VOA慢速英语2011--Critics Picks: The Top Music of 2011

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Critics Picks: The Top Music of 2011

 

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson. Today on the program: some favorite songs of top music critics for two thousand eleven. We also play music from some of the top selling artists.

But first we tell about someone working to increase the number of African American women in a specialized² industry.

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The Ormes Society

DOUG JOHNSON: Comic strips and comic books are popular in the United States. What makes comics different from other printed media is that they use pictures to tell a story. Most of the stories are funny or filled with action.

For years, very few African American characters have appeared in comics. The number of African Americans producing comics also is small. And, the number of African American women involved is even smaller. But Cheryl Lynn Eaton is hoping to change that. Barbara Klein has more.

Adele performs on stage last February during the Brit Awards 2011 at The O2 Arena3 in London

BARBARA KLEIN: Cheryl Lynn Eaton has been a lover of comics since she was a child. She formed an organization called The Ormes Society in two thousand seven. She hopes the group will help to increase interest in comics among African American women.

CHERYL LYNN EATON: “The Ormes Society is an organization dedicated⁴ to promoting black women as creators, artists and writers, as consumers of sequential art and comics and the organization was named after Jackie Ormes, who was the first African American female cartoonist.”

Artist Jackie Ormes made comics from the nineteen thirties to the nineteen fifties. Her work was published in two leading African American newspapers of that time: The Pittsburgh Courier and The Chicago Defender⁵. Cheryl Lynn Eaton first learned about her work in a report by comic book historian Tim Jackson.

CHERYL LYNN EATON: I was just amazed that there was this black woman in the forties and fifties, basically going against the trend; creating comics about black women as they loved and how they actually lived, and how they actually looked, which is completely different from what other creators were doing at the time.”

Ms. Eaton says most of the images that other artists were producing at the time were very offensive to African Americans.

CHERYL LYNN EATON: “Works that demonized African Americans and exaggerated their features in horrific ways and projected them as ignorant, unintelligent, and unable to be heroes. And here Jackie was producing works that had women who were doing things who were heroic and funny and witty⁶ and smart and it was just very important to know about this woman.”

Jackie Ormes created a number of characters, but the most famous were two sisters named Patty Jo and Ginger⁷. The two were from an upper class family. They were fashionable and intelligent. They often discussed the social and political issues of the day.

In the years since she organized the Ormes Society, Cheryl Lynn Eaton has found a number of African American women who love comics as much as she does. And, she says the number of African Americans in comics is growing, mostly because of the Internet.

CHERYL LYNN EATON: “Black cartoonists don’t have to wait for Marvel⁸ and DC to come to them. Basically, it helps them to distribute their art without having to have a serious monetary⁹ input¹⁰. So you don’t need a lot of money to publish your art on the web you don’t need a lot of money to obtain a following.”

Diamond Comic Distributors, the leading supplier of comics, reported nearly three hundred forty million dollars in sales in North America during the first ten months of the year. Cheryl Lynn Eaton says she hopes to persuade other African Americans to work in the industry.

Top Music of 2011

DOUG JOHNSON: This week we are taking a look … and a listen … to the music that came out during two thousand eleven. This was a good year for female artists. Most critics place Adele, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and others high on their list of best recordings¹¹. Electronic music also saw a jump in popularity. And, billions were made by artists on tour, even during troubled economic times.

Come along with us has our two thousand eleven musical tour.

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The British singer Adele is at the top of most critics’ best singles list. Spin, Rolling Stone and Billboard¹² magazine each named her song “Rolling in the Deep” as the best song of the year.

“Rolling in the Deep” tells the story of a woman rejected by her boyfriend. The song expresses her anger as she realizes the man was not what he appeared to be.

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Finally I can see you crystal clear

Go ahead and sell me out and I’ll lay your ship bare

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Spin magazine compares the song to the Bible story in which the ancient Israelites destroy the walls of Jericho by blowing their trumpets¹³.

Kanye West, left, and Jay-Z performing at Yankee Stadium in New York

Rolling Stone magazine chose Adele’s record album “21” as the best of the year. Number two on the list was “Watch the Throne,” the joint¹⁴ effort by Kanye West and Jay-Z. Spin placed “Otis,” a single from that album, at number seventeen on its twenty best songs of the year.

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The website Pitchfork.com chose its forty favorite music videos of two thousand eleven. One of them was from the folk rock group Fleet Foxes. “The Shrine/An Argument” is a beautifully animated¹⁵ video filled with human-like and animal-like creatures all wearing masks. The animation¹⁶ is mostly in red, brown and other earthy colors. It opens with a deer mourning the death of a loved one. The animal leans close to the body and then pushes it off a cliff.

“The Shrine/An Argument” is a song in three movements. Here is part of the first.

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Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine performs on ABC’s Good Morning America in New York last June

Florence and the Machines made many of the “best” lists of two thousand eleven. “Ceremonials,” the group’s second album, was released October thirty-first. New Musical Express, or NME.com, included the song “Shake It Out” on its fifty best tracks list.

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Billboard.com released a list of the top twenty-five tours of the year. The list is based on tickets sales.

Taylor Swift had the top selling country music tour, coming in at number five on Billboard’s list. But it was another country singer, Jason Aldean, who had a break-out year. Fifty of his shows were sold out. His album “My Kinda Party” also sold more than two million copies, more than any other country album this year.

Jason Aldean performs at the CMT Artists of the Year television taping on last month in Nashville, Tennessee

We leave you with the song that Billboard called a set list essential for Jason Aldean’s current tour. Here is “See You When I See You,” from “My Kinda Party.”

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: I’m Doug Johnson. Our program was written by June Simms and Caty Weaver¹⁷, who was also our producer.

Join us again next week for music and more on AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

3 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

6 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

7 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

8 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

9 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

10 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

11 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

12 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

13 trumpets   

喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花

参考例句：

• A wreath was laid on the monument to a fanfare of trumpets. 在响亮的号角声中花圈被献在纪念碑前。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

14 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

15 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

16 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

17 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。