#084: Lots Of Good Stuff In Here
I’m Todd L. Burns, and welcome to Music Journalism Insider, a newsletter about music journalism. I highlight some of the best stuff I hear, read, and watch every week; publish news about the industry; and interview writers, scholars, and editors about their work. My goal is to share knowledge, celebrate great work, and expand the idea of what music journalism is—and where it happens. Questions, comments, concerns? You can reach me anytime at music.journalism.insider@gmail.com.
Today in the newsletter: Interviews with freelance writer Ben Dandridge-Lemco; the Grammy nominees in the Best Album Notes category; and K-pop expert Tássia Assis. Plus! Some reading and listening recommendations! But first…
Astead Ruins A Few Go-To Phrases, Pt. 1
Coming Soon…
I’m pleased to announce that this week will mark the second feature in Music Journalism Insider’s series of articles on music journalism history. Coming to your inbox on Wednesday is Russian academic Kat Ganskaya's extensive overview of unofficial music journalism in the Soviet Union. Keep an eye out for it!
Reading List
Kaitlyn Greenidge has a short of history of the Black spiritual
Danyel Smith walks Bustle through the year she turned 28
Cat Woods profiles single mothers in the music industry
Arielle Gordon explains NTFs
Adam Aziz wonders whether old hip-hop MP3s could become the hottest new collectible
Aliya Chaudhry and Cherie Hu explain why Target exclusive releases still matter for record labels
Adam White on what happens to fandoms when superstars disappear
Aug Stone pays homage to an infamous Berlin bar
Tom Faber writes about two new pieces of software that aim to decolonize electronic music
Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim profiles unique instrument maker Joaquín Orellana
Q&A: Ben Dandridge-Lemco
Ben Dandridge-Lemco is a freelance writer with bylines in many publications, including Pitchfork, Audiomack, and The New York Times, which published his excellent hyperpop primer.) In this excerpt from our interview, Ben—who was also previously a senior editor at THE FADER—talks about what he’d like to see more of in music journalism.
More jobs? It’s kind of a tough question to answer since there’s such a lack of infrastructure, but I would like to see more writing by young people for their peers or just more writing that looks at the music and trends young people create with an actual critical lens beyond, “Look at these crazy kids.”
Most of the publications that are left see people in their 30s and 40s as their primary audience and it’s really boring. People seem to think that young people only want to do TikTok dances or whatever, but I suspect the vast majority of adults aren’t reading music criticism either. Why would teenagers want to engage with reporting and criticism that mostly serves to explain Zoomer trends to old people and treats them with either disdain or weird fascination at every step? It becomes this self-fulfilling prophecy as well, but I’m sure there are plenty of 16-year-olds writing about their favorite albums on Rate Your Music or whatever. For all the things I really hate about The Needle Drop, I can still understand why Fantano is the go-to ‘critic’ for a lot of young, extremely online people: he actually engages with the music they care about.
I’d also love to see, and participate in, more collectivism, generally. This definitely doesn’t apply to every newsletter, but I do think their rise more broadly has accelerated this sort of rugged individualism that’s always been part of the industry, and I’m not a big fan. I’m also just not very good at it. I like working with other people.
Read the full interview with Ben here.
Podcasts!
KEXP celebrates unsung grunge pioneer Tina Bell
Alex Ross of The New Yorker celebrates Switched On Pop
Popcast takes stock of the current jazz scene with guests Giovanni Russonello and Marcus J. Moore
Kieran Press-Reynolds has a four-part series on video game music for the recently launched Repeater Radio
Aria Code will return for a third season
Jonathan Glickman, a former MGM film exec, is making music-centric podcasts
Brian Hogg of Scotland's Bam Balam fanzine is the latest guest on the Rock Writ podcast
Astead Ruins A Few Go-To Phrases, Pt. 2
And The Grammy Goes To…
As I write in the header to every issue of this newsletter, I’m constantly trying to highlight unexpected places where music journalism happens. If you've grown up in a completely digital world, you might not expect to find music journalism in liner notes. But I’ve often found great writing and information you can’t get anywhere else printed on the back of an LP or stuffed into a jewel case.
Each year, the Grammys highlights a fraction of this writing in their Best Liner Notes category. I reached out to all of the nominees this year to get a bit more insight into their work. You can check out my interviews with the nominee at the links below.
Scott B. Bomar - Various Artists, The Bakersfield Sound: Country Music Capital of the West, 1940-1974
From the interview: About 25 of the people I interviewed have died since I first began my research. It’s like racing the clock to try to make sure these important stories are preserved and continue to be told.
Tim Brooks - Various Artists, "At the Minstrel Show"
From the interview: To understand the “modern” minstrel show, and why it was considered so acceptable by so many for so long, you need to actually hear the shows, their tone and atmosphere, not just read somebody’s description. No archive or individual had a very complete collection of these recordings, so I set about building one myself, which took many years and help from collectors around the world.
Colin Hancock - Gus Haenschen, The Missing Link: How Gus Haenschen Got Us from Joplin to Jazz and Shaped the Music Business
From the interview: [Some of these tracks] are remarkably rare and feature many embryonic elements of Jazz music appearing on record for the first time, nearly a year before the famed recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band.
Bob Mehr - The Replacements, Dead Man’s Pop
From the interview: The making of Don’t Tell a Soul and that era for the Replacements was nothing if not colorful and full of wild anecdotes. But my favorite has to be the tale of the Replacements scaring Metallica while they were both recording at Bearsville (you’ll have to get a copy of Dead Man’s Pop to find out the full story).
David Sager - Nat Brusiloff, Out of a Clear Blue Sky
From the interview: A long-time goal of mine is to not only make accessible these historic performances, but to also share the intimacies of music with folks who may not be accustomed to hearing early recordings.
Stuff You Gotta Watch
Stuff You Gotta Watch celebrates music journalism in video form. This week’s column is by freelance writer Jesse Locke.
Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton tells the story of a home built for musical misfits. Since its launch in 1996 as the bedroom label of DJ Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw Records has stubbornly refused to be pigeonholed by genre, even while thriving in the world of hip-hop. This 2013 film by director Jeff Broadway makes the case that they have always believed art is more important than album sales.
The documentary keeps its focus narrow, interviewing members of the label’s inner circle alongside superstar fans like Kanye West. Though this community feels laid back and joyful, Stones Throw’s history is marked with loss. Beginning with the death of rapper Charizma, the film’s most intimate scene shows J Dilla onstage in a wheelchair just days before his passing. Watching in 2021, the extended section on MF DOOM also feels like a eulogy.
When the rise of the internet caused a loss in music sales that shuttered many independent labels, Stones Throw survived on their own terms, releasing records from outsiders like Folerio, and making Dam Funk’s debut a 5LP box set. Whether searching for the next Madlib or signing weirdos on a whim, they have never compromised. “In the future I want our records to end up in the $100 bin or the 99 cent bin,” says Peanut Butter Wolf. “I want people to love them or really hate them.”
Pivoting To Video
Resident Advisor hosted a webinar providing advice on UK public funding for artists, producers, creatives, and promoters
The Los Angeles Times profiled mariachi bands playing COVID funerals
Nashville Music Equality brought together members of The Black Country Music Association for a panel discussion; Rissi Palmer convened a roundtable about representation in country music
Elijah Wald gave a Dartmouth conference keynote titled “My Culture, Right or Wrong: Thoughts about Music and Power”
Genius explored the evolution of Grand Theft Audio Radio
A Cause Worth Supporting
From arts & culture journalist and freelance copywriter Stephanie Phillips:
The United Families & Friends Campaign helps fight for justice for families of people who die in prison, police custody, or psychiatric custody in the UK. They are always desperate for funding and are generally overlooked by the criminal justice system. Any donation big or small will help them in their struggle to convict officers responsible for deaths.
Check out all of the causes highlighted by folks I’ve interviewed.
Bits, Bobs
Rolling Stone has launched a channel on Twitch
Scientists have found that excessive noise can lead to heart problems [h/t Marc Weidenbaum]
Creatives Movement is hosting an online panel with womxn in music journalism and broadcasting [h/t Beth Kirkbride]
The second issue of pandemic-era zine Cocoon is available to pre-order
Astead Ruins A Few Go-To Phrases, Pt. 3
Q&A: Tássia Assis
Tássia Assis is a freelance K-pop writer/journalist and graphic designer. Born and raised in Brazil and now based in Portugal, Tássia has been writing about K-pop since 2016. She started a newsletter about it in 2018 and broke into freelance writing quickly after its launch. Tamar Herman—a K-pop writer who works at the South China Morning Post—recommended I talk to Tássia a few weeks ago, making the point that Tássia’s graphic design work gives her a unique insight into the visual storytelling of K-pop. I couldn’t agree more. In this excerpt from our interview, Tássia talks about what’s changed about her work over the past few years.
I gained more confidence in myself. I became more clear on why I write what I write, and why it needs to be written. I'm also aware of the responsibility I have writing about a culture that isn't mine, especially when it will be read by thousands of people. I'm constantly educating myself on those matters.
Besides that, working with K-pop you learn a lot of tiny, unspoken rules. How to frame certain statements, what you should mention, what you should not mention, all those subtle nuances. I became quite careful with my words, but I see it as a good thing—it means I'm constantly finding new ways of saying things.
What would you like to see more of in music journalism right now?
More outlets featuring K-pop as a valid industry, and not just the stereotype of some weird, dark industry full of rabid fans. More beautiful, challenging writing. More money and time to invest on deep dives and pieces that take some time to be written. More opportunities, so that everyone who wants to write about music can do it without feeling miserable or needing a side job. And of course, more diversity and payments on time.
From readers, I'd like to see more media literacy. People need to understand how outlets work so they stop harassing writers for things that are out of our control.
Read the full interview with Tássia here.
Academic Calls
Call for Papers: All the Things You Are: Popular Music and Material Culture, a conference in October
Call for Papers: Global Musicology – Global Music History, a virtual conference in January 2022
Call for Proposals: Taylor Swift: Eras, Narrative, Digital Media and Music, a study day in July
Call for Articles and Reviews: The Musicology Review is preparing its tenth issue
Call for Presentations: Symposium on the Music of Carnival, taking place in October
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The Closing Credits
Thanks for reading! Full disclosure: My day job is at uDiscover Music, a branded content online magazine owned by Universal Music. This newsletter is not affiliated or sponsored in any way by Universal, and any links that relate to the work of my department will be clearly marked. Feel free to reach out to me via email at music.journalism.insider@gmail.com. On Twitter, it’s @JournalismMusic. Until next time…