Somebody asked Roger Miller one time, 'Why don’t you co-write?' He said, ‘Did Picasso co-paint?' | | | | Whitney Houston at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, November 1987.
(Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) | | | | | | “Somebody asked Roger Miller one time, 'Why don’t you co-write?' He said, ‘Did Picasso co-paint?'”
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| | rantnrave:// It's supposed to be north of 100 degrees in Los Angeles this weekend—my phone as of this writing is suggesting it's going to hit 111 today and I didn't even know my vintage IPHONE 6 could count that high—so don't mind me if I'm fantasizing about air-conditioned movie theaters... KEVIN MACDONALD's documentary WHITNEY opens today, which makes this a good time, first of all, to remember the purity and perfection of that voice. Nothing matters more than that, and no amount of not-so-far-behind-the-music drama involving one of this country's greatest musical families can take away from it. But let's also be thankful for the chance to better understand the difficult, complicated life behind that voice, courtesy of a documentary for which the extended Houston family cooperated without having any creative control, which is as rare as it is refreshing. Many of the film's biggest revelations have already been amply discussed, but if you're looking for some background, this LA TIMES piece is a good look at what the film means to Houston's family and how they came onboard, and this essay on Houston's blackness by SORAYA NADIA MCDONALD may be the single best thing ever written about her. If the film is half as good, and helps us better navigate the paths between the glorious voice and the troubled soul for which it sang, that will be a gift... For smaller screens, NETFLIX has ordered 10 episodes of JOSH SAFRAN's romantic musical MIXTAPE, which, based on its elevator pitch, sounds awful, but it's a good title and I'll be rooting for it... YOUTUBE 1, rest of the music biz 0... SHIRLEY MANSON on cutting herself... BONO on the future of the free world... This free synth app for your IPAD may be the best free synth for your iPad you will ever use. (And no, this is not a paid ad. Just an amazing app)... It's FRIDAY and that means new music from RP BOO, YEARS & YEARS, FUTURE, MICHAEL BEHARIE & TEDDY RANKIN-PARKER, YUNGBLUD, MEEK MILL, BJØRN TORSKE, BODEGA, WEN, 77:78, DEVILDRIVER, TOM GRENNAN, IMMORTAL and the NUDE PARTY... RIP RICHARD SWIFT and HARRY M. MILLER. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| With the ever-increasing consolidation of urban radio, program directors appear increasingly wary to break below-the-radar local phenomena. Regional tastemakers have capitalized on the void, and they speak in memes. | | |
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| A new Whitney Houston documentary makes tragedy seem more inevitable than avoidable | | |
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| Anne-Marie’s “2002,” Portugal. The Man’s “Feel It Still” and more - inside the new wave of pop interpolation. | | |
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| Inside the rapper's strategy to bring new life to the community where he grew up. | | |
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| How a troubled Florida teenager went from the “Dr. Phil” show to signing a major-label record deal as a rapper. | | |
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| Members of the European Parliament rejected new copyright legislation that, if passed, would have carried big implications for how YouTube operates. | | |
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| As his band The Black Queen preps its new album, the vocalist for The Dillinger Escape Plan writes about why he decided to self-release. | | |
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| At Brooklyn 2018, Afropunk will have more female performers than ever before. But as Judnick Mayard writes, this is not about a pat on the back, this is the way it should always be. | | |
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| It sounds like a kind of male, French Enya -- plush, ambient a capella tunes that could be the isolated vocal from a major Parisian boyband. But then you translate the lyrics and realise this is no "Get Lucky." | | |
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| “It’s purely an aesthetic choice--like a pre-ripped pair of jeans." We take a look at a fiery debate in the acoustic guitar world: to relic or not to relic? | | |
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| "A simple question, posed at eight o'clock on a Saturday night. I got five thousand comments back." | | |
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| The refrain - "Glory, glory, hallelujah" - shows up at labor protests, conservative rallies, church services and football games. It turns out the song, originally a war march, is flexible by design. | | |
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| Music writer John Doran ventures into the strange world of Richard D James. | | |
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| Combining his punk ethos and tech savvy in this new online archive, Neil Young has to choose what archival releases add new understanding, new angles on the story, new points of emphasis in his own history -- and which do not. | | |
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| The orchestra's top flutist, Elizabeth Rowe, says that she is paid substantially less than her closest counterpart -- a man. Her suit may be the first filed under a new Massachusetts pay equity law. | | |
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| A producer and songwriter for Shawn Mendes and One Direction, Ms. Geiger has hit a new stride after coming out as a transgender woman. | | |
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| Ontario’s new anti-scalping law was recently changed to delay the highly anticipated 50-per-cent limit on ticket markups. | | |
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| Beneath Puth's bushy blond hairdo is a savant-level craftsman with perfect pitch and a thorough knowledge of the last half-century of funk and soul music. | | |
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| The makers of the documentary “The King” turn to Elvis Presley with hopes of understanding something about the state of the country: what it’s been through, where it’s going. | | |
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| Ten songs that speak to the strengths of the recently passed singer-songwriter and producer, the embodiment of a musician’s musician. | | |
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| | | | | Material feat. Whitney Houston and Archie Shepp |
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