| I don’t think we can separate the art from the artist, nor should we need to. I think we can look at a piece of art as the transformed or redeemed aspect of an artist, and marvel at the miraculous journey that the work of art has taken to arrive at the better part of the artist’s nature... That bad people make good art is a cause for hope. |
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Tenor saxophonist María Grand's soulful second album, "Reciprocity," is out now on Biophilia.
(Carolina Mama/Fully Altered Media)
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“I don’t think we can separate the art from the artist, nor should we need to. I think we can look at a piece of art as the transformed or redeemed aspect of an artist, and marvel at the miraculous journey that the work of art has taken to arrive at the better part of the artist’s nature... That bad people make good art is a cause for hope.”
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Why Baby Why
One of TYLER MAHAN COE's primary motivations for creating the country music podcast COCAINE & RHINESTONES, which is currently three episodes into an 18-episode, 36-hour second season about (more or less, but mostly more) GEORGE JONES, was to preserve a history that's in danger of being lost. He seems to mean that in two basic ways. One is a storytelling problem, with years and years of what Coe sees as little slights, big oversights and just plain ol' bad information having congealed, over the years, into a standard history of the music that no longer represents what actually happened. The truth has been buried and he's intent on digging it up and brushing off decades of dust and lies. Which is why, for example, he's devoting several hours worth of early episodes to an alternate (and correct, says he) history of the invention of the Nashville Sound, as well as an alternate (and correct, says he) history of what the Nashville Sound actually is.
The other thing in danger of being lost is something more tangible—the actual music. Chatting with a writer from Vice, Coe, who's fanatical about documenting his work, explains why he hasn't made a SPOTIFY playlist for each episode. It turns out it's because he can't. He literally can't: "Less than 50 percent of the songs I mention in any given episode," Coe tells JOSH TERRY, "are actually on any streaming service." Try, for example, to find George Jones' early '60s A-side "MR. FOOL," which Coe considers "easily [one of] the top three greatest vocal performances" of the greatest country vocalist who ever lived. It isn't there. Not on Spotify. Not on APPLE MUSIC. Like many songs and catalogs from the 1950s and '60s, but also from the '80s and '90s, and it's still happening today under all our noses, "Mr. Fool" made it from vinyl single and album to multiple CD reissues (including CUP OF LONELINESS: THE CLASSIC MERCURY YEARS, a prominent major label Jones box from the mid-'90s) and then, poof, it disappeared. It vanished somewhere in the transition to an all-digital, all-streaming world.
Thank god for the fans who have preserved "Mr. Fool" on YOUTUBE, where it's presumably being monetized by the same record company that refuses to keep it alive in the digital cloud. I've written about this before and I'll write about it again because it only gets more frustrating each time. This should be a job at every major streaming service and at every label that owns any catalog. Every time either one of them realizes something's missing—like when one of the most prominent podcasters in all of music devotes hours of programming that you can hear in, um, Spotify, to music that you otherwise can't—the streaming person and the label person should get on the phone with each other and figure it out. By the time the next episode arrives, "Mr. Fool" should be available on Spotify. Better yet, every missing George Jones album should be there. Obviously, there are some songs and albums that haven't made it into the cloud, and maybe never will because of legal issues. But more often it's a simple matter of neglect. George Jones, like thousands of other artists, deserves better.
This is not, I should add, a rantnrave about Cocaine & Rhinestones. That's still to come. An astonishing achievement I'm still trying to wrap my head around. This has been a rantnrave about the celestial jukebox.
Dot Dot Dot
One company, two charts, two #1s... The second semifinal of this year's EUROVISION, which is airing for the first time in the US, on PEACOCK, begins at 3pm ET today... Twelve-year-old rapper from Gaza reports from war zone over EMINEM beat. Meet MC ABDUL.
Rest in Peace
Jazz composer, bassist and educator MARIO PAVONE... Milwaukee rapper FATBOI GWALLA GWALLA, at least the 10th rapper murdered in the US in 2021; it's May... Italian singer/songwriter FRANCO BATTIATO.
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| Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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Penny Fractions |
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| Meet The Board That Controls How Spotify Pays Artists |
| by David Turner |
| Let’s zero in on the oft-ignored Copyright Royalty Board. |
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Built In |
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| How I Used Economic Theory at Spotify to Disrupt the Music Business |
| by Will Page |
| By evaluating the music business through a simple economic lens, Spotify created a business model that stopped the devastation. (Excerpted from "Tarzan Economics: Eight Principles for Pivoting Through Disruption.") |
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Tape Op |
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| Linda Perry: 'If I feel something, I'm going to go do it' |
| by Dawn Landes |
| It’s hard to summarize Linda Perry's career, but she did it well with this: “There are so many friggin’ hats that I wear. There’s the producer, songwriter, the entrepreneur, the manager, the composer, and I’m the mom. I’m also just a human being trying to figure out how to best be of service in this world.” |
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Billboard |
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| Liz Phair on the ‘Super Intense Targets’ For Her Long-Awaited New Album |
| by Rebecca Milzoff |
| Indie rock icon Liz Phair talks to Billboard about her first album in 10 years, 'Soberish,' and her long career in the music industry. |
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Variety |
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| iHeartRadio’s John Sykes on the Podcast Boom, Why Curation Matters and Course-Correcting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame |
| by Shirley Halperin |
| Also on the latest music-themed episode of "Strictly Business," a talk with iHeart brand manager for Rock and Alternative Lisa Worden, who exited KROQ to program competitor Alt 98.7. |
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VICE |
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| 'Cocaine & Rhinestones' Is the Only Great Music Podcast |
| by Josh Terry |
| Tyler Mahan Coe sets the record straight on country music history and its greatest singer ever, George Jones, in his show's second season. |
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| rantnrave:// Come for the Rihanna news, stay for the Morrissey surprise |
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GQ |
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| A$AP Rocky Is the Prettiest Man Alive |
| by Samuel Hine |
| Since being released from Swedish jail in 2019, rap's foremost fashion darling has been on a journey of self-discovery, musical experimentation, and love. |
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NPR |
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| Play It Forward: George Clinton Is Everyone's Hype Man |
| by Ari Shapiro, Noah Caldwell and Patrick Jarenwattananon |
| NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with George Clinton about the legacy of his work, how the spirit of funk is synonymous with freedom and an artist he's grateful for: Constance Hauman. |
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Vulture |
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| How 'Shrek 2' Blew My Band Up |
| by Rachel Brodsky |
| When Frou Frou sent in their “Holding Out for a Hero” cover for the film’s soundtrack, they never expected what followed. |
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The Guardian |
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| Eurovision 2021: the good, bad and weird songs to look out for |
| by Ben Beaumont-Thomas |
| Amid the German ukuleles, anti-colonial Dutch anthems and Ukrainian folk-techno, can the UK’s James Newman reverse a long run of disappointment? |
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Complex |
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| Healthy Competition Is Good For Rap. Animosity Isn’t |
| by Andre Gee |
| Rap’s best moments come from healthy competition. But artists like J. Cole are showing it isn’t necessary to destroy relationships with peers to achieve that. |
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Music Business Worldwide |
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| Sony Music completes $430m buyout of AWAL -- but UK competition body is investigating deal |
| by Tim Ingham |
| Phase One of investigation is yet to get underway. |
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Billboard |
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| In 2021, How Do We Define an ‘Indie’ Publisher? |
| by Michael Eames |
| When I was serving as AIMP president from 2015-2018 we came up with a definition of what made a publisher “independent,” but in two years the landscape has radically changed. |
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Tone Glow |
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| Tune Glue 010: Dawn Richard |
| by Crystal Leww |
| We chatted about the detail in her audio and visual craft, expanding space in the vast canvas of dance and electronic music, the importance of dance and choreography in her work, and yes, moms. |
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The New York Times |
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| Georgia Anne Muldrow Builds a Musical World of Her Own |
| by Jon Pareles |
| The prolific and proudly woke songwriter and producer has made 21 albums in 15 years. Her latest, “Vweto III,” is due on Friday (May 21). |
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USA TODAY |
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| Pink talks new documentary, advice for younger self: 'I wouldn't tell her anything. She'd kick me in the shin' |
| by Patrick Ryan |
| Like the rest of us, Pink has a lot of pent-up energy after a year cooped up at home. The pop star, who contracted COVID-19 last March, used her time in lockdown to teach herself GarageBand, work out "like a crazy person" and of course, create. |
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5 Magazine |
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| Streaming is lucrative, says report that artists would need 6 million streams to buy |
| by Terry Matthew |
| Dance like nobody's paying, because they aren't. |
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Chicago Reader |
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| Bob Koester leaves a colossal legacy in Chicago jazz and blues |
| by Howard Mandel |
| For nearly 70 years, he owned the Jazz Record Mart and Delmark Records-and though his businesses could be “crazy town,” they helped nurture thriving communities. |
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Music Business Worldwide |
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| ‘We have a vision for a billion-dollar balance sheet of music rights.’ |
| by Tim Ingham |
| Jason Peterson sets out his vision for Los Angeles-based Cinq Music - and how Latin music is helping fuel its expansion. |
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The New Statesman |
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| Men tend to think they’re the authority on music – but I have learned to fight my corner |
| by Tracey Thorn |
| I've been banging the feminist drum for 40 years, but when I reflect on my early song lyrics I realise that I banged it far too subtly. |
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| Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech |
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“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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| Jason Hirschhorn |
| CEO & Chief Curator |
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