I don’t believe in ironic appreciation. I think if you like something, the core of it is you like it.
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The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle: Rock's Nostradamus? (Phoebe West)
Wednesday - October 26, 2016 Wed - 10/26/16
rantnrave:// You don't have to look hard these days to find a pop star wearing a METALLICA t-shirt or trying to unilaterally merge with SLAYER, and you don't have to look much further to find a Metallica or Slayer fan crying about the ensuing end of civilization (or at least the end of metal). But what if it isn't the end of the world? What if it's "(mostly) a good thing"? That's the refreshing thesis from METAL INSIDER's BRETT REISTROFFER, who, between photos of LADY GAGA sporting an IRON MAIDEN t-shirt and CHRIS BROWN decked out in hardcore punk logos, argues that metal fans should welcome the cultural appropriation with open arms, not only because it's an affirmation of metal's cultural power, and not only because it might help their favorite bands make a living, but also because in some ways "Lady Gaga telling her followers to 'let their freak flag fly'" might make her more metal than most actual metal bands are capable of being these days. I love seeing music open doors that might otherwise be closed and crossing borders that might otherwise seem uncrossable. I love when metal respects pop just as much as I love when pop respects metal. That's cultural power and that's worth celebrating... That time a metal band tried to appropriate DONALD TRUMP and he allegedly (a) came on to the lead singer and (b) raised his video-appearance fee 25x *after* shooting the video... LE BATACLAN will reopen with a PETE DOHERTY concert on Nov. 16—one year and three days after the terrorist attacks in PARIS... YOKO responds to "THE SIMPSONS," a mere 23 years later. A-plus... Blockchain streaming... WORLD SERIES of music: Do you know who's soundtracking his at-bats with ERIC B. & RAKIM, who's entering the game to the tune of "BEAT IT," and whose wife records his own motivational walkup music?
- Matty Karas, curator
the answers to tomorrow's crossword
Noisey
Free Spirits: The Mutual Mystique of Drake and Sade's Mirrored Careers
by Jabbari Weekes
While fundamentally different artists, the two have developed unique brands of mystique that have compelled as well as frustrated their legion of fans.
Los Angeles Times
The Taylor Swift Decade: 13 swift moves that put her on top of the pop music world
by Randy Lewis
On Oct. 24, 2006, the fledgling Big Machine Records in Nashville released what may have looked like on paper as a 15-minutes-of-fame kind of album.
Nekst
SoundExchange's Michael Huppe: Standing Up For The Value Of Music
by David M. Ross
"I’ve begun calling the DMCA 'Safe Harbor' provision, 'Safe Oceans' because some companies fill their coffers by taking advantage of artists and not paying their fair share."
Rolling Stone
Artists Against Trump
by Brian Hiatt, Matt Berninger, Corin Tucker...
Weekly 'Rolling Stone Music Now' podcast; this week Matt Berninger, Corin Tucker and Dave Eggers discuss "30 Days 30 Songs" anti-Trump project.
The New York Observer
Meet Two Composers Using Tech to Reclaim Humanity in Electronic Music
by Justin Joffe
“I don’t think of technology as being artificial at all. I see it as a very natural fit for reclaiming our gestural human form.”
The Next Web
Why Spotify's Discover Weekly is getting really boring
by Juan Buis
I really like what Spotify has been doing since it acquired music data company The Echo Nest. But their flagship feature is getting really boring.
Billboard
'ARTPOP' Revisited: Arguing the Pros & Cons of Lady Gaga's Challenging Third Album
by Joe Lynch
Lady Gaga fans are understandably focused on Joanne these days, the singer-songwriter's fourth solo album which is on track to become her fourth No. 1 LP on the Billboard 200, following past No. 1s Born This Way, "ARTPOP" and the Tony Bennett collaboration LP "Cheek to Cheek."
Metal Insider
Heavy metal's validity through appropriation
by Brett Reistroffer
Heavy metal is in fashion. In case you haven’t already noticed it in the streets, there’s plenty of coverage out there in the metal blogosphere. If you followed all those links then you’ll know the…
Noisey
Move Over Taylor Swift, Kelsea Ballerini's Coming for Your Crown
by Annalise Domenighini
Before she hit the road on her “The First Time” tour, she kindly took the time to chat with me about role models, her second record, and, of course, working with Jason Aldean.
SPIN
Is The Mountain Goats' 'Cubs In Five' Finally Going To Come True?
by Jeremy Gordon
In 1995, the Mountain Goats recorded "Cubs in Five," a short song in which John Darnielle sings about trying to reconnect with a former love.
the heaven 17 revival
Billboard
Remembering Dead or Alive's Pete Burns, An Overlooked LGBT Pioneer
by Barry Walters
To LGBT folk, lovers of New Wave, dance-pop addicts, followers of British reality TV, and much of the U.K. public, Pete Burns -- who passed away Oct. 23 from a heart attack -- was a singular star emblematic of a time when even the most eccentric musicians could achieve significant international sales and radio play with the right brain-embedding hook.
MusicAlly
Techstars Music: 'Our goal is to create a real centre of gravity'
by Stuart Dredge
Techstars Music is part of the well-respected Techstars program, with plans to choose 10 music-related startups a year and invest $120k in each.
The Howard Stern Show
The Howard Stern Show: Jon Bon Jovi -- October 25, 2016
by Howard Stern and Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi talks about working at the Power Station recording studio, the pressures of success, modeling his career after Frank Sinatra, and performs "This House is Not for Sale," "Runaway," "Bad Medicine" and more.
The New York Times
A Classical Music Lover Changes Kenyan Children’s Lives
by Ginanne Brownell Mitic
Elizabeth Njoroge uses her ‘rock star’ gifts to create orchestras and run programs that give poor youth the chance to perform and learn.
Resident Advisor
RA Sessions: Harvey Sutherland and Bermuda
by Harvey Sutherland
The talented Australian trio perform a couple of disco burners.
Pitchfork
Curtis Mayfield Finally Gets a Definitive Biography. What Took So Long?
by Oliver Wang
He had the hits, from “It’s All Right” to “Superfly.” He was as political as Marvin Gaye and James Brown. And yet Curtis Mayfield has not been properly canonized.
CNET
Analog is king at Daptone Records
Daptone recording studios in Brooklyn is keeping the sounds, and gear, of the 1960s alive.
Consequence of Sound
Tegan and Sara Answer Your Questions
by Tegan and Sara and Sami Jarroush
The indie-pop twins discuss Snapchat, switchblades, waffles, and more
MTV News
Videohead: The Life's Work Of Director Lance Bangs
by Daniel Ralston and Lance Bangs
From DIY beginnings to ‘Jackass,’ Kanye, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
The New York Observer
How Warren Zevon's 'Excitable Boy' Brings the Horrors of History to Life
by Justin Joffe
No album is more horrible, in the classic sense of the word, than Warren Zevon’s 1978 masterwork, “Excitable Boy.”
MUSIC OF THE DAY
live at the Newport Folk Festival, 2013, via NPR
"Cubs in Five"
The Mountain Goats
“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?’”
@JasonHirschhorn


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