| I want Turnstile to maintain the sense of community we found in hardcore. But I want a bigger community, to connect with as many people as possible. I’d like them to feel like I did when I discovered music—like magic existed, like anything was possible. I think we should all try to carry that as far as we can in our lives. |
| |
|
|
 |
Turnstile singer Brendan Yates and drummer Daniel Fang in Copenhagen, June 20, 2018. "Glow On" is out today on Roadrunner.
(Nikolaj Bransholm/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
|
|
|
|
|
“I want Turnstile to maintain the sense of community we found in hardcore. But I want a bigger community, to connect with as many people as possible. I’d like them to feel like I did when I discovered music—like magic existed, like anything was possible. I think we should all try to carry that as far as we can in our lives.”
|
|
|
|
To Lose and to Pretend
So here's the lawyer for the Artist Formerly Known as the NIRVANA Album Cover Baby explaining why he actually, legally believes that album cover was child pornography, and here are a bunch of other lawyers, one of whom couldn't summon the courage to put his own name to his own words (why, Hollywood Reporter, why?), explaining why the child porn lawsuit against everyone who had anything to do with that album is going to be laughed out of court, and blah blah this and blah blah that, and here, if you ask me, is the only thing you actually need to read about a lawsuit that predictably, but also strangely, has gone viral this week and turned a bunch of adult internet pundits, including people I know, into infants themselves, as if they've switched roles with the cover model. ANNE HIGONNET, writing for Slate, has empathy for NEVERMIND cover baby SPENCER ELDEN ("I don’t doubt that the 'Nevermind' album cover, which has been a background image in our visual culture since 1991, has had an impact on Spencer Elden's life") while also being sympathetic to what KURT COBAIN was trying to say with an image featuring a full frontal shot of Elden, naked as the day he was born, which was four months earlier. And she understands that "the album cover resonates very differently today than it did back then." The lenses we look through have changed. And two lenses, one marked 1991 and one marked 2021, are needed to make any sense of the actual story being told here, which isn't, at the end of the day, a story about a lawsuit. It's a story about lenses and vision. "We desperately want to alter the past according to what we sincerely believe right now," Higonnet writes. But we can't. Spencer Elden can't. Nirvana can't. So: "Let’s change the future instead."
It's Friday
And that means new music from HALSEY, a pop star who has stopped giving a f*** about anything but their own muse, which they follow to a logical conclusion on IF I CAN'T HAVE LOVE, I WANT POWER, an album-length collaboration with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It's a pop album designed to drown you in sound, feeling and beats lurking just below the surface. "If there’s an organizing framework to the album," Pitchfork's DANI BLUM writes, "it’s dissonance"... TURNSTILE, a Baltimore hardcore band with an ever-expanding worldview, enlists the services of Dev Hynes, aka Blood Orange, on the ambitious GLOW ON... Palestinian-Canadian rapper BELLY returns from a short career break with SEE YOU NEXT WEDNESDAY, an album he describes as a revenge story—against his old self. The Weeknd, Young Thug and Lil Uzi Vert lend a hand... BIG RED MACHINE is Aaron Dessner, formerly known as a founding member of the National but more recently known as a member of Taylor Swift Inc., and Justin Vernon, aka Bon Iver, who's found a few external avenues of his own to explore. Their second album, HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT'S GONNA LAST, features "almost everyone I've made a record with," Dessner says... TOYAH, the internet's favorite 63-year-old YouTube rock star, breaks out of her Sunday Lunch routine to release her first album in 13 years.
Plus new music from INDIGO DE SOUZA, NITE JEWEL, SPACE AFRIKA, LIL TECCA, GRIP, CHVRCHES, JADEN, ONEREPUBLIC, DIANE WARREN (her debut album, somehow), maybe but probably not KANYE WEST (I doubt even he knows), OHGEESY, TRACE ADKINS, NIKO MOON, NELLY (goes country with help from Kane Brown, Jimmie Allen, Florida Georgia Line, etc.), KENNY GARRETT, TERENCE BLANCHARD (tribute to Wayne Shorter), WEB MAX & MAX HERRE, ANDREW CYRILLE QUARTET, the BUG (aka producer Kevin Martin, with guests including Moor Mother, Flowdan and Roger Robinson), MARISA ANDERSON & WILLIAM TYLER, SCARYPOOLPARTY, NICKY JAM, MARIA BECERRA, KIEFER, EYEDRESS, STEVE GUNN, DANKO JONES, FILTH IS ETERNAL, MEN I TRUST, MACY RODMAN, MADI DIAZ, MAISIE PETERS, BLK ODYSSY, G PERICO, CURREN$Y, WATER FROM YOUR EYES, the BRONX, TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET, CHUBBY AND THE GANG, BRIAN SETZER, FOTOCRIME, YANN TIERSEN, FIELD WORKS, TYSHAWN SOREY & ALARM WILL SOUND, SPEKTRAL QUARTET/ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR, SUMMER DEAN, DELLA MAE, BOB SCHNEIDER, JASON EADY, SOUTHERN AVENUE, the FAUX PAWS... And the awesome debut album from MOUSE RAT, the most awesome band ever to emerge, awesomely, from Pawnee, Indiana.
Etc Etc Etc
The ROLLING STONES will go ahead with their fall American tour, with drummer STEVE JORDAN filling in for the late CHARLIE WATTS... Classical composer from Austin decides there should be better "hold" music while navigating unemployment claims on the phone; the TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION, who processes those claims, agrees... The TALIBAN wants the world to think it's modernized but a spokesman tells the New York Times there will be no music in public in Afghanistan because "music is forbidden in Islam" (fact check)... Congrats to my friend JOSEPH PATEL, who's directing the film adaptation of the book CONTACT HIGH: A VISUAL HISTORY OF HIP-HOP... VICE and REFINERY29 laid off around 20 editorial staffers Thursday, including music writer JOSH TERRY and culture writer JELISA CASTRODALE (whose final piece was an interview with people who have BILLY JOEL tattoos).
Rest in Peace
Mastering engineer GEORGE HORN, who put the finishing touches on thousands of jazz, rock and punk albums during a three-decade run at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, Calif. "He saw everything as a challenge, and he wanted to translate what people wanted," said Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys... Nashville session drummer and percussionist KENNY MALONE, who can be heard on records by Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Garth Brooks, Dobie Gray and countless others... Memphis playwright, theater director and songwriter ERMA L. CLANTON... Frankie & the Heartstrings drummer DAVE HARPER... Holocaust survivor INGE GINSBERG, who in her 90s became the "Death Metal Grandma"... Wichita, Kan., venue owner and promoter KENNY BALLINGER.
|
|
|
| Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Vulture |
|
| Last Resort, Part 1: Let’s Go to Angola |
| by Joshuah Bearman and Rich Schapiro |
| When an epic Nas concert goes awry, a promoter and his detoxing son are trapped thousands of miles from home. |
|
 |
|
Billboard |
|
| Inside the Business of BTS -- And the Challenges Ahead |
| by Jeyup S. Kwaak |
| BTS and its team open up about the band's workload, business innovations and the future of HYBE. |
|
 |
|
theLAnd |
|
| The Bizarre and Tragic Ride of J Sw!ft |
| by Max Bell |
| In the early ‘90s, J Swift's life took a turn for the worse, sending him on a tragic ride that was only halted by a fateful deportation in 2015. Today, he continues to be hopeful and work to mitigate the mistakes of his past and create a brighter future for his children. |
|
 |
|
Slate |
|
| Swimming Through Time |
| by Anne Higonnet |
| The ex-baby suing Nirvana over the "Nevermind" cover got one thing right. |
|
 |
|
Pitchfork |
|
| A Brief History of Musicians Being Sued by Their Album Cover Subjects |
| by Marc Hogan |
| From the famous faces of "Some Girls" to the naked baby on "Nevermind," cover-art infamy isn’t always appreciated. |
|
 |
|
Complex |
|
| Rap’s Complicated Relationship With COVID Mandates and Vaccines |
| by Andre Gee |
| Some artists are skeptical about masks and vaccines, while others are advocates. Here’s why rap’s relationship with COVID mandates is complicated. |
|
 |
|
The New York Times |
|
| Kacey Musgraves’s Expanding Universe |
| by Amanda Hess |
| After two wry country albums and a Grammy-sweeping breakthrough, pop stardom is calling for Kacey Musgraves. Will she answer? |
|
 |
|
NPR Music |
|
| How Kate Bush's 'The Dreaming' Made My Monsters My Own |
| by Ann Powers |
| There are so many ways that women are made into monsters. On "The Dreaming," Bush expresses the pain and explores the potential of monstrous transformation -- and teaches us how to do the same. |
|
 |
|
Input |
|
| From 'Yeezus' to 'Donda': How Kanye turned concert merch into an empire |
| by Giovanna Osterman |
| Controversial or not, Mr. West has the magic touch when it comes to fashion - and his influence reaches anyone from Virgil Abloh to Travis Scott. |
|
 |
|
KQED |
|
| George Horn, Essential Invisible Man of Bay Area Music, Dies at 87 |
| by Andrew Gilbert |
| A legend in the mysterious art of mastering, Horn died on Saturday from complications related to COVID. |
|
|
|
|
Billboard |
|
| 40 Under 40: Billboard's 2021 List of Trailblazing Young Music Executives |
| Capitol Music Group chairman/CEO Jeff Vaughn, who kicks off Billboard’s annual list of young executives, is writing a new chapter for his label. |
|
 |
|
Rolling Stone |
|
| Music Distribution Is Getting More Transparent. It’s About Damn Time |
| by Samantha Hissong |
| In the latest big wave of a rising tide, distributor and payment platform Stem will reveal new software that helps artists recoup loans and track earnings with more ease. |
|
 |
|
Consequence |
|
| All 214 Songs Jack Antonoff Has Produced, Ranked From Worst to Best |
| by Mary Siroky, Glenn Rowley, John Palmer Rea... |
| We've ranked every Jack Antonoff-produced song from worst to best. |
|
 |
|
WBGO |
|
| John Coltrane's Masterpiece Breathes New Life With 'A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle' |
| by Nate Chinen |
| John Coltrane rarely performed the music from "A Love Supreme" after its release at the end of 1964 -- meaning even the most ardent Coltrane-ologists have been unaware of the existence of these tapes. |
|
|
|
The New York Times |
|
| Some Said Lil Nas X Was a One-Hit Wonder. They Were Wrong |
| by Dodai Stewart and Jazmine Hughes |
| He’s lap dancing on the devil, winning the internet -- and redefining what a pop star can be. |
|
 |
|
NPR |
|
| An American Music Teacher's Struggle to Save His Afghan Students |
| Lanny Cordola is a guitarist who ran a school in Kabul designed to teach music to children in war-torn areas. He's now trying to get his students out of Afghanistan. |
|
 |
|
Stereogum |
|
| We’ve Got A File On You: Diane Warren |
| by Larry Fitzmaurice |
| The 64-year-old songwriter’s list of accomplishments runs so long that it’s literally impossible to keep track of everything she’s done. Throughout our chat, Warren regularly reminds me of this while mentioning that she has trouble remembering what she did a week ago, much less 15 years previous. |
|
 |
|
Spotify |
|
| Black Girl Songbook: Aaliyah: Truly One in a Million |
| by Danyel Smith and Fatima Robinson |
| Danyel Smith kicks off Season 2 with an episode celebrating the life, music, and impact of the princess of R&B, Aaliyah, 20 years after her death. Danyel takes the audience through who Aaliyah was as a young woman and what it was like to cover her as a member of the media. Also, legendary choreographer Fatima Robinson discusses working with Aaliyah on her iconic music videos. |
|
 |
|
Variety |
|
| Trailers Use Slower and Moodier New Versions of Classic Songs to Lure Viewers |
| by Lily Moayeri |
| The higher the intensity of a trailer, the slower the song that accompanies it. This may seem fairly recent as a reliable rule, but it's not a completely new phenomenon. |
|
|
|
| Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech |
|
“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 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
