| We want to be a big rock band and not the cool, obscure thing. |
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| Keeping baggage claim weird: boygenius' Julien Baker plays for arriving travelers at Austin-Bergstrom Airport during SXSW, March 14, 2023. |
| (Renee Dominguez/Getty Images/Getty Images) |
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| quote of the day |
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| rantnrave:// |
It's Friday
And it’s taken five years for the three women of BOYGENIUS to get around to releasing their debut album, but it can take time when the three women in your band have their own careers to tend to, at least one of which is already veering toward serious rock stardom, and maybe a little additional time when you’re carrying the burden of a Rolling Stone cover story calling you “the world’s most exciting supergroup” 10 weeks before the album’s scheduled to see the light of day, and when you’re trying to create a safe space around you for voices like yours while at the same time making a point to “refuse the press-appointed responsibility of being the women rock band,” which might sound difficult and contradictory but which should be really simple: “More than anything,” ANGIE MARTOCCIO writes in that Rolling Stone story, “they just want to be treated like famous bands of dudes.” Hear, hear. And maybe that can happen now that THE RECORD, an old-school, richly and quirkily detailed, literate, confessional, singer-songwriter rock album with three distinct but sympathetic voices, as often as not singing for and about each other, sometimes with drums and sometimes without, is here.
LONDON BREW is the sprawling, improvised work of a stellar group of British musicians—including Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Theon Cross and DJ Benji B—who assembled during the pandemic to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew,” not by covering its music but by recreating its spirit. There’s no trumpet on the album, executive producer Bruce Lampcov told the New York Times, “because how could you do that?”... SUNDOWN is the second album made by EDDIE CHACON, of ‘90s R&B stars Charles & Eddie, since he returned to music after a two-decade hiatus, and is part of a continuing attempt to address “this unanswered question: What happens to talent as it sits and is underutilized and not given a purpose? Does it mature like wine? Or does it fade with time?”
TYLER, THE CREATOR has added eight songs to his acclaimed 2021 album, “Call Me If You Get Lost,” with the help of Madlib, A$AP Rocky and YG, for what he’s calling CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST: THE ESTATE SALE. The original he tweeted earlier this week, “was the first album I made with alot of songs that didn’t make the final cut. Some of these songs I really love”... B. COOL-AID is the duo of rapper/singer Pink Siifu and producer Ahwlee teaming up for a neo-soul album with help from L.ive, Quelle Chris, Fousheé, Ladybug Mecca and others, and “soundgood” is a perfect description of the results.
Also this week: Albums from Davido, Nakhane, Baaba Maal, DJ Drama, Conway the Machine, Luh Tyler, Chlöe Bailey, Jisoo (of Blackpink), the Hold Steady, New Pornographers, Molina Talbot Lofgren & Young (Neil Young and friends, generally working independently of each other), Rob Mazurek/Exploding Star Orchestra, Wadada Leo Smith & Orange Wave Electric, Ingrid Laubrock, Phil Minton/Pat Thomas/Dave Tucker/Roger Turner, Yayennings (aka Jay Jennings of Snarky Puppy), Larry June & the Alchemist, Lucki, James Holden, Ric Wilson/Chromeo/A-Trak, Katie Gately, Alan Braxe/Fred Falke, A Certain Ratio, Tzusing, Deerhoof, William Tyler & the Impossible Truth, Kalia Vandever, Altin Gün, Mystic 100, Scott McMicken & the Ever-Expanding, Murray A. Lightburn, Elderbrook, Sondre Lerche, Piotr Korek, Steve Gunn & David Moore, Noia, Höhn, Spirit Possession, Ad Infinitum, Kommand, Rotten Sound, City and Colour, the Zombies, the No Ones, Andy White & Tim Finn, Lies (synth-pop album from Mike and Nate Kinsella of American Football), Barrie, Damien Jurado, Leggy, Packs, Gel, Samiam, Laurel Canyon, DMA’s, Buzzy Lee, Melanie Martinez, Lauren Morrow, Ethan Setiawan, Mighty Poplar and David Kitt.
Radio on the TV
The six-episode docuseries RAPCAVIAR PRESENTS, inspired by the SPOTIFY playlist and looking at issues in hip-hop culture through the lens of TYLER THE CREATOR, COI LERAY, CITY GIRLS and others—one featured artist per episode—is now streaming on HULU. Shoutout showrunner STEVE RIVO... SPINNING GOLD, the decades-in-the-making biopic about NEIL BOGART, the flamboyant founder of CASABLANCA RECORDS, is in theaters today. His son TIM wrote, directed and produced, and his son EVAN co-wrote the score. “It’s actually factually accurate,” Tim tells Variety, except for a handful of scenes, including one that originally had the ISLEY BROTHERS’ RUDY ISLEY peeing out a Times Square window, that were changed because “some people in the focus group said it wasn’t believable, even though it was 100% true”... JONI MITCHELL: THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GERSHWIN PRIZE FOR POPULAR SONG, premiering tonight on PBS, captures performances by Mitchell, BRANDI CARLILE, CYNDI LAUPER, HERBIE HANCOCK and others at Mitchell’s Gershwin Prize tribute concert earlier this month in Washington, D.C.... LAINEY WILSON is the leading nominee at the CMT MUSIC AWARDS, which air live from Austin Sunday night, with KELSEA BALLERINI and KANE BROWN hosting.
Rest in Peace
RUSSELL WASHINGTON, founder of Houston rap label Bigtyme Recordz, who was instrumental in the careers of H-town giants UGK and DJ Screw. Washington “knew how to walk that line between being a businessman and somebody who wanted to do good for the culture,” said Lance Scott Walker, author of “Houston Rap Tapes”... BRIAN "BRIZZ" GILLIS, a founding member of '90s boy band LFO... James Brown bassist and music director SWEET CHARLES SHERRELL... Piano-playing political satirist MARK RUSSELL.
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| - Matty Karas, curator |
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Rolling Stone |
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| How boygenius Became the World’s Most Exciting Supergroup |
| By Angie Martoccio |
| On their own, Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus are three accomplished singer-songwriters. Together, they’re a one-of-a-kind band powered by friendship, sick books, and sicker songs. |
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Music Industry Blog |
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| Music fandom’s problem is TV’s opportunity |
| By Mark Mulligan |
| The power connection that music can deliver in a TV show is loud and clear. Imagine how much more impactful TV could be if there were more showcases where audiences could meaningfully engage in artists’ stories, not just at the breakneck 15 seconds of fame pace of social media. |
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NPR |
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| Beauty is in the eye of the male gaze: DreamDoll, Doechii and Baby Tate |
| By Gabby Bulgarelli, Sam Leeds, Sidney Madden... |
| The male gaze looms over everything, but hip-hop is its favorite entertainment. Those under its watchful eye feel objectified or shamed if they don't give it what it wants to see. In this episode, we share the stories of three artists who are pushing back on the male gaze in their personal relationships, social interactions and even industry-wide. |
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The New Yorker |
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| The Lingering Beauty of Elliott Smith |
| By Jamie Fisher |
| Twenty years after his death, the singer-songwriter still isn’t particularly well known, or well understood, but he is terribly loved. |
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KEXP |
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| Women in the Touring Industry |
| By Jasmine Albertson, Stephanie Escoto, Alicia Blake... |
| As Women’s History Month comes to a close, KEXP’s Jasmine Albertson talks with three women in the touring industry (Stephanie Escoto, Alicia Blake, and Robin Taylor). |
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The FADER |
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| Eddie Chacon aspires to nothingness |
| By Alex Robert Ross |
| Prolific songwriter Eddie Chacon maps out the bizarre path that led him to his new album "Sundown," on this week’s episode of The Fader Interview. |
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Passion of the Weiss |
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| The Rap Star Online |
| By Abe Beame |
| Abe Beame on how rappers like Kenzo B, RXK Nephew and TisaKorean have harnessed the power of different social media platforms to broadcast the best, most authentic version of themselves. |
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| what we're into |
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| Music of the day |
| “Leonard Cohen” |
| boygenius |
| "Leonard Cohen once said / 'There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in' / And I am not an old man having an existential crisis / At a Buddhist monastery, writing horny poetry / But I agree." From "the record," out today on Interscope. |
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| Video of the day |
| “Spinning Gold” |
| Timothy Scott Bogart |
| Neil Bogart biopic, in theaters today. |
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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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