“All of us, to some extent, borrow from others, from the culture around us. Ideas are in the air, and we may appropriate, often without realizing, the phrases and language of the times. We borrow language itself; we did not invent it. We found it, we grew up into it, though we may use it, interpret it, in very individual ways. What is at issue is not the fact of “borrowing” or “imitating,” of being “derivative,” being “influenced,” but what one does with what is borrowed or imitated or derived; how deeply one assimilates it, takes it into oneself, compounds it with one’s own experiences and thoughts and feelings, places it in relation to oneself, and expresses it in a new way, one’s own.”
Tag: 11.09.17
The Art Of The Hidden Track, That Surprise On Your CD Or LP
We gained a lot when albums went fully digital, but we also lost a bunch of stuff along the way. Among the things we lost: Record sleeves, media towers, and Tower Records. We have digital equivalents of all these things, so it’s not like we necessarily miss them. But perhaps the one thing we lost that we’ll never get back is the hidden track. It was one of the few things about an album that couldn’t easily be converted to MP3 or Spotify. … Today’s Tedium analyzes the artform of the hidden track.”
Looking Back At The ‘Gay Girl In Damascus’ Hoax And The Middle-Aged Married White Guy Who Pulled It
Tom MacMaster did some real damage with the blog where he pretended to be Amina Arraf, a young Syrian-American lesbian caught in Damascus when the Arab Spring arrived – especially when, about to be exposed, MacMaster posted that “Arraf” had been kidnapped. Kevin Young considers the hurt that the hoax caused to MacMaster himself, other individuals, and even the early rebellion against Bashar al-Assad.
Ford Foundation President Darren Walker On The Power Of Art, Inequality, And Detroit
Hrag Vartanian: “Our conversation took place soon after the organization announced plans to open an office in Detroit, a city it had left in 1953. We spoke about the public’s interest in scrutinizing institutional authority, Walker’s own love of art, and the renovations at the Foundation’s building, and also discussed Agnes Gund’s new Art for Justice fund, the role of the arts for marginalized communities, and the importance of public education.” (podcast)
How Do Composers Survive When They’re Not Working At Universities?
“Merely a generation ago, the unaffiliated or the ‘freelance’ composer was a more common phenomenon in new music. With a more reasonable cost of living in culturally active cities such as New York City or San Francisco, composers could more easily build their lives around the pursuit of their craft, while earning a modest living doing a part-time side job.” No longer. So what do they do?
AI Is Now Writing Acceptable Pop Songs
“The reality is that humans adapt. It’s the tools that become irrelevant. It’s the heart that makes the music. I think people will find a way to embrace it. It’s inevitable.”
The Quietly Feminist Subversion Of Country Music
Says the editor of a new anthology about women whose lives were changed by the women of country, “What’s amazing about these women is the way they were phoenixes without the fire: They rose up because it was their music, their family, their way out. I think almost every woman written about has had those moments where they had to face demons as they created such deeply personal music; but they all got there.”
Developers Who Want To Build A Hotel In One Of Edinburgh’s Famous Neoclassical Buildings Hire A Former Advisor To Donald Trump
The rival plan for the building – The Old Royal High School – “aims to create a new home for one of Scotland’s best known music schools, St Mary’s.” Of course it does. And of course the developers want to “mount an aggressive defence of [their] plans.”
Why A Woman Will Play Othello In This New Production
“There have been no major productions with female Othellos in recent times, but they were not unknown in the 19th Century. At the Queen’s Theatre in London in 1833, a Mrs Selby “enacted the part of the valiant Moor to the satisfaction of a numerous audience”, according to the London Courier and Evening Gazette.”
Why Did Crime Decrease In America’s Cities? The Rise Of Nonprofits, Arts, Research…
“Nonprofits were more likely to form in the communities with the gravest problems. But they also sprang up for reasons that had little to do with local crime trends, such as an expansion in philanthropic funding. A spike in nonprofits addressing subjects like the arts and medical research occurred in this same era. Comparing the growth of other kinds of nonprofits, the researchers believe they were able to identify the causal effect of these community groups: Every 10 additional organizations in a city with 100,000 residents, they estimate, led to a 9 percent drop in the murder rate and a 6 percent drop in violent crime.”