| Spread love, it's the Brooklyn way. |
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| Brooklyn in the house: MC Lyte, from East Flatbush, poses outside the offices of First Priority Music in Crown Heights, April 6, 1989. |
| (Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives) |
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| quote of the day |
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“Spread love, it's the Brooklyn way.”
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- The Notorious B.I.G., "Juicy"
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| rantnrave:// |
Can't Get There From Here
While touring American bands face the clear and present danger of Covid infections and the economic costs that come with them as they travel through unmasked towns en route to unmasked venues, their counterparts in the UK face that plus the costly paperwork and confusion of trying to tour Europe in a post-Brexit world. Who (besides everybody) could have guessed breaking up with Europe would come with huge financial costs? Especially for artists, who say their government paid them no mind. (Government officials increasingly agree with them, which isn't quite as helpful as it would have been when new visa rules were actually being negotiated.)
"It’s very, very complicated s*** that has to be filled out for a band to go to Europe," drummer JACK LAWRENCE-BROWN of the London rock band WHITE LIES tells NME. "It doesn’t really matter if you’re COLDPLAY or a brand new act—the paperwork that has to be filled in now is incredibly time-consuming."
White Lies had to cancel the opening night of their European tour, in Paris, when their equipment, held up by Brexit red tape, didn't make it in time. Mid-level working bands like White Lies tend to tour on razor-thin margins, and a single lost gig can be devastating. "We need each of those 30 dates to happen,” Lawrence-Brown said.
Belfast's NEW PAGANS tweeted last week that Covid, increased gas and toll costs and venues taking big cuts of bands' merch revenues have made touring enough of a nightmare already this year. Bewildering custom charges and regulations from Brexit are a massive government insult on top of all that. "To come home from a tour having accumulated massive debt," they wrote, "is now the reality for many small independent bands in 2022."
Back in the US, add J BALVIN to the Covid cancellation list, sort of. "Covid has caused some unforeseen production challenges," Balvin said in postponing an entire tour that was scheduled to start next week. There's some skepticism about what unforeseen production challenges actually mean. But even if that's, say, French for "unforeseen ticket selling challenges," that, too, could be a Covid thing. This was supposed to be touring's big comeback year but, as BILL WERDE suggests, "with so much competition due to bands not touring for two years; economic uncertainty; and actual fan covid concerns," selling tickets for all those tours may end being harder than anyone expected.
On the other hand, wearing masks remains incredibly easy.
Etc Etc Etc
Albums by DUKE ELLINGTON, MAX ROACH, the WU-TANG CLAN, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST and ALICIA KEYS are among 25 recordings being added to the US Library of Congress' NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY. Not to mention a certain epic single by QUEEN... Unhelpful assumption of the day: "You're probably tired of wearing face masks." That's from Billboard's "Last-Minute COACHELLA Accessories to Buy Online," which includes wide-brim sun hats or sun visors, earplugs and portable phone chargers, all of which you're apparently not tired of. A cloth neck gaiter should be just fine for your face, says the magazine, noting it will protect you from desert dust, while not mentioning that Covid cases are on the rise and the festival has dropped all vaccination, testing and masking requirements, which means you're on your own for protecting yourself and the people around you. Better advice "for those who don't want a cloth face mask or the more durable N95 mask"—bring a handful of N95 masks with you anyway, at least one per day, and wear them... IMPALA and environmental charity JULIE'S BICYCLE have launched a carbon calculator for indie record companies. Labels like !K7 and BEGGARS, which have started publishing sustainability reports, were instrumental in creating the tool... Latin music revenues in the US were up 35 percent in 2021, to $886 million, well above the growth rate of the overall US market. Paid subscriptions were responsible for most of those revenues... The metal perspective on GAME OF THRONES showrunner D.B. WEISS' Netflix film METAL LORDS, about "a young metalhead [who] finds purpose in a diehard headbanger friend"... A professional CELINE DION watcher's perspective on the "infamous, unauthorized" Celine biopic ALINE.
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| - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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The Culture Journalist |
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| What is a metalabel? |
| By Emilie Friedlander, Andrea Domanick, Yancey Strickler... |
| Reviving the Dischord Records model for the Discord era, with Yancey Strickler and Austin Robey. |
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NYLON |
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| At the Altar of Anitta |
| By Maria Sherman |
| With a Coachella set and her new album 'Versions Of Me' on the way, Brazilian pop star Anitta prepares to become a major household name in the U.S. |
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Dada Drummer Almanach |
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| Beat of the Traps |
| By Damon Krukowski |
| Fake artists, real songs, fake songs and real art. |
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KEXP |
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| Orville Peck Releases 'Bronco' After Almost Quitting Music |
| By Larry Mizell Jr., Emily Fox and Orville Peck |
| Orville Peck talks about musical inspiration from growing up in South Africa, telling biographical tales in his music that seem fictional, and creating his three-part record, "Bronco," after struggling with depression and almost giving up on music during the pandemic. |
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Vulture |
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| Slow Build, Fast Rise |
| By Charlie Harding and Nate Sloan |
| In the church tradition, the slow build is a common feature, beginning as a quiet prayer that expands outward as more voices join in. But it’s clearly not restricted to the church. Hosts Charlie Harding and Nate Sloan speak with contemporary Christian group Maverick City Music and listen to songs both religious and secular that lift us up. |
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Africa is a Country |
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| This is not appropriation |
| By Philipp Schütz |
| The French Ethio-groove group Akalé Wubé has dissolved. For over a decade they have shown how cultural outsiders can considerately engage in music that is not theirs. |
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WTF with Marc Maron |
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| WTF with Marc Maron: Episode 1321 -- Bonnie Raitt |
| By Marc Maron and Bonnie Raitt |
| Bonnie Raitt doesn’t feel the need to slow down. With the release of her 18th studio album and the start of an eight-month world tour, the prolific singer-songwriter knows what it’s like to make the most of your opportunities. |
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| what we're into |
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| Music of the day |
| “Brooklyn Took It” |
| Jeru the Damaja |
| "When we step, your state we shook it / If it's gone, no doubt, Brooklyn took it." From "The Sun Rises in the East" (1994). |
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| Music | Media |
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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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