I grew up a real introverted, sort of wallflowery, kid. And you're sort of searching and finding out where you belong, and I found that in punk... With Beach Slang, I'm feeding back into this thing that was so good to me, and sort of reaching out to people, who are that same 15-year-old kid I was, sort of looking, and it's like, 'Come on in, you're welcome here.' |
| | | | | James Alex of Beach Slang. (LJ Hepp) | | | | | |  | “I grew up a real introverted, sort of wallflowery, kid. And you're sort of searching and finding out where you belong, and I found that in punk... With Beach Slang, I'm feeding back into this thing that was so good to me, and sort of reaching out to people, who are that same 15-year-old kid I was, sort of looking, and it's like, 'Come on in, you're welcome here.'”
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| rantnrave:// Not to sound like BERNIESANDERSREDEF or anything, but the one weirdly missing note in the ballad of SPOTIFY raising $1 billion in debt is any mention of artists and songwriters. I'm as tired as anybody of stories about musician X getting Y million streams on SPOTIFY and only getting paid Z cents. Sometimes those stories resonate and sometimes they seem to be missing both facts and points. But they keep showing up because enough of them do resonate, and the fact that not a single major story I read on WEDNESDAY noted the contrast between the $1 billion swirling around between the company and its investors and the pennies swirling around between the company and too many artists is a telling indicator, to me, of the same disconnect between the 1 percent and the other 99 percent that's fueling massive upheaval in both major U.S. political parties. Listen to the people, people. Listen to the artists. And maybe talk about them. Out loud. Often. Now, for example... Up-and-coming band wonders how long it has to keep being the opening band... Superstar artist explains why he doesn't f*** with YOUTUBE... Imprisoned artist keeps making music; prison officials are displeased... Dinosaur artist whose entire career is built on co-writes and covers says ADELE's and RIHANNA's use of outside songwriters is proof that "they can't rely on themselves, can they?" (To be fair, dinosaur artist was answering a leading, stupid question.) | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | Magnetic Magazine |
| Don't believe the hype, that's what got us here in the first place. | | |
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 | xoJane |
| I didn't see it coming at all. It snuck in through a briefly opened portal and has affixed itself to my consciousness, redoubling in strength every time I listen. | | |
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 | Diffuser.fm |
| It's only the end of March, and it's already been a rough year for music fans. A few weeks ago, we lost Emerson Lake and Palmer keyboardist Keith Emerson, a true prog rock giant who left not only an impressive musical legacy of his own, but also unintentionally helped spark the three chord, DIY punk revolution through his virtuoso talent and eccentric onstage antics. | | |
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 | Thump |
| When I first stumbled across Arcane on SoundCloud in early 2016, I could find next-to-no information about the nascent record label online--and, in retrospect, that shouldn't have come as a surprise. | | |
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 | PopMatters |
| Sepultura blew the doors open on our definitions of metal and so-called world music, effectively creating a whole new paradigm. We haven't heard anything quite like it since. | | |
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 | Music Industry Blog |
| Spotify just changed the rules of the game, raising an unprecedented $1 billion in convertible debt. I'll leave the financial analysts to pore over the financial permutations (and there are plenty) but there are a few key strategic implications. | | |
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 | Los Angeles Times |
| A year after Jay Z, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Rihanna and a host of A-list musicians gathered for a splashy launch event for Tidal, the artist-owned streaming service is celebrating by releasing a report card that details its first year. | | |
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 | The Fader |
| On "Love Streams," the Montreal electronic noise artist swaps intensity for simplicity, finding artistic peace along the way. | | |
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 | Clash Magazine |
| The one-take ascent of grime's new don. | | |
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 | Cuepoint |
| Before they were big screen buddies, the two headstrong rappers needed Minister Farrakhan to mediate their beef. | | |
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 | BuzzFeed |
| “It is such an honor to be a part of a show that not only changed my life, but changed the lives of millions of people across the country.” --Season 2’s Kimberley Locke. | | |
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 | Billboard |
| What's it like to be a modern-day roadie? Showtime took over Austin's Clive Bar during SXSW to not only sponsor a stage that rocked for three days with acts including the Head and the Heart, Ra Ra Riot and Borns, but also to provide food, drink and even complimentary massages for anyone with a working crew badge. | | |
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 | SPIN |
| The three Apple Music/Beats 1 personalities debate Internet radio vs. terrestrial and if there's anyone or anything that Lowe doesn't like. | | |
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 | Fact Magazine |
| SoundCloud’s subscription service has been a long time coming. | | |
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 | NPR |
| It's been a remarkable 12 months for James Alex, a year full of contradictions and firsts. The lead singer and songwriter for the band Beach Slang, Alex and his wife Rachel had their first child, Oliver, to start 2015. | | |
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 | Agence France-Presse |
| Born in the cultural crossroads of Lisbon, Buraka Som Sistema shook up the global dance music scene and won a cult following by weaving infectious African rhythms into electronica. | | |
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 | MTV News |
| Chris Brown, and other men like him, are cowards. Only a coward would toss a cheap punch against a top-notch player. | | |
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 | Salon |
| The former R.E.M. frontman shows up on Fallon to toast Bowie and proves his voice and style are as strong as ever. | | |
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 | Fusion |
| Releasing two singles at once is the pop artist’s equivalent of shooting a basketball from the half-court mark. It’s a power move. But it’s also risky, and as most power moves are, probably inadvisable. | | |
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 | American Songwriter |
| Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers reflects on the Thin White Duke's songwriting prowess. | | |
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