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the Nardwuar Assignment

7/31/2020

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This is an assignment from my popular music history course, "Punk to Present: 1977-" 

Nardwuar Vs...

Nardwuar has been a music journalist for over 30 years. This Canadian icon has distinguished himself from the field with his unique style and impressive knowledge of his subjects. In more recent years his career has had a rebirth of sorts with many notable hip-hop artists eager to get the Nardwuar treatment. One of my favourite episodes is Nardwuar Vs. N.E.R.D. from 2008 because you can witness Pharrell's bewildered appreciation for the human serviette: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RKbSi87J5Q

For this assignment, you will watch a "Nardwuar Vs..." episode. It's important that you watch an interview with a musician (not a comedian, politician, etc.). These are titled as "Nardwuar Vs..." followed by the name of the musician(s). He interviews lots and lots of people, so there should be no issue finding someone you're interested in with a little searching on his YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/NardwuarServiette/featured

If you're having issues finding something that interests you, let me know. Episodes are rarely over 20 minutes, and typically about 12 minutes. Some episodes are too short to use for the purposes of this assignment simply based on a lack of content to analyze. 

Step 1. Watch an episode.

Step 2. Do the following:

a. Indicate which episode you watched, and the date it was originally posted. 

b. Content (900 words): Identify 3 themes from the interview and provide evidence for each theme. You should plan to write approximately 300 words per theme (900 words total). Examples of themes could include a wide variety of topics such as love/romance, childhood, musical likes/dislikes, food, and so on. For example, if you identify love/romance as a clear theme, your evidence might be that the interviewer asked 2 questions on this topic, and then give examples of the questions asked and the responses given by the musician(s). 

c. Analysis (300 words): Explain what you think this interview says about contemporary popular music culture. What do the questions and answers say about us as a musical culture? Based on the interview you watched, what do we as an interview-watching society want to hear/learn about from popular musicians?

Alternative:
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Not a Nardwuar fan? That's ok, there a lot of great music interviewers out there, especially in the world of podcasts. Contact me for approval of your suggested alternative interview source. 
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    adam patrick
    bell

    music educator & reveler

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