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You are here: Home / Music / Open Thread: Georemixing

Open Thread: Georemixing

by Anne Laurie|  May 27, 20142:31 pm| 42 Comments

This post is in: Music, Open Threads

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Fun article on a genre I did not know there was a word for, by Ethan Zuckerman in the Atlantic:

… While the braggadocio in these remixes is pure parody, there’s a sense in which each of these videos makes a claim to share the stage with the original. YouTube’s related videos feature means that there’s a chance that some of the 2 billion viewers of PSY’s “Gangnam Style” video will encounter Zigi’s “Ghana Style,” a georemix that relocates Seoul to Accra and replaces PSY’s horse dance with Ghanaian Azonto. (And if not through YouTube, viewers may encounter Zigi through the hundreds of listicles that advertise “10 Best Gangnam Style Parodies.”)

I think of the georemix as a claim to attention, a way of demanding part of the spotlight that shines on a popular video. It’s a very basic demand: accept that we’re part of this phenomenon, too.…

Loïc Fontaine and Julie Fersing deserve much of the credit for the georemixes that made Pharrell cry, though neither has made a video. Fersing, an interior designer in Nantes, began collecting georemixes of “Happy”, searching YouTube to find new material. When she’d located 21 of the videos, she turned to her husband, Fontaine, who’d begun a career in website development nine months earlier. Together, they launched We Are Happy From, a portal that now hosts 1,682 videos from 143 countries…

For me, as a student of civic media, the dissident videos excluded from the We Are Happy Map are the most interesting ones. Fontaine has kindly shared the list of rejected videos with me, and I hope to spend some time this summer watching those 500 remixes in the hopes of developing an understanding of how “Happy” can work as a script for advocacy (or how videomakers think it might act as that script).

But for Fontaine and his wife, the mark of success wasn’t raising awareness for a cause or an issue—it was documenting the spread of happiness globally. When I interviewed Fontaine, he was celebrating the spread of “Happy” to Antarctica, with a video from French research station Dumont d’Urville…

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42Comments

  1. 1.

    Dee Loralei

    May 27, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    I love that most silly “Happy” song. Yea, it makes me happy. No way in hell I’m watching even one second of the Gangnam parodies, I hate that song. Wished the French had shown more of the penguins, maybe doin’ a Happy Feet dance to the Happy song.

  2. 2.

    MikeJ

    May 27, 2014 at 2:43 pm

    It’s a very basic demand: accept that we’re part of this phenomenon, too.…

    Because you watched a video you’re now part of it and making demands about being recognized?

  3. 3.

    catclub

    May 27, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    so Gangnam is a place. huh.

  4. 4.

    Belafon

    May 27, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    @Dee Loralei: The good thing about Gangnam Style is that it kept Call Me Maybe from being the “song of the summer” that year, the song that would have been played over and over for the rest of the year.

  5. 5.

    MattF

    May 27, 2014 at 2:49 pm

    Via MeFi, interesting thoughts about Big Data:

    http://idlewords.com/bt14.htm

    And cute animal pictures, for the BJ masses.

  6. 6.

    A Ghost To Most

    May 27, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    since this is an open thread, submitted without comment:

    trigger warning: mooney times

    Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher has a message for the families of the six victims killed during Elliot Rodger’s bloody rampage through Isla Vista, California: “Your dead kids don’t trump my constitutional rights.”

  7. 7.

    Mnemosyne

    May 27, 2014 at 2:52 pm

    @MikeJ:

    Because you watched a video you’re now part of it and making demands about being recognized?

    No, they’re part of the phenomenon because they made a response or parody video like the one Anne Laurie embedded.

  8. 8.

    ranchandsyrup

    May 27, 2014 at 2:55 pm

    Mitch the turtle speaks the truth about teabillies and the gop:

    “They have their strong base, their core. But, they don’t have success courting the middle. You know why? It’s their overt racism. The Tea Party hasn’t learned to conceal its racism. That’s where they fail. The Republican party knows better. Want to keep minority voters from the polls? Fine, set up hindrances to “prevent voter fraud”. Want to cut social services? Fine, but do it for “fiscal conservatism”. These Tea Party idiots and their supporters are out hollering the N word, calling Obama an ape, suggest Michelle is a transvestite. That alienates the middle. That’s what costs them. You want to think those things? Think them to yourselves. You want to legislate against that them? Come up with an excuse. The Tea Party will remain an also ran unless they work on their poker face a bit more” – See more at: http://nationalreport.net/secret-mcconnell-recording-tea-party-lost-primaries-hasnt-learned-conceal-racism/#sthash.o1sjIioQ.dpuf

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    May 27, 2014 at 2:57 pm

    There’s a bottomless chasm separating a genre from pretentious claptrap.

    a student of civic media

    That was the cue to cease reading the excerpt altogether, much less click through.

  10. 10.

    ranchandsyrup

    May 27, 2014 at 2:58 pm

    Oh noes I am in moderation for quoting Mitch McConnell

  11. 11.

    Ash Can

    May 27, 2014 at 3:03 pm

    The little vid at the link of Pharrell Williams tearing up at the sight of people around the world being happy along with his music had me getting misty-eyed as well. Very sweet.

  12. 12.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 27, 2014 at 3:03 pm

    Well, the dipshits at Noisemax of course miss the entire point, but what the fuck does one expect from ammosexuals?

    Michael Moore: Guns Don’t Kill, Americans Do

    Yeah, Americans kill Americans…WITH GUNS!

    Read the article, it’s pretty obvious that Moore is not jumping into bed with the small dicked twits of the NRA.

  13. 13.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 27, 2014 at 3:06 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: What, did McConnell talk about the medical enhancements he needs to get it on with Elaine or something?

  14. 14.

    ranchandsyrup

    May 27, 2014 at 3:07 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: lulz!

  15. 15.

    Trollhattan

    May 27, 2014 at 3:08 pm

    @A Ghost To Most:

    Uh, “Joe,” Andy Warhol for you, line three.

    I suppose “Ted” Nugent will chime in, next. Every bottom-dweller surfaces for a gasp, now and then.

    Today’s Google doodle celebrates Rachel Carson, who certainly warrants celebrating.

  16. 16.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 27, 2014 at 3:08 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    The Republican party knows better.

    We know to use dog whistles, not to use an air raid siren.

    McConnell is racist vermin just like the teahadis.

  17. 17.

    ranchandsyrup

    May 27, 2014 at 3:09 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: aw fornicate me, that is satirical. gonna go sit in the corner for a while.

  18. 18.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 27, 2014 at 3:10 pm

    @Dee Loralei: Just don’t text while driving about how happy you are from the song.

  19. 19.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 27, 2014 at 3:11 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: Poe’s law…it’s everywhere you are!

  20. 20.

    Belafon

    May 27, 2014 at 3:11 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: If that’s real, Mitch could finally rate up there with one of the greats: Lee Atwater.

    ETA: And it’s not. Oh well.

  21. 21.

    Amir Khalid

    May 27, 2014 at 3:12 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:
    It would be uncharitable, I suppose, to think that Mitch McConnell cares about calling out racism among the Tea Party tendency only because his wife is Asian-American.

    @A Ghost To Most:
    We should all be in awe of John McCain and his talent for choosing friends.

  22. 22.

    Roger Moore

    May 27, 2014 at 3:15 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:
    Poe’s Law strikes again!

  23. 23.

    Amir Khalid

    May 27, 2014 at 3:16 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:
    Assume that my comment was made in the same spirit as the original story.

  24. 24.

    BruinKid

    May 27, 2014 at 3:17 pm

    Joe the Plumber has opened his mouth about the UCSB massacre.

    I am sorry you lost your child. I myself have a son and daughter and the one thing I never want to go through, is what you are going through now. But:

    As harsh as this sounds – your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights.

    Go fuck yourself, “Joe”. Weinstein nailed it:

    It’s part of a larger move in conservatism away from appeals to the common good and toward an antipathy for anything but the self. Where conservatives used to justify the free market, for example, in Adam Smith’s practical terms—the invisible hand provides for all, a rising tide floats every boat—they now rationalize it in Ayn Rand’s fundamentalist terms: Who gives a shit if the market is good or just? It’s right. Now get the fuck out of our way, you illogical bromide-hawking self sacrificer. … Even if you believe that discussion of social responsibilities is the same thing as socialism—and frankly, only an ignoramus could—you can’t fight socialism by becoming a sociopath.

  25. 25.

    ranchandsyrup

    May 27, 2014 at 3:18 pm

    I WANTED TO BELIEVE.
    *ashamed*

  26. 26.

    Dee Loralei

    May 27, 2014 at 3:19 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: yea. No kidding. That poor dumbass woman.

    @Belafon: Yea, I hated that song too, and almost mentioned it i my previous comment, but was afraid the ear worm Gods would go on the offensive.

  27. 27.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 27, 2014 at 3:22 pm

    @BruinKid: The “conservatives” need to be tossed into a jungle naked and see how much they like the lifestyle the want to push on everyone else.

    Good meals for tigers and vultures they will make.

  28. 28.

    NotMax

    May 27, 2014 at 3:27 pm

    @BruinKid

    JtP, another voice of unreason shoved into the spotlight courtesy of John McCain.

    Atilla the Hun had more tact.

  29. 29.

    Seanly

    May 27, 2014 at 3:35 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    Ummm, there’s a bit more damning stuff in there than tea party is racist. He gives the game away about voter fraud & social net slashing.

    On topic – I love that goofy song. The tribute/parody videos are great.

  30. 30.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    May 27, 2014 at 3:40 pm

    It’s a very basic demand: accept that we’re part of this phenomenon, too.…

    Those folks are definitely management material.

  31. 31.

    MikeJ

    May 27, 2014 at 3:42 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    No, they’re part of the phenomenon because they made a response or parody video like the one Anne Laurie embedded.

    But that’s not what the article claims. It says they made the video because they’re part of the phenomenon, not that they are part of the phenomenon because they made the video.

  32. 32.

    catclub

    May 27, 2014 at 3:42 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: wow. Quite the tape.

  33. 33.

    Seanly

    May 27, 2014 at 3:46 pm

    derp, see now that folks are saying that was satire…

    or was it?

  34. 34.

    Suffern ACE

    May 27, 2014 at 3:55 pm

    Who the hell even sought out Joe the Plumber’s opinion on anything?

  35. 35.

    raven

    May 27, 2014 at 3:58 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: dead linky

  36. 36.

    ranchandsyrup

    May 27, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    @raven: I’m glad. It was satire. SORRY everyone.

  37. 37.

    Tommy

    May 27, 2014 at 4:08 pm

    Gosh I am so not hip. I had to Google “Pharrell” and “Happy.” I first heard of this song and the videos made when the folks in Iran got arrested. That video from Antarctica is just off the chart. Wow.

  38. 38.

    Mnemosyne

    May 27, 2014 at 4:10 pm

    @MikeJ:

    It says they made the video because they’re part of the phenomenon, not that they are part of the phenomenon because they made the video.

    What came first, the chicken or the egg? People liked the song and/or video, so they made their own song and/or response to it, and now you have “georemixing.” It seemed pretty clear to me that it was the response song/video that made it a new phenomenon, not just people liking the song.

  39. 39.

    Frankensteinbeck

    May 27, 2014 at 4:11 pm

    @catclub:
    It’s the South Korean equivalent of Beverly Hills. The point of the song and the video is that rich people trying to be cool usually look like idiots, and really cool people are the normal folks you meet on the subway.

  40. 40.

    Comrade Mary

    May 27, 2014 at 6:04 pm

    @Dee Loralei: I love both songs and almost all the tributes / remixes / parodies.

    Did any of us think back in the 20th century that there would be this kind of global sharing and mixing?

    I fucking love the future sometimes.

  41. 41.

    Origuy

    May 27, 2014 at 6:58 pm

    I don’t think anything in the “National Report” can be taken seriously. They seem to mix real news with fake stories indiscriminately. For example, the stories saying that Obama is going to remove “In God We Trust” from currency and that he plans to work for the Muslim Brotherhood are bogus, but some of the others appear real.

  42. 42.

    Paul in KY

    May 28, 2014 at 8:15 am

    @A Ghost To Most: Boy, he really does messaging well. I hope he keeps em coming.

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