And everything around her is a silver pool of light; the people who surround her feel the benefit of it, it makes you calm. She holds you captivated in her palm. | | | | KT Tunstall on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" in 2006.
(Paul Drinkwater/NBC/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "And everything around her is a silver pool of light; the people who surround her feel the benefit of it, it makes you calm. She holds you captivated in her palm."
| | | | | | rantnrave:// I didn't become a full-time music journalist until 2008, but it almost happened in 2006 thanks to KT TUNSTALL. Specifically, her breezy folk-pop single "Suddenly I See." As I sat in a diner in downtown Washington, DC on Tuesday, typing the late afternoon away, the guitar strum that opens the song played over the stereo system. I sat up as if struck by a bolt of lightning. The moment crystallized a number of things that I miss about the music industry—even if I've accepted that they've changed. Mainly, I was awed by the fact that back then, newly released or discovered songs didn't feel as though they mysteriously appeared on every streaming playlist I heard and blog I visited, or became instantaneously viral dance memes as I slept. Rather, it felt like songs had multiple hooks of intrigue due to well-contemplated sync placement. In summer 2006, perhaps by some manner of divine intervention, Tunstall's song seemed to be everywhere. Radio, video, and my cell phone's ringtone for starters. But the opening track to the THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA? My six-year-old cousin's DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION game? MTV's THE HILLS? Present and accounted for, in all three places. It felt to me, during my love affair with the song, that it would end up as one of the great hit singles of all time. In 2018, wall-to-wall airplay like that would turn a song into a meme-worthy blockbuster and streaming champion. In 2006? "Suddenly I See" reached #21 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100. An even bigger winner of 2006 was a song that seemed as omnipresent as DRAKE's "IN MY FEELINGS" currently does—GNARLS BARKLEY's "CRAZY." Take a second today while being surrounded by music and maybe you'll re-hear a slice of inspiration, too... Unrelated, an eclectic blend of musical things have soundtracked (and distracted) my curatorial duties this week. They include "SICK," the latest single from DC's DEN-MATE, led by JULES HALE, whose voice is a blend of YEAH YEAH YEAHS' KAREN O in timbre and SANTIGOLD in direct connectivity. Also, this amazingly presented and fantastically costumed 1975 performance by BARRY WHITE AND THE LOVE UNLIMITED ORCHESTRA at the ROYAL ALBERT HALL. And maybe my favorite thing of everything on YOUTUBE, the sensual soul of TEDDY PENDERGRASS on full sensual display, live in Lake Tahoe in 1979. Thank me later. | | | - Marcus K. Dowling, guest curator | | | |  | NPR Music | | For much of this century's first two decades, there has been at least one Rihanna song on the pop charts. If she is not seen as taking musical risks, it's only because so many of them have paid off. | | | |  | Wired | | Sonos chief product officer Nick Millington charts the company's history and hints at where it could go in the future-like outside your house. | | | |  | TechCrunch | | Spotify's lack of full lyrics support and its minimal attention to voice are beginning to become problems for the streaming service.The company has been so focused on the development of its personalization technology and programming its playlists, it has overlooked key features that its competitors -- including Apple, Google, and Amazon -- today offer and are now capitalizing on. | | | |  | NME | | 'Going Bankrupt Since 1988,' they used to say, but still thriving in 2018. We head to Sub Pop's 30th birthday party in Seattle to find out how the indie label achieved their dream of world domination. | | | |  | Cleveland Scene | | It didn't take long for WMMS to turn into a juggernaut after making its debut on Sept. 28, 1968. Thanks to its forward-thinking staff, it took the progressive rock format of the 1960s and 1970s to the limit and played acts that would go on to national acclaim and popularity well before other commercial stations embraced them. | | | |  | Noisey | | As the youngest of a superstar family, Janet Jackson managed to forge her own path throughout her 30-year career by demanding control. | | | |  | Forbes | | There are so many lessons we can learn from Taylor Swift about the art of business. Here are a few. | | | | | NPR Music | | The singer's performance at the Tiny Desk was an almost spiritual experience, leaving many at the NPR Music offices in awe. | | | |  | The Fader | | Read the story of Korn's unlikely hit that made the Nu metal pioneers into a household name. | | | |  | eMarketer | | US Pandora and Spotify Listeners, 2017-2022 (millions). | | | |  | Quartz | | The name itself was enough to cause head-shaking at Warner Bros, when connected with the first US studio film with an all-Asian cast in 25 years. | | | | | Forbes | | Over the past three years, Garth Brooks took back country's throne, selling more than 6 million tickets on his North American tour--but this year, his $45.5 million haul is only good for second place. Luke Bryan has seized country's cash crown. | | | |  | Wrongful Conviction | | Since his release in April 2018, Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill is using his voice and freedom to fight on behalf of those still behind bars. In this special interview, Mill is joined by his friend and ally Michael Rubin, e-commerce billionaire and co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, to discuss their hopes for criminal justice reform. SOCIAL: Follow Meek Mill and Michael Rubin:Meek Mill: Instagram and TwitterMichael Rubin: Instagram and Twitter | | | |  | Billboard | | For the past three summers, Jeffrey Allen Townes a.k.a. DJ Jazzy Jeff, has been inviting a select group of music industry insiders and up-and-comers to his Delaware estate to connect and recharge off the grid at the Playlist Retreat. | | | |  | Vulture | | In the fifth episode of "Who Is America?,"Sacha Baron Cohen's gruff ex-con character Rick Sherman eschews painting in favor of electronic dance music in his continued journey to adjust back into society. | | | |  | Dazed Digital | | The Jamaican icon opens up about 'Forever', fame, Rihanna, and how dancehall could save the country's gun crisis. | | | |  | Bandcamp Daily | | We chat with the DJs and programmers at this Atlanta college. | | | | | The Fader | | Sometimes Kanye West announces a project, and doesn't, or can't, deliver. Here's a list containing a few of those. | | | | | Billboard | | The reality is that since the Latin trap emerged, the genre has presented songs with very explicit content. | | | |  | Getintothis | | Remembering the sounds of East Coast rap flooding 1990s Liverpool, Getintothis' Janaya Pickett reflects on whether The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy" can be considered the real Scouse anthem of the decade. | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | Because if you're going to watch Erykah Badu perform live, it's always better if you call "Jim, James, Paul, and Tyrone..." | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2018, The REDEF Group | | |
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