How would I define a wack artist? A wack artist uses other people's music for their approval. We're talking about someone that is scared to make their own voice, chases somebody else's success and their thing, but runs away from their own thing. | | Rodrigo y Gabriela in Los Angeles, July 29, 2017. (Michael Kovac/Getty Images) | | | | “How would I define a wack artist? A wack artist uses other people's music for their approval. We're talking about someone that is scared to make their own voice, chases somebody else's success and their thing, but runs away from their own thing.” |
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| rantnrave:// A friend emailed me the other day to ask what people mean when they say "rock is dead," especially at a time when ARCADE FIRE can have a #1 album. I responded by noting that a) Arcade Fire probably won't still have the #1 album a week from now; b) albums 2 through 6 this week are all hip-hop albums, all of which may fly by Arcade Fire on next week's chart; c) something about how the guitar-bass-drums band, reliable and evergreen as it may be, is a quaint notion in 2017; d) there are exactly two radio stations in LOS ANGELES that play this stuff that aren't oldies stations or college/public radio, and e) yadda yadda yadda. But the thing is, it really *is* an evergreen way of making music. Ask THE WAR ON DRUGS. Ask PORTUGAL. THE MAN. Ask these guys. Ask RIHANNA. What say you?... CHANCE THE RAPPER's RAPPER RADIO is a clean, simple website with a single function: to make it easy for fans to request specific songs (by Chance and others) on their local radio stations via TWITTER. Could a popular musician—someone like, say, Chance—do the same for public policy? He tells STRETCH & BOBBITO he's thinking about it. And he swears he has "a larger platform ... than literally anybody that works in politics." Sounds like a great use of his 5m Twitter followers if you ask me. Take a chance... BRUCE on BROADWAY! With a script! And a score! And previews! (Maybe he should get someone else to play himself. STEW from PASSING STRANGE could be a good Bruce)... Is this a good ticket solution for a high-demand, low-inventory show like that? (And, wait, please tell me that the idea of an "engagement metric" for deciding who gets tickets doesn't mean we're officially living in the world of a BLACK MIRROR episode. And if we are, please tell me ASAP so I can work on my rating.) A reminder, for anyone who needs it, of the myriad problems and potential solutions facing that part of the biz. MusicSET: "Can Concert Ticketing Be Fixed?" ... Seats for the TAYLOR SWIFT trial in DENVER, on the other hand, appear to be easy to score... One little thing wrong with FORBES' list of the world's highest-paid DJs (not Forbes' fault). CALVIN HARRIS, I hope you tip well... Seventeen '80s songs about nuclear war... Can you tell the difference between a $285,000 violin and a $62 violin? And can you play either one like she does? | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| The greatest rapper alive goes deep on his obsessive studio habits, what Bono taught him and the temptations of stardom. | |
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On its first major-label album, “A Deeper Understanding,” the Philadelphia throwback band sticks to its principles. | |
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From the Lord of the Flies vibe at Fyre, to the meltdowns at Hope & Glory and Y Not, music festivals feel more precarious than ever. Are the failures down to ‘acts of God’, or just bad leadership? | |
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Suicides and cries for help have made mental health an issue the music world can’t ignore. | |
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Hip-hop's unsigned overachiever speaks with Stretch and Bobbito about SoundCloud, how parenting has changed his music and his million-dollar donation to Chicago Public Schools. | |
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Botswana’s heavy metal culture gets hyped for all the wrong reasons, but beneath the surface is a DIY subculture uncorrupted by the outside world. | |
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Suddenly, a lot of Broadway is wondering: What's Verified Fan? That's because two of this season's most hotly anticipated shows -- beginning with Bruce Springsteen's upcoming run of concerts this fall -- are namechecking Ticketmaster's new program as the only way to score tickets. | |
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"Listening to this music is like looking at a statue," the pianist said. | |
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How should a country purist regard the legacy of Glen Campbell? That should be a really easy question to answer: with class, respect, and appreciation for a man that was an incredible ambassador for the genre through multiple avenues, and a timeless contributor to the country music cannon. | |
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“I’m not a country singer,” Glen Campbell often said. “I’m a country boy who sings.” | |
| A woo-hoo heard around the world. | |
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The Smiths broke up 30 years ago in 1987; why the Manchester foursome - Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce - breakup still matters. | |
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Before the Beat Scene, LA was considered an electronic music backwater. It was an ostensible sinkhole where serious musicians decamped to cast their lot scoring films and sunburn themselves to death playing deep house at hotel pool parties. There was also a negative side. | |
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Yuriy Shishkov has designed guitars for Jimmy Page and Prince. Now he's turned literal pieces of Hollywood history into a new Fender guitar series. | |
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The red-hot writer, producer, director, musician and now movie star takes a break from Lando duties on the Han Solo movie to dissect his extraordinary rise, 'Atlanta' Emmy hopes, his secret sit-down with Billy Dee Williams (in disguise) and how he plans to conquer Hollywood: "Convince them that you speak old white man." | |
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Streaming services continue to revive fortunes of music industry as new albums from top artists drive sales to record high. | |
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A posthumous album from Sean Price continues in the Brooklyn rapper’s audacious tradition. | |
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The indie band has scored a rare pop crossover with its late-summer hit single. | |
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Look inside the New Jersey shop that has become hallowed grounds for hardware enthusiasts from all across the United States. | |
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The legendary frontman chats about his first ever solo record, his brother Noel, a potential Oasis reunion, JAY-Z, his inability to swim, and pretty much everything else you'd want Liam Gallagher to address. He also says "f***in'" over 100 times. | |
| | | Natalia Lafourcade with Los Macorinos |
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