Gonna keep it short today. It's a good day for those of you in the US to head outside, find your polling place, pick up a ballot and fill in some ovals or boxes (or however it works in your state or county), if you haven't already done so. The rants and raves and music stories can wait.
A few swing states will be literally swinging during the day. QUESTLOVE, DJ JAZZY JEFF, DJ DIAMOND KUTS and others will perform at polling sites around Philadelphia on behalf of JOY TO THE POLLS, a nonpartisan organization that aims to "bring joy to the democratic process." The same org is hosting similar pop-up shows around Atlanta (with REMI WOLF, BABY TATE and more) and in Maricopa County, Ariz.
Hundreds of artists including RUN THE JEWELS, CARL CRAIG, RISE AGAINST, CNCO and UMPHREY'S MCGEE will livestream performances from around the country starting at 4 pm ET as part of the #IVOTED FESTIVAL, which is free for anyone who can prove they voted by taking a selfie outside their polling place or with an unmarked ballot at home.
Starting the following day—well, it's hard to know what might happen starting Wednesday, except that we all have a say in that matter today.
Drummer, singer and songwriter MIMI PARKER, who was the core of the band Low with her husband, ALAN SPARHAWK, for 29 years and 13 albums, providing spare, perfect beats and equally mesmerizing lead vocals and harmonies from Low's slowcore beginnings through its sort of industrial Everly Brothers latter years. She was a remarkably consistent voice for a band whose axis kept shifting, and a quiet, undercelebrated giant of the modern rock era... Turn-of-the-millennium teen pop star AARON CARTER, who was 9 when he released his debut album in 1997 and 12 when he went triple platinum with the followup, "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)." He toured with Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys—his older brother Nick's band—and cultivated a bad-boy image. He struggled with mental health and substance abuse in later years, and had a rocky relationship with his brother. "My heart is broken," Nick Carter tweeted. "I have always held on to the hope that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed." Aaron Carter was 34... New Jersey rapper and graffiti artist TAME ONE, of Artifacts and the Weatherman... Nuyorican rapper HURRICANE G, who came up in EPMD's Hit Squad... Italo disco star CARMELO LA BIONDA... British soul singer NOEL MCKOY.
After mastering traditional publishing, the company reimagined its business — but staying at the changing industry's cutting edge hasn't come without risk.
Across more than 50 years, the music of artists including Dolly Parton, Alanis Morissette, and Megan Thee Stallion has been used communicate the anger and grief around the fight for reproductive rights.
Parker's crystalline vocals and spare percussion gave Low's sound a grounding force and a leavening agent all at once. She died Saturday, but her voice is eternal.
Just last year, the U.S. music business made $15 billion in revenue, with hip-hop being the No. 1 genre — so it is only right that this industry do a better job of supporting the communities where the music comes from. This can be accomplished in several ways.
She and her daughter carried one small suitcase for toiletries, clothes and shoes. But she made sure she had room for a few items with deep sentimental value.
Today's stage-managed politics depend on everything being on-message -- including choosing the perfect conference walk-on tune. But what do artists think when their music is used to support policies they abhor?
In this episode we hear how the NYC Record Pool invited the record labels to their inaugural meeting in the basement of David Mancuso's Prince Street Loft, the demands they made of them, and the egalitarian way they wished the Pool to be organised.
In Ozzy's voice is a note of want; a hunger to be back onstage as soon as possible. Not simply because there's a new album to promote -- "Patient Number 9" was released on September 9th -- but also because, as Sharon Osbourne, his manager, caretaker, and wife of 40 years, bluntly puts it, "[It's] all Ozzy knows."
"REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask 'why?'"
