jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 07/22/2020 - Erykah Badu & the State of Livestreaming, UK Garage's Future, John Williams, Boy Bands, Jason Derulo...

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I didn't miss [touring]. I've always wanted to perform from my bed at home. I never wanted to do the packing and going through the car and luggage and the hotel and, 'What's the password? What's the internet?' You get tired after years and years of doing it, you know?
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Which yoga pose is this? Blues guitar great T-Bone Walker circa 1950.
(Gilles Petard/Redferns/Getty Images)
Wednesday - July 22, 2020 Wed - 07/22/20
rantnrave:// ERYKAH BADU starts her dinner with dessert, at least that's what she did while the NEW YORK TIMES was interviewing her via video recently, it was a "homemade lemon-lime-agave Popsicle," and I now love Erykah Badu a little more than I used to, and I already loved her more than I love run-on sentences. Badu is one of thousands and thousands of musicians trying to figure out how to perform live in a world where the concept of live performance has been canceled, and she's been more creative and ambitious than most, which is why the Times was talking to her for a great series of pieces about the art, business and aesthetics of livestreaming. There's been lots of discussion lately about the future of live music, but as it becomes clearer and clearer, at least in the US, that that future is a long way off, at least some attention has been turning to the strange present of live music. How to stage "absolutely not a rave." How to keep us apart. The logistics and distribution of social media music battles. The research benefits of fluorescent hand sanitizer at German concerts. Why TWITCH might be a better partner than a record company or concert promoter. The technology of quarantine jamming. And, in Badu's case, the specifics of how, for example, you can hire a truck to increase the digital bandwidth of your house ("All the neighbors had high-speed internet for a couple of weeks"), and how you might reimagine a live performance as "a two- to three-hour live music video." I'm fascinated, too, by the news buried deep within this piece that the forward-thinking ticketing startup DICE will eventually let you and your friends have a private chatroom where you can watch livestreams together and talk over the music to your heart's delight without ever being in danger of spilling beer on each other. Which sounds almost as tempting as a lemon-live-agave Popsicle... A day after awkwardly trying to rebrand itself out of a sexual assault scandal that has enveloped the label, its record store and nine of its bands, BURGER RECORDS announced Tuesday that it's going out of business. Co-founder SEAN BOHRMAN told PITCHFORK the label has already asked its distributor to remove its entire catalog from streaming platforms; the label's artists, who own their masters ("I hate dealing with lawyers so we never signed contracts with bands"), will be free to re-upload them if they want... The NEW YORKER's ALEX ROSS interviewing JOHN WILLIAMS is a fantastic music geek film geek read. Williams on film-music scholar FRANK LEHMAN's cataloging of more than 60 leitmotifs in the nine STAR WARS movies: "Oh, wow. How exhausting"... RIP pioneering concert promoter MITCH SLATER and Cardiacs frontman TIM SMITH.
- Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator
baduizm
Resident Advisor
Like A Battle: The Push For UK Garage's Future
by Gabriel Szatan
UK garage's schism in the early 2000s forced a generation to adapt, but the scene is bubbling with fresh optimism. Gabriel Szatan spends a year inside the UKG community to find out if the momentum can last.
The New Yorker
The Force Is Still Strong with John Williams
by Alex Ross
At the age of eighty-eight, the self-effacing composer reflects on his extraordinary career.
The New York Times
Concerts Aren't Back. Livestreams Are Ubiquitous. Can They Do the Job?
by David Peisner
With no return date for shows in sight, fans and artists are adapting to a new way of experiencing music together. Whether it'll keep everyone satisfied -- and paid -- is still unclear.
Complex
Pandemics, Protests, and Promotion: What Does an Independent Album Rollout Look Like in 2020?
by Eli Enis
Being an independent artist or label was already unpredictable, but things got even more difficult in 2020. Here's how indies are evolving and coping.
Billboard
COVID-19 Warns the Music Biz to Think About Tomorrow Today
by Shara Senderoff and Zach Katz
No one could have predicted what 2020 has thrown our way, but moving forward we have little excuse to not think about tomorrow today.
Texas Monthly
With Her New Book, a Texas Author Wants You to Take Boy Bands Seriously
by Arielle Avila
Music journalist Maria Sherman discusses why she wrote 'Larger Than Life,' her exhaustive guide to an enduring cultural phenomenon.
BuzzFeed News
How Jason Derulo Went From Pop Star To The King Of TikTok
by Ade Onibada
The musician has used TikTok to revamp his career, but he's also perpetuating many of the app's long-standing issues.
The Verge
Logic signs to Twitch, exclusively
by Bijan Stephen
Logic doesn't like the internet -- specifically social media: the masses who send hateful messages about him, the unmoderated horde of people who feel empowered to say "go kill yourself" to someone they deem big enough to be faceless.
Los Angeles Times
At SoCal's drive-in concerts, fans, artists and promoters make the best of a live-music apocalypse
by August Brown
With traditional live-music gatherings prohibited because of COVID-19, drive-in concerts have emerged as a safe, socially distant, better-than-nothing alternative.
The Tennessean
Country music needs to stare down its racist past and take note
by Amanda Marie Martinez
Though Black musicians played a large role in creating country music, an almost unanimous assumption remains that the genre appeals to whites only.
new amerykah
The New Yorker
Chance the Rapper Is Still Figuring Things Out
by David Remnick and Chance the Rapper
The artist on the two-party system, Black liberation theology, and learning from his mistakes.
The Cut
'You Can't Escape Him, He's Ubiquitous'
by Shamira Ibrahim
Two years ago, Sil Lai Abrams named Russell Simmons as her rapist. She's still fighting to be heard.
Variety
BTS, Coldplay, Migos, Miley Cyrus Among iHeartRadio Music Festival Performers: How the Show Will Go On
by Steve Baltin
The 2020 edition, of course, faces considerable challenges when it comes to a human audience, but the tenth anniversary show will go on, albeit virtually.
MusicAlly
Zoë Keating and David Lowery talk streaming, fans and music artists
by Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow
Besides being musicians, Zoë Keating and David Lowery have been two of the most prominent voices for artists' rights in the streaming era.
CNN
Nigerian star, Mr. Eazi is raising $20 million to invest in African music creatives
by Aisha Salaudeen
Award-winning music artist, Mr. Eazi is launching a new funding venture for music artists in Africa based on equity models used for startups.
GQ
The True Story of N.W.A. Playing 'F*** Tha Police' Live in Detroit
by Steve Knopper
It wasn't gunshots that caused widespread panic. According to the group's inner circle, police set off fireworks to sow chaos.
British GQ
How David Mitchell wrote 'Utopia Avenue's' fictional band
by Dorian Lynskey
The author speaks to Dorian Lynskey about his new novel, "Utopia Avenue," which features one of the most persuasive fictional depictions of the music industry.
Guitar World
Jeff Bridges on how his Breedlove signature acoustic will help save the planet -- and why he started his first rock band at 60
by Jonathan Horsley
The Oscar-winning actor reflects on his guitar heroes, Zen koans, and finding harmony on the film set.
The Trichordist
Five and 1/2 Problems with The MLC's Analog 'Music Data Organization Form'
We've been waiting for The MLC to show us how the best of breed solves the global rights database problem.  Hopefully the smart people will solve that problem before the January 1 deadline when the MMA's blanket license comes into effect.  We've been told many times that HFA and ConsenSys were the elites and the smart people who would lead songwriters to the promised land.
The Moment with Brian Koppelman
The Moment with Brian Koppelman: Brandy Clark -- 07/21/20
by Brian Koppelman and Brandy Clark
Brandy Clark, brilliant songwriter and singer, on sticking it out in Nashville.
MUSIC OF THE DAY
YouTube
"Portland Town"
Derroll Adams
"Killed my children one, two, three, yes they did..." Title song from the Portland native's 1967 debut album.
"REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask 'why?'"
@JasonHirschhorn


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