[contextly_auto_sidebar id="JX2tjd7JvriqrA2S7OZYKTAWW9ZQa4Rm"] What about the idea that the Internet would become a level playing field, an outlet for democracy and independent voices, rather than a corporate-dominated, winner-take-all wasteland like commercial radio? Well, it's taken one step forward and two steps back, or perhaps vice versa -- the new proposal is very hard to figure … [Read more...]
When Music Sounds Like a Cash Register: Taylor Swift
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="z9vqtTIKWYYE4qjmn9I73sMygRd2LrTi"] WHAT happens when a society gets obsessed with those who win at the capitalist game, when marketing becomes the new religion, and the gatekeepers of art and music stop caring ab0ut the fields in which they labor but get hypnotized by the machinery of star-making? We get "artists" like Jeff Koons or Taylor Swift. The onetime … [Read more...]
Slowcore with Bell Gardens
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="9vD3GSedRH3Lhfh77m4o9JwPwkkIwNAN"] A FEW years ago I went to the LA club I still think of as Spaceland to see an indie rock band; I think it was Army Navy. The opening band seemed to have a lot of people, and they opened very slowwwly... but by the end of their set I'd been transported. They're somewhere between Radar Bros and Sigur Ros. That group -- LA's own … [Read more...]
Lonnie Johnson’s Guitar
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="fcUsm68cqoCwHl6s0ZHPlhwRCVXW8pyC"] THERE'S been a lot of bad news for culture and society lately, so I want to offer one of my occasional bits of inspiration. Jazz and blues player Lonnie Johnson is one of the greatest-ever American musicians, and one of the most underrated guitarists in history. His playing predates Robert Johnson and many of the Delta blues … [Read more...]
Stop Working For Free
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="qdf9aqJ1GtDAb9pJMkPYYNu43BIF5aWQ"] BY now, the movement urging artists, writers, musicians and other creatives to stop donating their labor has made some noise in the culture: It's one of the key issue for today's exploited creative class. But I've not seen the subject framed as well as this new Daily Beast story, with its subhead: "Remember when people volunteered … [Read more...]
Rosanne Cash on Our Culture’s Big Lie
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="sMcHj6Lojb9dMZsYLz0bq8L0kVkN6RaH"] LATELY the country-steeped singer-songwriter has become vocal and eloquent on issues of artists's rights, including an appearance before lawmakers in Washington, DC; she's also on the executive board of the Content Creators Coalition. The freshest thing about the arguments made by this daughter of St. Johnny is that she looks not … [Read more...]
Iggy Pop Rips the State of Music
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="rsTsrc9iWZyWOtGEurvcdQNW78Mrk5Dy"] TODAY I have a new Salon post that quotes an Iggy Pop speech in the UK, and tries to make sense of it. Well into the age of streaming, we’re still hearing from a few musicians – most of them promoted and even employed by the tech sector – that we live in the best of all possible worlds. Some resent the new arrangement, where they … [Read more...]
New Lucinda Williams Record
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="2nnqMpDwCs1dANMr4gtQn9KG4Y8QR2ie"] HERE at CultureCrash, we're all dedicated Lucinda Williams fans of long standing. Her new double-disc album, Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, is one of country/folk/blues artist's finest, and includes not just longtime associates like lap steel and mand0lin master Greg Leisz but jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. In honor of the … [Read more...]
Greil Marcus and the History of Rock N Roll
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="1o2sCoXE2Fn6bznjQ3wr9tT1LIaHHcnX"] MANY of us interested in music, American history and culture in general discovered this scholar and scribe with one of his great early books like Mystery Train or Lipstick Traces. Marcus popularized the idea of using music as a "secret history" for other cultural forms, his book connecting Dylan's Basement Tapes to Harry Smith's … [Read more...]
More Musicians Against Spotify
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xGXLuZLba3ZaZcAz5ytDQ3Clj72bbrjB"] MOST of the coverage of musicians opposing streaming services -- especially on this site -- has concentrated on indie and alternative figures like David Lowery or Thom Yorke. But the suburban center has staked its claim now that Jimmy Buffett has come out against Spotify. From a Business Insider story: At the Vanity Fair Summit … [Read more...]