Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

13 Feb 2009 16:14

tags

Culture, Music: U2 unleashes its juggernaut on one poor guy

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Feb 2009 11:06

tags

Music, World: Is M.I.A. an apologist for the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka?

  • She’s unknown at home Despite her massive critical acclaim, the ubiquity of her hit “Paper Planes” and her recent Grammy and Oscar nominations, she remains fairly unknown in her homeland, Sri Lanka. Those who do know her claim she’s an apologist for the Tamil Tigers, the separatist group which has fought a lengthy civil war for independence. source
  • She’s unknown at home Despite her massive critical acclaim, the ubiquity of her hit “Paper Planes” and her recent Grammy and Oscar nominations, she remains fairly unknown in her homeland, Sri Lanka. Those who do know her claim she’s an apologist for the Tamil Tigers, the separatist group which has fought a lengthy civil war for independence.
  • In her words M.I.A., born Maya Arulpragasam, recently commented on the crisis in an interview on Tavis Smiley’s PBS talk show. “Being the only Tamil in the Western media, I have a really great opportunity to sort of bring forward what’s going on in Sri Lanka,” she said “There’s a genocide going on.” source
  • She’s unknown at home Despite her massive critical acclaim, the ubiquity of her hit “Paper Planes” and her recent Grammy and Oscar nominations, she remains fairly unknown in her homeland, Sri Lanka. Those who do know her claim she’s an apologist for the Tamil Tigers, the separatist group which has fought a lengthy civil war for independence.
  • In her words M.I.A., born Maya Arulpragasam, recently commented on the crisis in an interview on Tavis Smiley’s PBS talk show. “Being the only Tamil in the Western media, I have a really great opportunity to sort of bring forward what’s going on in Sri Lanka,” she said “There’s a genocide going on.”
  • Fighting art with art Many Sri Lankans who have seen M.I.A.’s videos claim that her imagery either glorifies or supports the cause. M.I.A. says she doesn’t support terrorism, but at least one rapper has taken her head-on: DeLon, a Sinhalese rapper based in L.A., put up a video remix which directly attacks the singer’s stance. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Feb 2009 10:09

tags

Music: The Chris Brown/Rihanna saga continues

Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2009 11:09

tags

Music: Art Brut has an upcoming album. It’s probably high-concept.

“Art Brut Vs. Satan” comes out in the U.K. on April 20. Hahah, 420, get it? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2009 10:52

tags

Biz, Music: Licensing the legend of reggae icon Bob Marley

  • Building a brand around a counterculture figure. Bob Marley stood for peace and love, but he might just stand for beer and headphones, if a private equity firm has its way. Hilco Consumer Capital recently took half-ownership of Marley’s name, and they plan to market the heck out of it. They also own Linens-n-Things, so you know that they clearly have his best interests in mind. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Feb 2009 08:16

tags

Music: Chris Brown charged with a felony, missed boring Grammys

  • Domestic violence? They’re not naming the victim. R&B superstar Chris Brown, 19, wasn’t at the Grammys last night because of a domestic violence incident. Police are not identifying the victim, who suffered visible injuries, but mentioned it happened early Sunday. Brown was seen with his girlfriend, R&B superstar Rihanna, not long before the Grammys started. Both she and Brown canceled their appearances. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Feb 2009 08:01

tags

Music: Dear Grammys, why did the safe choice win again?

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, album of the year? Way to put me to sleep. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

08 Feb 2009 10:29

tags

Music, Offbeat: Vladimir Putin: Russian Prime Minister, tiger tamer, Abba fan

  • £20,000 to see an Abba tribute band source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2009 10:42

tags

Music: Auto-Tune’s creator: I never intended it to be used T-Pain-style

  • If you set it to 10, that means that the output pitch will get halfway to the target pitch in 10 milliseconds. But if you let that parameter go to zero, it finds the nearest note and changes the output pitch instantaneously. I never figured anyone in their right mind would want to do that.
  • Andy Hildebrand • who created Auto-Tune based on seismic autocorrelation techniques he learned in the oil industry. He designed it to be unnoticeable (in the article, super-producer Rick Rubin says it’s used even more than you think), but producers found creative ways to break it. Now Kanye West uses it to make breakup albums. He should be proud! • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

06 Feb 2009 17:44

tags

Music: Check out this guy’s music: Rifle Recoil

  • A master of the delay pedals. Jeff Kessel, a.k.a. Rifle Recoil, has a pretty intriguing approach to his music – he largely builds his tunes on delay pedals into a big, bold sound. Some would call it a wall of sound. The Arlington, Va.-based tunesmith pulls a lot out of his limited array of parts. Worth checking out are his immaculate one-man cover of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell classic “All I Need” and the funky Prince-like original “Bad Girl.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>