We just grew up as old country boys, and we didn’t try to put on nothing. We sung the way we felt it and sung it the way that we thought we ought to sound. And there’s no other way I can sing. | | | | | Ralph Stanley, 1927-2016. (Reed George) | | | | |  | “We just grew up as old country boys, and we didn’t try to put on nothing. We sung the way we felt it and sung it the way that we thought we ought to sound. And there’s no other way I can sing.”
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| | rantnrave:// News of bluegrass pioneer RALPH STANLEY's death at age 89 broke late last night. Another monumental loss in a year of continuous musical heartbreak. Though he came to an entirely new level of prominence at the turn of this century thanks to the movie "O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?," STANLEY's career and influence stretch back to the 1940s, when he and his brother CARTER began performing as the STANLEY BROTHERS. They spread sorrow, heartache, death, bluegrass and mysterious, ethereal harmonies everywhere they went, and RALPH continued doing so for an astonishing 50 years after his brother's death. Giants walk among us, but one less giant than yesterday... I like the contours of the jury's decision in the "STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN" case, which held that, yes, PAGE and PLANT probably heard SPIRIT's "TAURUS" before they wrote and recorded "STAIRWAY," but no, it wasn't plagiarism. Intentional or not, that's a nice editorial comment on how music works. Musicians hear the work of other musicians, who hear the work of still other musicians, and then they produce variations, updates, remixes, artful copies, etc. Everyone benefits, and not every descending chromatic riff is an actionable plagiarism of every other descending chromatic riff... We've collected 10 varied examples of how songs are actually created in our new REDEF MusicSET "BEHIND THE SONG, PART 3," featuring artists from JOHN LENNON and PUBLIC ENEMY to COURTNEY BARNETT and FETTY WAP... I'm tired of holding BILLBOARD and other publications solely accountable for the obvious shortcomings of music-biz power lists like this. So, record industry: Look at this one. Figure out what's wrong with it. And maybe fix it... Good on you, BILLBOARD and music biz, for this open letter to CONGRESS demanding action on gun control. The music world has been particularly devastated by gun violence over the past year, threatening the "life-affirming ritual" of listening to music in public spaces, says the letter, whose signees include SELENA GOMEZ, CALVIN HARRIS, ZAYN MALIK, THOM YORKE, YOKO ONO and PAUL MCCARTNEY... And good on you, AFROPUNK, for embracing controversial ideas and opening your arms to MIA... ADELE's "25" is now available for streaming... OTHER MUSIC closes its doors for good on SATURDAY. Or almost for good. Doors will re-open TUESDAY for a final in-store show, followed by a parade (!!!) led by the wonderful MATANA ROBERTS... It's FRIDAY and that means new music from J BALVIN, KODAK BLACK, NEIL YOUNG, RAE SREMMURD, DJ SHADOW, KANDACE SPRINGS, DEERHOOF, AVETT BROTHERS, FELICE BROTHERS, AGUSTÍN LIRA, MARQUIS HILL, CASH CASH, D.A.R.K., A-WA, RIFF RAFF, MARISA ANDERSON, BUN E. CARLOS and HOT HOT HEAT. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | Billboard |
| I can still clearly visualize the bathroom at Pulse. When I knew it, it was slathered in red and black paint and vaguely Gothic. Various local bands had scrawled graffiti promoting or slagging off one another. | | |
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 | Rolling Stone |
| Zeppelin lawyers overjoyed, while plaintiff attorney Francis Malofiy says the band "got off on a technicality." | | |
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 | The Guardian |
| They’re the ‘audio equivalent of shoving your face into a blast furnace’ and are the latest purveyors of powerviolence. Don’t forget your ear plugs. | | |
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 | Slate |
| Thanks to streaming, the Billboard 200 is working just like it did in the ’80s, and "Views" is this year’s "Purple Rain." | | |
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 | Mother Jones |
| Grief and faith were common themes in Stanley Brothers songs—mothers and daddies dying, lovers betrayed, tormented souls yearning for heaven. Carter played guitar and sang lead baritone while Ralph played banjo and sang high tenor. But banjoists, Ralph now professes, are a dime a dozen. He cared most about the singing; the multipart harmonies gave the Stanleys their distinctive sound. | | |
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 | NPR |
| This week on "Alt.Latino," we take to the streets of Queens, N.Y., with activist Francisco Ramirez to celebrate gay Latinx pride and remember the 49 lives lost at the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla. The attack hit a place that is practically sacred for Latinos, and especially members of the LGBT community: the dance floor. | | |
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 | Vox |
| Open Mike Eagle on the art-rock band of his childhood, They Might Be Giants. | | |
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 | Pitchfork |
| "Vinyl" tried in vain to re-package rock in the language of the present day, and instead of a new perspective on the past, it came out like an Instagram photo, or a Light in the Attic private-press reissue heard over an Urban Outfitters PA. | | |
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 | A.V. Club |
| When Radiohead released Amnesiac on June 5, 2001, the album arrived with a mysterious online companion: GooglyMinotaur. The Where The Wild Things Are-like character was a goofier take on Stanley Donwood's figure on Amnesiac's cover, and he was friendly. | | |
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 | REDEF |
| Still more artists writing, recording, and talking about writing and recording, classic songs. | | |
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 | Flood Magazine |
| If anyone's earned the right to rest on their laurels, it's Neil Young. But with a new album--scratch that, "ear movie"--out and his Pono music player steadily gaining traction, he's finally free to do what he wants: save the world. | | |
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| Billboard |
| Christina Grimmie was a self-made social media star and former 'Voice' contestant whose heartfelt openness online and in real life transfixed her followers -- including an obsessive fan who gunned her down in Orlando the night before the Pulse shooting. Those who knew her remember a “sliver of light” who “touched and inspired” many. | | |
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| The Guardian |
| With war ravaging their homeland, the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians has been scattered across the globe. But five years since the violence erupted, the group are reuniting for a cathartic tour -- and opening Glastonbury. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| For those looking to understand Prince’s musical life in his final years, the larger story of Ms. Hill is illuminating. | | |
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 | Los Angeles Times |
| In 2013, Beyoncé put her superstar power to work in a sold-out arena show to help launch the inaugural BET Experience in downtown Los Angeles. Three years later, the singer isn't expected to perform at the annual music festival and confab, but she'll be present (at least in spirit) in a different way: as a budding impresario. | | |
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 | KEXP |
| Bombino performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded April 29, 2016. | | |
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 | No Depression |
| Singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson, who turns 80 this week, is known for saying, “heroes happen when you need ‘em.” | | |
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 | GQ |
| We asked Desiigner if he think's he's influenced an X6 movement. | | |
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| Billboard |
| Decades after scoring their iconic hits, bands like Right Said Fred and Color Me Badd are making more-than-decent livings on the road, proving that you can make the magic last for decades if you try. | | |
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 | Red Bull Music Academy |
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 | RIP Ralph Stanley |
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| © Copyright 2016, The REDEF Group |
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