| Crews, tech people and producers can assume problems when I perform... I have to be really clear and informed about any non-musical needs I have and I have to limit my needs as much as I can. No playing diva! Is it because I’m a woman? Because I’m Black? Because I’m a harpist? All three may inspire a sub-conscious knee-jerk 'here comes trouble' reaction. |
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| Brandee Younger at the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, R.I., July 29, 2022. |
| (Douglas Mason/Getty Images) |
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| quote of the day |
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“Crews, tech people and producers can assume problems when I perform... I have to be really clear and informed about any non-musical needs I have and I have to limit my needs as much as I can. No playing diva! Is it because I’m a woman? Because I’m Black? Because I’m a harpist? All three may inspire a sub-conscious knee-jerk 'here comes trouble' reaction.”
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- Brandee Younger
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| rantnrave:// |
The Four (or More) Questions
Cleaning some stray thoughts and links off my laptop on this morning of the day of the first Passover seder, like the pieces of bread I used to help my dad gather and burn every year on this morning. It was the final step in making sure the house was free of all chametz and we were ready for the holiday (and ready for mom’s mouth-watering Passover brownies, which were made from matzo meal and were verboten the other 51 weeks of the year). There was nothing wrong with the bread. It just needed to be cleared off our collective plates on this day, as we koshered our house prepared to tell the Passover story one more time.
“Of the 196 million music tracks/videos available on music streaming platforms today, NEARLY 50% have been released since 2020.” That’s the most succinct expression (thank you, DAN FOWLER) of a jaw-dropping fact reported last week by Music Business Worldwide using numbers based on ISRC data from LUMINATE. Two thoughts: 1) We. Need. Human. Curators. And. Editors. And. Selecters. To. Guide. Us. Through. All. That. Music. The algorithms that try to do that in place of humans will never be able to keep up with the algorithms that are producing and uploading the music. Or, worse, the algomusicians and algocurators will team up and create a perfect, closed loop where nothing they don’t authorize will ever get through. (Or, wait, maybe that’s how the music biz has always worked?) We've always needed ears—the messy, imperfect, unreliable, intuitive, expensive, human kind—and never more than now... But also 2) What happens next? Artificial intelligence is barely getting started as a mass producer and uploader of music, and it doesn’t seem much of a stretch to assume the daily numbers of new uploads will accelerate and accelerate until we reach an eventual singularity where more songs will be uploaded on any given day than existed in the entirety of history before that day. And then again the next day. Everything released more than 24 hours ago will be considered “catalog” and will be increasingly hard, and frustrating, to find. Help. Please... But that’s not the actually scary side of AI. This is. And this. But, hey, all we have to do is add verified checkmarks to authentic songs going forward and then we’ll be all good, right?... “It would be very APPLE to release a magical music service that completely transforms its interface depending on the type of music and the context on which is being played” is the best solution I’ve seen (kudos, GERMANO STEIN) to the new issue that Apple has created by solving the old issue of classical and pop metadata incompatibility by splitting APPLE MUSIC into two incompatible apps. Stein, an insightful writer on music tech issues, envisions an integrated Apple Music app that “would have one look while the user is in the living room and quite another in the gym” and that could literally shapeshift depending on what kind of music you’re listening to in those and other rooms. Why not, Apple?... Can CHATGPT name the producer of every non-BIG COUNTRY album that members of Big Country played on? (Spoiler: Reply hazy, try again)... Could ChatGPT find that North Carolina pond from that BOB WELCH-era FLEETWOOD MAC song? (Spoiler: Can anyone?)... Is BTS having the busiest hiatus ever?... Hallelujah: The dos and don’ts of referencing LEONARD COHEN.
Programming Note
MusicREDEF will be taking a day off for Passover. We’ll be back in your inbox Friday morning.
Rest in Peace
Italo disco DJ/producer FRANCO SCOPINICH.
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| - Matty Karas, curator |
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Trapital |
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| The HYBE Opportunity |
| By Dan Runcie |
| Becoming a major label competitor is the goal for HYBE, but is that the right goal? |
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The Bitter Southerner |
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| Big Freedia: Queen of Joy, Empress of Peace |
| By Maurice Carlos Ruffin |
| A hometown hustler with big-time fans, she’s been grinding a long time for this moment. On the precipice of a new chapter, Freedia and author Maurice Carlos Ruffin talk about their shared beginnings in the city, her mother’s wisdom, creating joy in tough times, and the collection of exciting projects on her horizon. |
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The New Yorker |
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| Reimagining Underground Rave Culture |
| By Emily Witt |
| A new book by the media theorist McKenzie Wark may be the most extensive depiction of the renegade party scene that has recently exploded in Brooklyn. |
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The Washington Post |
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| Near replica of original 9:30 Club opening with Foo Fighters concert |
| By Fritz Hahn |
| The new live music venue, dubbed the Atlantis, opens May 30 and is designed to evoke the cramped, dingy and utterly iconic music venue that operated there from 1980 to 1995, hosting the D.C. debuts of countless big-name artists, including R.E.M., Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. |
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Vulture |
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| ‘We Were Obsessed’ |
| By Craig Jenkins |
| Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda didn’t plan to revisit the band’s 2003 album "Meteora" -- until he found a lost demo. |
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Rolling Stone |
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| What Do We Really Want From Chris Brown? |
| By Mankaprr Conteh |
| Since assaulting Rihanna in 2009, the singer has been accused of more than 20 acts of aggression, violence, or crime - and has remained incredibly popular. Many demand better. This is what that could look like, according to experts. |
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| what we're into |
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| Music of the day |
| “Brand New Life” |
| Brandee Younger ft. Mumu Fresh |
| From "Brand New Life," out Friday on Impulse! |
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| Music | Media |
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| “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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