Someone told me this recently and it broke my heart: 'I’ve grown up loving country music and I grew up gay in a small town, and country music has always felt like a big party that I wasn’t invited to.' Oh my god, you’re invited to my party. It’s crazy that a certain kind of a person could feel excluded from a genre that’s so real—or supposed to be so real.
Is this interest remix not displaying correctly? | View it in your browser.
Back that axe up: Greta Van Fleet's Jake Kiszka at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Oct. 5, 2018.
(Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
Monday - October 08, 2018 Mon - 10/08/18
rantnrave:// The remarkable opening act of A STAR IS BORN is a breathtaking depiction of the rush and the privilege and the miracle and the wonder of being a rock star, as seen through the eyes of two very different people experiencing the rush and the privilege and the miracle and the wonder of falling in love. That opening, writes the MUSE's RICH JUZWIAK, "feels as immersive of an experience as any rock musical has since THE ROSE." It takes place during a whirlwind 24 hours in which the action moves from stage to limo to drag bar (the only one in America where a 40something country-rock star would be immediately recognized by everyone inside) to convenience store to crowded suburban house to private plane and back to stage, by which time you may well be swooning. LADY GAGA is great, the song that turns her character into a star is damn good, and BRADLEY COOPER is the best hirsute, alcoholic, aging singer-songwriter Hollywood has put on the big screen since JEFF BRIDGES in CRAZY HEART. And then the movie continues for another two hours, and you needn't have seen any of the previous versions of the movie to know where it's headed. We soon meet a slimy, manipulative manager, played by RAFI GAVRON, whose job is to move the plot along while also trying to convince you that pop music, unlike rock and country, is an innately unfit medium for expressing one's truth, and will, absent the intervention of an authentic, truth-telling rock and roller, probably destroy you. It's an argument that misunderstands both what pop music can be (Lady Gaga, who's been using pop to express herself wonderfully for a decade, knows something about this) and what pop music is ("SHALLOW," the allegedly-not-pop song that sets the movie's plot in motion, sounds like it could be a current pop hit and is in the process of actually becoming one). Performing with orange hair, dancers and electronic beats, in the movie's world, means you don't have anything to say, no matter how much effort you put into it, while performing with your natural hair, an electric guitar and a denim shirt means you do, no matter how much alcohol you put into it. Also: Singing about butts is bad and not singing about butts is good. Which is one million percent provably wrong. It's possible, if you want to be optimistic about a sad, pessimistic movie, to read the ending as Cooper's character—and perhaps Cooper himself—coming to horrible grips with the idea that he's been wrong all along. Unlikely but possible. It's a good movie, by the way, though probably not a great one. And you should go for the popcorn, not the pop... TAYLOR SWIFT—wow—makes a political endorsement. Two in fact... Musicians really, really, really aren't into Brexit... GREEN DAY is really into October... T.I. says he once saved SCOTT STAPP's life... RIP HAMIET BLUIETT, MONTSERRAT CABALLÉ, JOHN WICKS and MICHAEL PANICO.
- Matty Karas, curator
welcome to the working week
The Guardian
Has 10 years of Spotify ruined music?
by Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Laura Snapes
The streaming service is a decade old on Sunday. So has it created a post-CD paradise for listeners - or turned today’s music into a grey goo? Our music editors argue for and against.
Music Industry Blog
Looking for the Music in Tencent Music
by Mark Mulligan
TME isn’t really a music company or investment opportunity, but is instead a series of social entertainment platforms, of which music – and much of it not even streaming music – is one minor part.
The Daily Beast
The Notorious Hardcore Porn Star Who Shoots Adult Films With Rising Rappers
by Tarpley Hitt
Bruno Dickemz is known for his extreme BDSM and abuse allegations—as well as an adult film series featuring some of the hottest SoundCloud rappers, including the late XXXTentacion.
The New Yorker
The Theatrical Realness of Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born”
by Naomi Fry
In the new film, Lady Gaga is both the dressed-down girl next door and the mythical superstar, and her ability to nimbly straddle these two poles is what makes her performance great.
The Muse
'A Star Is Born' Is the Same Story Told Over and Over, Forever
by Rich Juzwiak
"A Star Is Born" dragged my heart all around for months and months before I could even experience it. On paper, it sounded like a disaster: a vanity project from Bradley Cooper featuring Lady Gaga in the third remake of a film whose most recent iteration (the 1976 version starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson) is among the most wretched blockbusters of all time.
Los Angeles Times
Tom Petty's death is still a hard reminder for aging rockers about the downside of life on the road
by Randy Lewis
A year after Tom Petty died at age 66 of an accidental medication overdose, his family members, band mates and others discuss what went wrong and what, if anything, can be done to save others from the same fate.
Noisey
How British Guitar Music Caught Up With The World
by Ryan Bassil
It took a long time to get over itself, but now British guitar music feels like it’s standing on its own feet.
The New York Times
Taylor Swift, Apolitical No More, Endorses Democratic Candidates in Tennessee
by Sarah Mervosh
In an Instagram post on Sunday, the pop music titan broke her political silence and explained why she planned to vote for two Democrats in the midterm election.
Garage Magazine
How Angelique Kidjo Worked With Kerry James Marshall to Cover the Talking Heads
by Emma Specter
Marshall composed Kidjo's album cover based on a concept he had of her as “a street dealer of light.”
GQ
T.I. Is Rap's Foremost Crisis Hotline
by Max Cea
The King of the South has a superhero-esque knack for being around when people are in a jam. But dedicate his life to helping people? No thanks, he’s got other priorities.
working for the weekend
Los Angeles Times
Nirvana reunited at Dave Grohl's Cal Jam. The result was complicated
by Mikael Wood
The band's set was just one part of Cal Jam's argument that rock can function as both museum piece and living ritual.
Billboard
Terrestrial Radio Ducks Music Modernization Act, But Still Must Face the Music
by Larry Miller
The Music Modernization Act, now set to become law, is silent on one big remaining issue for the music industry: U.S. AM/FM radio stations pay nothing to broadcast the sound recordings they play.
NPR Music
Behind A Death In Queens, A Major Loss For The Avant-Garde Jazz Community
by Nate Chinen
Headlines this week have highlighted the macabre circumstances surrounding the death of Michael Panico, but overlooked his notable contributions to a music community jolted by the news.
Red Bull Music Academy
Jlin Lecture (Berlin 2018)
by Jlin and Chal Ravens
In her RBMA Berlin 2018 lecture, Jlin talked about the importance of mistakes and being true to yourself as an artist.
TechRadar
Is music tech short-changing songwriters?
by Andrew Williams
Money too tight to mention.
Rolling Stone
Green Day Get Richer Every October Without Trying
by Amy X. Wang
“Wake Me Up When September Ends” has become an annual anthem - and moneymaker - for the band.
Metal Hammer
The 100 best metal songs of the 90s
We count down the definitive list of the best rock and metal songs from the 1990s.
Billboard
Ticketmaster Responds to Senate Letter Investigating Resale Controversy
by Dave Brooks
Ticketmaster president Jared Smith has responded to a letter from two U.S. Senators asking questions about the company's resale business in the wake of an investigative report by the Toronto Star and the CBC into Ticketmaster's TradeDesk platform.
Very Smart Brothas
10 Reasons Why Kanye West Going to Africa to Finish His Album 'Yandhi' Might Work Out for Us All (It Also Might Not)
by Panama Jackson
Kanye West--you may have heard of him--is on the move. On the heels of recent comments about the 13th Amendment and his apparent undying love for our current president and emergency alerter, Kanye has decided to venture to Somewhere In Africa to finish recording his second (you could argue third) album of 2018, "Yandhi."
Vulture
The Roy Orbison Hologram Is Not As Creepy As You'd Think
by Joseph Bien-Kahn
From a puff of smoke at center stage, the legendary crooner appeared, in dark glasses and a gray suit with a black shirt underneath, and his silver crusader cross necklace. He held a red Gibson guitar with a cord plugged into nothing at all, and turned to acknowledge the orchestra before beginning to sing "Crying."
MUSIC OF THE DAY
YouTube
"Sophisticated Lady"
World Saxophone Quartet
RIP Hamiet Bluiett.
“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


REDEF, Inc.
25 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10014

redef.com
YOU DON'T GET IT?
Subscribe
Unsubscribe/Manage My Subscription
FOLLOW REDEF ON
© Copyright 2018, The REDEF Group