world is getting thick with hybrids, or cryptically named blends of
established styles. Indie Hindi, for example, is traditional Indian vocals
tinged with edgy American-style rock. Socaton is dance music that has elements
of rap, calypso and reggae. The number of genres is up more than 40% over the
past four years, by one measure -- Gracenote, which maintains the
music-classification system used by major sites like Yahoo and iTunes, now
recognizes more than 1,800 genres. It recently added "hyphy," a
jittery form of hip-hop from the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San
Francisco</st1:place></st1:City> area.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Defying
standard genres has traditionally been a risky move for bands in part because
it's difficult for retailers to figure out where to place them on the shelves.
But increasingly, fans are finding music in less conventional ways -- like
perusing strangers' online playlists, or following a trail of links on MySpace
-- paving the way for bands to define themselves in more exotic ways. Bands are
also keenly aware of the recent commercial success of blended genres like
reggaeton, a Jamaican-Latin-rap mix, and popera, radio-friendly songs done with
operatic vocals.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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class=imglftbdy border=0 v:shapes="_x0000_s1026"><![endif]><font size=3
face="Times New Roman">Even some genres that don't hit commercial high notes
are finding followings. Take "nerdcore hip-hop," rap music that
revolves around geeky subjects like videogames and J.R.R. Tolkien books. The
father of the movement, Damian Hess, performs often around the country and says
he makes a comfortable living selling his albums and merchandise. But nerdcore
hasn't registered with mainstream listeners. Fans of the genre have fallen
short in a petition drive to get MySpace to add nerdcore to its list of 127
genres.<o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Mr.
Hess, who goes by "MC Frontalot," is hardly discouraged. "Top of
the esoteric fringe is really the ideal place," says Mr. Hess, who sports
a short-sleeve shirt and necktie on stage. (<a href="http://frontalot.com/">See
Mr. Hess's Web site.</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Jazz
singer Jacqui Naylor decided to try something different after getting one too
many requests for "My Funny Valentine" during a tour of Japan in
2001. Her arranger and piano player Art Khu came to her with a translation of
AC/DC's hard-rock anthem "Back in Black" as an instrumental vamp.
Into that, Ms. Naylor wove the familiar melody to "My Funny
Valentine."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
process, which Ms. Naylor calls "acoustic smashing," marked a turning
point in her career. Her first two albums of straight-ahead jazz didn't get
much notice outside jazz circles. But her most recent albums, including
"The Color Five," have gotten play on some rock stations. Her next
album: "Smashed for the Holidays," which includes a fusion of
"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "<st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Sweet Home</st1:City> <st1:State w:st="on">Alabama</st1:State></st1:place>."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>This
is, of course, not the first time musicians have blended styles to create
genres (that's how rock 'n' roll came about), but the number of sub-niches has
been growing at a remarkable clip. It's being fueled by the migration of music
online and a "mashup" culture that has spawned everything from spoof
movie trailers to fan-made music videos. At dance clubs this summer, DJs are
spinning "baile funk," a dance-rock fusion from <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Brazil</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
Recently at No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart was the crossover hit "Party
Like a Rockstar," a rap-mashed-with-distorted-guitar number by the
"hood rock" group Shop Boyz.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Anoushka Shankar</span></font></b><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><img border=0 width=100 height=145 id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:image002.jpg@01C7E32B.E21F4EF0" alt="[Anoushka Shankar]"
class=imgnonins><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>A new album from this sitar player and DJ Karsh Kale has
Indian and electronic influences, a blend called "desi dance."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Jacqui Naylor</span></font></b><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><img border=0 width=100 height=145 id="_x0000_i1026"
src="cid:image003.jpg@01C7E32B.E21F4EF0" alt="[Jacqui Naylor]" class=imgnonins><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>In her "acoustic smashes," Ms. Naylor sings the
melody of jazz standards over well-known rock instrumentals.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=p11><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>•</span></font></span><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'> Hear an audio sample of Jacqui
Naylor's "Summertime": <a
href="mms://media.marketwatch.com/wsj/Audio/20070817/summertime/summertime.wma">Windows
Media</a> | <a
href="http://media.marketwatch.com/wsj/Audio/20070817/summertime/summertime.rm">Real
Audio</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Bonde do Role</span></font></b><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><img border=0 width=100 height=150 id="_x0000_i1027"
src="cid:image004.jpg@01C7E32B.E21F4EF0" alt="[Bonde do Role]" class=imgnonins><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>This trio mixes "baile funk" from its native <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Brazil</st1:place></st1:country-region> with
punk riffs and electronic samples. The group starts a <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> tour next
month.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=p11><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>•</span></font></span><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'> Hear an audio sample of Bonde
do Role's "Solta o Frango": <a
href="mms://media.marketwatch.com/wsj/Audio/20070817/solta_o_frango/solta_o_frango.wma">Windows
Media</a> | <a
href="http://media.marketwatch.com/wsj/Audio/20070817/solta_o_frango/solta_o_frango.rm">Real
Audio</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Meanwhile,
Falguni Shah, a classically trained Indian vocalist who records under the name
Falu, uses the term "indie Hindi" to describe her <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:State> band's sound. (Her producer coined
the term.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>While
everyone from the bands to bloggers to fans come up with the names for new
genres, ultimately it falls to music-cataloging companies like Gracenote and
All Media Guide to decide whether to acknowledge them for posterity.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Gracenote,
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Emeryville</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">Calif.</st1:State></st1:place>, supplies the information that pops
up when you put a CD in the computer, like the title, artist and genre.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>About
40 music analysts, including some working in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Japan</st1:country-region>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Russia</st1:place></st1:country-region>
and other countries, use an internal Web site to nominate genres. They make
their case by citing important bands and media mentions. A small group of
editors makes the final call. Not all the genres are new -- among some 30
currently on the table are several subcategories of folk music, including
"prison songs" and "hokum," a blues style marked by comedic
patter.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>While
the editors agreed to add "hyphy," the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City> rap sound, "snap
music," which has inspired dance crazes in the South, was deemed a passing
fad. Meanwhile, some newer music-recommendation services like Pandora and iLike
are moving in the other direction and doing away with genre labels altogether.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Marketers
smell an opportunity in the proliferation of genres. Klee Irwin, a Los
Angeles-based entrepreneur whose main business is selling vitamins via
infomercials he hosts, has launched a group of rapping skateboarders called
Board Bangers. His idea draws on the growing number of black skaters, a culture
merge referred to as "skurban." His hope is to sell Board Bangers
music and merchandise to suburban white kids. (<a
href="https://www.boardbangers.tv/">See Board Bangers' Web site.</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=times><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Mr.
Irwin says he spent $150,000 building a recording studio, and more than $1
million on 19 music videos to promote the group's debut, including an upcoming
album release. He had to audition over a hundred teenagers to find his crew.
"Every time we found cool, aggressive street skaters, they couldn't rap
very well," he says.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=p12><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>•</span></font></span> Hear an audio sample
of Falu's "Dum Maro Dum": <a
href="mms://media.marketwatch.com/wsj/Audio/20070817/dummarodum/dummarodum.wma">Windows
Media</a> | <a
href="http://media.marketwatch.com/wsj/Audio/20070817/dummarodum/dummarodum.rm">Real
Audio</a>.<font size=1><span style='font-size:4.0pt'><br>
</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=times><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Write to </span></font></b>John Jurgensen at <a
href="mailto:john.jurgensen@wsj.com">john.jurgensen@wsj.com</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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