The sixth in a series of posts here at the Vine where we link to interesting and thoughtful articles and blog posts about music from all over the world.
LCD Soundsystem’s Last Stand by Chuck Klosterman (The Guardian): Klosterman has theoretically written up an interview with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, but this article is really about the idea of cool in music, and how to find it and what it means.
Internet Killed The MTV Star by Logan Hill (New York Magazine): In the early '80s, video really did kill the radio star – witness the rise of Michael Jackson and Madonna, known as much for their grand, expensive videos as for their music. But MTV eventually stopped playing music, and music television became boring and obvious. So witness the rise of the internet video star: Lady Gaga’s videos, all up, have gotten an astonishing billion views on video sites like YouTube.
Following The Luyas by Sean Michaels (McSweeneys): Michaels details the experience of going to see the Luyas play. I’ve never heard of the Luyas, let alone heard of them, but Michaels writes so evocatively that I definitely now want to hear them.
A Brief History Of Knowingness And Irony by Nitsuh Abebe (Pitchfork): One of the interesting questions in rock and pop music is the extent to which we believe that the opinions or actions expressed in the songs are the real opinions and actions of the writer. For example,
Pinkerton by Weezer seemed to me like it was basically a funny record when I was 17. But knowing how disturbingly close to reality some of it is, and how socially retarded Rivers Cuomo is, it’s hard to hear it as comedy now.
For Musicians, Economy Is The Mother Of Invention by Randy Lewis (LA Times): In these troubled times for the music industry, musicians like the singer songwriter Sam Phillips are coming up with inventive ways to motivate themselves, connect with their fanbase, and make money directly from fans who are far more willing to cough it up for the artist themselves, rather than the industry.
Jeff Mangum Did A Very Cool Thing by Matt Le May (MBV Music): Jeff Mangum recorded an album in the late 1990s under the name Neutral Milk Hotel called
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, and then basically retreated to silence thereafter. The album became a cult classic with a book written about it. Recently, for the first time in a long time, Mangum played some of his ‘hits’ at a live show, and Le May, who was there, movingly describes the feelings of joy and disbelief at seeing Mangum, on stage, singing.
The Rock’n’Roll Mea Culpa by Marieke Hardy (ABC The Drum): What’s with all those festivals recently offering apologies? The whole point of them, argues Hardy, is that they are a “gorgeous, idiotic mess”, where the sometimes trying circumstances are part of why you have a ball and fondly remember them afterwards.
De La Soul Is Dead: Long Live De La Soul by Sean McCarthy (PopMatters): I only really remember “Ring Ring Ring” and “A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays”, but there’s an interesting story behind those songs, both from De La Soul’s album
De La Soul Is Dead; the album was intended as a difficult, intense, career suicide.
Tim Byron