Via Soul Sides, I found out about Muxtape, a new site that allows you to upload MP3s and then create a mixtape online. A CNET article examined the legality of the service, which apparently is relying on a “hosting on behalf of users” copyright infringement defense. Here’s an interview with Justin Ouellette, the man who [...]
Pop culture out of context
I want to follow up on the post below, where I spoke of the collision/collusion between pop culture and politics. In their most recent diavlog at bloggingheads.tv, Robert Wright discussed the “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” incident with Mickey Kaus. Watch this exchange where Wright (who has no idea who Jay-Z is and clearly has never [...]
“I’m the realest that run it, I just happen to rap.”
My new Spot-on column is up: A Revolutionary Soundtrack. It examines the relationship between politics and pop music and looks at an example from a few weeks ago when Barack Obama channeled Jay-Z. A lot of pop music ignores politics altogether. Some pop music is very earnest about pop music. You don’t often see artists [...]
The Benefits of Touch
There’s the common phrase “unintended consequences.” That usually conveys a negative, something harmful you hadn’t anticipated. But sometimes a new piece of technology has a benefit you hadn’t anticipated. For example, I got high-speed cable modem service when it first became available. The touted benefit was speed — so much faster than dial-up. Well, yeah, [...]
“I’m from L dot A dot Californ-I-A hot…”
From time to time, I write about Southern California, where I am from. I haven’t lived there since 1989, but I’ve never stopped feeling like “Los Angeles” (by which I mean the general area, not the specific city) is my home town. I was born in Pomona, which is located about 30 miles due east [...]
Back to the Grindhouse
When the anthology Grindhouse came out last year, my friend Dan and I had a little bit of a mini-debate on the relative merits of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Dan took Rodriguez and I took Tarantino. If you take a look at this previous post, I laid out the likely merits of my case. [...]
Great baby? Or the greatest baby?
As mentioned, I’ve been a little preoccupied lately and I’ve been out in L.A. for the last few weeks. Both of these items are explained by the birth of my granddaughter Violet Jean. A panel of scientific experts have agreed that she is an enormously gifted and, in the words of one researcher, an “awesome [...]
New Portishead tracks
As expressed previously, Portishead is one of my top bands. Certainly, of that whole electronica craze of the Nineties, they stood out from everybody else. Next week, they will be releasing their first studio album in 11 years. I have been listening to that album, titled Third, for the last few weeks and I am [...]
Watch Together, Watch Alone
From time to time, you hear bemoaning about how we’re becoming less social in this country. One well-known example is Robert Putnam’s book from 2000 Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, which argues that a strong democracy requires strong communities. On a lesser note, you might run across comments like these made [...]
Spot on Authenticity & Winehouse
In the spirit of catching up, I never linked to my last two Spot-on columns. Back in February, I wrote a piece called “Days of Wine and Roses,” which was inspired by the fact that I knew a few people who really hated Amy Winehouse. Their dislike seemed to be focused on the fact that [...]