LIVE!
with Perfume Genius & his QUEEN.
Friday, October 31, 2014
the sounds.
FADER: When you say it's been interesting to see everyone do the R&B thing, what do you mean exactly?
CHAZ BUNDICK: I mean, everything from the whole trap beat phenomenon, how everyone has done that. That's interesting to me. Why is this becoming a pop sensation all of a sudden? Why is Juicy J with Katy Perry? That doesn't make sense. Hip-hop, rap and R&B now are sort of almost becoming… nothing is refreshing to me now. Everyone is using the same chords. It's like you can have this really commercial, polished sound, or you can be really smart and way beyond everybody, in this FKA Twigs kind of vibe. She's just really smart, and almost being too smart with it, where it alienates people…
THE FADER: Toro Y Moi's Chaz Bundick Goes Full-On Dance With Les Sins
CHAZ BUNDICK: I mean, everything from the whole trap beat phenomenon, how everyone has done that. That's interesting to me. Why is this becoming a pop sensation all of a sudden? Why is Juicy J with Katy Perry? That doesn't make sense. Hip-hop, rap and R&B now are sort of almost becoming… nothing is refreshing to me now. Everyone is using the same chords. It's like you can have this really commercial, polished sound, or you can be really smart and way beyond everybody, in this FKA Twigs kind of vibe. She's just really smart, and almost being too smart with it, where it alienates people…
THE FADER: Toro Y Moi's Chaz Bundick Goes Full-On Dance With Les Sins
Thursday, October 30, 2014
gotti.
starring lil wayne and the lox.
PITCHFORK: Lil Wayne Says Tha Carter V Will Be Two Parts, Announces New Release Date, Shares "Gotti"
PITCHFORK: Lil Wayne Says Tha Carter V Will Be Two Parts, Announces New Release Date, Shares "Gotti"
time after time.
a frank sinatra cover.
starring she & him.
STEREOGUM: She & Him – “Time After Time” (Frank Sinatra Cover) & Tonight Show Performance
starring she & him.
STEREOGUM: She & Him – “Time After Time” (Frank Sinatra Cover) & Tonight Show Performance
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
rock the bells.
FILE UNDER: I agree with these statements.
words.
"...El and Mike deliver both blows to the sternum and elbow-jabs to the ribs; there are hours worth of instantly quotable, clever ignorance, as in El-P’s already much-loved request that haters, "Can all run naked backwards through a field of dicks." Meanwhile, Mike’s verse on "All Due Respect" is a blacked-out, brilliant clinic in rhythm, wordplay and content—"This year, we iller than a nun in a cumshot/ Getting double-penetrated in a dope spot/ By two hard pipe hittin’ niggas/ On the orders of Marcellus to the soundtrack of 2Pac/ I beat you to a pulp, no fiction/ Tarantino flow, new Jules (Jewels) and Vincent."
...As much as El-P and Killer Mike want to distance themselves from being seen as role models, they are; their experience just happens to sound a hell of a lot like the truth. Towards the end of "Lie, Cheat, Steal", Killer Mike digs a shallow grave for deposed Clippers despot Donald Sterling, but not entirely for his horrifying racism; what truly offends Mike is seeing the guy blubbering on TV, giving apologies he doesn’t mean in the slightest, outing himself as another "prisoner of privilege" in a system where even a billionaire isn’t in control of his destiny. And the common thread that ties RTJ2 with some of the other widely-celebrated albums of 2014—Benji, To Be Kind, and Beyoncé—is that each is an example of a seasoned artist using their financial and artistic capital to take control of the means of production and distribution, putting the least amount of distance between themselves and their vision. "Independent as fuck" indeed; sounding like nothing else and answering to nobody but its creators, Run the Jewels 2 is in a class by itself."
PITCHFORK: Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 2. A Review
words.
"...El and Mike deliver both blows to the sternum and elbow-jabs to the ribs; there are hours worth of instantly quotable, clever ignorance, as in El-P’s already much-loved request that haters, "Can all run naked backwards through a field of dicks." Meanwhile, Mike’s verse on "All Due Respect" is a blacked-out, brilliant clinic in rhythm, wordplay and content—"This year, we iller than a nun in a cumshot/ Getting double-penetrated in a dope spot/ By two hard pipe hittin’ niggas/ On the orders of Marcellus to the soundtrack of 2Pac/ I beat you to a pulp, no fiction/ Tarantino flow, new Jules (Jewels) and Vincent."
...As much as El-P and Killer Mike want to distance themselves from being seen as role models, they are; their experience just happens to sound a hell of a lot like the truth. Towards the end of "Lie, Cheat, Steal", Killer Mike digs a shallow grave for deposed Clippers despot Donald Sterling, but not entirely for his horrifying racism; what truly offends Mike is seeing the guy blubbering on TV, giving apologies he doesn’t mean in the slightest, outing himself as another "prisoner of privilege" in a system where even a billionaire isn’t in control of his destiny. And the common thread that ties RTJ2 with some of the other widely-celebrated albums of 2014—Benji, To Be Kind, and Beyoncé—is that each is an example of a seasoned artist using their financial and artistic capital to take control of the means of production and distribution, putting the least amount of distance between themselves and their vision. "Independent as fuck" indeed; sounding like nothing else and answering to nobody but its creators, Run the Jewels 2 is in a class by itself."
PITCHFORK: Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 2. A Review
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
only.
starring nicki minaj, drake, lil wayne, & chris brown.
PITCHFORK: Nicki Minaj Releases "Only" Featuring Drake, Lil Wayne, and Chris Brown
PITCHFORK: Nicki Minaj Releases "Only" Featuring Drake, Lil Wayne, and Chris Brown
Monday, October 27, 2014
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Friday, October 24, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
for your consideration...
bette midler.
waterfalls.
a tlc cover.
SLATE: This Is What Bette Midler Covering TLC’s “Waterfalls” Sounds Like
waterfalls.
a tlc cover.
SLATE: This Is What Bette Midler Covering TLC’s “Waterfalls” Sounds Like
death grips.
words.
"...what the events in Keene suggest is that white folks often test the bounds and limits of public decency and order with little long-term reprisal. There were some arrests, and some tear gas. But no dead bodies. No stigma about white anger. No come to Jesus meetings about White America’s problem children. No public discourse about these “menaces to society.” As many commentators on Twitter pointed out, there’ll be no articles about the absence of white leadership, or about how white folks just need to learn respect for public property.
...This isn’t just about civility. This is, as are most things in this country, about stark and disparate forms of racial treatment. This is about the ways that white threat is largely illegible as “threat.” This is about the fact that a band of wild, drunken black college kids could not have turned over cars, threatened old people, and shouted about killing the cops and lived.
For instance, this is also black college homecoming season, and my alma mater Howard University canceled the annual free concert at the legendary Yard Fest this year, because there were a few issues with crowd control last year. The Yard Fest is the stuff of hip-hop legend, and it is the annual event that most alumni look most forward to participating in. But as a federally funded entity, Howard is hypervigilant about making sure campus events are models of black respectability. It cannot afford the public scrutiny if the event were to devolve into a cabal like that which occurred at Keene. So it canceled a portion of the event beloved by all of us, because any appreciable amount of black unruliness could be met with an unfavorable and devastating federal response.
It is an institutional example of how powerful systems of white supremacy are, how much those systems hold everyone from the most venerable black institutions to the most vulnerable black youth in their death grips..."
SALON: White menaces to society: Keene State and the danger of young drunk white men
"...what the events in Keene suggest is that white folks often test the bounds and limits of public decency and order with little long-term reprisal. There were some arrests, and some tear gas. But no dead bodies. No stigma about white anger. No come to Jesus meetings about White America’s problem children. No public discourse about these “menaces to society.” As many commentators on Twitter pointed out, there’ll be no articles about the absence of white leadership, or about how white folks just need to learn respect for public property.
...This isn’t just about civility. This is, as are most things in this country, about stark and disparate forms of racial treatment. This is about the ways that white threat is largely illegible as “threat.” This is about the fact that a band of wild, drunken black college kids could not have turned over cars, threatened old people, and shouted about killing the cops and lived.
For instance, this is also black college homecoming season, and my alma mater Howard University canceled the annual free concert at the legendary Yard Fest this year, because there were a few issues with crowd control last year. The Yard Fest is the stuff of hip-hop legend, and it is the annual event that most alumni look most forward to participating in. But as a federally funded entity, Howard is hypervigilant about making sure campus events are models of black respectability. It cannot afford the public scrutiny if the event were to devolve into a cabal like that which occurred at Keene. So it canceled a portion of the event beloved by all of us, because any appreciable amount of black unruliness could be met with an unfavorable and devastating federal response.
It is an institutional example of how powerful systems of white supremacy are, how much those systems hold everyone from the most venerable black institutions to the most vulnerable black youth in their death grips..."
SALON: White menaces to society: Keene State and the danger of young drunk white men
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
friends.
with the flaming lips.
NPR MUSIC: First Listen: The Flaming Lips, 'With A Little Help From My Fwends'
#throughglass.
a short film.
starring fka twigs & google glass.
PITCHFORK: FKA twigs Uses Google Glass to Make Short Film #throughglass
starring fka twigs & google glass.
PITCHFORK: FKA twigs Uses Google Glass to Make Short Film #throughglass
meet me halfway.
a moment of clarity.
words.
"There is something distasteful about the idea of measuring politics in terms of percentages. It carries the whiff of a quota system and suggests that one’s interests can be adequately represented only by a kind of political color coördination. Yet nearly a century after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, and forty-nine years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, it remains true that the groups that travelled the most difficult route to enfranchisement are the most underrepresented at every level of government.
...Conversations about the shifting demographics of the country have presumed that these changes will be reflected in our politics. We need look no further than Congress to recognize that there may be strength in numbers, but numbers alone do not automatically translate into strength."
THE NEW YORKER: Voting by Numbers
words.
"There is something distasteful about the idea of measuring politics in terms of percentages. It carries the whiff of a quota system and suggests that one’s interests can be adequately represented only by a kind of political color coördination. Yet nearly a century after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, and forty-nine years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, it remains true that the groups that travelled the most difficult route to enfranchisement are the most underrepresented at every level of government.
...Conversations about the shifting demographics of the country have presumed that these changes will be reflected in our politics. We need look no further than Congress to recognize that there may be strength in numbers, but numbers alone do not automatically translate into strength."
THE NEW YORKER: Voting by Numbers
Friday, October 17, 2014
suicide.
a video for girl talk, a$ap ferg, and freeway.
from lisa ramsey.
PITCHFORK: Girl Talk, Freeway, A$AP Ferg Are Bizarro "Simpsons" Characters in "Suicide" Video
from lisa ramsey.
PITCHFORK: Girl Talk, Freeway, A$AP Ferg Are Bizarro "Simpsons" Characters in "Suicide" Video
gunshowers.
starring badbadnotgood, ghostface killah, & elzhi.
PITCHFORK: BADBADNOTGOOD Announces Sour Soul, New Album Featuring Ghostface Killah on Every Track
PITCHFORK: BADBADNOTGOOD Announces Sour Soul, New Album Featuring Ghostface Killah on Every Track
citizen cope.
words.
"Citizen is not about systemic racism or police brutality — not directly. It instead charts the accumulation of racist moments in the lives of black citizens, and how these moments, over time, express themselves on black bodies. It also considers what is possible for black life — what can be seen, said, heard, tasted, or smelled — when its only options are invisibility or hypervisibility in a white world. With the turn of each page, it burns the reader with terrible intimations of racial hatred delivered in prose stanzas that appear to have been cut with a razor. It is simple, like a bruise.
...More than that: it demands to be read and discussed now, in the current moment, when, in Ferguson and elsewhere, the daily struggles of black life are being thrown onto a background that is all too white."
FLAVORWIRE: Claudia Rankine’s ‘Citizen’ Should Win the National Book Award for Poetry
"Citizen is not about systemic racism or police brutality — not directly. It instead charts the accumulation of racist moments in the lives of black citizens, and how these moments, over time, express themselves on black bodies. It also considers what is possible for black life — what can be seen, said, heard, tasted, or smelled — when its only options are invisibility or hypervisibility in a white world. With the turn of each page, it burns the reader with terrible intimations of racial hatred delivered in prose stanzas that appear to have been cut with a razor. It is simple, like a bruise.
...More than that: it demands to be read and discussed now, in the current moment, when, in Ferguson and elsewhere, the daily struggles of black life are being thrown onto a background that is all too white."
FLAVORWIRE: Claudia Rankine’s ‘Citizen’ Should Win the National Book Award for Poetry
Thursday, October 16, 2014
blood on the tracks.
with jenny lewis & conor oberst.
PITCHFORK: Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst Made a Record Together 10 Years Ago Called Blood on the 4-Tracks
PITCHFORK: Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst Made a Record Together 10 Years Ago Called Blood on the 4-Tracks
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
floetry.
words.
"As the years go by, politics more and more resembles these underlying divisions. I used to think that this was basically a centrist country and that political polarization was an elite phenomenon. But most of the recent evidence suggests that polarization is deeply rooted in the economic conditions and personal values of the country. Washington is not the cause of polarization; America is. The irony is that something good about America (economic pluralism) is contributing to something bad (segmentation and political trench warfare).
...People often compare this era to the progressive era — a time of economic transition with wide inequality and political rot. But that was an era of centralizing economic forces. This is an era of economic pluralism and political segmentation."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Sorting Election.
"As the years go by, politics more and more resembles these underlying divisions. I used to think that this was basically a centrist country and that political polarization was an elite phenomenon. But most of the recent evidence suggests that polarization is deeply rooted in the economic conditions and personal values of the country. Washington is not the cause of polarization; America is. The irony is that something good about America (economic pluralism) is contributing to something bad (segmentation and political trench warfare).
...People often compare this era to the progressive era — a time of economic transition with wide inequality and political rot. But that was an era of centralizing economic forces. This is an era of economic pluralism and political segmentation."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Sorting Election.
gay dog food.
words.
"you can choose to call me a gay rapper, you can choose to not even call me a rapper if you want to, it doesn't matter, i'm a punk, a creative punk and i'm going to continue to create and entertain without boundaries. Gay Dog Food is just the start of where I hope to go creatively and commercially, this moment now is really the beginning." - mykki blanco
PITCHFORK: Mykki Blanco Announces Gay Dog Food, Shares "Moshin in the Front" Featuring Cities Aviv
"you can choose to call me a gay rapper, you can choose to not even call me a rapper if you want to, it doesn't matter, i'm a punk, a creative punk and i'm going to continue to create and entertain without boundaries. Gay Dog Food is just the start of where I hope to go creatively and commercially, this moment now is really the beginning." - mykki blanco
PITCHFORK: Mykki Blanco Announces Gay Dog Food, Shares "Moshin in the Front" Featuring Cities Aviv
Monday, October 13, 2014
the used.
a moment of clarity.
words.
"...structural changes in our politics are making campaigns more mean and personal than ever. Even Dunne might be surprised. Outside groups empowered by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision are using mass media in ways that turn off Americans to democracy, aggravate divisions between the political parties and heighten animosities among citizens of differing views.
...Moreover, a focus just on this year’s competitive Senate and House races misses the enormous impact a handful of very wealthy people can have on state and local campaigns. A new report by the Brennan Center for Justice details how, at a relatively modest cost to themselves, a privileged few can change how government that is supposed to be nearest to the people is actually carried out.
...Like everything else in our politics these days, Citizens United is usually debated along ideological lines. Progressives typically hate it. Conservatives usually defend it. But citizens of every persuasion should be worried about what this precedent-shattering decision has unleashed. More than ever, politics is the only profession that regularly advertises against itself. If voters feel cynical, the outside groups — on both sides — are doing all they can to encourage their disenchantment.
...Thus the tragic irony: Citizens United is deepening our divisions and turning more citizens into bystanders. Our republic can do better."
THE WASHINGTON POST: ‘Citizens United’ is turning more Americans into bystanders
words.
"...structural changes in our politics are making campaigns more mean and personal than ever. Even Dunne might be surprised. Outside groups empowered by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision are using mass media in ways that turn off Americans to democracy, aggravate divisions between the political parties and heighten animosities among citizens of differing views.
...Moreover, a focus just on this year’s competitive Senate and House races misses the enormous impact a handful of very wealthy people can have on state and local campaigns. A new report by the Brennan Center for Justice details how, at a relatively modest cost to themselves, a privileged few can change how government that is supposed to be nearest to the people is actually carried out.
...Like everything else in our politics these days, Citizens United is usually debated along ideological lines. Progressives typically hate it. Conservatives usually defend it. But citizens of every persuasion should be worried about what this precedent-shattering decision has unleashed. More than ever, politics is the only profession that regularly advertises against itself. If voters feel cynical, the outside groups — on both sides — are doing all they can to encourage their disenchantment.
...Thus the tragic irony: Citizens United is deepening our divisions and turning more citizens into bystanders. Our republic can do better."
THE WASHINGTON POST: ‘Citizens United’ is turning more Americans into bystanders
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Friday, October 10, 2014
g i r l s.
a moment of clarity.
words.
"We are stronger than those who oppress us, who seek to silence us. We are stronger than the enemies of education. We are stronger than fear, hatred, violence and poverty.
My birthday wish this year is that we all raise our voices for those under oppression, to show our power and to demonstrate that our courage is stronger than their campaign of fear.
The road to education, peace and equality is long, but we will succeed if we walk it together."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Malala Yousafzai: Helping girls worldwide requires a united stand
words.
"We are stronger than those who oppress us, who seek to silence us. We are stronger than the enemies of education. We are stronger than fear, hatred, violence and poverty.
My birthday wish this year is that we all raise our voices for those under oppression, to show our power and to demonstrate that our courage is stronger than their campaign of fear.
The road to education, peace and equality is long, but we will succeed if we walk it together."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Malala Yousafzai: Helping girls worldwide requires a united stand
two of hearts.
a moment of clarity.
words.
"Just because someone has more qualifications than you doesn’t mean they’re better than you. We live in the age of technology, so you can Google anything you don’t know how to do. The only thing you can’t Google is how to be creative and unique. Your thoughts have more value than a degree or a parent in the same field or whatever. I always think about my grandfather, who became an engineer with only a seventh grade education. It’s a very cliché thing to say, but nearly anything is possible if you set your mind to it."
PITCHFORK: Grimes Writes Essay on Making Music and Being A Boss
words.
"Just because someone has more qualifications than you doesn’t mean they’re better than you. We live in the age of technology, so you can Google anything you don’t know how to do. The only thing you can’t Google is how to be creative and unique. Your thoughts have more value than a degree or a parent in the same field or whatever. I always think about my grandfather, who became an engineer with only a seventh grade education. It’s a very cliché thing to say, but nearly anything is possible if you set your mind to it."
PITCHFORK: Grimes Writes Essay on Making Music and Being A Boss
Thursday, October 09, 2014
how to dissaper completely.
a moment of clarity.
words.
"Fully documenting the reasons the United States has experienced this epochal upward redistribution of wealth and income requires a look at institutional economics as well as macroeconomics. The distribution of income is a function not just of global forces but also of social and institutional power. And over the past four decades, U.S. workers have suffered a loss of power that may exceed even their loss of income.
...In the early 1980s, employers struck back. Following the lead of President Ronald Reagan, who fired striking air-traffic controllers, major companies began to routinely discharge workers who walked off the job. By the mid-’80s, strikes were in irreversible decline and companies were almost automatically firing workers who sought to form a union. A new doctrine, first propounded by economist Milton Friedman, took hold in boardrooms and executive suites. The purpose of a corporation, it held, was not to benefit all of its stakeholders — shareholders, employees and the public — but to benefit shareholders only. Boosting profits and the value of the company’s stock by laying off workers, holding down their pay, converting them to independent contractors or shifting their jobs overseas became so common a practice that any company not playing by these rules became the subject of journalistic profiles written in a tone of amazement (as the recent coverage of the Market Basket supermarket chain attests).
...While macroeconomic conditions surely explain some of the problems that have befallen U.S. workers, the institutional changes to American business — above all, the rise of investor power and the decline of worker power — are central to the tale. The case of the vanishing American raise can’t be solved without them."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Harold Meyerson: How workers lost the power struggle — and their pay raises
words.
"Fully documenting the reasons the United States has experienced this epochal upward redistribution of wealth and income requires a look at institutional economics as well as macroeconomics. The distribution of income is a function not just of global forces but also of social and institutional power. And over the past four decades, U.S. workers have suffered a loss of power that may exceed even their loss of income.
...In the early 1980s, employers struck back. Following the lead of President Ronald Reagan, who fired striking air-traffic controllers, major companies began to routinely discharge workers who walked off the job. By the mid-’80s, strikes were in irreversible decline and companies were almost automatically firing workers who sought to form a union. A new doctrine, first propounded by economist Milton Friedman, took hold in boardrooms and executive suites. The purpose of a corporation, it held, was not to benefit all of its stakeholders — shareholders, employees and the public — but to benefit shareholders only. Boosting profits and the value of the company’s stock by laying off workers, holding down their pay, converting them to independent contractors or shifting their jobs overseas became so common a practice that any company not playing by these rules became the subject of journalistic profiles written in a tone of amazement (as the recent coverage of the Market Basket supermarket chain attests).
...While macroeconomic conditions surely explain some of the problems that have befallen U.S. workers, the institutional changes to American business — above all, the rise of investor power and the decline of worker power — are central to the tale. The case of the vanishing American raise can’t be solved without them."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Harold Meyerson: How workers lost the power struggle — and their pay raises
enjoy the silence.
a moment of clarity.
words.
"When Mark Kozelek chose to start and carry on a completely one-sided and extremely public feud with a band who genuinely did nothing wrong, who chose not to retaliate and even stated their position as fans of his work, who seem hurt and confused by Kozelek's constant public attacks that persisted for weeks and how said attacks affected their year—that doesn't seem like entertainment. It's important to call it what it is: emotional abuse.
...His behavior is indicative of a larger evil bred in the dark corners of the music industry, that of the middle-aged, straight white guy slowly fading into obscurity. He may be a musician or a music critic—could be both—who is obviously talented, but he isn't receiving as much attention as he used to. Maybe he sees other people getting the work or praise that he once received—younger people, women, people who don't agree with his worldview or go along with his way of doing things. With less to do now that he's slowly greying into obscurity, he spends his free time taking out his frustrations on soft targets: people who aren't likely to fight back, people who are already marginalized and without the platform or agency to speak out against someone with that amount of privilege and reputation. These men go off in interviews or on social media and take shots at anyone who doesn't fall in line with their worldview, and it gets personal quick. They're staring down the barrel of obsolescence, aimed at them by a culture where the most exciting music and art, as well as critical writing about that music and art, is being created by people they have nothing in common with. It becomes "you can't fire me, I quit" very quickly—they're no longer considered important voices, so they strike out against the people who are gaining traction.
...These men are devotees of a dangerous patriarchal herd mentality, which they confuse for part of some imaginary intellectual elite. These men can't just be smart on their own; they have to be smart in a superior way that only exists in relation to the ways in which other people are dumb, generic, inauthentic. These are men who never learned that someone else's success doesn't mean their failure. It's sad in the same way that American Beauty is sad—to see these men holding on to their fragile egos and public identities for dear life. And their retaliation is, more often than not, aggressive and menacing.
...don't write this off as the ranting of a cantankerous character, and definitely don't take the advice of so many enablers and ignore it. Instead, think critically about what this sort of behavior represents on a larger scale: human behavior doesn't come from nowhere, these traits are learned and reinforced by larger oppressive systems that also systematically disenfranchise people in many other ways. If we desire a more just world—and a better music scene for sure—we would be doing ourselves a favor to take the space we would normally dedicate to men like this and give it over to artists who represent a broader diversity of voices. This goes for music as well as art, literature, politics, any area where middle-aged white men have the most agency to make sure their voices are heard. The more of us there are, the more things will be like the show that pissed Kozelek off in the first place; no matter how cruel their banter gets, at the end of the day, we'll still be louder."
THE PITCH: Sun Kil Moon Yells At Cloud: "War On Drugs: Suck My Cock" and the Language of Male Violence
words.
"When Mark Kozelek chose to start and carry on a completely one-sided and extremely public feud with a band who genuinely did nothing wrong, who chose not to retaliate and even stated their position as fans of his work, who seem hurt and confused by Kozelek's constant public attacks that persisted for weeks and how said attacks affected their year—that doesn't seem like entertainment. It's important to call it what it is: emotional abuse.
...His behavior is indicative of a larger evil bred in the dark corners of the music industry, that of the middle-aged, straight white guy slowly fading into obscurity. He may be a musician or a music critic—could be both—who is obviously talented, but he isn't receiving as much attention as he used to. Maybe he sees other people getting the work or praise that he once received—younger people, women, people who don't agree with his worldview or go along with his way of doing things. With less to do now that he's slowly greying into obscurity, he spends his free time taking out his frustrations on soft targets: people who aren't likely to fight back, people who are already marginalized and without the platform or agency to speak out against someone with that amount of privilege and reputation. These men go off in interviews or on social media and take shots at anyone who doesn't fall in line with their worldview, and it gets personal quick. They're staring down the barrel of obsolescence, aimed at them by a culture where the most exciting music and art, as well as critical writing about that music and art, is being created by people they have nothing in common with. It becomes "you can't fire me, I quit" very quickly—they're no longer considered important voices, so they strike out against the people who are gaining traction.
...These men are devotees of a dangerous patriarchal herd mentality, which they confuse for part of some imaginary intellectual elite. These men can't just be smart on their own; they have to be smart in a superior way that only exists in relation to the ways in which other people are dumb, generic, inauthentic. These are men who never learned that someone else's success doesn't mean their failure. It's sad in the same way that American Beauty is sad—to see these men holding on to their fragile egos and public identities for dear life. And their retaliation is, more often than not, aggressive and menacing.
...don't write this off as the ranting of a cantankerous character, and definitely don't take the advice of so many enablers and ignore it. Instead, think critically about what this sort of behavior represents on a larger scale: human behavior doesn't come from nowhere, these traits are learned and reinforced by larger oppressive systems that also systematically disenfranchise people in many other ways. If we desire a more just world—and a better music scene for sure—we would be doing ourselves a favor to take the space we would normally dedicate to men like this and give it over to artists who represent a broader diversity of voices. This goes for music as well as art, literature, politics, any area where middle-aged white men have the most agency to make sure their voices are heard. The more of us there are, the more things will be like the show that pissed Kozelek off in the first place; no matter how cruel their banter gets, at the end of the day, we'll still be louder."
THE PITCH: Sun Kil Moon Yells At Cloud: "War On Drugs: Suck My Cock" and the Language of Male Violence
snow in newark.
a video.
from ryan hemsworth.
PITCHFORK: Ryan Hemsworth Announces New Album Alone for the First Time, Shares "Snow in Newark" Video
from ryan hemsworth.
PITCHFORK: Ryan Hemsworth Announces New Album Alone for the First Time, Shares "Snow in Newark" Video
Wednesday, October 08, 2014
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
channel orange.
a moment of clarity.
words.
"...the drug war is entrenched in decades of prison buildup. Between 1980 and 2010, state incarceration rates for drug crimes multiplied tenfold, while the federal drug prisoner population ballooned by a factor of 20. Every year, taxpayers shell out $51 billion for drug war spending. Meanwhile, 2.2 million people — or a quarter of the world's prisoners — crowd a system that exacts its harshest toll on the most vulnerable. Racism undermines the justice process from initial stop to sentence, and 60 percent of those incarcerated are people of color. Rates of illiteracy, addiction, and mental illness are disproportionately high.
...By linking punishment to drug weight, mandatory minimums often distort culpability; consider that a hired hand unloading contraband from the back of a truck may handle more drugs than the cartel leader who arranged the shipment. Forty percent of drug defendants in the federal system were couriers or street dealers, and like Tyler, most weren't violent: of the 25,000 drug offenders taken into custody last year, 85 percent did not have a weapon associated with their case.
... it's impossible to wrap your mind around the disproportionate sentences you see in here. Structural racism creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, where its consequences become its justifications..."
ROLLING STONE: The Nation's Shame: The Injustice of Mandatory Minimums
words.
"...the drug war is entrenched in decades of prison buildup. Between 1980 and 2010, state incarceration rates for drug crimes multiplied tenfold, while the federal drug prisoner population ballooned by a factor of 20. Every year, taxpayers shell out $51 billion for drug war spending. Meanwhile, 2.2 million people — or a quarter of the world's prisoners — crowd a system that exacts its harshest toll on the most vulnerable. Racism undermines the justice process from initial stop to sentence, and 60 percent of those incarcerated are people of color. Rates of illiteracy, addiction, and mental illness are disproportionately high.
...By linking punishment to drug weight, mandatory minimums often distort culpability; consider that a hired hand unloading contraband from the back of a truck may handle more drugs than the cartel leader who arranged the shipment. Forty percent of drug defendants in the federal system were couriers or street dealers, and like Tyler, most weren't violent: of the 25,000 drug offenders taken into custody last year, 85 percent did not have a weapon associated with their case.
... it's impossible to wrap your mind around the disproportionate sentences you see in here. Structural racism creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, where its consequences become its justifications..."
ROLLING STONE: The Nation's Shame: The Injustice of Mandatory Minimums
the night is young.
an album stream.
starring two bears.
PITCHFORK: Stream New Albums From Hot Chip Side Project the 2 Bears, Obliterations, and Dads via Pitchfork Advance
(hate) on me.
a moment of clarity.
for your consideration...
words.
"Criticizing Islam for the policies of, say, the Saudi Arabian government, or of the lunatic fringe of ISIS, is like blaming Christianity for the ghastly homophobic policies of the Ugandan government. Any religion is open to fundamentalist or liberal interpretations, and which becomes dominant is entirely dependent on the society in which that religion is practiced. This is not a defense of religion, per se — personally, I have little time for it — but I don’t think the principles of Islam are better or worse than the principles of Christianity, or Hinduism, or Wicca, or worshiping your cat. For the purposes of geopolitics, religion is basically a matter of choosing a team, and I don’t think it matters if it’s Team Allah or Team God or Team Whatever Else.
...Banging on about Islam being inherently violent or misogynistic or whatever else is basically saying that Those People are fundamentally different from us and can never be Like Us, which is precisely the sort of othering that’s been used to justify all sorts of atrocities throughout history. They’re a different color from us, they speak a different language, they worship a different god. Go and kill them. (And hey, while you’re there, take their land and resources!) Any religion is prone to being used this way in the right circumstances.
...It’s important that religion doesn’t get off scot-free here — it’s clearly been used to justify all sorts of awful shit throughout history, and saying that society is to blame for everything is an abrogation of the responsibility of people who’ve done that shit. But it’s also important to see it in context. And it’s important to discuss this stuff without turning it into a Team A vs. Team B shitfight. There’s been more than enough of that already, and it helps no one. As long as we continue to see a certain cohort of people as fundamentally different from us, we will continue to have problems."
FLAVORWIRE: Why Bill Maher Is Wrong About Islam
for your consideration...
words.
"Criticizing Islam for the policies of, say, the Saudi Arabian government, or of the lunatic fringe of ISIS, is like blaming Christianity for the ghastly homophobic policies of the Ugandan government. Any religion is open to fundamentalist or liberal interpretations, and which becomes dominant is entirely dependent on the society in which that religion is practiced. This is not a defense of religion, per se — personally, I have little time for it — but I don’t think the principles of Islam are better or worse than the principles of Christianity, or Hinduism, or Wicca, or worshiping your cat. For the purposes of geopolitics, religion is basically a matter of choosing a team, and I don’t think it matters if it’s Team Allah or Team God or Team Whatever Else.
...Banging on about Islam being inherently violent or misogynistic or whatever else is basically saying that Those People are fundamentally different from us and can never be Like Us, which is precisely the sort of othering that’s been used to justify all sorts of atrocities throughout history. They’re a different color from us, they speak a different language, they worship a different god. Go and kill them. (And hey, while you’re there, take their land and resources!) Any religion is prone to being used this way in the right circumstances.
...It’s important that religion doesn’t get off scot-free here — it’s clearly been used to justify all sorts of awful shit throughout history, and saying that society is to blame for everything is an abrogation of the responsibility of people who’ve done that shit. But it’s also important to see it in context. And it’s important to discuss this stuff without turning it into a Team A vs. Team B shitfight. There’s been more than enough of that already, and it helps no one. As long as we continue to see a certain cohort of people as fundamentally different from us, we will continue to have problems."
FLAVORWIRE: Why Bill Maher Is Wrong About Islam
Monday, October 06, 2014
Sunday, October 05, 2014
Friday, October 03, 2014
enter the slasher house.
with avey tare's slasher flicks.
live.
PITCHFORK: Watch Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks' Full Pitchfork Music Festival Set
live.
PITCHFORK: Watch Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks' Full Pitchfork Music Festival Set
wishing you well.
starring mike will made it and ilovemakonnen.
SPIN: Mike WiLL Made It and iLoveMakonnen Are 'Wishing You Well' on New Song
SPIN: Mike WiLL Made It and iLoveMakonnen Are 'Wishing You Well' on New Song
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
"that's a good look."
action bronson.
fuck, that's delicious.
the next episode.
MUNCHIES: Lamb Necks, Alligators, and the Blues: Fuck, That’s Delicious in New Orleans
fuck, that's delicious.
the next episode.
MUNCHIES: Lamb Necks, Alligators, and the Blues: Fuck, That’s Delicious in New Orleans
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)