Julien Baker… by Audrey White
Late last year Julien Baker, out of nowhere, broke into my world with her debut Sprained Ankle. I fell in love with her music right away. Looking back, my subconscious knew I was struggling finding a job and my relationship was dying. It comforted me but… I can admit this now. I was sneaking out and smoking cigarettes late at night and listening to her music. I’m trying to quit now. It’s an addiction and it’s harder to quit now than it was before when my ex and I made a pact together. I’m mentally weak and fragile right now. Maybe that will change with time. I find some peace in Baker’s album which talks about depression, substance abuse, and her Christian faith. She’s opened up about being queer through her letter in the link above. It’s an interesting life growing up in the south being a queer woman with faith in God. I honestly can’t help but admire her sincerity and respect how she defends her community in Tennessee. Normally I would scrutinize how you can be queer, religious, and like the south at the same time but again I believe her. I don’t feel pessimistic or cynical about her. I deeply admire her. Especially how she questions why people have left the south not staying to keep the local scenes alive. Playing in a small scene in San Diego I wish my passion would have been same when I was playing music.
What “Free” Costs… by Justin Charity
I’ve talked about the impact of Apple music for a long time with a group of music enthusiasts online. You know who you are! Since the launch of the service we’ve seen artists make exclusive deals with the digital titan starting with Drake. Now they’re rolling out another effort in Chance the Rapper and his new mixtape. The link above presents some interesting ideas about exclusive streams and the new meaning of “free” music. Streaming isn’t free but you aren’t paying per album which is much cheaper. It’s changed the whole business of music. Author Justin Charity offers a ton of great information and I recommend reading that link above. The key that’s presented here arrives in the future where artists can make income for themselves without labels and 360 deals. If you can finance your own album and have a service like Apple stream your music and even promote it you stand a good chance of making money but more importantly getting your music into more ears. This method of distribution and approach to music could foresight industry landscape for years to come.
Surprise: Bob Dylan… by Nicky Smith
We live in an interesting time in our American culture. Discussion about PC seems to come from every direction. For the first time people have to watch what they say or do. We should carefully monitor our every move in the internet age where everything published online leaves one open for persecution. Nicky Smith has become one of my favorite reads online. He’s publishing great work over at SpliceToday tackling Retail Rock and reminiscing about the glory days of the Baltimore scene. This piece about Bob Dylan’s imperfections brings on the idea our heroes aren’t always exactly how we’d hopes. You can read it for your but Dylan wasn’t exactly a feminist and that’s ok. Those with celebrity or fame are like the rest of humanity but under the microscope of the world. I love FDR but he interned Japanese Americans. I’ve brought up Kobe before. He’s my favorite ball player ever but he’s a fucking asshole and he possibly raped someone. The point Nicky makes and I align with argues you can separate the good and bad qualities from someone who is really a stranger to us. Kurt Cobain wrote timeless songs about adolescent experiences that will connect with youth forever yet if you’ve watched any documentaries about him or Nirvana he comes off as a total asshole. He was a nihilistic junkie. Nobody is perfect. I’m certainly not but we can still appreciate the great art or work they gave the world.
Disaesthetic 