[contextly_auto_sidebar id="0JCYSVMp1thXSJOsnsjL1jZtKezUDFkY"] TUESDAY was my book's pubdate; it included a launch event at the LA Central Library's ALOUD series that I think went really well. (But who knows?) I also went on the air with one of California's great radio figures, Madeleine Brand of KCRW. I've been a KCRW listener since I landed in LA 18 years ago. My life has changed in all … [Read more...]
“American Top 40,” Poptimism and Winner-Take-All
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="plD2J41Igr64VnQSKm3MiH74DQcHRIgZ"] IS it possible to hate Casey Kasem? Probably not. His show was a lot of fun, and he was the voice of Shaggy. But his death is being received in an odd way that's unfair to him and wrong about the way culture, popularity and economics work. In short, he's being drafted into a war in which he never fought. My new story in Salon … [Read more...]
The Withering of College Radio
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="seaquox9ilXMg837yigc8XqAWK7RXXeJ"] COLLEGE radio did an enormous amount to power the indie- and alt-rock movements, as well as to create havens on campuses. But is it now being crushed? That's the argument behind a Salon story timed to the loss of music programming at Georgia State's WRAS in Atlanta, as "GSU announced an agreement to hand over WRAS’s 100,000 watt … [Read more...]
Chamber Group Salastina Society
THE other evening I saw a sextet performance of Transfigured Night. To say that I have mixed feelings about its composer, Arnold Schoenberg, is about the only way I can put it: The dude wrote some lovely and powerful music, but also left the state of western classical music, especially in the academy, a smoking ruin for about two generations after his 120-stone and serial systems. He was clearly a … [Read more...]
Creative Class on Studio 360
MY latest Salon story on the plight of the creative class has gotten more attention than anything I've written this year -- thanks to those who read and passed around this story."No Sympathy For the Creative Class," as it's called, looked at the distance between our assumptions about artists, musicians, writers, etc. and the reality of a life in the arts, especially during times that are hitting … [Read more...]