archive

Musically radical musicians

From Penn Gazette, through music and a grassroots organization for girls, ethnomusicologist Jennifer Kyker is making things happen in Zimbabwe. From Himal Southasian, an article on Neil Nongkynrih, India’s leading and perhaps only opera composer; and the absurd condemnation of Western classical music as "alien" led to its calamitous decline in India, which is only now being reversed. Kaushiki Chakraborty Desikan is the next big thing in Hindustani classical music — and the subject of both fanfare and angry jibes. A review of Why Mahler?: How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed Our World by Norman Lebrecht. The Communist Manifesto Oratorio: No commemoration has ever been so unusual as that of Czech composer-pianist Erwin Schulhoff, who actually set the Manifesto to music in 1932. Mark Lindley on Marx and Engels on music. From Socialist Standard, Pete Seeger is now in his 90th year; his songs have always been better than his politics. A review of Bob Dylan in America by Sean Wilentz (and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more). Hey, hey, Bob Dylan, I wrote you a letter — about seein' your world of people and things. A look at how Bruce Springsteen helped make being a working class rebel cool again. Punk Rock Republicans: There's actually a grand tradition of members of musically radical musicians taking rightward political turns. The inherent conservatism of hip-hop: Most rappers are so conservative, they could easily belong to the Republican Party. Insane Clown Posse: America's nastiest rappers in shocking revelation — they've been evangelical Christians all along. Peter Mandaville on the rise of Islamic Rap: On the streets of Britain, hip hop jabs at Muslim politics. After her Jewish childhood in the West Bank, Invincible became a rapper in Detroit — now she’s fighting for social justice in unexpected ways. Straight Outta Comp 101: Language dork Sam Anderson finally falls in love with rap (and a history of rap as literature). Kevin Young reviews The Anthology of Rap by Adam Bradley and Andrew DuBois — a book rife with transcription errors; why is it so hard to get rap lyrics right? (and more)