jason hirschhorn's @MusicREDEF: 07/15/2022 - Lizzo Isn't Done, Black Midi Goes to Hell, NFTs + Hip-Hop + Jazz, Viral Revivals...

Since I'm the first one to go solo, I feel a sense of responsibility and there's definitely some pressure. Open in browser Friday July 15, 2022 Lizzo at the iHeartRadio Theater, Burbank, Calif., July 2022. "Special" is out today on Nice Life/Atlantic. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images) quote of the day "Since I'm the first one to go solo, I feel a sense of responsibility and there's definitely some pressure." - J-Hope, whose "Jack in the Box," out today on BigHit, is the first full-length solo album by a member of BTS rantnrave:// It's Friday And it's about damn time that LIZZO's followup to "Cuz I Love You," her 2019 breakthrough, arrived. Her collaborators on SPECIAL, which she began working on even before the last album came out, include Benny Blanco, Max Martin and Terrace Martin, and it is, she told Variety a few months back, "one of the most musically badass, daring and sophisticated bodies of work I've done to date." That's the kind of self-congratulations one should normally ignore, but this is Lizzo, so. "I am not done," she added... "Comparisons to early 70s Stevie Wonder or early 80s Prince are valid." Comparisons to Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman are in print, too. That's the early critical word on GEMINI RIGHTS, the second album by the Internet's (the band, not the platform) psychedelic guitar hero, STEVE LACY. It's a breakup album ("so many perspectives of a breakup," he told GQ, even though it was inspired by one particular ex), and quite possibly a breakout album... Barreling through jazz, post-punk, prog, funk and seemingly whatever else crosses the three bandmembers' minds, if only for a moment—"We have a flamenco tune," frontman Geordie Greep notes—BLACK MIDI "sound like a troupe of Gen Z Frank Zappas trying to make the best of a bad trip," the Ringer's Justin Sayles writes, approvingly. HELLFIRE, the group's third album, is bleak, jarring, fractured, cerebral, visceral and "a masterpiece," says the New York Times' Jon Pareles... There have been solo offerings from members of BTS before, but J-HOPE's JACK IN THE BOX is the first proper full-length album and, more important, the first release of any kind to show up during the group's non-hiatus hiatus. And the group's lead dancer and most perpetual smiling countenance has gone a little dark, in both his themes and his sonics. When his bandmate RM heard the album, J-Hope tells Rolling Stone, "he said, 'Wow, I didn't think you'd do music like this. I have a bit of a brain freeze.'" A certain restaurant chain did not have a brain freeze when it heard the title; it got right to work... 22-year-old BEABADOOBEE's debut album came out during the pandemic; her second, which features a song "where she befriends the spiders living in her attic bedroom," was made during it. BEATOPIA, which features assists from PinkPantheress and the 1975's Matty Healy and George Daniel, also finds her experimenting with sounds and styles beyond the '90s indie guitar-pop obsessions of the debut. This time beabadoobee delivers "a warm sonic bath full of blurry guitars and muffled drum machines and sleepily murmured hooks," says Stereogum... REBOOT is jazz/funk organist RONNIE FOSTER's first album in 36 years. He's best known for the five albums he recorded for Blue Note in the 1970s, as well as his work accompanying George Benson, Grover Washington Jr., Stevie Wonder and others... EARL'S CLOSET: THE LOST ARCHIVE OF EARL MCGRATH, 1970-1980 collects recordings literally rescued from the closet of EARL MCGRATH, a well-connected New York and LA raconteur who had his own Atlantic Records imprint, Clean Records, and later ran Rolling Stone Records. The album features unreleased recordings by Hall & Oates (who McGrath signed under the name Whole Oates before Atlantic's Ahmet Ertegun, sensing their commercial potential, stole them for the parent label) as well as David Johansen, the Jim Carroll Band, Terry Allen, Norma Jean Bell and many more... Also today: new music from DJ Premier, Rowdy Rebel, Noah Cyrus, Itzy, Ne-Yo, Interpol, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Lera Lynn, Zach Bryan, Arlo McKinley, Rexx Life Raj, LMD (LMNO, MED and Declaime), Lloyd Banks, Sheff G, Sabrina Carpenter, Christina Perri, Mabel, Arp, Cheri Knight, Madeleine Cocolas, M. Geddes Gengras, Lynyn, Kode9, Vladislav Delay, Ozomatli, Travie McCoy, Priest, Scarcity, Deaf Havana, Senses Fail, Miszczyk, Nick Dunston, Sachal Vasandani & Romain Collin, the A's, Launder, Superorganism, Goon, Lil Silva, Belief (Warpaint's Stella Mozgawa and Boom Bip), Irreal, Richard Reed Parry & Susie Ibarra, Nightlands (aka Dave Hartley of the War on Drugs), Tami Neilson, Willi Carlisle, Local Honeys, Ty Herndon, the Broken Spokes, the Gabbard Brothers, Lawn, Elf Power, Alan Parsons, Stephen Mallinder (of Cabaret Voltaire)... And the CMG/YO GOTTI label comp GANGSTA ART, featuring MONEYBAGG YO, 42 DUGG and others. Etc Etc Etc Streaming TV may be in a bit of a slump, but through the first half of 2022, the music business is continuing to boom, with streaming figures and total album consumption showing healthy increases in the US and globally, LUMINATE reports. Latin (thank you, BAD BUNNY) and country enjoyed an especially healthy half-year. The top labels, based on market share, were INTERSCOPE/GEFFEN/A&M, ATLANTIC and REPUBLIC... Drummer LOUIS HAYES, saxophonist KENNY GARRETT, violinist REGINA CARTER and producer/manager/author SUE MINGUS are the 2023 class of NEA JAZZ MASTERS... The GRAMMY AWARDS will return to CRYPTO.COM ARENA in Los Angeles on Feb. 5, 2023. (And here's the somewhat complicated process by which the nominees for the first Songwriter of the Year award, intended for those who write for other people, not themselves, will be chosen)... BEYONCÉ joins TIKTOK... In Thursday's newsletter, I used JACK HARLOW as a hypothetical example of a pop star who might want SPOTIFY to maintain its current royalties model rather than switch to a user-centric system, which has been shown to benefit music's middle class at the expense of its biggest stars. I could have researched that one better. Apologies to Harlow and his manager, CHRIS THOMAS, who responded on his Instagram story, saying he found that example "funny... as I've been a huge proponent of [user-centric royalties] for the better part of a decade." Rest in Peace Houston DJ D BABY. - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator about damn time The Ringer If There's Hell Below, Black Midi's Gonna Go By Justin Sayles Or at least they'll take you there. We spoke with frontman Geordie Greep about his band's album 'Hellfire,' what truly bores him, and why boxing may be the perfect metaphor for the trio's music. Time Magazine Black NFT Artists on Inheriting the Legacy of Hip-Hop and Jazz By Andrew R. Chow Artists and crypto builders are certain that there's an unequivocal thruline between jazz, hip-hop, and the so-called Web 3. They say crypto could be the key toward a brighter, more resilient future for Black artistry, and are adamant on continuing to bring their peers onboard, bear market and naysayers be damned. The Brookings Institution How a 'music audit' led to equitable economic development in Huntsville, AL By Shain Shapiro Huntsville's music economy has historically been overlooked, and many investors have been skeptical that the midsized city could sustain large-scale investments in music infrastructure, like outdoor amphitheaters. In 2018, the City Council set out to change this misconception by launching a creative placemaking process called a "music audit." Rolling Stone 'J-Hope Isn't Limited to Bright Things': The BTS Star Breaks Down His Full-Length Solo Debut By Kristine Kwak J-Hope goes inside the process for "Jack in the Box," getting support from his fellow BTS members, and showing off his darker side. VICE Christian Rock Has Demonized LGBTQ People for Years. Now It Needs Them to Survive By Josiah Hesse Queer musicians say the industry is facing a spiritual crisis: Adapt to a new generation of listeners, or die. Variety Viral Revivals: From Kate Bush to Tom Odell, Inside the Business of Oldies as New Hit Songs By Mike Wass Release dates have been obsolete on TikTok for years. Be it Fleetwood Mac's 1977 classic "Dreams" or Tom Odell's 2012 single "Another Love," songs that should be well past their use-by date regularly spring back to life. The question is: what happens next? Music Business Worldwide So… how much did TikTok actually pay the music industry from its $4bn in revenues last year? By Tim Ingham Around $179 million. Synchtank Music Publishing in the Age of The Songwriter Report -- Part 4: Digital Drivers of Growth In the final part of our report, we examine existing & emerging income streams, and how music publishers can capitalize on new opportunities. Recording Academy 65th Grammy Awards: Rules and Guidelines [PDF] These are the official rules for the Grammy Awards. All Grammy Awards ballots are cast by Recording Academy Voting Members and are subject to classification and qualifications under rules or regulations approved by the Board of Trustees. Toronto Star Six take-aways from the 2022 Polaris Prize Short List By Richie Assaly Toronto soul and R&B singer Charlotte Day Wilson, Vancouver indie band Destroyer and London rap duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids are among the 10 artists nominated for the 2022 Polaris Music Prize Short List. The $50,000 Polaris Prize recognizes the best Canadian album of the year, judged solely on artistic merit, without consideration for genre or record sales. truth hurts Water & Music Choose your own adventure: A music metaverse path finder For the final part of our Season 2 research rollout, we built a self-directed path finder for artists to explore the diverse set of entry points into musical metaverse experiences. This path finder is a visual representation of our findings on actionable solutions for music/metaverse needs for artists and their teams. Variety At NIVA Conference, Venue Owners Celebrate Live Music's Comeback but Cite Challenges: 'I Thought We'd Be Hitting the Roaring '20s by Now' By Annie Zaleski When the National Independent Venue Association ( NIVA) scheduled its first annual conference in Cleveland, Ohio, for July 11-12, it set a modest attendance goal of around 350 people. But nearly 600 people registered for a gathering that included panel discussions, robust networking and packed concerts at Cleveland independent venues. Ebony Harpist Brandee Younger Brings a Next Gen Spin to the Classical Instrument "All too often, the harp has an image that our kids don't see themselves in and our representation is important." The New Yorker My Father's Bad Seats at the Opera By Janet Malcolm It was nearly impossible to see or hear the actors. But, somehow, the magic remained. Music Business Worldwide Hipgnosis Songs Fund didn't buy a single catalog in the 6 months to end of March. It still grew in value by $140m By Tim Ingham Hipgnosis Songs Fund has today (July 14) published its full-year financial results for the 12 months to end of March. NPR Music Remembering Richard Taruskin, a writer who made you care about 1,000 years of music By Tom Huizenga Hear the towering -- and polarizing -- author in conversation about his 4,000-page book, "The Oxford History of Western Music." DJ Mag DJ Premier: how one of hip-hop's greatest producers stays inspired By Arielle Lana LeJarde​ As he releases his new EP, 'Hip Hop 50: Vol 1', celebrating the genre's 50th anniversary, he speaks to Arielle Lana LeJarde about evolving with the culture and the hip-hop/dance music connection. CNN Opinion: What a hip-hop star on death row has to do with dictators everywhere By Zin Mar Aung Hip-hop star Zeyar Thaw is one of two political activists on death row in Myanmar. Their crime? "They believe in freedom," writes Zin Mar Aung, Foreign Affairs Minister of the National Unity Government of Myanmar, on Russian support of the Southeast Asian country's military junta. what we're into Music of the day "Amber" Steve Lacy From "Gemini Rights," out today on RCA. Video of the day "Neptune Frost" Saul Williams/Anisia Uzeyman Music | Media SUBSCRIBE 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?'" Jason Hirschhorn CEO & Chief Curator HOME | ABOUT | SETS | PRESS Redef Group Inc. LA - NY - Everywhere Copyright ©2021 UNSUBSCRIBE or MANAGE MY SUBSCRIPTION