One group of presenters says, 'Now's the time for us to really promote cultural understanding by presenting music from Muslim countries.' The other side says, 'I'm not going to take on the economic risk of working with artists from those parts of the world.' And both sides are right. | | | | | Tinariwen bassist Eyadou Ag Leche at the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival. (Lionel Flusin/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images) | | | | | | “One group of presenters says, 'Now's the time for us to really promote cultural understanding by presenting music from Muslim countries.' The other side says, 'I'm not going to take on the economic risk of working with artists from those parts of the world.' And both sides are right.”
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| | rantnrave:// She was warned... She was given an explanation... Nevertheless, she persisted... A Muslim travel/visa story that gave me a much-needed smile: ABDULLAH AL-RIFAIE, a Shiite Muslim from IRAQ, was in JORDAN, renewing his US student visa, when PRESIDENT TRUMP's travel ban went into effect. ABDULLAH, whose aunt is LA TIMES music writer LORRAINE ALI, had a major concern and a minor one. The major one was ever seeing the US again. The minor was one was getting back to LA in time for METALLICA's show at the PALLADIUM next weekend. You can read LORRAINE's story for the details of the struggles and fears of pretty much any Muslim trying to fly to the US. But here's the smile (and spoiler): After he gets through border control, he opens his jacket to reveal a t-shirt with the famous image of JOHNNY CASH flipping the bird. What if a border agent had seen that?, his astonished US hosts ask. Abdullah: "I would just tell them the truth. I’m a huge Johnny Cash fan"... Which is all to say, maybe we're not as different from each other as some of us would like to think... The travel ban is a big concern for artists who make their living on the road. Musicians from across the Muslim world are finding it hard to book US shows for spring, summer and beyond when promoters have no way of knowing if they'll be able get here. Americans will be deprived of culture. Artists will be deprived of livelihoods. The effect is chilling, promoters and artists tell ROLLING STONE. Iranian composer-producer MAHDYAR AGHAJANI tells THUMP he and the rappers he works with "can't get money in Iran because [the government] says we aren't Muslim enough. [And now] the US says that we are too Muslim." But he isn't giving up hope. "Right now, with all this technology, we don't have to physically be there to do a show," he says in a separate interview with NPR MUSIC. "You've got projection to hologram to augmented reality, virtual reality, all these streaming services. There's so many technologies right now that we have access to, that I think the artists should be creative." Hopefully, no one tries to close the internet in the meantime... Do you want to hear JAY Z's "99 PROBLEMS" mashed up with WEEZER's "ISLAND IN THE SUN"? (Spoiler: Yes.) Or maybe VANESSA CARLTON's "A THOUSAND MILES" instead? (Spoiler: Go to themagicpod.com, but make sure you have a couple hours of free time before you do)... RIP SVEND ASMUSSEN, DENNIS BARTON and RITCHIE YORKE. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| An expanding California arts program is proven to cut recidivism and save prisons money. Can it be a new model for prison reform? | | |
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| Though Donald Trump's executive order was overturned, it has enacted a chilling effect whose end result is unknown. Musicians and organizers speak. | | |
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| Women and queer-identifying rappers are often defined by their gender and orientation first. How did Young M.A get to be “regular”? | | |
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| With the cassette revival underway, Andrew Friedman meets the hoarders ensuring the future of tape swapping and finds out if mass production could return. | | |
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| It's been 29 years since the KLF released 'The Manual.' Some things never change. | | |
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| MUSIC • TECHNOLOGY • POLICY |
| Why is Spotify leaking this IPO information now? My bet is that it is mostly to get out ahead of an anticipated breakdown in their negotiations with major labels and to try to put some chum in the water about the beastly record companies, greedy artists and nasty songwriters. You know–the people who make Spotify’s only product. | | |
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| New releases from Thundercat, Chaz Bundick, Foxygen, and more have raised an important question for 2017. | | |
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| The songstress opens up about standing up for her music, learning when to give and "MY WOMAN." | | |
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| By dint of sheer luck, he survived the Ghost Ship disaster. Could he overcome what came afterward? | | |
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| Known as “the Grammy man,” John Billings has played a role in fashioning each trophy for four decades. | | |
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| Freestyles, fashion and the final Biggie interview: "Rap City" hosts look back at nearly two decades of BET's home for rhymes. | | |
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| “Maybe they’ll have ‘La La Land’ on the in-flight entertainment,” Abdullah said on Saturday a few hours before he was set to leave Jordan on a plane bound for Los Angeles. | | |
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| In 2012, I sat down with Television’s Richard Lloyd to discuss the making of the band’s seminal debut album, Marquee Moon, released in February 1977. The original feature, told entirely in Lloyd’s own words, ran in Uncut magazine in March 2012. To celebrate the record’s 40th birthday, I’m running a much (much) longer version of the piece here. | | |
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| Two groups document their fleeting existence after the fact in ones and zeroes. | | |
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| In September 2016, Deezer appointed its first VP of artist marketing: former Sony BMG, Live Nation and WholeWorldBand exec Sulinna Ong. | | |
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| Now that most of the DOJ lawyers who pushed the 100% licensing rule on songwriters are gone, who’s gonna deal with all those feral cats that former Acting Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse was feeding? | | |
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| Can a pop song blacklist a neighbourhood? Can a TV comedy tarnish a city’s reputation? These may seem like ridiculous questions, but the power of cultural imagery is often stronger than we realise. | | |
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| The CBS late-night host will be the M.C. for music’s biggest night on Sunday. He’s preparing by watching past performances. | | |
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| From searing political hip-hop and cosmic jazz to acid-soaked rock and new age, Los Angeles is home to some of today’s most important music - this is our guide to the acts you need to know. | | |
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| We said a stunned goodbye to Marc Spitz, veteran rock journalist, novelist and playwright, and Salon's beloved music and film columnist, over the weekend. | | |
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| | | | | | | Malian band, originally formed in Algeria. From "Alwan," out this Friday on Anti Records. |
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