State Library Victoria members can access hundreds of databases from home (if your home is in Victoria). That’s millions of articles, magazines, archives, ebooks, videos, songs, audiobooks and more, available through the catalogue anytime. We’re taking a closer look at new and/or interesting databases as well as hidden gems from our collections. Read on for top picks and tips from Librarians.
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Today we’re looking at the American Music database, which is part of the Music Online series provided by Alexander Street.
What makes this database so great?
The United States of America can boast some of the most influential and varied music scenes and recordings of modern times. Many music genres like: blues, folk, soul, bluegrass, zydeco (to name a few) grew from specific regional areas of the USA to become influential across the country and the world to enthral musicians and music fans.
The Music Online: American Music database allows Victorian State Library members to listen to a wide range of terrific music for free without commercials! You can search the resources via the Library catalogue (using standard search terms), though I find that searching the American Music database directly makes it far easier to explore a wide variety of music.
Finding music on the database
The Music Online: American Music database interface allows for searching, and has lists of genres, musicians and browsable categories.
The ‘Genre’ menu option is useful as it looks at genres of music (blues, folk, jazz etc) and finds a more specific sub-genre. It’s a great way to browse similar artists and recordings.
A list of artists most represented is helpfully listed on the front page of the database, though you can search a list of artists alphabetically.
Numerous recordings on the database refer to an actual event. For those interested in American history, you can search the ‘Historical Timeline’ option to view any songs or spoken word that refers to an event such as: Battle of New Orleans, the sinking of the Titanic, Prohibition and the California gold rush.
When you have selected a track you can use the popout window function to allow you to continue to search and browse the database whilst listening to your track uninterrupted.
Many of the recordings include linear notes, which provide useful information, research, and some lovely images.
Creating an account allows you to have your own playlists of albums and songs. An account gives you the ability to create your own clips of songs, and to bookmark parts of songs for ease of retrieval.
Collection Highlights
Genre
The database has a broad collection within genres that feature African American musicians. This database has many recordings of legendary blues, gospel, funk, and soul artists.
Recorded music for homegrown genres like folk, western swing, zydeco, norteño and tejano as well as field recordings of songs and stories are available.
From top left: Various artists, Super Disco Brakes, Traffic Entertainment Group, 2008; Flaco Jimenez with Los Caminantes, Flaco’s First, Arhoolie, 1995; Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings, 100 Days 100 Nights, Daptone, 2007; Del McCoury, Del McCoury, Rebel, 2010.
Publishers
The database has collected works from numerous well-known publishers of music. The Document record label is best represented in this database with over 800 albums of blues and folk artists, whilst other labels included are; Stax (the home of Issac Hayes, Carla and Rufus Thomas, Staple Singers, The Bar-Kays), Specialty (Little Richard, Percy Mayfield), Hightone, Daptone (the home of Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings), Smithsonian Folkways, and Rounder. Many other influential music publishers are also listed.
Fast Folk Musical Magazine: music and words
The ‘Fast Folk’ Musical Magazine archive is an interesting magazine that included a series of songs for each edition. The publication of Fast Folk was created as a ‘desperately needed venue for the expansion of the concept of the non-commercial artistic song’, 1 The multi-media publication included articles on the folk music scene as well as featuring independent songwriters (some of whom become commercially successful such as Suzanne Vega, Lyle Lovett and Tracey Chapman).
We hope you enjoy exploring the Music Online: American Music database.
More to explore
We always welcome your recommendations for database trials — let us know what you’d like to see. Check out our latest databases on trial, and see a full list of all new and trial databases, by visiting our A-Z Databases page. Have a research query or questions on how to use our online collections? Ask a Librarian
If you have enjoyed reading about this database, please consider listening to musical databases, including the Naxos Music Library and other music resources held by State Library Victoria.
