| Writing songs is part of this process of self-discovery for me. I don't write songs [about how] I was sad last week. I write songs [that say] I'm f***ing sad right now. Why am I sad? Or why am I angry? |
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 | | Rockers incorporated: Toronto punk band Pup. | | (Vanessa Heins/Grandstand Media) | | |
| quote of the day |
| "Writing songs is part of this process of self-discovery for me. I don't write songs [about how] I was sad last week. I write songs [that say] I'm f***ing sad right now. Why am I sad? Or why am I angry?" | | - Stefan Babcock, Pup singer/guitarist | |
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| rantnrave:// |
See? Not OK
It's not that he quickly resumed his career after admitting to multiple instances of sexual misconduct against women, including fellow comedians. There has always been room for paying for your sins, through time or reparations or atonement/reflection/apology, and eventually moving on with your life and your work.
It's not that he started making albums again. That's his profession, his livelihood.
It's not even that he released an album in which he laughs off the very conduct he had allegedly reflected on and atoned for. Saying dumb, offensive, hypocritical things in public is protected in our society. No one is required to listen and no one is required to remain silent about it. No one is required to give him awards.
And yet they did. And that's what this is about. It's that he's being honored for the very album on which he says those very things about the trauma he inflicted on his peers. "Wait till they see those pictures of me in blackface," he jokes, according to the New York Times' MELENA RYZIK, who's among those who listened. "That's going to make it a lot worse. Because there's a lot of those, there's thousands of pictures of me in blackface. I can't stop doing it. I just—I like it. I like how it feels." It's all bad. Unfunny. Gratuitous. Offensive. But those last two sentences especially, in light of the exact things he was accused of and admitted doing, are horrifying.
And so, it's about that. It's about the fact that they've given him their imprimatur. The RECORDING ACADEMY has said this is an album worth nominating as one of the best in its field, and the Academy's voters have said this is the one that should actually get the award. Which it did Sunday night.
When the Grammy nominations were announced in the fall, Recording Academy CEO HARVEY MASON JR. defended them, saying the Academy "won't look back at people's history" or "anything other than... is this recording for this work eligible based on date and other criteria." Which is a defensible position except for one giant caveat. Mason was talking about eligibility for awards. But the issue wasn't whether SINCERELY LOUIS CK was eligible for a Grammy Award. The issue was whether it was deserving of being a finalist for, and actually getting, the award. The issue was, and still is, about the criteria for what work is worthy of being honored. It's about the content of the work itself, which in this case includes laughing off sexual assault (and comes dangerously close to embracing sexual assault). It would be horrifying and unfunny and unworthy even if it wasn't his own behavior he was joking about. And yet. He was.
Rest in Peace
Flamboyant record exec and producer ANDY WICKHAM, who helped usher Warner Bros. and Reprise into the rock era in the 1960s. He was fondly known as the "house hippie" at Reprise, where he was hired as a talent scout for $200 a week in 1967, after stints doing promo and press for Immediate Records in London and Dunhill Records in Los Angeles. In his first week on the job, the young Englishman told Reprise boss Mo Ostin to sign Joni Mitchell. Van Morrison soon followed. Wickham became the label's ambassador to Laurel Canyon, where he lived a lifestyle closer to the artists he championed than to his colleagues at the label, whose office hours he treated as optional. "To my knowledge," Warner/Reprise exec Stan Cornyn once said, "Mo Ostin never took a drug. Joe Smith never took a drug. We had Andy Wickham to take the drugs." Wickham's ears, and whatever he took, fueled a three-decade career at Warner/Reprise, where he also produced records and opened the label's Nashville office in the early 1970s. His other notable signings included Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Jethro Tull and a-ha. Also, as his obit in the Times of London took the time to mention, he was believed to be one of the first people in England to own a skateboard, earning him the nickname "Wipeout."
RIP also: '50s and '60s teen idol BOBBY RYDELL, whose hits included "Wild One" and "Volare" and whose high schools named in his honor included the fictional Rydell High of "Grease." In the film version of "Bye Bye Birdie," he played high schooler Hugo Peabody, who did not like teen idol Conrad Birdie one little bit... YANICK ÉTIENNE, a Haitian singer who was a go-to backing vocalist for Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music. She was the mother of producer D'Mile, who dedicated the Song of the Year Grammy Award he won with Silk Sonic on Sunday to her... Greenwich Village singer/songwriter PAUL SIEBEL, who released two albums for Elektra in the early 1970s and whose songs were widely covered by artists including Bonnie Raitt and Emmylou Harris.
| | - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator | |
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 | | Pitchfork |
| | Soccer Mommy Slays Her Demons | | By Quinn Moreland | | After hitting a crushing low around the release of her last album, singer-songwriter Sophie Allison is back with a new attitude and a bold new record produced by Oneohtrix Point Never's Daniel Lopatin. | | |
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 | | The Liminal Space |
| | musicOS | | By Dan Fowler | | The future of Crypto (or Web3, depending on your lexicon), and Music is going to be a nuanced and complex set of composable services that artists and fans can opt into. The game will be played by each creator choosing which options best suit their unique situation. To understand what is happening and to make informed decisions, we need a user experience to help. | | |
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 | | CBS News |
| | Sound familiar? Taking songwriters to court | | By David Pogue | | When two songs share a melody, some chords, or even just a vibe, can the songwriter be taken to court? Correspondent David Pogue looks at how music copyrights have become an increasingly disharmonious area of litigation. | | |
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 | | Resident Advisor |
| | MCs Are the Unsung Heroes of UK Electronic Music | | By Richard Akingbehin | | Despite being a cornerstone of UK dance music since its beginnings, MCs don't always get the love they deserve. Richard Akingbehin unpacks and celebrates their role. | | |
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 | | Under the Radar |
| | The Linda Lindas on Their Debut Album 'Growing Up' | | By Hayden Merrick | | By singing about the things closest to home--cats, sure, but also personal experiences of racism and sexism, mental health, and growing up in lockdown--The Linda Lindas make striking comments about society. Their songs have the power to engender revolution, if not make us punch our fists in the air and feel alive again. | | |
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| what we're into |
|  | | Video of the day | | "We Were Hyphy" | | Laurence Madrigal | | Laurence Madrigal's Bay Area hip-hop doc can be seen this week at the Cinejoy online film fest at https://creatics.org/cinejoy. | | |
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| Music | Media | | | | | | Suggest a link  | | "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?'" |
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