We need to get out to the polls and vote for what we believe in. Not showing up is not an option.
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Tuesday November 08, 2022
REDEF
Capitol Hill brass: Protesters in harmony in Washington, Dec. 7, 2021.
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
quote of the day
We need to get out to the polls and vote for what we believe in. Not showing up is not an option.
- Billie Eilish
rantnrave://
Left and Right

Gonna keep it short today. It’s a good day for those of you in the US to head outside, find your polling place, pick up a ballot and fill in some ovals or boxes (or however it works in your state or county), if you haven’t already done so. The rants and raves and music stories can wait.

A few swing states will be literally swinging during the day. QUESTLOVE, DJ JAZZY JEFF, DJ DIAMOND KUTS and others will perform at polling sites around Philadelphia on behalf of JOY TO THE POLLS, a nonpartisan organization that aims to “bring joy to the democratic process.” The same org is hosting similar pop-up shows around Atlanta (with REMI WOLF, BABY TATE and more) and in Maricopa County, Ariz.

Hundreds of artists including RUN THE JEWELS, CARL CRAIG, RISE AGAINST, CNCO and UMPHREY’S MCGEE will livestream performances from around the country starting at 4 pm ET as part of the #IVOTED FESTIVAL, which is free for anyone who can prove they voted by taking a selfie outside their polling place or with an unmarked ballot at home.

Starting the following day—well, it’s hard to know what might happen starting Wednesday, except that we all have a say in that matter today.

Nonpartisan voting info is available here.

Rest in Peace

Drummer, singer and songwriter MIMI PARKER, who was the core of the band Low with her husband, ALAN SPARHAWK, for 29 years and 13 albums, providing spare, perfect beats and equally mesmerizing lead vocals and harmonies from Low’s slowcore beginnings through its sort of industrial Everly Brothers latter years. She was a remarkably consistent voice for a band whose axis kept shifting, and a quiet, undercelebrated giant of the modern rock era... Turn-of-the-millennium teen pop star AARON CARTER, who was 9 when he released his debut album in 1997 and 12 when he went triple platinum with the followup, “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It).” He toured with Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys—his older brother Nick’s band—and cultivated a bad-boy image. He struggled with mental health and substance abuse in later years, and had a rocky relationship with his brother. “My heart is broken,” Nick Carter tweeted. “I have always held on to the hope that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed.” Aaron Carter was 34... New Jersey rapper and graffiti artist TAME ONE, of Artifacts and the Weatherman... Nuyorican rapper HURRICANE G, who came up in EPMD’s Hit Squad... Italo disco star CARMELO LA BIONDA... British soul singer NOEL MCKOY.

- Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator
this land is your land
Vulture
House of Spears
By Kerry Howley
One year ago, Britney Spears was freed from a notorious conservatorship. What possessed her father to seize near-total control of her life?
Billboard
Inside Downtown Music’s Big Pivot
By Dan Rys
After mastering traditional publishing, the company reimagined its business — but staying at the changing industry's cutting edge hasn't come without risk.
Pitchfork
The Soundtrack of the Abortion Rights Movement, Then and Now
By Courtney E. Smith
Across more than 50 years, the music of artists including Dolly Parton, Alanis Morissette, and Megan Thee Stallion has been used communicate the anger and grief around the fight for reproductive rights.
NPR Music
Low's Mimi Parker had a voice that let the light in
By Stephen Thompson
Parker's crystalline vocals and spare percussion gave Low's sound a grounding force and a leavening agent all at once. She died Saturday, but her voice is eternal.
Slate
Mourning the Indie Rock Drummer Who Taught Me That Making Art Matters, No Matter What
By Sam Adams
"It kind of saved our asses," Mimi Parker said, "that we were not successful."
The Guardian
Aaron Carter was the millennium’s bubblegum bad boy – and the victim of a rapacious music industry
By Emma Garland
As a teen heartthrob, Carter seemed to have it all. But like many poster kids of his generation, success came with a dark side.
Essence
R&B Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Different Now
By Imani Mixon
R&B artists sound off on music’s most tired take.
Refinery29
Hip-Hop Didn’t Kill Takeoff -- What We’re Getting Wrong About Rap & Gun Violence
By Taylyn Washington-Harmon
Pointing fingers at hip-hop isn’t enough to prevent the death of young rappers.
Variety
What Can the Music Industry Do About Gun Violence in the Black Community?
By Tiffany Red
Just last year, the U.S. music business made $15 billion in revenue, with hip-hop being the No. 1 genre — so it is only right that this industry do a better job of supporting the communities where the music comes from. This can be accomplished in several ways.
The New Yorker
How Weird Al Spoofed Himself
By Sarah Larson
In a new bio-pic, the singer applies his talents to a surprising subject: his own rise to stardom.
vote baby vote
NPR
When she left Ukraine, an opera singer made room for a most precious possession
By Jodi Hilton
She and her daughter carried one small suitcase for toiletries, clothes and shoes. But she made sure she had room for a few items with deep sentimental value.
The Vinyl Factory
The unbreakable connection between Panjabi folk music and vinyl culture
By Amritpal Singh Kullar and Arjun Singh Lotay
Amritpal Singh Kullar and Arjun Singh Lotay explore the history of of Panjabi folk and its deep-rooted connection to vinyl culture.
Billboard
TikTok Pays Artists ‘Almost Nothing’ in Music Royalties -- And the Industry is Losing Patience
By Elias Leight
Think streaming royalties are bad? TikTok revenue can be 500 times lower.
The Guardian
‘Like watching your girlfriend kiss someone else’: the artists who had their songs co-opted by politicians
By Elle Hunt
Today’s stage-managed politics depend on everything being on-message -- including choosing the perfect conference walk-on tune. But what do artists think when their music is used to support policies they abhor?
Interview Magazine
'Meet Me in the Bathroom' is a Portal to the Early Aughts
By Lizzy Goodman
Lizzy Goodman, author of the juicy alt-rock oral history "Meet Me in the Bathroom," talks to the filmmakers who adapted it for the screen.
Love is the Message
‎Love is the Message: All For One and One For All -- The NYC Record Pool pt.2
By Tim Lawrence and Jeremy Gilbert
In this episode we hear how the NYC Record Pool invited the record labels to their inaugural meeting in the basement of David Mancuso's Prince Street Loft, the demands they made of them, and the egalitarian way they wished the Pool to be organised.
Complex
Yeat's World
By Eric Skelton
Rap’s rookie of the year has moved in silence since his viral rise to fame. Until now.
Consequence
Ozzy Osbourne Finds Light in the Darkness: "I Have So Much More to Give Before I Go"
By Robert Ham
In Ozzy’s voice is a note of want; a hunger to be back onstage as soon as possible. Not simply because there’s a new album to promote -- "Patient Number 9" was released on September 9th -- but also because, as Sharon Osbourne, his manager, caretaker, and wife of 40 years, bluntly puts it, “[It’s] all Ozzy knows.”
The Guardian
As a DJ, I know the government must intervene to save the night time industry
By Dave Haslam
The increasing closure of nightclubs threatens jobs, as well as the future of music and the souls of towns and cities.
The New Yorker
What the Suzuki Method Really Taught
By Adam Gopnik
A new biography of the program’s creator argues that reducing it to a system of music instruction misses its underlying point about human potential.
what we're into
Music of the day
“Especially Me”
Low
"As it stands, we all need the truth / Especially me and probably you." RIP Mimi Parker.
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Jason Hirschhorn
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