It is music and dancing that makes me at peace with the world, and at peace with myself. | | | | Johnny Clegg (center) with dancers from his band Savuka, Paris, May 9, 1988.
(Frédéric Reglain/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images) | | | | |  | “It is music and dancing that makes me at peace with the world, and at peace with myself.”
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| | rantnrave:// If you showed up at an old-school record store—you know who you are—a few weeks ago in search of the new BLACK KEYS album, you may have been in for a rock and roll disappointment. The Keys' LET'S ROCK is among a slew of albums that have had trouble finding their way into indie record stores by street date in recent months. The problem, according to an open letter to major labels from stores around the country including AMOEBA, WATERLOO, ROUGH TRADE and NEWBURY COMICS, is that the three majors as well as some large indie distributors are all, for the first time, using the same fulfillment company to ship product. And that company, DIRECT SHOT, based in Franklin, Ind., is overwhelmed, the retailers say. Sometimes streamlining and efficiency work better in theory than in practice. Some titles are missing release date by weeks if not months, some are getting sent to the wrong store or in the wrong quantity, artists are showing up for in-stores with no product to sell—and the retailers can't get anyone on the phone. Catalog titles are going missing, too. BILLBOARD reports that a number of other factors are contributing to a chaotic situation in which, as one store owner told the magazine, "customers are losing confidence that we will have the music they want." The labels and Direct Shot are working on solutions, and there are conflicting numbers as to whether business is actually declining. But the retailers write that "extensive harm has already been done: lost sales, lost customers and lost confidence," and they're asking for a solution in "weeks," not months. Physical product is obviously not the future of this or any other media industry. But it seems odd, in an environment where labels, publishers and artists all say there's more profit in physical, and all have deep-seated complaints about streaming economics, that the labels aren't bringing their A games to milk whatever's left of the physical economy. Has the very idea of shipping a Black Keys CD or vinyl record turned into a dark art? Did the institutional knowledge of physical distribution wither away? Do distributors and fulfillment houses still have phones? And phone service? Will AMOEBA MUSIC in LA have BEYONCÉ's LION KING soundtrack on Friday? Can we be as sure of that as we can be sure that the ARCLIGHT across the street will have the movie that day?... If you want to understand what it means to immerse yourself in, and contribute to, a culture rather than appropriating it, you could do worse, a lot worse, than study the life of JOHNNY CLEGG, who died Tuesday at age 66. He was a white, Jewish Briton who moved with his family to South Africa when he was 6. And who became obsessed, inside and out, with a culture that wasn't his birthright and that was all but illegal for him to interact with under apartheid laws. His life, both onstage and in academia (he was a university professor), was a collaboration with that culture, a fight *for* the culture and a nonstop journey of music, dance, politics and discovery. And one of the 1980s' unlikeliest pop hits. RIP... Documentaries on R. KELLY, MICHAEL JACKSON and the FYRE FESTIVAL are all nominated for EMMYS, along with BEYONCÉ, PAUL MCCARTNEY and (going for an EGOT) BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN... R. Kelly's lawyer actually told a judge Tuesday, "There’s no evidence that he’s a risk to minors at all at this point." There's an Emmy-nominated documentary, though, which has a lot to do with why he was in court and why he's now being held without bail... WOODSTOCK 50 is one step closer to not happening... "OLD TOWN ROAD" is two weeks away from being the longest-charting #1 single ever. Pop still working in mysterious and magical ways. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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 | Billboard |
| The latest music industry conspiracy theory goes something like this: The majors want to kill physical formats, so they're using fulfillment house Direct Shot to ship all their CDs and vinyl to stores. | | |
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 | Los Angeles Review Of Books |
| Sophia Stewart pens an ode to a band with "profound candor" and staying power. | | |
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 | The New York Times |
| With the bands Juluka and Savuka and as a solo artist, Mr. Clegg fused Western and African cultural influences and defied racial separation. | | |
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 | Music 3.0 |
| Even though the majors have survived the latest assault on their industry leadership in music streaming, a new revolution in the business is coming. | | |
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 | Luminary |
| No one person embodies the Woodstock brand more than Michael Lang, the cherubic-faced concert promoter who came to fame as one of the stars of Michael Wadleigh’s 1970 documentary Woodstock. He’s also a symbol of how the counterculture has been commodified as a reliable cash cow selling hippie nostalgia. | | |
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 | Medium |
| I consider music to be a suitably 'lean forward' experience. I like to seek out great music and then spend precious time listening and paying attention to it. | | |
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 | Switched On Pop |
| Shawn Mendes' hit song "If I Can't Have You" is so ridiculously catchy that Charlie had it stuck in his head after the first chorus. How is that possible?! Declamation, or the way that text is set to music, is a big part of the song's appeal-every word that Mendes sings is perfectly in rhythm. | | |
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 | Chicago Sun-Times |
| "How could he flee? He has no money," his attorney countered. "There’s no evidence that he’s a risk to minors at all at this point." | | |
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 | Longreads |
| The genius guitarist’s autobiographical, multi-song fantasy album sat in his drummer’s apartment for twenty years. Now in the care of the Hendrix estate, will it ever see the light of day? | | |
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 | Mashable |
| YouTube is a weird, but addictive place to listen to music. | | |
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 | Vulture |
| In the most recent season of KCRW's "Lost Notes," Jessica Hopper assembled an eight-story collection defined by a vivid sense of moral balance. Each story honors its subjects as specific products of their time, reserving sharp condemnation while not necessarily letting them off the hook. | | |
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 | Pitchfork |
| From annoying song limits to underwhelming search capabilities, here’s what Spotify, Apple, and others should change. | | |
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 | Rolling Stone |
| The superstar’s new album will feature a number of African stars who rarely get exposure in the U.S. | | |
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 | Music Business Worldwide |
| Annabella Coldrick, the CEO of the Music Managers’ Forum, has had enough. She wants to know where her members’ missing money is -- and now. | | |
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 | Mixmag |
| Artists are putting a unique spin on the world-dominating genre | | |
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 | Tidal |
| As the manager for Tyler, The Creator, Christian Clancy has his hands full. Later this summer, the duo are heading on tour in support of Tyler’s chart topping album, "IGOR." But In the meantime, it’s business as usual as Clancy continues to develop new acts (Raveena) and grow his 4 Strikes management firm. Here, the Philly native speaks on his star, Mac Miller, Solange, business, and more. | | |
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 | Bandcamp Daily |
| The last time my band played in Bristol, we went to get coffee the morning after the show. While we were there, our singer was approached by a kid who introduced himself as Bruno, and complimented them on their Rudimentary Peni patch and Sisters of Mercy badges. | | |
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 | Variety |
| When news broke earlier this year that Jaz-O, Jay-Z's longtime friend-turned-foe-turned-friend-again from Marcy Projects, had signed with Roc Nation, most reports glossed over exactly which company the rapper had signed with. | | |
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 | Complex |
| The actor, producer, director, and DJ is a household name for roles in 'The Wire,' 'Avengers,' and more. Music has been just as important to him since day one. | | |
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 | Cosmopolitan |
| Our August cover star is here to remind you what it took to wear the crown—and why she’s never giving it up. | | |
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 | YouTube |
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