I'm disappointed, I'm appalled, and brother, I am unbelievably hurt by the fact that you have morphed into something, to me, that's not real. | | | | Courtney Barnett at the Fortress Festival, Fort Worth, Texas, April 29, 2018.
(Jim Bennett/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “I'm disappointed, I'm appalled, and brother, I am unbelievably hurt by the fact that you have morphed into something, to me, that's not real.”
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| | rantnrave:// How many iconic music brands can go bankrupt in one day? Tuesday started with a venerable guitar company (not unexpectedly) filing for Chapter 11 protection, and before the day was over a venerable and outspoken hip-hop superstar had (unexpectedly, as is to be expected) gone on live television to deliver one of the worst history lessons ever, leaving pop fans to wonder if you can formally seek protection from moral bankruptcy... As for the literal bankruptcy, while there are legit issues in the guitar market, from the cultural relevancy of the instruments to environmental sensitivities about the trees needed to make them, there's no indication that anything is particularly wrong with GIBSON's guitar business. It has a 40 percent market share in high-end guitars and sales were up 10.5 percent in 2017. But the company's attempt to become a lifestyle brand and to expand into other areas including DJ equipment left the company over-leveraged and cut deeply into its profit margins. Just because the cool kids are selling their guitars and buying turntables is no reason, it turns out, for a major guitar company to get into the turntable business. Sometimes, like NEIL YOUNG or DAVE GROHL, you have to double down on what you know. Gibson, accordingly, says it will shut down its Innovations unit, which includes pro audio and DJ products, in its attempt to turn itself around. Analysts expect it to shed CEO HENRY JUSZKIEWICZ, too, somewhere along the way... Meanwhile, on the very day the WASHINGTON POST's CHRIS RICHARDS assured us we had "survived the longest month in rap history," KANYE WEST remixed the news cycle so completely and irreversibly that we could confidently declare, at mid-day on May 1, that this month will be longer. He's one of the 21st century's most important musicians. He's a visionary thinker. He's spent a good number of hours straddling the line between provocative and stupid. Which are context, but not justification, for the fact that he went on TV and kinda sorta blamed slavery on the slaves. Any benefit of the doubt he's carried through the past week of stepping into the muck of American politics has now been officially used up. But every SARAH SANDERS gets the MICHELLE WOLF she or he deserves, and Kanye's is TMZ staffer VAN LATHAN, who scorched him, face-to-face, with all the anger and pain that hip-hop nation has been feeling lately. A truly cathartic, and important, moment. Lathan was, in a sense, the TMZ version of T.I. in Kanye's "YE VS. THE PEOPLE." But where T.I., even in his political opposition, was contributing as a faithful member of team Kanye, Lathan was us. And the reason this matters in the first place is us. Kanye West isn't a random pop star. He's a smart, important cultural figure whose words and actions matter to us. MEDIAREDEF's JASON HIRSCHHORN goes deep on what it's like to be let down by an artist you admire (please read that right now; I’ll wait)... More biz news: SONY has sold half its SPOTIFY shares. BILLBOARD estimates the potential payout pool to artists and distributed labels from those sales is north of US $500 million. A lot of ifs in that potential, obviously... SHURE says it will stop making phono cartridges this summer... RIP JOHN "JABO" STARKS. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | Kanye West |
| A wide-ranging, nearly two-hour discussion, taped April 18 at Kanye's house. | | |
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 | The Daily Beast |
| A pair of interviews with the legendary musician and entrepreneur hit the internet on Tuesday, revealing an artist at odds with himself-and society. | | |
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 | The Tennessean |
| Experts say the bankruptcy foreshadows the departure of CEO Henry Juskiewicz, who, along with partner Dave Berryman, rescued Gibson from the brink of collapse 32 years ago and returned the company to prominence. | | |
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 | Slate |
| When did music critics lose their ability to kill? It happened gradually. And we never quite stopped to acknowledge the sea change. | | |
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 | The Outline |
| A conversation with Kenyette Barnes, a co-founder of the campaign protesting R. Kelly’s abuse and exploitation of women. | | |
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 | The Ringer |
| The Cincinnati rock band infused their Homecoming with a point, and a point of view, surrounded by like-minded artists old and new. | | |
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 | NPR Music |
| Smithsonian Folkways, known for its broad-based music catalog, wants to surprise you with sounds you didn't even know existed. The treasured American label turns 70 years old on May 1. | | |
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 | Noisey |
| Thirteen years, seven albums in: we speak with the Baltimore duo about the immortality of art, the state of the world and, tbh, some spooky s***. | | |
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 | Pitchfork |
| We crunch the numbers to see if fests are becoming more or less diverse. | | |
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 | Mixmag |
| A tragic demise that could have been easily prevented. | | |
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 | Medium |
| Regarding Janelle, Kanye, and the post-apocalyptic universe. | | |
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| The Daily Beast |
| No out LGBTQ performer has ever won a reality TV talent competition, and the shocking elimination of drag queen Ada Vox from ‘Idol’ suggests we’re still far from that day. | | |
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 | Billboard |
| Sony Corp. has sold half of its 5.707 percent stake in Spotify, Sony Corp. CFO Hiroki Totoki told Wall Street analysts on a webcast. | | |
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 | Flood Magazine |
| Seemingly coasting through this whole rock star thing, Courtney Barnett has been building quite the home for herself in our cultural pantheon. But she needs a place for her cat to stay, too. | | |
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 | The Guardian |
| Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the world-renowned experimental music venue. Musicians, staff and volunteers tell the story of how an abandoned Dalston paint factory was transformed into a vibrant international hub of creativity. Featuring Thurston Moore, David Toop, and more. | | |
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| Mixmag |
| Home of the rave, land of the e. | | |
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 | The New York Observer |
| Killer Mike could be the next rapper to run the world-if he ever decides that’s who and what he really wants to be. | | |
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 | The Washington Post |
| Has the future of the genre has ever felt more promising - or more perilous? | | |
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 | Film Society of Lincoln Center |
| Grace Jones and director Sophie Fiennes discuss "Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami" at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, moderated by Piotr Orlov. | | |
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 | The Trap Set |
| Yesterday, John "Jabo" Starks--one of the most important drummers of the twentieth century--died of cancer. He was 79. In tribute, we're revisiting Joe's conversation with the legendary musician, originally recorded in Madison, WI, in 2015. | | |
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 | YouTube |
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