Oh, rap brouhahas. Don’t we love them? Well, not if they end in mayhem and destruction, but when they’re full of weird irony, strange competitors, and downright ludicrous taunts — they can be sort of fun, yes? In a “Why is this happening?” kind of way. Continue reading
Hip-Hop’s elder statesman, Jay-Z, and his protégé, Kanye West, have returned to the musical equivalent of the visual motion image, and released their video for “No Church in the Wild.” Is it something of a throwback, conjuring the rage against the machine that was once brought forth by rap impresarios like Public Enemy, or is it a mish-mash of things that’s trying too hard to be both prophetic and timely? Continue reading
It would appear that pop songstress, Rihanna, is the most recent victim of high profile slut-shaming. Continue reading
K-pop, or Gayo in Korean, refers to popular music from South Korea. Although K-pop covers several music genres, it is best known for the fizzy dance music performed by highly produced girl and boy bands. Although its influence is spreading outside Asia, it is especially popular in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan and of course, South Korea. Continue reading
Shortly after groups such as the Supremes and the Ronettes released their best work, British bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Kinks and the Who released albums in the U.S. Compared to the material that had previously dominated the American pop charts, the rhythm and blues-influenced music of the British Invasion groups sounded fresh, aggressive, radical and masculine. The musical climate of the country changed quickly and it further cemented a generational divide between the kids who embraced this new rock music and their older siblings and parents who found it repellant. The British Invasion hinted at pop culture’s future; girl groups, teen idols and doo wop invoked its past. Girl groups began performing poorly on the pop charts and quickly fell out of favor. Continue reading
On Friday night at the bar Public Assembly in Brooklyn, the band Trinity Jam played. This might not have made the Village Voice and Rolling Stone and Perez Hilton, but it did. That’s because Trinity Jam is made up of Patty Schemel, Melissa Auf Der Mar and Eric Erlandson. And when their former band mate got on the stage for a few songs, it really became an event; that former band mate is Courtney Love and suddenly, at a bar in Brooklyn on a Friday night in April, Hole was reunited.
The reason for this somewhat impromptu happening was the after party for a documentary called Hit So Hard; The Life and Near Death Story of Patty Schemel, which opened this week in New York (the Cinema Village showings on Friday night were sold out). Continue reading
Jim Marshall, founder of Marshall Amplification, died this morning at the age of eighty-eight.
Marshall, often called the “The Father of Loud,” was born in West London in 1923. As a small child he was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bones and spent a large portion of his childhood in and out of London’s hospitals, his body encapsulated in plaster casts. Exempted from military service due to his sickly adolescence, Marshall became a civilian musician after developing a keen interest in drumming. Around this time, Marshall began applying his knowledge of engineering (then his day job) to developing his own personal voice amplifiers, so that his soft, crooning voice could be heard over his thunderous drumming. Continue reading
For the past few weeks, I’ve had the same five songs stuck in my head. Now I want them to get stuck in your head! Continue reading
Something called the Harris Family Band, or better known by their stage name, First Love, which seems to be a modern day conservative Partridge Family — sans bell-bottoms and cool mom — has created an ode to Rick Santorum. Continue reading
Hello all, and greetings from down under. Every year around this time I feel a bit bored and listless. At first I wonder if it’s the weather, or the fact that I haven’t had a proper “Spring Break” in years. Then I realize that it’s March Madness, which turns everyone around me into basketball watching cast members of the Living Dead.
I could give a shit about March Madness, basketball players are too gangly and awkward looking to be cute anyway. To entertain myself (and those of you like me) I have instead organised my very own Sweet 16. Each day – or when I get a chance to put together the next post – we will have a face-off until the Queen of the Divas reigns over all – Sophie’s Choice! Continue reading