As 'God Bless America' celebrates its 100th birthday this summer, anyone who sings it should remember that it began as—and at root will always be—a love song to this country from an immigrant grateful to have been given a chance at a new life.
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Stardust and stripes: Willie Nelson at his annual 4th of July Picnic, Austin, Texas, July 4, 2017.
(Gary Miller/Getty Images)
Tuesday - July 03, 2018 Tue - 07/03/18
rantnrave:// The dictionary sent me to the dictionary Monday. That's when MERRIAM-WEBSTER, everyone's favorite TWITTER dictionary, informed me that it's "watching" the word "B side." "Watching" is a lexicographical backhanded compliment, a dictionary's way of telling us a word has not yet earned its place in the official record of the language, but it one day might. Flabbergasted—flip side is in the dictionary but B side is not?—I went running to RANDOM HOUSE, the only hardcover dictionary I keep at my desk, and discovered it isn't there either. Seriously, language sheriffs? What are we supposed to call that thing on the other side of PRINCE's "LET'S GO CRAZY" single? Or this thing attached to the back of Prince's "PARTYMAN"? Or, for heaven's sake, this all-time best not-the-featured track by an artist from Minneapolis who isn't Prince? For that matter, what are we supposed to call the featured track, since it turns out A side isn't in the dictionary either? An ironic aside (as opposed to an ironic A side): "In spite of the letter A's propensity for serving as a qualitative affix (A-list, A game)," Merriam-Webster reports, A side "has not taken on the same breadth of meaning and use as flip side and B side have." In other words, A side, despite being the more popular side, isn't even on the watch list. Meanwhile, a fellow named DRAKE who comes from a country where SPOTIFY can't even send you a tiny check for your hundreds of millions of weekly streams—it sends a tiny cheque instead—has released a double album split into an A side and a B side even though A) those apparently aren't words and B) the album exists as digital files and CDs, neither of which has sides in the first place. What could he be thinking, unless he knows something not even Merriam-Webster knows?... ROLLING STONE has redesigned both its online (nice except, um, there's still no search box) and print (haven't seen it yet) versions and has switched to monthly publication for print purposes... BEST BUY has switched to barely selling CDs... Another company says it may have to move production overseas because of the tariff wars: MOOG... I'm a little late on this but it's important that you know: "ELECTRIC BOOGIE," aka "THE ELECTRIC SLIDE," either is or isn't about a vibrator... DOMO ARIGATO... RIP New Orleans piano great HENRY BUTLER, BAY CITY ROLLERS co-founder ALAN LONGMUIR, SODA STEREO keyboardist DANIEL SAIS and longtime NME writer ROY CARR... There will be no MusicREDEF Wednesday and Thursay because of Independence Day in the US. Our firecrackers will be back in your inbox Friday morning. Have a good one.
- Matty Karas, curator
i looked at the scenery
Pitchfork
The Story of Girl Groups in 45 Songs
by Stacey Anderson, Eve Barlow, Judy Berman...
Starring the Supremes, TLC, the Ronettes, Destiny's Child, and more.
Bloomberg.com
Year’s Top-Selling Singer Isn’t Kanye -- It’s Jackman
by Lucas Shaw
Halfway through a year filled with new work from some of the most popular artists alive, the best-selling album is the soundtrack to a movie musical with Hugh Jackman that never led the box office.
Rolling Stone
How Drake Made ‘Scorpion,’ the Most Ambitious Album of His Career
by Elias Leight
11 of Drake’s collaborators explain how his new double album came to be.
The Atlantic
What Classical Music Can Learn From Kanye West
by Spencer Kornhaber
Whether or not "Ye" was forward-thinking, the musicians behind the Yeethoven project want to bring two very different genres together.
The Ringer
How Steve Albini Became a Poker Champion
by Alan Siegel
The legendary producer behind classic albums by Nirvana and the Pixies won his first World Series of Poker bracelet.
The New York Times
‘God Bless America’: 100 Years of an Immigrant’s Anthem
by Sheryl Kaskowitz
Irving Berlin, whose patriotism was fueled by coming to the United States as a refugee when he was a child, wrote the song in the summer of 1918.
The Undefeated
On this July Fourth, what should be our national anthem?
by Jeff Rivers
No matter what song we sing, let it ring with a determination to forever move forward.
Hypebot
Genius: The Lyric Community Every Musician, Fan Should Join
by Michael Brandvold, Jay Gilbert and Ben Gross
Ben Gross, Chief Strategy Officer from Genius.com, joins Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert on the Music Biz Weekly podcast.
The Outline
Juggalos figured out how to beat facial recognition
by Caroline Haskins
Welcome to a world where Juggalo makeup is your best shot at avoiding involuntary surveillance.
The Bluegrass Situation
African Influences Shape ‘Remain in Light,’ Then and Now
by Steve Hochman
On the surface, it might seem obvious and inevitable for an African-rooted artist to take on Talking Heads’ landmark, even if it took 38 years. But Angélique Kidjo has never, ever in her career done anything obvious.
she read her magazine
The New Yorker
How George Clinton Made Funk a World View
by Hua Hsu
The genius of P-Funk’s founder lies in his ability to motivate and collaborate.
The Atlantic
Ty Dolla $ign Isn’t Just a Feature Artist, He’s a Star
by Hannah Giorgis
The energy the singer brings to his collaborations is the same he carries into his own work: studied, versatile, contagious.
Pitchfork
What It Means When Spotify Has Nothing to Recommend But Drake
by Damon Krukowski
Like Apple giving everyone a U2 album no one asked for, Spotify strongly suggesting its users engage with Drake undermines listeners’ sense of ownership.
Invisible Oranges
The Streaming Revolution Didn’t Disrupt the Major Label System, It Fortified It
by Ian Cory
Stream bloody gore.
The Guardian
Toned down for what? How 'chill' turned toxic
by Robin James
Tame romanticism and lukewarm pop have replaced the bombastic songs of the early 00s - but are they also reinforcing stereotypes?
The Daily Beast
The Shocking Backstreet Boys Rape Case That the Media Keeps Ignoring
by Amy Zimmerman
Melissa Schuman, formerly of the pop group Dream, accused the Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter of rape-an allegation that’s gone virtually unmentioned during the boy band’s press tour.
Kotaku
LGBT Fans Find A Safe Haven In K-Pop
by Gita Jackson
"This panel, we're just going to show our gay," Lai Frances proclaimed to the packed crowd at KCon's panel on LGBT fandom in Korean pop music. The K-Pop fans in attendance roared with approval. Frances, a freelance journalist and self-proclaimed girl group enthusiast, served as panelist alongside a music video producer at Universal Asia who goes by the moniker PD, and YouTuber Eddi.
Medium
Two Gay Mexicans and a Genderqueer Jew Go to Dollywood
by Migueltzinta Solís
A place where queer and evangelical narratives collide.
DownBeat
Shabaka Hutchings: Britain’s Best Export
by Dan Ouellette
As the buzz around him continues to build, more and more fans in the United States are learning the name Shabaka Hutchings.
The Ringer
The Last Great Movie Credits Anthem: On 20 Years of Aerosmith's 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing'
by Rob Harvilla
How Diane Warren, Steven Tyler, Francis Lawrence, and--yes--Barbra Streisand conspired to turn an ‘Armageddon’ power ballad into a highlight of ’90s soundtracks.
MUSIC OF THE DAY
YouTube
"We the People...."
A Tribe Called Quest
“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?’”
@JasonHirschhorn


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