I had one goal: to show these indie-rock boys that I had listened to all the music they gave me, and just because I liked the Police and R.E.M. and Madonna didn't mean I couldn't make indie rock. That was my goal, to be like, 'Shut the f*** up about Green River versus Fugazi. It's not that f***ing hard!' | | | | The Highwomen (from left, Amanda Shires, Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile and Natalie Hemby) at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, April 1, 2019.
(Jason Kempin/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "I had one goal: to show these indie-rock boys that I had listened to all the music they gave me, and just because I liked the Police and R.E.M. and Madonna didn't mean I couldn't make indie rock. That was my goal, to be like, 'Shut the f*** up about Green River versus Fugazi. It's not that f***ing hard!'"
| | | | | | rantnrave:// The first thing LANA DEL REY sings on her masterful new album, NORMAN F***ING ROCKWELL!, is an opening salvo for all time: "Goddamn man-child / You f***ed me so good that I almost said, 'I love you.'" Backhanded compliment of the year, at the very least, and a perfect overture for a complex, layered, confessional collection that's already being discussed, deservedly, as one of the great LA singer-songwriter albums. At some point on Wednesday, Del Rey became aware that NPR MUSIC's ANN POWERS had f***ed her even better with a 3,600-word critical essay that, with nuance, caveats and its own layered histories of music, lyrics, Surrealism, film noir and Southern California culture, heralds Del Rey's arrival as a major artist and cultural figure, as someone worth reading and hearing as part of the LA literary canon. Del Rey, who seems to have absorbed only the caveats, did not almost say "I love you" this time. Instead, she tore into Powers—one of the most insightful, empathetic and knowledgeable pop critics working today—with a pair of tweets that said the critic had missed the point of her music and has no right to call herself a fan. It's not the first time an artist has complained loudly about a critic, but maybe the first time an artist has done so in response to that much praise. Pop critic Twitter immediately went on the attack, not just because Del Rey's reaction seemed both rude and strange, but because it seemed to be a rejection of the very idea of criticism. And in a culture in which serious, thoughtful criticism is becoming increasingly rare, that rejection, coming from a major artist, carries an especially potent sting. We should be fighting to protect the sites and writers, like Powers, who do it well. Who elevate the discussion of music and other arts. Who educate, enlighten and help us see deeper into works of art we love, works of art we don't and works of art we otherwise might never have heard. Who help us hear. Who help us connect Lana Del Rey's Southern California to JONI MITCHELL's and KIM GORDON's and WARREN G's. Who help us see the threads on which our culture is built. Who challenge and provoke that culture. None of that, by the way, is Lana Del Rey's job. Her job is to make great music. She's under no obligation to suffer foolish men gladly, nor is she under any obligation to suffer wise women gladly. We can hate her tweets and love her art. But we can also wish that she might understand that critics, even the ones with nuance and caveats, are on her side, and on music's side. And music needs them... On a lighter note, here's an index of every proper noun on Del Rey's album, from the EAGLES to JESUS to the 405 and beyond... Chart swallows data: BILLBOARD's parent company, VALENCE MEDIA, is buying NIELSEN, according to BLOOMBERG... MAX HARRIS, the creative director of Oakland's GHOST SHIP warehouse space, was acquitted Thursday of 36 counts in connection with the horrific 2016 fire that killed 36 people there. The jury deadlocked on charges against DERICK ALMENA, the warehouse's primary leaseholder; prosecutors now have to decide whether to re-try him... You can get off your phone: A web version of APPLE MUSIC is now in public beta... The BAND documentary ONCE WERE BROTHERS premiered Thursday night in Toronto, and the LINDA RONSTADT documentary THE SOUND OF MY VOICE is in theaters today... If MAREN MORRIS, BRANDI CARLILE, AMANDA SHIRES and NATALIE HEMBY drop an (awesome) album in a Nashville forest and country radio doesn't play it, does it make a sound? Their debut as the HIGHWOMEN—one of the most anticipated country records of the year—is out today, and it arrives as a direct, and intentional, challenge to country radio's philosophy of who has access to its airwaves. (To quote KELLY CLARKSON: "Y'all don't play people with boobs.") Outlaw country, welcome to 2019... It's FRIDAY and that means there's also new music from EARTHGANG, POST MALONE, TINARIWEN, BAT FOR LASHES, MAHALIA, ALESSIA CARA, the MESSTHETICS, ASHLEY HENRY, SHORELINE MAFIA, DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE, IGGY POP, MIZMOR, OCTO OCTA, KLEIN, LOWER DENS, GHOSTFACE KILLAH, DAYMÉ AROCENA, CRYSTAL GAYLE, CHRISSIE HYNDE, KINDNESS, ROBYN HITCHCOCK & ANDY PARTRIDGE, FRANKIE COSMOS, MUNA, TENNIS SYSTEM, the BRAND NEW HEAVIES, SANDRO PERRI, BARKER, ENRICO RAVA & JOE LOVANO, RAS KASS, JOHNNY GILL, MELANIE MARTINEZ, LINDSEY STIRLING, AMY SPEACE, PAUL CAUTHEN and a previously unreleased MILES DAVIS album... RIP KYLIE RAE HARRIS, JIMMY JOHNSON, DAN WARNER and IVO MALEC.
| | | - Matty Karas, curator | | | |  | Complex | | Increasingly, data is being used to discover potential breakout songs, help advance artists' careers, and even to determine the sound of the music itself. | | | |  | NPR Music | | Hold music is camouflaged sound - it needs to obviously exist, while also barely doing so. Small wonder, then, that its biggest "hit" does none of that. | | | |  | The Current | | A family of pastors hell-bent on saving souls. A pro-sticker Washington wife. A B-horror blood-gusher with a heart of gold. Plus...Prince's photographer? This episode's cast of characters is just a peek at the wild ride of the Peters Brothers, the evangelical trio who hosted record burnings and condemned rock music throughout the 1980s. But for all the Peters' popcorn-worthy stunts, you could say darkness was at play. | | | |  | Trapital | | The Chicago rapper advises indie artists to avoid record labels, distribution deals, and management deals, but that blanket advice may shield artists from sound opportunities. | | | |  | ELLE | | At just 17, the singer grapples with meteoric fame and an obsession with her style--and body. | | | |  | Music Business Worldwide | | US market now on course to generate over $1bn EVERY MONTH from recorded music in the first half of 2020. | | | |  | Billboard | | The U.S. recorded music industry is still seeing strong double-digit growth, up 18% over the first six months of 2019, according to the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) mid-year report published Thursday (Sept. 5). That continues an upward trend sparked in 2016 led increasingly by streaming's dominance, now accounting for 80% of total $5.4 billion revenues at retail. | | | |  | Vulture | | "I had one goal: to show these indie-rock boys that I had listened to all the music they gave me, and just because I liked the Police and R.E.M. and Madonna didn't mean I couldn't make indie rock. That was my goal, to be like, 'Shut the f*** up about Green River versus Fugazi. It's not that f***ing hard!'" | | | |  | Los Angeles Times | | Oklahoma may be Trump country, but the home of Woody Guthrie still inspires progressive musicians taking a stand with their songs of hope and change. | | | |  | East Bay Times | | A jury found Max Harris not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of 36 people trapped inside the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland during an electronic dance party on Dec. 2, 2016 in the city's deadliest fire in recent history. Jurors leaned toward finding master tenant Derick Almena guilty, but were split 10-2 in favor of guilt, causing a mistrial. | | | |  | The New York Times | | Justin Vernon has gone from a lone folk crooner to the leader of an experimental collective. See how he and his friends cracked "iMi," one their most ambitious and important tracks yet. | | | |  | Rolling Stone | | Commissioner Mike O'Rielly sends letter "to determine whether the law is being followed or whether any problematic conduct must be addressed." | | | |  | Bloomberg | | Valence Media, the parent company of famed entertainment-industry publication Billboard, is acquiring the music-industry data, software and analytics business of Nielsen Holdings Plc, according to people familiar with the situation. | | | | | Los Angeles Times | | Linda Ronstadt didn't want a documentary made about her life, and she wouldn't talk about the past for "Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice." But she gave the go-ahead to filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. In her plain-spoken manner, she relives her decision. | | | | | Complex | | A guest editorial by Channel Tres, the Compton-born artist who released his 'Black Moses' EP via Godmode in August. | | | |  | 8Sided Blog | | Craig Snyder has launched a blog and one of the first posts has terrific observations on forming a community around a creative project. | | | |  | Kerrang! | | With Slipknot hitting Number One in the UK charts with "We Are Not Your Kind," the Iowa kings take us deeper inside the album, as well as their massive just-announced UK arena tour with Behemoth. | | | |  | Nashville Scene | | Considering the work of Yola, J.S. Ondara and other outstanding Americana musicians who weren't born in the United States. | | | |  | Africa is a Country | | The Somali artist and DJ, Hibotep, is one of the many pushing electronic hybrid sounds from East Africa through the epicenter of the movement, Kampala. | | | |  | DownBeat | | When you say the phrase "career in music," many people automatically think of recording and touring artists. Earning a living as a full-time musician who records and tours is, indeed, an admirable goal. But those who do achieve the goal find that it can be a challenging life, and it often involves an unpredictable stream of income and struggles with health insurance costs. | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | From "The Highwomen," out today on Elektra. | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2019, The REDEF Group | | |
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