Posts Tagged ‘NPR’
Reports of Rock & Roll’s Demise at the Hands of Pro Tools Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Yesterday, Douglas Wolk—whose byline I recognize and who, according to Beaujon and this online encyclopedia thingy, is sort of a dude—published an item on NPR’s Monitor Mix blog to the effect that, dammit, AutoTune and Pro Tools and click tracks and, you know, Twitter are conspiring to kill rock & roll.
Holding up the 48th second of the Beatles‘ “Rain” as an example, Wolk claims that, “if some band of 25-year-olds with radio aspirations wrote and recorded ‘Rain’ today…that take would probably be thrown out, or at least digitally edited to fix the screw-up.”
With respect to Wolk, this strikes me as a hollow, distinctly codger-y argument. (And one that cites exactly zero contemporary acts by way of illustration.) Couple points here:
Maura Johnston Leaves Idolator
Maura Johnston announced today that she’s leaving Idolator, the pop music blog she’s edited for over three years.
“Just wanted to let you know that today is my last day as editor of Idolator. The site will continue on, and I will continue to write about music, but we’ve decided to part ways,” Johnston wrote on the site this afternoon.
Her departure will no doubt come as a shock to readers, who are by now used to seeing Johnston all over the web, from commenting on Perez Hilton in the Guardian to talking about American Idol on NPR; opportunities that–in this writer’s opinion–directly correlate to the time she’s put into editing one of the best music blogs on the web.
Johnston’s goodbye post doesn’t say why she’s leaving. Washington City Paper attempted to extract an explanation via email, but Johnston would only say that she is “really excited to see what happens next… and to get some sleep.”
The Federal Trade Commission Goes After Bloggers, Spares Journos Who Do the Same Thing!
According to GalleyCat, the Federal Trade Commission will fine independent bloggers up to $11,000 if they fail to disclose that they’ve received a product for free. This means book reviewers who get books for free, music reviewers who get music for free, stroller reviewers who get strollers for free, have to say as much in their reviews or risk massive, disproportionate penalties.
The FTC has argued that this standard doesn’t apply to traditional journalism outlets because “the newspaper receives the book and it allows the reviewer to review it, it’s still the property of the newspaper.”
It’s an innocuous but offensive requirement, but I’m more interested in the FTC’s imagined relationship between publishers and record labels and journalists and newspapers.
James Ellroy: Brilliant Author. Snappy Talker. Unchallenged Racist?
People are going batshit over Blood’s a Rover, the new crime novel by Los Angeles writer James Ellroy, about the assassinations of MLK, RFK, and JFK. Just about everyone has something to say about it: The LA Times. The Boston Herald. The Washington Post. The Economist.
The Minnesota Star-Tribune profiled Ellroy in all his glory. NPR hosted him just yesterday.
Not one of those pieces, however, mentions Ellroy’s personal view on race, which is an integral element of his newest book.
Read More “James Ellroy: Brilliant Author. Snappy Talker. Unchallenged Racist?” »
NPR Names the Best Music of the Year (so far), Why Music Magazines Are Dying
Last week All Songs Considered invited its listeners to vote for their favorite tracks and albums of the year (s0 far).
The results?
“In the end, Animal Collective edged out every other artist for both Best Album and Best Song. Artists like Grizzly Bear, The Decemberists and Neko Case weren’t far behind. One thing was clear: that 2009 has been one of the strongest years for new music in recent memory.”
MP3 tracks accompany the list for Best Songs of 2009 (so far), in case you’re not up to speed with what’s cool.
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D.C.’s Experimental Music Scene Gets Love From NPR
My girlfriend actually told me about this after hearing it air last night, but it took me a while to get around to listening: a five-minute segment broadcast nationally on NPR’s All Things Considered about DC’s underground music scene, focusing on Sonic Circuits and the monthly Electric Possible series.
This comes right on the heels of an excellent feature story in the nationally distributed improvised music magazine Signal to Noise, which explored the same DC experimental music scene. (That article is actually mentioned in the NPR story linked to above.)
Songs for Quitting Your Job
Paige Maguire over at NPR put together a 5-song playlist for anyone suffering from economic woes and job insecurity.
“For some, it’s years of cubicles and monkey suits and unbearable workloads, while others have lost their marbles and wound up getting walked to their car. Whatever happens, we’re guessing it’s going to be epic and terrible, which means you’re going to need consolation and encouragement in the form of five great rock tunes.”
Among her picks are The Animals’ “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” and The Dead Kennedys’ “Bedtime for Democracy.” She had some good tracks, but her playlist doesn’t satisfy my economy-induced misery.
Here are my picks:
Woody Guthrie – Better World A-Comin’
Deerhoof – Scream Team
Rush – Big Money
Walkmen – The Rat
Black Flag – Rise Above
What’s on your 5-song economic meltdown playlist?
