Group texts are the greatest untapped and private archive of the music industry. So many exist. Mystery treasure troves that one day will have their own museum.
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Wednesday September 21, 2022
REDEF
Danalogue, Betamax and King Shabaka (from left) of the Comet Is Coming, Turin, Italy, Aug. 28, 2021.
(Roberto Finizio/Getty Images)
quote of the day
Group texts are the greatest untapped and private archive of the music industry. So many exist. Mystery treasure troves that one day will have their own museum.
- Marissa R. Moss
rantnrave://
Loudness

In the past week, I’ve ventured inside a movie theater for the first time in two and a half years and to a music festival for the first time in a little longer. We’re all continuing to work our way back at our own pace. This is mine.

It was an inspiring week in two different ways. The music fest was SEA.HEAR.NOW in my old hometown of Asbury Park, N.J., a guitar-heavy fest befitting the city’s traditionalist blues, R&B and rock roots. My route through the grounds started with BILLY STRINGS’ bluegrass-meets-Southern-rock acoustic chops Saturday afternoon and ended with COURTNEY BARNETT’s electric folk-garage-blues-rock verities Sunday night. But it was the sheer volume of sound produced on Sunday afternoon by IDLES, especially bassist ADAM DEVONSHIRE, that, more than anything, reminded me of something specific I’d been missing: the joy of being rattled by loud, live, beautiful pulses of sound while being surrounded by thousands of people dancing as if the rattling was the entire point. It’s one of a thousand things I love about music, but one that’s all but impossible to replicate anywhere but in front of live performers with stacks of amplifiers. The physical feeling of speakers pushing air, as an old bandmate loved to say. Yes, I wore earplugs. And yes, I was overcome with emotion when Idles singer JOE TALBOT took time near the end of the show—the final one on the band’s US tour—to thank every member of the road crew by name. It’s been a painful two and a half years for live music, and arguably no one has suffered more than roadies, who aren’t on salary, don’t get royalties, do live from gig to gig and cancellation to cancellation, and don’t even get the small reward of someone shouting their name from a stage. On this inspiring afternoon, they did. And then a few minutes later, Talbot realized he’d forgotten the people out by the soundboard and thanked each of them, too. Pushed a little extra air their way.

(On a jangly side note, there was also this.)

The movie theater was the ANGELIKA in New York, where I saw a screening of ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL, which is returning to theaters next Tuesday, Sept. 27, 13 years after its initial Cinderella cinematic run (with a digital re-release to follow). SACHA GERVASI’s documentary about two lifelong friends, STEVE “LIPS” KUDLOW and ROBB REINER, who’d spent the better part of 30 years running down a single dream with their Canadian metal band, ANVIL, against all imaginable odds and all conceivable logic, remains as inspirational as ever now that Lips, Robb and Anvil are closing in on 45 years of running and dreaming and never stopping.

“Anvil!” is, on one hand, an alternate history film in which THIS IS SPINAL TAP turns out to actually be a documentary, and it still succeeds, hilariously, at that. But it’s also something more, as the New Yorker’s ANTHONY LANE, wrote in his review way back when. “This film is not about rock music at all, still less about school lunches in Ontario, or unusual uses for vibrators,” Lane wrote. “It is about time, and how it threatens to fade us out like a song on the radio, and why, risking ridicule, and leaning on love, we should crank up the volume and keep going.” That’s a perfect description. And has there ever been a better time to rage, rage against the fading of the radio? No, there has not.

Etc Etc Etc

BAD BUNNY leads the field of nominees for the LATIN GRAMMY AWARDS, with 10 nominations including album and record of the year. Other top contenders at the Nov. 17 ceremony will include songwriter/producer ÉDGAR BARRERA, with nine nods, and ROSALÍA and RAUW ALEJANDRO, with eight each... SPOTIFY, continuing to pursue its goal of being “the world’s No. 1 audio platform,” has entered the audiobook market. It opened for business in the US with 300,000 titles Tuesday, and for now it’s offering a la carte purchases only—no streaming, that is—and a bit of awkwardness. You can see and play the titles in the Spotify app but you have to go to service’s website to actually buy them and unlock the play buttons. Here, for example, is where you can buy MARISSA R. MOSS’s HER COUNTRY and DANYEL SMITH's SHINE BRIGHT... Ex-JOURNEY singer STEVE PERRY is asking the US Patent and Trademark Office to void his ex-bandmates’ merchandising trademarks on the titles of Journey hits including “ANY WAY YOU WANT IT” and “WHEEL IN THE SKY.” Perry says NEAL SCHON and JONATHAN CAIN don’t have the right to sell t-shirts and other clothing with those phrases on them without his consent... TAYLOR SWIFT says her lyrics all fall into one of three genres: quill lyrics (those that "sound like a letter written by EMILY DICKINSON's great grandmother while sewing a lace curtain"), fountain pen lyrics and glitter gel lyrics. THE US SPACE FORCE, which is a thing that exists, now has an official anthem, written by an Air Force veteran and Coast Guard chief musician, that, weirdly, sounds like it was written and recorded long before space flight existed. Or, as Washington Post classical critic MICHAEL ANDOR BRODEUR put it: “I was hoping for something... I don’t know, spacier?”

- Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator
metal on metal
GQ
The Man Whose Sound Systems Make You Feel Like You’re On Psychedelics
By Noah Johnson
Devon Turnbull’s custom-built speakers can be heard in Supreme stores, at New York’s hottest new hotel, and in Mark Ronson’s house. But Turnbull is not chasing clout or decibels with his hi-fi audio gear-he’s offering an entirely different approach to the listening experience.
Billboard
HarbourView Entered the Music-Assets Space at a Sprint -- And They’re Not Stopping
By Ed Christman
Less than a year in business, Sherrese Clarke Soares is on her way to making her HarbourView Equity Partners a quiet giant in the music-assets space — and to do it, she has been making significant bets on Latin music.
Los Angeles Times
Country star Maren Morris: 'I don't feel comfortable going' to the CMA Awards
By Mikael Wood
Morris, who sparred with Jason and Brittany Aldean over their transphobic social media posts, says that country music is fractured, and that's not a bad thing.
Passion of the Weiss
A Requiem For PnB Rock (1991-2022)
By Jayson Buford
The Philadelphia musician was defined by the freedom of having no one to answer to. His passing is another tragedy in the midst of an epidemic of fallen rappers.
The New Yorker
Unboxing Lou Reed’s Posthumous Parcel to Himself
By Sarah Larson
After the death of the Velvet Underground front man, two archivists and his widow, Laurie Anderson, discovered a mysterious sealed package from 1965. Inside was treasure: never-before-heard, folky versions of “Heroin” and other classics.
The Verge
Will the future of music sound a lot like the past?
By Alex Cranz and Charlie Harding
Switched on Pop podcast host Charlie Harding discusses how old, unused recordings are transformed for new albums, how AI is recreating famous singers, and how labels are purposely using elements of old, extremely profitable catalogs to create new hits through remixes and interpolations.
The Daily Beast
Nicki Minaj’s ‘Barbz’ Came for This YouTuber. So She’s Suing Them
By Adam Manno
YouTuber Kimberly Nicole Foster says she’s overwhelmed and wary of leaving her house after a week of mounting threats and abuse from the rapper’s fans.
Jay Gilbert
The State Of Vinyl (from someone who works at a vinyl pressing plant)
By Sean Rutkowski
All those supply chain issues you read about in other manufacturing industries-increased cost of goods, shortage of materials and parts, shipping challenges, or labor shortages- we are dealing with every single one of them at any given time.  It’s like playing Whack-A-Mole everyday. 
Decibel
'It’s Almost Like A Disney Thing': Anvil On The Re-Release Of Their Documentary
By Justin Norton
Anvil mainstays Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner talked to us about the second life of "Anvil! The Story Of Anvil."
Pitchfork
Björk: Mother, Daughter, Force of Nature
By Jazz Monroe
In Iceland with the experimental pop icon, digging deep into the triumphs and tragedies that birthed her remarkable new album, "Fossora."
forged in fire
Billboard
As Music Stocks Keep Slipping, This One K-Pop Company Is Bucking the Trend
By Glenn Peoples
Since Sept. 12, SM Entertainment shares are up 13.9% while the Nasdaq is off 6.9% and the S&P 500 is down 6.2%.
The Quietus
Lust For Life: Tana Douglas Hits The Road With Iggy Pop In 78
By Tana Douglas
In the 1970s, Tana Douglas was rock’n’roll’s first female roadie. In an extract from her new book, *LOUD: A Life in Rock 'n' Roll by the World's First Female Roadie*, she recalls the 18th birthday she spent fixing Iggy Pop’s sound rig.
Interview Magazine
Shygirl Tells Doechii Why Her Time Is Now
By DOECHII
The queen of the U.K. underground links up with the American rapper to sound off on songwriting and shady industry tactics.
Rolling Stone
Did Dr. John Actually Finish His Final Album Before He Died? Depends Who You Ask
By Jonathan Bernstein
Three years after his death, the musician’s moving collection of country standards is finally being released. But it’s different from the version his collaborators claim he approved while still alive.
TechCrunch
YouTube announces Creator Music, a new way for creators to shop for songs for use in videos
By Sarah Perez
The changes were introduced at the Made on YouTube live event, where the company presented its plans to retain the video creator community in the face of the growing threat of TikTok.
The Liner Notes
Madlib and the Art of Jazz Excavation
By Marcus J. Moore
The rap producer has taught me a lot about Black classical music.
Africa is a Country
Afrobeat is bigger than Fela
By Simon Adetona Akindes
In the second of four articles on Afrobeat music in South America, political scientist Simon Akindes writes about the all women and nonbinary Brazilian band, Funmilayo Afrobeat Orquestra.
Broken Record
Broken Record: Jack White ft. Special Guest Neil Young
By Rick Rubin, Jack White and Neil Young
Jack White sits down with Rick Rubin for an in-depth interview and performance, and gets a visit from a special guest.
NPR
At age 22, Samara Joy is a classic jazz singer from a new generation
By Ari Shapiro, Kat Lonsdorf, Patrick Jarenwattananon...
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with 22-year-old jazz singer Samara Joy, who recently took to the stage of legendary club Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. Her album, "Linger Awhile," is out now.
Austin American-Statesman
‘Anything can happen': Wit and wisdom from one of Austin’s best piano tuners
By Michael Barnes
Charles Ball retired after 40 years of keeping hundreds of pianos in tune for the Austin Symphony Orchestra and the University of Texas.
The New York Times
Robert Fripp Lightens Up
By Jon Pareles
No one expected to see the leader of King Crimson dancing in a tutu on YouTube. In a rare interview, the guitarist explains “an entirely different trajectory.”
what we're into
Music of the day
“Technicolour”
The Comet Is Coming
From the British trio's third album, "Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam," out Friday on Impulse!
Video of the day
“Randy Rhoads: Reflections of a Guitar Icon”
Andre Relis
Streaming at Amazon.
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