ESL podcast 871 – listening to club music

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GLOSSARY

club – a dance club; a building with a large, open area where people can dance

while listening to music, usually a business that serves alcoholic beverages

* Noemi and her friends like dancing, so they often go to clubs on weekends

DJ – disk jockey; a person who decides what songs to play and in what order,

often speaking between the songs, especially on the radio, at a dance club, or at

a special event like a wedding

* Did you listen to the radio this morning? The DJ played some great new music

by a band I had never heard of before

to spin – to be a DJ; to play recorded music, especially in a club

* Trent is a DJ and he loves his job when he gets to spin the records he likes, but sometimes his clients want to pick all the songs

mix – a recorded song that has been rearranged and/or combined with other

songs in some way

* Sheila loves listening to unusual mixes, like classical music mixed with rap lyrics

mixed drink – a drink made with alcohol and juice, coffee, or cream, usually with

a sweet taste

* Jill’s favorite mixed drink is a sea breeze, which contains vodka, cranberry juice, and grapefruit juice

pumped up – excited, enthusiastic, and energetic; ready to do something

* The coach gave a great speech that got his team pumped up for the big game

to sample – to use a small part of a song to create a new song

* Most musicians are flattered when other musicians sample their songs, as long

as they give them credit

track – one song on a CD, associated with a number

dance floor – a large, open area where people can dance, usually at a dance

club or special event

* Everyone fell silent and watched as the bride and groom stepped onto the dance floor

to segue – to transition into something very smoothly; without a break or pause

* How in the world did our conversation segue from national politics to the mating practices of bees?

mellow – calm and relaxing; not exciting or loud

* Michael has such a mellow personality I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get angry

club music – the type of music normally played at dance clubs, usually very

loud, electronic music, and perhaps experimental or hip-hop

* Why does the club music have to be so loud? I can’t even hear myself think!

to sit this one out – to not participate in something right away, but maybe wait

for the next opportunity, used especially when one does not want to dance to the current song

* When James asked Evelyn to dance, she explained that she had been dancing all evening and wanted to sit that one out, but that she would love to dance with him once the next song started playing

volume – a measure of how loud or quiet something is

* As Dad gets older, he likes to have the volume higher and higher on the TV Maybe he should have his hearing tested

to turn (something) up – to increase the level of something, especially volume

or temperature

* If you’re cold, we can turn up the temperature setting on the heater

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1 What kind of club are Anastasia and Joshua in?

a) An organization where they have to pay membership dues

b) An association of people who like different kinds of music

c) A building where people can go to dance and have fun

2 What kind of music would Joshua prefer to hear?

a) Something that is louder

b) Something that is calmer or slower

c) Something that is more exciting

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

club

The word “club,” in this podcast, means a dance club, or a building with a large, open area where people can dance while listening to music, usually a business that serves alcoholic beverages: “The night before his wedding, Lyle’s friends took him to a local club for his last evening as a single man.” A “strip club” is a place where female performers dance while taking off their clothes: “Rebecca was shocked, angry, and sad when she learned that her husband had gone to a strip club.” Finally, a “country club” is a facility where rich people pay a lot of money to be members so that they can enjoy social events, a gym, a golf club, and more: “The country club has a beautiful golf course and swimming pool, but most of the members join to meet other successful businesspeople.”

to sample

In this podcast, the verb “to sample” means to use a small part of a song to

create a new song: “One of the most sampled songs in hip-hop is The Payback

by James Brown.” The verb “to sample” also means to take a small piece of

CULTURE NOTE

House Music

“House music” is a type of electronic dance music It first appeared in the early 1980s in Chicago, Illinois Some people think the name “house music” “was derived from” (came from) the name of a Chicago nightclub, The Warehouse, which was one of the first places where the music became popular

The music is characterized by the use of “drum machines” (an electronic

machine that produces the sounds of drums without using actual drums) and

“synthesized” (electronic) “bass lines” (the low-pitched, simple melodies

traditionally played on a bass guitar) The “rhythm” (beat) tends to be very

repetitive, and in some ways the rhythm is more important than the melody The

“kick drum” (bass drum, a large drum that has a low pitch) is played on every beat, four times in a “measure” (section of music and a way of counting the number of beats in a song) House music has few or no “vocals” (singing), but when it does have “lyrics” (words that are sung in a song), they often “convey” (express) political messages

Disco was influence by house music, which “dabbled in” (tried a little bit of)

electronic music House music takes some elements of disco music and makes them “fully” (entirely; completely) electronic and more repetitive

Today, house music is “mainstream” (commonplace; accepted by many or most people) Famous “recording artists” (musicians) like Madonna and Janet Jackson have “incorporated” (integrated; adopted and used) elements of house music into their own performances

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – b

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 871: Listening to Club Music

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 871 I’m your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California

Our website is ESLPod.com Go there to download a Learning Guide for this episode that will help you improve your English faster than ever

This episode is a dialog between Anastasia and Joshua, about going somewhere

to listen to a specific kind of dance music Let’s get this party started

[start of dialog]

Anastasia: This is the best club in the city Grace brought me here last month You’re going to love it

Joshua: What?!

Anastasia: You’re going to love this club It has the best DJ in town She spins the best mixes

Joshua: Did you say you’re going to get us some mixed drinks?

Anastasia: No, I said that this DJ is great She plays music that gets people pumped up Oh, I love this song It samples from two of my favorite songs and it’s my favorite track on this CD

Joshua: Did you say that you want to buy this CD?

Anastasia: No, I said I like this song It’s got a pounding beat and I can really

Joshua: I think I’ll sit this one out Don’t you think that the volume is a little loud

in here?

Anastasia: What?! You want the music to be louder? I’ll go ask the DJ to turn it

up

Joshua: No!

[end of dialog]

Anastasia begins by saying to Joshua, “This is the best club in the city.” A “club” (club) in this case refers to a dance club, a building with a large open area where people can dance and listen to music – usually modern music that is easy to dance to or, at least, some people think it’s easy to dance to I do not

Anastasia says, “Grace brought me here last month You’re going to love it.” Joshua, however, is having difficulty hearing Anastasia because it’s so loud in the dance club This, of course, is quite common They play their music very loud and it’s very difficult to talk to someone So, Joshua says, “What?” because he didn’t hear Anastasia Anastasia repeats herself She says, “You’re going to love this club It has the best DJ in town.”

A “DJ” is a disc jockey That’s the person who decided which songs are going to

be played and in what order You’ll often find a DJ on a radio station or at a dance club like this Anastasia says the DJ “spins the best mixes.” “To spin” (spin) here means specifically to play recorded music, to be a DJ in a club “Spin” can also mean to move something around in a circular way and of course, in the old days, when we used to play these vinyl things called “records,” they would spin around in a circle Even your CD’s, your compact discs, did that Now, with MP3’s and other kinds of digital music, nothing has to spin around physically, but

we still use this verb “spin.”

This DJ, according to Anastasia, spins the best mixes A “mix” (mix) is when you take two or more songs and you combine them together so that it’s almost like one song Joshua says, “Did you say you’re going to get us some mixed drinks?”

“Mixed (mixed) drinks” have nothing to do with mixes like recorded songs A

“mixed drink” is a drink with alcohol and some other liquid like juice, coffee, or cream Often it has a sweet taste, though not always It’s a kind of alcoholic drink that you would find in a dance club for adults like this

Anastasia says, “No I said that this DJ is great.” In other words, Joshua isn’t understanding what Anastasia is saying He thought she said something about

getting mixed drinks, when in fact, she was talking about spinning mixes

Anastasia says the DJ plays music that gets people pumped up “To be pumped (pumped) up” means to be excited, to be enthusiastic, to be ready to do

something

Pump up the jam, pump it up…

That’s a line from a dance song from, I don’t know, many years ago “Pump up the jam.” “The jam” is probably just the music there – the mix

Pump up the jam, pump it up…

That’s what dance music is like You can tell why I’m not a very good dancer Anyway, Anastasia says, “The music gets people pumped up.” “Oh I love this song,” she says “It samples from two of my favorite songs and it’s my favorite track on this CD.” “To sample” (sample) here means to take a small part of a song and create a new song with it So, it’s similar to a mix but usually, when you’re sampling, you’re just taking a very small part, maybe just ten seconds or

so from another song and making it part of a new song That’s what sampling involves Sampling usually has a new song that is combined with an older song

or part of an older song

This particular song that Anastasia loves is one of her favorite songs “It’s my favorite track in this CD.” We talk about one song on a compact disc or one song

on an old record album as being a “track.” We also use the term now for MP3’s

on iTunes, for example You can have a track A “track” (track) is one song Joshua says, “Did you say that you want to buy this CD?” Notice again, Joshua is just not understanding what Anastasia is saying because it’s so loud in that particular place Anastasia says, “No I said I like this song It’s got a pounding beat and I can really feel the music I love dancing to it.” A “pounding beat” is a very strong rhythm in a song, especially for dancing If you go to a dance club, that’s pretty much all you can hear It’s that pounding beat that people use in order to dance to help them dance, I guess It’s probably a combination of the

Joshua says, “Let’s wait until she” – the DJ – “segues into something mellower.”

“To segue” (segue) means to transition or move from one thing to another, very smoothly, without any breaks or any pauses It’s sort of a more formal word You wouldn’t expect it to be used in a dance club, but there it is The DJ is going to segue into something, Joshua hopes, that is more mellow, that is “mellower” (mellower) Something that is mellower is something that is calmer, that is more relaxing, that is not quite as exciting or loud

Joshua says, “I don’t really like dancing to this kind of club music.” We talked about a dance club as a place where you can go to dance, or simply a club

“Club music,” then, is the kind of music you typically hear at a dance club It’s usually very loud It is often what we call “electronic music.” All of the music is made by machines and computers rather than, say, an actual piano or a drum Anastasia says, “What? You love club music?” Of course she didn’t hear what Joshua said “That’s great Let’s go dance.” So, the two of them aren’t

communicating because of the loud noise Joshua then says, “I think I’ll sit this one out.” “To sit something out” means not to participate in something, at least, not participating right away, maybe wait a little while for the next opportunity So, there’s a song on and you don’t really like it and you don’t want to dance to it You may say to your boyfriend or girlfriend or dog, if you bring your dog to the dance club, as I do, “Let’s sit this one out I don’t want to dance to this song We’ll dance to the next one.” And your dog goes, “Woof, woof!” (I’m crazy, I know.)

Joshua says, “Don’t you think that the volume is a little loud in here?” The

“volume” (volume) is how loud something is or how quiet it is That’s the volume Anastasia says, “What? You want the music to be louder?” She again doesn’t understand Joshua and thinks Joshua wants the music to be even louder than it

is now She says, “I’ll go ask the DJ to turn it up.” “To turn something up” means

to increase the level of something, especially when we’re talking about volume –

on a television or on a radio It could also be talking about temperature “I’m going to turn up the heater.” I’m going to make the heater give us more heat so it’s warmer in here Joshua, at the end, simply says, “No!” meaning, no, he doesn’t want the music to be louder

Now let’s listen to the dialog this time, at a normal speed

[start of dialog]

Anastasia: This is the best club in the city Grace brought me here last month You’re going to love it

Joshua: What?!

Anastasia: You’re going to love this club It has the best DJ in town She spins the best mixes

Joshua: Did you say you’re going to get us some mixed drinks?

Anastasia: No, I said that this DJ is great She plays music that gets people pumped up Oh, I love this song It samples from two of my favorite songs and it’s my favorite track on this CD

Joshua: Did you say that you want to buy this CD?

Anastasia: No, I said I like this song It’s got a pounding beat and I can really feel the music I love dancing to it Do you want to get out onto the dance floor? Joshua: Let’s wait until she segues into something mellower I don’t really like dancing to this kind of club music

Anastasia: What?! You love club music? That’s great Let’s go dance!

Joshua: I think I’ll sit this one out Don’t you think that the volume is a little loud

in here?

Anastasia: What?! You want the music to be louder? I’ll go ask the DJ to turn it

up

Joshua: No!

[end of dialog]

She doesn’t normally spin mixes in a dance club, I don’t think But she does write wonderful scripts I speak of our wonderful scriptwriter, Dr Lucy Tse Thank you,