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Articles on Music

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Johnny Cash’s pertinent social commentary is likely to be lost in Tex Perkins’ translation Far From Folsom. AAP/Dean Lewins

The Parramatta Folsom Prison Blues: what’s wrong with that?

Last week, Sydney Festival launched its 2015 program – under Belgium born director Lieven Bertels – and it was revealed that Australian rocker Tex Perkins will recreate Johnny Cash’s 1968 Folsom Prison…
Musicians such as Amy Winehouse die young at much higher rates than the rest of the population. EPA/Andy Rain

Stairway to hell: life and death in the pop music industry

Art is a cry of distress from those who live out within themselves the destiny of humanity … Inside them turns the movement of the world; only an echo of it leaks out – the work of art Arnold Schoenberg…
Remarkably, Rodriguez has not released any new material since his first two albums in the early 70s. Wikimedia Commons

Rodriguez in Australia: peaking at the ripe old age of 72

Searching for Sugar Man (2012) brought worldwide attention to the music of Detroit singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez. The academy award-winning documentary focused on the efforts of South African fans…
Learning a musical instrument begins with the act of making music with our bodies. AAP/Yonhap

It takes more than singing to strike a chord in music education

Yesterday, Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne and Arts Minister George Brandis announced A$594,000 in funding for a new national music teachers mentorship program. The details have sent music…
Electronica musician Chet Faker, on Future Classic distributed by Warner, is nominated for the ARIA’s album of the year. EPA/ Anthony Anex

Independent artists call the shots, ARIAs or not

Since the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) award nominations were released last week much of the talk has been about how 80% of the nominations for album of the year were released “independently…
Danger Mouse’s 2004 album belongs to a decades-long chain of musical practice. The Grey Album

Why the Grey Album still matters – in black and white

In early 2004, I downloaded The Grey Album, created by a then unknown producer named Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse). Like many others I did so as a result of the Grey Tuesday protests sponsored by cyber…
Looks like the future – sounds like status quo. EPA/Daniel Hambury

Thom Yorke’s ‘new’ music model ticks few of tomorrow’s boxes

Late last week, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke released his new solo album – Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes – via BitTorrent, Inc’s “bundle” platform. Visitors to the service pay a US$6 fee, receiving the usual torrent…

Please un-do ‘booty’ pop videos

Dear Music Industrial Complex, Do you mind if I call you Mic? I normally don’t write about pop music, but I am upset. I know that sex sells, but may I make a special request of no more music videos consisting…

Goodbye iPod Classic

So, iPod Classic, you have been dumped. Since the most recent Apple event announcing new products you have been anything but on the shelf, and have instead completely disappeared from the Apple Store…
The naming and claiming of public space is a highly political act. Joe Castro/AAP Image

Amphlett Lane puts rock legacy back on the map, literally

When Chrissy Amphlett, lead singer of the iconic Australian rock group The Divinyls, passed away as a result of breast cancer in April last year, it was only a matter of weeks before the question of how…
Good news: rap and Ravel are not mutually exclusive. Tracey Nearmy/AAP

High art isn’t dying, even if the ABS stats are

High art isn’t dying. How do we know? Well, we’ll get to that. It’s again the time of year when major performing arts companies launch their wares for the next year. Opera Australia prologued its 2015…

Why is Kate Bush great?

So the reviews are in. Kate Bush’s return to the stage wasn’t just good, it was very, very good. Phrases such as “unbelievable” (The Guardian), “Christmas-like hysteria” (journalist Caitlin Moran), “cutting…
Playing at Bennetts Lane is an indication that you can be considered a ‘serious’ jazz musician. mandykoh

Bennetts Lane closure strikes a bum note for Australian jazz

Last week’s announcement that Melbourne’s Bennetts Lane Jazz Club will close in nine months came as a shock to most in the Australian jazz community. Bennetts Lane has been a focal point for local jazz…
Extreme duration can transform otherwise simple activity into something strange and powerful. Marina Abramović, The Artist Is Present, 2010, MOMA, New York. Andrew Russeth

Explainer: extreme duration in the performing arts

Last September, I sat down in the Capital Theatre in Bendigo to listen to American composer Morton Feldman’s String Quartet No.2 played by the Flux Quartet from New York. Sounds a nice way to spend an…
Does Psy represent the future of music? AAP/ Yonhap News Agency

The Brisbane Declaration: a blueprint for the musical world

Earlier this year the number of views of South Korean mega-star Psy’s Gangnam Style YouTube video exceeded two billion. That’s more than a quarter of the people on the planet who have watched the video…
Australia’s most celebrated contemporary composer, Peter Sculthorpe, died on Friday. AAP Image/Alan Porritt

A wonderful musical legacy: Peter Sculthorpe remembered

Peter Sculthorpe passed away at the age of 85 on Friday. As Australia’s best known composer of classical contemporary music, this gives us pause to reflect on the legacy of his music and also upon the…
John Williams with Boston Pops. Chris Devers

How one man changed the landscape of film music

Walt Disney is, to many people, the most influential person who has been in film. And after all, he garnered the most accolades, receiving as many as 59 Oscar nominations. But there’s another film titan…

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