Pitchfork

Since I believe some of my experiences with music have not just made me happier but also have made me a better person, I’ve wondered whether the opposite could also be true— that music could lead you in the direction of destructive behavior. Seems logical. And when I think of something like Swans, where bleak music about suffering could help lift me out of a depression, or certain rap songs that tap into memories of aggressiveness and violence that feel very far from who I am and how I want my life to be, I realize it’s never going to be an easy question to answer. I’m not sure I could ever explain how it works, at least not completely. But when I’m tuning into the rage and fear and catharsis behind my headphones it feels like it’s all there for a reason, like there’s a desire that needs to be explored and music creates a sheltered space for it to happen.

Mark Richardson – Resonant Frequency: Watch the Sound. On rap music, fear, aggression, Swans, and what happens when we feel music but don’t necessarily identify with it. (May 13, 2011)

Richard Beck „5.4“

Richard Beck schreibt über eins der erfolgreichsten online-Magazine in den USA: Pitchfork, ein Musikmagazin, das 1995 von Ryan Schreiber gegründet wurde. Trotz seines Erfolgs hat Pitchfork “nicht einen einzigen wichtigen Kritiker produziert”, so Beck. Statt dessen hat das Magazin Kritik “in eine Übung für perfekten kulturellen Konsum verwandelt”. Aber das passt dann doch wieder – sowohl zur Musik als auch zu den Fans, die beide immer harmloser werden, meint Beck, der sich freundlicherweise mitmeint. “Mit Sufjan Stevens adoptierte Indie kostbaren, pastoralen Nationalismus exakt zur Halbzeit von Bushs Regierung. In M.I.A. feierte Indierock eine Musikerin, deren größter Verdienst es war, verschiedene Katastrophen in der Welt in remixte Popsongs zu verwandeln. Es ist mit anderen Worten eine Art von Musik, die sehr gut darin ist, unangenehme Gespräche zu vermeiden. Pitchfork hat so gesehen Indierock imitiert, inspiriert und ermutigt.” (Perlentaucher.de)

Article: Lindsay Zoladz: Not Every Girl Is A Riot Grrrl

We played Glastonbury last night, and we did well, but the rain was bitingly cold and the audience were soaked and covered in wet mud and it was dark and dismal and every time I opened my mouth I swallowed rain. Under such conditions you can’t really expect much from an audience. I think they were there for U2 anyway– understandably. U2 have an enormous Star Wars set with drumsticks that light up northern Africa, and a sound system that would drown out an earthquake. I can’t compete with that. Not with my post office savings account. All I have to offer the world are songs.

http://pitchfork.com/news/43002-morrissey-talks-label-troubles-glastonbury/