Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

The Nerve

Monday 16 to Friday 20 January 2012

(2) In the Key of DNA (Music & Evolution)

Jowi Taylor asks the question why? Why did music evolve in the first place? Some people think music is merely an evolutionary frill, a by-product - delicious cheesecake for our ears that has no evolutionary purpose. Darwin himself was puzzled by music. Observing songbirds, he suggested music’s role was in sexual selection (which may explain why rock stars from Franz Liszt to Tommy Lee have had such busy sex lives). Others believe music’s origins may be found in the mother-infant interactions we call baby talk, and others consider the importance of the lullaby - a need to pacify infants. Others theorize that music developed in tandem with the social cohesion necessary to the survival of bands of early humans, critical to them through its power to strengthen social bonds

Cheesecake? Or sex, baby talk, and social interaction? Set in the Key of DNA, Taylor examines what the purpose of music is and has been, yesterday and today (CBC)

(3) The Pipe, the Drum & the Thunder Run (Music & War)

Jowi Taylor surveys the entwined histories of war and music. Military music is meant to stir the blood. In order to achieve this, some instruments, some compositions, some sounds are more favoured than others. The Israelites used trumpets to bring down the walls of Jericho. Coppola’s Apocalypse Now helicopters played Ride of the Valkyries, which was based on an actual practice used during the Vietnam War, and is used today as part of the “Thunder Run” strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Scots went to war with bagpipes. Every army has a band. And music can also be an instrument of torture, as happens today, when the US Army uses music to “forcibly interrogate” its prisoners.From pipes, to drums, to thunder runs, Taylor takes a serious look at the dark side of music (CBC)

(4) Enchanted, Entranced (Music & Spirituality)

In Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and every minor religion around the world, music has been used as a tool to elevate the spirit or unite the faithful. Jowi Taylor looks at how music has come to be so closely associated with the sacred, and how chanting, singing and drumming in unison produce tangible physical effects, evoking altered states from trance to exaltation. Many cultures consider music to be a gift from the gods. But apart from the claim that it is a gift from God, what is it exactly about music that makes it have such power over our spirits? Taylor congregates a variety of opinions from multiple faiths to address why music so enchants and entrances us (CBC)

(5) myTunes (Music & Identity)

Today, it seems, everyone has the opportunity to create their very own personal soundtrack to their lives. There’s a very simple reason that the iPod starts with the letter “I”. Jowi Taylor examines how music plays an integral part in everyone’s identity, regardless of class, race, religion, education, gender, or sexuality. But wait - no, in fact, it’s got everything to do with class, race, religion, education, gender and sexuality

Just how much power does music have to create a sense of “me” and “you”, of “us” and “them”? How can songs written by other people be described as your tunes or my tunes? The Nerve declares its own musical identity (CBC)

(6) Sentimental Journey (Music & Emotion)

Some music expresses joy; other music expresses sorrow. It also can affect our emotions and ‘make’ us happy or sad. Jowi Taylor asks what makes sad music sad, and whether those elements are universal across cultures. Music is like a drug, in a way. It’s used to enhance the effect of dramatic entertainment and evoke moods in an audience. We often use it to alter our own moods. Is there a recipe composers can use to achieve these ends? Taylor wonders whether music really is the language of our emotions.

The Nerve on the CBC website.