1.
Album
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Album, is a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item on CD, record, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of individual 78rpm records, vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the 21st century album sales have mostly focused on compact disc and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used from the late 1970s through to the 1990s alongside vinyl, an album may be recorded in a recording studio, in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. Recording may take a few hours to years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts recorded separately. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed live, the majority of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at times while listening to the other parts using headphones. Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, historically, the term album was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage the word was used for collections of pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, the LP record, or 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. It was adopted by the industry as a standard format for the album. Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, the term album had been carried forward from the early nineteenth century when it had been used for collections of short pieces of music. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, as part of a trend of shifting sales in the music industry, some commenters have declared that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as mini-albums or EPs, Albums such as Tubular Bells, Amarok, Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield, and Yess Close to the Edge, include fewer than four tracks. There are no rules against artists such as Pinhead Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as albums. These are known as box sets, material is stored on an album in sections termed tracks, normally 11 or 12 tracks. A music track is a song or instrumental recording. The term is associated with popular music where separate tracks are known as album tracks. When vinyl records were the medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from the grooves
2.
Minneapolis
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Minneapolis is the county seat of Hennepin County, and the larger of the Twin Cities, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. As of 2015, Minneapolis is the largest city in the state of Minnesota, Minneapolis and Saint Paul anchor the second-largest economic center in the Midwest, after Chicago. Minneapolis lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul. It was once the worlds flour milling capital and a hub for timber, the city and surrounding region is the primary business center between Chicago and Seattle, with Minneapolis proper containing Americas fifth-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies. As an integral link to the economy, Minneapolis is categorized as a global city. Noted for its music and performing arts scenes, Minneapolis is home to both the award-winning Guthrie Theater and the historic First Avenue nightclub. The name Minneapolis is attributed to Charles Hoag, the citys first schoolteacher, who combined mni, a Dakota Sioux word for water, and polis, Dakota Sioux had long been the regions sole residents when French explorers arrived around 1680. For a time relations were based on fur trading, gradually more European-American settlers arrived, competing for game and other resources with the Dakota. In the early 19th century, the United States acquired this territory from France, fort Snelling was built in 1819 by the United States Army, and it attracted traders, settlers and merchants, spurring growth in the area. The United States government pressed the Mdewakanton band of the Dakota to sell their land, the Minnesota Territorial Legislature authorized present-day Minneapolis as a town in 1856 on the Mississippis west bank. Minneapolis incorporated as a city in 1867, the rail service began between Minneapolis and Chicago. It later joined with the city of St. Anthony in 1872. Minneapolis developed around Saint Anthony Falls, the highest waterfall on the Mississippi River, forests in northern Minnesota were a valuable resource for the lumber industry, which operated seventeen sawmills on power from the waterfall. By 1871, the west river bank had twenty-three businesses, including mills, woolen mills, iron works, a railroad machine shop, and mills for cotton, paper, sashes. Due to the hazards of milling, six local sources of artificial limbs were competing in the prosthetics business by the 1890s. The farmers of the Great Plains grew grain that was shipped by rail to the citys thirty-four flour mills, a father of modern milling in America and founder of what became General Mills, Cadwallader C. Some ideas were developed by William Dixon Gray and some acquired through industrial espionage from the Hungarians by William de la Barre, pillsbury Company across the river were barely a step behind, hiring Washburn employees to immediately use the new methods. The hard red spring wheat that grows in Minnesota became valuable, not until later did consumers discover the value in the bran that Minneapolis
3.
Alternative rock
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Alternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s and 2000s. In this instance, the word refers to the genres distinction from mainstream rock music. The terms original meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their debt to either the musical style or simply the independent. Ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music, Alternative rock is a broad umbrella term consisting of music that differs greatly in terms of its sound, its social context, and its regional roots. Most of these subgenres had achieved minor mainstream notice and a few bands representing them, such as Hüsker Dü, with the breakthrough of Nirvana and the popularity of the grunge and Britpop movements in the 1990s, alternative rock entered the musical mainstream and many alternative bands became successful. By the end of the decade, alternative rocks mainstream prominence declined due to a number of events that caused grunge and Britpop to fade, emo attracted attention in the larger alternative rock world, and the term was applied to a variety of artists, including multi-platinum acts. Post-punk revival artists such as Modest Mouse and The Killers had commercial success in the early, before the term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sort of music to which it refers was known by a variety of terms. In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term Alternative Music to describe the groups he was writing about, in 1979 Dallas radio station KZEW had a late night new wave show entitled Rock and Roll Alternative. College rock was used in the United States to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the radio circuit. In the United Kingdom, dozens of small do it yourself record labels emerged as a result of the punk subculture, according to the founder of one of these labels, Cherry Red, NME and Sounds magazines published charts based on small record stores called Alternative Charts. The first national chart based on distribution called the Indie Chart was published in January 1980, at the time, the term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records. By 1985, indie had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, at first the term referred to intentionally non–mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave and high-energy dance anthems. The use of alternative gained further exposure due to the success of Lollapalooza, for which festival founder, in the late 1990s, the definition again became more specific. Defining music as alternative is often difficult because of two conflicting applications of the word, the name alternative rock essentially serves as an umbrella term for underground music that has emerged in the wake of punk rock since the mid-1980s. Alternative bands during the 1980s generally played in clubs, recorded for indie labels. Sounds range from the gloomy soundscapes of gothic rock to the guitars of indie pop to the dirty guitars of grunge to the 1960s/1970s revivalism of Britpop. This approach to lyrics developed as a reflection of the social and economic strains in the United States and United Kingdom of the 1980s, by 1984, a majority of groups signed to independent record labels mined from a variety of rock and particularly 1960s rock influences. This represented a break from the futuristic, hyper-rational post-punk years
4.
Post-hardcore
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Like post-punk, the term has been applied to a broad constellation of groups. Hardcore punk typically features very fast tempos, loud volume, and heavy bass levels, additionally, many of these bands vocalists were just as likely to deliver their lyrics with a whispered croon as they were a maniacal yelp. Allmusic also claims that post-hardcore bands find creative ways to build and release tension rather than airing their dirty laundry in short, sharp, british post-punk of the late 1970s and early 1980s has been seen as influential on the musical development of post-hardcore bands. As the genre progressed some of these groups also experimented with an array of influences, including soul, dub, funk, jazz. Groups such as Saccharine Trust, Naked Raygun, and The Effigies, during the early to mid-1980s, the desire to experiment with hardcores basic template expanded to many musicians that had been associated with the genre or had strong roots in it. Many of these also took inspiration from the 1980s noise rock scene pioneered by Sonic Youth. Some bands signed to the independent label Homestead Records, including Squirrel Bait, a reviewer noted that the groups 1989s release Wrong was one of the most aggressive and powerful opuses in post-hardcore ever made. During the years 1984 and 1985 in the scene, a new movement had swept over. When The Faith put out the EP Subject to Change in 1983 it marked an evolution in the sound of D. C. hardcore. This movement has been widely known as the Revolution Summer. Other bands have been perceived as taking inspiration from such as funk. According to Eric Grubbs, a nickname was developed for the new sound, with some considering it post-harDCore, the latter, mentioned in skateboarding magazine Thrasher, would come up in discussions around the D. C. area. In the nearby state of Maryland, similar bands that are categorized now as post-hardcore would also emerge and this group has also been considered as one of the earliest emo acts. The second half of the 1980s saw the formation of bands in D. C. which included Shudder to Think, Jawbox, The Nation of Ulysses. MacKaye described this period as the busiest that the Dischord Records label had ever seen. Most of these acts, along with ones, would contribute to the 1989 compilation State of the Union. It has also noted that the groups ever-evolving sound would signal a more experimental turn in hardcore that paved the way for later Dischord releases. Similarly, the debut studio album, 1990s Repeater, has also been generally regarded as a classic
5.
SST Records
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SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was formed in 1966 by Ginn at age 12, as Solid State Tuners. Ginn repurposed the company as a label to release material by his band Black Flag. Music writer Michael Azerrad wrote, Ginn took his label from a cash-strapped, cop-hassled store-front operation to easily the most influential and these labels presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging. SST initially focused on releasing material by hardcore punk groups from Southern California, after a peak release schedule in the late 1980s, SST began venturing into jazz releases. SST is now based in Taylor, Texas, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, Dinosaur Jr. and the Meat Puppets have reclaimed the rights to the SST material after leaving the label. Greg Ginn created Solid State Tuners at the age of 12, SST was a mail-order business that sold modified World War II surplus radio equipment. The business was small but thrived well into Ginns early adulthood, in 1976 Ginn formed the punk rock band Panic. Panic recorded eight songs in January 1978, but no labels were interested in releasing the music aside from Los Angeles, California record label Bomp. By late 1978 Bomp had still not formally agreed to release the music on record, SST Records released the music recorded by Ginns band as the Nervous Breakdown EP in January 1979. Many early Black Flag shows ended in violence, often involving the Los Angeles Police Department, as a result, the police tapped the labels phones and kept the SST office under surveillance. Ginn claims undercover police posing as homeless people sat close to SSTs front door, the band were unable to hire a lawyer because of a lack of money, Ginn later explained, I mean, we were thinking about skimping on our meals. … There was no place to go, by 1980, L. A. clubs had begun to ban hardcore punk shows, adding to SSTs troubles. SST issued the Minutemens debut EP Paranoid Time as its release in 1980. The songs were recorded and mixed in a night for $300. Minutemen bassist Mike Watt recalled, It was at that point we realized all you had to do was pay for the pressings, maybe it was from Gregs experience with ham radios, but he believed if you try, you can get things beyond your little group. Facing hostility towards hardcore punk, SST groups like Black Flag, Black Flag began traveling up the California coast to play Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, making seven trips in total. SST house record producer Spot went along as sound-man and tour manager, Ginn decided to release the first Black Flag album Damaged via a mainstream distributor
6.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
7.
Zen Arcade
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Zen Arcade is the second studio album by American rock band Hüsker Dü, released in July 1984 on SST Records. Originally released as an album on two vinyl LPs, Zen Arcade tells the story of a young boy who runs away from an unfulfilling home life. The album incorporates elements of jazz, psychedelia, acoustic folk, and pop, while not commercially successful, the influence of Zen Arcade has stretched beyond the underground music sphere. It is frequently included on lists of the all-time best rock and roll albums, Hüsker Dü had gained notice in the American indie music scene of the early 1980s as a fast, aggressive hardcore punk band. They were the first non-West Coast signing to the California independent record label SST Records, I dont know what its going to be, we have to work that out, but its going to go beyond the whole idea of punk rock or whatever. The band began rehearsing in preparation for the album during the summer of 1983, in a squat in St. Paul. The band brainstormed lyrics and musical ideas during jam sessions that lasted several hours, Mould and drummer Grant Hart were the bands songwriters, and prior to embarking to California to record Zen Arcade, Mould was moved to demand that Zen Arcade list individual songwriter credits. This practice would continue on all of the subsequent albums. As their EP Metal Circus was being released, Hüsker Dü entered the Total Access studio in Redondo Beach, the band recorded 25 tracks, with all but two songs being first takes, in 40 hours. The entire album was mixed in one 40-hour session, the entire album took 85 hours to record and produce. The band collaborated with underground contemporaries during recording, Whats Going On contains guest vocals from ex-Black Flag vocalist Dez Cadena. Zen Arcade, in line with previous Hüsker Dü albums, had a hardcore punk focus, with songs such as Indecision Time. Indicative of the desire for the album to be taken as a whole. The opening song, written by guitarist Bob Mould, was used to open their set as early as 1983. The lyric describes growing up and trusting few people, a fast-paced song with simple verse and chord progressions, it begins with a simple drum beat, then an undulating bass rhythm, and finally kicks into the verse riff. Mould and Hart harmonize vocally in the chorus, something I Learned Today and Newest Industry were the albums only songs that were not recorded in one take. Zen Arcade tells the story of a man who runs away to escape a miserable. The character briefly joins the military, turns to religion, reoccurring Dreams, a disorienting 14-minute instrumental that reprises a shorter instrumental interlude, closes the album
8.
Flip Your Wig
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Flip Your Wig is the fourth album by American band Hüsker Dü, released in September 1985. It was the bands first self-produced album and it was the best-selling album to that point for the bands label SST Records, and the last album they made for that label. The band spent months in the studio to achieve higher-quality production for the melodic power pop songs. As of 1985 Hüsker Dü was the band on the SST Records. The band had wanted to produce their previous album New Day Rising, with Flip Your Wig the band was finally allowed to self-produce. Recording took place over several sessions in the hometown of Minneapolis from March to June 1985. The cleaner production complemented the melodic songs, still performed with heavily distorted guitars in a high-powered manner. Guitarist Bob Mould and drummer Grant Hart each wrote half the songs. Makes No Sense at All was released as a single, with Love Is All Around on the b-side, the Makes No Sense at All video was the bands first and includes both songs, back-to-back. Makes No Sense at All was the bands first song to achieve singificant airplay on album-oriented rock radio, Flip Your Wig appeared via SST in September 1985. It débuted at No.5 on the CMJ album charts and received more radio ariplay and mainstream attention than the bands earlier releases, including stories in Creem, Spin. Flip Your Wig became SSTs best-selling album at the time of its release, by the time the album was released Hüsker Dü had signed a record deal with the major-label Warner Music Group, who were keen to release the album themselves. However, out of loyalty, and because of SSTs appointment of new promotions manager Ray Farrell, decades later, Bob Mould saw Flip Your Wig as the best album Hüsker Dü ever did. Greg Norton – bass Bob Mould – guitar, vocals, piano, bass, percussion Grant Hart – drums, vocals, vibraphone, percussion, slide whistle
9.
Punk rock
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Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed in the early to mid-1970s in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in 1960s garage rock and other forms of what is now known as proto-punk music, Punk bands typically produced short or fast-paced songs, with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic, many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through informal channels, the term punk was first used in relation to rock music by some American critics in the early 1970s, to describe garage bands and their devotees. The following year saw punk rock spreading around the world, for the most part, punk took root in local scenes that tended to reject association with the mainstream. An associated punk subculture emerged, expressing youthful rebellion and characterized by distinctive styles of clothing and adornment, by the beginning of the 1980s, faster, more aggressive styles such as hardcore and street punk had become the predominant mode of punk rock. Musicians identifying with or inspired by punk also pursued a range of other variations, giving rise to post-punk. At the end of the 20th century, punk rock had been adopted by the mainstream, as pop punk and punk bands such as Green Day. The first wave of rock was aggressively modern, distancing itself from the bombast. According to Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone, In its initial form, unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endless solos that went nowhere, by 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no bullshit rock n roll. In critic Robert Christgaus description, It was also a subculture that rejected the political idealism. Technical accessibility and a DIY spirit are prized in punk rock, in the early days of punk rock, this ethic stood in marked contrast to what those in the scene regarded as the ostentatious musical effects and technological demands of many mainstream rock bands. Musical virtuosity was often looked on with suspicion, according to Holmstrom, punk rock was rock and roll by people who didnt have very many skills as musicians but still felt the need to express themselves through music. In December 1976, the English fanzine Sideburns published an illustration of three chords, captioned This is a chord, this is another, this is a third. The title of a 1980 single by the New York punk band Stimulators, inscribed a catchphrase for punks basic musical approach. The previous year, when the rock revolution began in Great Britain, was to be both a musical and a cultural Year Zero. As a Clash associate describes singer Joe Strummers outlook, Punk rock is meant to be our freedom, were meant to be able to do what we want to do. Scholar Daniel S. Traber argues that attaining authenticity in the identity can be difficult, as the punk scene matured, he observes
10.
Hardcore punk
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Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock, New York punk had a harder-edged sound than its San Francisco counterpart, featuring anti-art expressions of masculine anger, energy and subversive humor. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the music industry and anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock. Hardcore sprouted underground scenes across the United States in the early 1980s, particularly in Washington, New York, New Jersey, and Boston—as well as in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Hardcore has spawned the straight movement and its associated submovements, hardline. Hardcore was heavily involved with the rise of the independent record labels in the 1980s and it has also influenced various music genres that have experienced widespread commercial success, including alternative rock, thrash metal, emo and metalcore. While traditional hardcore has never experienced mainstream success, some of its early pioneers have garnered appreciation over time. In 2011, Rolling Stone writer David Fricke placed Greg Ginn of Black Flag 99th place in his 100 Greatest Guitarists list, although the music genre started in English-speaking western countries, notable hardcore scenes have existed in Italy, Brazil, Japan, Europe and the Middle East. The origin of the hardcore punk is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D. O. A. may have helped to popularize the term with the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore 81. C. Hardcore historian Steven Blush said that the term hardcore is also a reference to the sense of being fed up with the existing punk, Blush also states that the term refers to an extreme, the absolute most Punk. One definition of the genre is a form of exceptionally harsh punk rock, like the Oi. subgenre of the UK, hardcore punk can be considered an internal music reaction. According to one writer, distressed by the artificiality of much post-punk, lacking the art-school grace of post-punk, hardcore punk favor low key visual aesthetic over extravagance and breaking with original punk rock song patterns. One of the important philosophies in the scene is authenticity. The pejorative term poseur is applied to those who associate with punk and adopt its stylistic attributes but are deemed not to share or understand the underlying values and philosophy. Joe Keithley, the vocalist of D. O. A. said in an interview, in the vein of earlier punk rock, most hardcore punk bands have followed the traditional singer/guitar/bass/drum format. The songwriting has more emphasis on rather than melody. Critic Steven Blush writes The Sex Pistols were still rocknroll. like the craziest version of Chuck Berry, Hardcore was a radical departure from that
11.
Selling out
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Selling out is a common idiomatic pejorative expression for the compromising of a persons integrity, morality, authenticity, or principles in exchange for personal gain, such as money. A sellout also refers to someone who gives up, or disregards, the term could also be used as sold out depending on the context. There are two forms of selling out in terms of music. First, there is the use of sell out to refer to those who sign for major labels or to those who licence their music to companies for use in advertising that contradicts their apparent values. Since the time of big band radio shows there has been a relationship between musicians and commercialisation. It was not until the punk subculture in the 1970s that the notion that musicians should be independent of commercial influences began to increase in popularity. This partly manifested itself in the reluctance of bands to sign for major labels, as this would include taking part in activities that were seen as crass and overly commercial. This continued into the 1980s, when bands were scorned by fanzines for signing with major labels as the success this would bring was symptomatic of the general decay in culture. However, after a number of maintained the quality of their records after signing for a major label. The difference between the two is often subjective, the album, known as The Black Album, saw critics and Bob Rock, the album’s producer, acknowledged that there was a move away from the bands previous sound. However, other fans did not consider the change in sound to be significant enough to be considered selling out, ultimately The Black Album became the band’s most commercially successful release, going 16x platinum. The differing reaction by fans to the album demonstrates the difficulty in labelling an artist as a sellout objectively, while this perceived inauthenticity is viewed with scorn and contempt by members of the subculture, the definition of the term and to whom it should be applied is subjective. While the term is most associated with the 1970s- and 1980s-era punk and hardcore subculture, a hardcore punk band that signed a lucrative contract with a major label would probably be labelled as poseurs. In film and television selling out refers to compromising the content of produced media, primarily for reasons, for example. Stand-up comedians occasionally face accusations of selling out, comedians who start out in comedy clubs might often use foul language and blue humor in their routines. A comic who alters his or her routine by sugar-coating his language, george Carlin was accused of being a sellout for appearing in television commercials for MCIs 10-10-220. Carlin had previously spoken of his dislike for MCIs commercials in his 1996 album Back in Town, in interviews, Carlin revealed he appeared in the advertisements to help pay off a large tax debt to the IRS. Comedian/actress Janeane Garofalo has described herself as a sellout based on her participation with the TV show 24 playing Janis Gold. ”Garofalo admitted to selling out for losing weight in order to more acting work
12.
AllMusic
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AllMusic is an online music guide service website. It was launched in 1991 by All Media Guide which later became All Media Network, AllMusic was launched in 1991 by Michael Erlewine of All Media Guide. The aim was to discographic information on every artist whos made a record since Enrico Caruso gave the industry its first big boost and its first reference book was published the following year. When first released onto the Internet, AMG predated the World Wide Web and was first available as a Gopher site, the AMG consumer web properties AllMusic. com, AllMovie. com and AllGame. com were sold by Rovi in July 2013 to All Media Network, LLC. All Media Network, LLC. was formed by the founders of SideReel. com. The following are contributors to AllMusic, as of this date, All Media Network also produced the AllMusic guide series that includes the AllMusic Guide to Rock, the All Music Guide to Jazz and the All Music Guide to the Blues. Vladimir Bogdanov is the president of the series, in August 2007, PC Magazine included AllMusic in its Top 100 Classic Websites list. All Media Network AllGame AllMovie SideReel All Music Guide to the Blues All Music Guide to Jazz Stephen Thomas Erlewine Official website
13.
Chicago Tribune
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The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by tronc, Inc. formerly Tribune Publishing. The Tribune was founded by James Kelly, John E. Wheeler, forrest, publishing its first edition on June 10,1847. The paper saw numerous changes in ownership and editorship over the eight years. Initially, the Tribune was not politically affiliated but tended to either the Whig or Free Soil parties against the Democrats in elections. By late 1853, it was frequently running xenophobic editorials that criticized foreigners, about this time it also became a strong proponent of temperance. Ray became editor-in-chief, Medill became the editor, and Alfred Cowles, Sr. brother of Edwin Cowles. Each purchased one third of the Tribune, under their leadership the Tribune distanced itself from the Know Nothings and became the main Chicago organ of the Republican Party. However, the continued to print anti-Catholic and anti-Irish editorials. Between 1858 and 1860, the paper was known as the Chicago Press & Tribune, on October 25,1860, it became the Chicago Daily Tribune. Before and during the American Civil War, the new editors pushed an abolitionist agenda and strongly supported Abraham Lincoln, the paper remained a force in Republican politics for years afterwards. In 1861, the Tribune published new lyrics for the song John Browns Body by William W. Patton, Medill served as mayor of Chicago for one term after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Under the 20th-century editorship of Colonel Robert R. Joseph McCarthy, when McCormick assumed the position of co-editor in 1910, the Tribune was the third-best-selling paper among Chicagos eight dailies, with a circulation of only 188,000. At the same time, the Tribune competed with the Hearst paper, by 1914, the cousins succeeded in forcing out Managing Editor William Keeley. By 1918, the Examiner was forced to merge with the Chicago Herald, in 1919, Patterson left the Tribune and moved to New York to launch his own newspaper, the New York Daily News. In a renewed war with Hearsts Herald-Examiner, McCormick and Hearst ran rival lotteries in 1922. The Tribune won the battle, adding 250,000 readers to its ranks, also in 1922, the Chicago Tribune hosted an international design competition for its new headquarters, the Tribune Tower. The competition worked brilliantly as a publicity stunt, and more than 260 entries were received, the winner was a neo-Gothic design by New York architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood. The newspaper sponsored an attempt at Arctic aviation in 1929
14.
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
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The Rolling Stone Album Guide, previously known as The Rolling Stone Record Guide, is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from Rolling Stone magazine. Its first edition was published in 1979 and its last in 2004, the guide can be seen at Rate Your Music, while a list of albums given a five star rating by the guide can be seen at Rocklist. net. The Rolling Stone Record Guide was the first edition of what would later become The Rolling Stone Album Guide and it was edited by Dave Marsh and John Swenson, and included contributions from 34 other music critics. It is divided into sections by musical genre and then lists artists alphabetically within their respective genres, Albums are also listed alphabetically by artist although some of the artists have their careers divided into chronological periods. Dave Marsh, in his Introduction, cites as precedents Leonard Maltins book TV Movies and he gives Phonolog and Schwanns Records & Tape Guide as raw sources of information. The first edition included black and white photographs of many of the covers of albums which received five star reviews and these titles are listed together in the Five-Star Records section, which is coincidentally five pages in length. The edition also included reviews for many artists including Lenny Bruce, Lord Buckley, Bill Cosby, The Firesign Theatre, Spike Jones. Comedy artists were listed in the catch-all section Rock, Soul, Country and Pop, which included the genres of folk, bluegrass, funk, traditional pop performers were not included, with the notable exceptions of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. Included too were some artists who might now be considered as world music. Big band jazz was handled selectively, with certain band leaders omitted, many other styles of jazz did appear in the Jazz section. The book was notable for the time in the provocative, in your style of many of its reviews. For example, writing about Neil Youngs song, Down by the River and his colleague, Dave Marsh, in reviewing the three albums of the jazz fusion group Chase, gave a one-word review, Flee. Good, a record of average worth, but one that might possess considerable appeal for fans of a particular style, mediocre, a record that is artistically insubstantial, though not truly wretched. Poor, a record where even technical competence is at question or it was remarkably ill-conceived, worthless, a record that need never have been created. Reserved for the most bathetic bathwater, Dave Marsh John Swenson Billy Altman Bob Blumenthal Georgia Christgau Jean-Charles Costa Chet Flippo Russell Gersten Mikal Gilmore Alan E. Like the first edition, it was edited by Dave Marsh and it included contributions from 52 music critics and featured chronological album listings under the name of each artist. In many cases, updates from the first edition consist of short, the only difference is that in addition to a rating, the second edition employs the pilcrow mark to indicate a title that was out of print at the time the guide was published. Many records had their ratings lowered as the book now offered a revisionist slant to rocks history and it included contributions from 16 music critics and featured alphabetical album listings under the name of each artist
15.
Spin Alternative Record Guide
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Spin Alternative Record Guide is a music reference book compiled by the American music magazine Spin and published in 1995 by Vintage Books. It was edited by rock critic Eric Weisbard and Craig Marks, the book features essays and reviews from a number of prominent critics on albums, artists, and genres considered relevant to the alternative music movement. Contributors who were consulted for the book include Ann Powers, Rob Sheffield, Simon Reynolds, Michael Azerrad, when Spin Alternative Record Guide was first published, it did not sell particularly well and received a mixed reaction from reviewers. The quality and relevance of the writing were praised, while the editors concept. In the book, each entry is accompanied by their discography. The artist entries are also accompanied by lyrics and album artwork. Most artists associated with classic rock are not covered, while some mainstream pop artists are given entries, including Madonna, other non-rock artists reviewed in the book include jazz composer Sun Ra, country singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett, and Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Weisbard and Marks have said the book was meant to be more than comprehensive of alternative music. An introductory essay on alternative rock and alternative sensibilities was written by Weisbard and he and Marks consulted a number of artists for their top-ten record lists, which were interspersed throughout the book. They also curated a Top 100 Alternative Albums list for the appendix, the first edition of Spin Alternative Record Guide was published on October 10,1995, by Vintage Books. It was the first book compiled by Spin, having edited their book, Weisbard put his pursuit of a PhD at UC Berkeley on hold and accepted a job offer from the magazine, which marked the beginning of his career as a rock critic. Although the book did not sell well, its entry on 1960s folk artist John Fahey, written by Byron Coley, helped renew interest in Faheys music. According to Ben Ratliff from The New York Times, this led to substantial interest in Fahey from record labels, mazmanian argued that this guide fills a gap in the literature of modern music at a time when alternative has developed a ubiquitous presence in the marketing of popular music. In New York magazine, Kim France called it a well-edited, unpretentious, billboard magazines Beth Renaud was more critical of the book, calling much of the writing biased and the organization unencyclopedic. Since its 1995 publication, I doubt a year has passed when I didnt reread at least part of it, maura Johnston, on the other hand, said in retrospect that the books list of the 100 best albums catered to hipper, Gen-Xier tastes. In 2011, Spin Alternative Record Guide was included in Pitchforks list of their staffs favorite music books, according to Perpetua, the number of young readers pursued music criticism because of the book was far greater than the copies it sold. Matthew Schnipper, editor of The Fader, bought the book after it was published and that was before any sort of Internet presence. 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die Our Band Could Be Your Life SPIN Top 100 Alternative Records at Rate Your Music
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The Village Voice
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The Village Voice is an American news and culture paper, known for being the countrys first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher and Norman Mailer, since its founding, The Village Voice has received three Pulitzer Prizes, the National Press Foundation Award and the George Polk Award. Among news sources, The Village Voice is known for its combination of news reporting and arts & culture coverage. The Village Voice has hosted a variety of writers and artists, including writer Ezra Pound, cartoonist Lynda Barry. In addition to daily coverage through its website and a print edition that circulates in New York City. In the 1960s the offices were located at Sheridan Square, then, from the 70s through 1980, at 11th Street and University Place, in 1991 they moved to Cooper Square in the East Village, and in 2013, to the Financial District. John Wilcock wrote a column every week for the papers first ten years, another regular from that period was the cartoonist Kin Platt, who did weekly theatrical caricatures. Other prominent regulars have included Peter Schjeldahl, Ellen Willis, Tom Carson, Wayne Barrett, the Voice has published investigations of New York City politics, as well as reporting on national politics, with arts, culture, music, dance, film, and theater reviews. Writers for the Voice have received three Pulitzer Prizes, in 1981,1986 and 2000, almost since its inception the paper has recognized alternative theater in New York through its Obie Awards. The papers Pazz & Jop music poll, started by Robert Christgau in the early 1970s, is released annually, in 1999, film critic J. Hoberman and film section editor Dennis Lim began a similar Village Voice Film Poll for the year in film. In 2001 the paper sponsored its first music festival, Siren Festival, in 2011, the event moved to the lower tip of Manhattan and re-christened the 4knots Music Festival, a reference to the speed of the East Rivers current. Today, the Voice is known for its support for the civil rights of gays. However, early in its history, the newspaper had a reputation as having an anti-homosexuality slant, while reporting on the Stonewall riots of 1969, the newspaper referred to the riots as The Great Faggot Rebellion. Two reporters, Smith and Truscott, both used the words faggot and dyke in their articles about the riots, the newspaper changed their policy after the GLF petitioned the newspaper to do so. Over time, the Voice has changed its stance, and in 1982, as a testament to the Voices popularity in New York City, the paper is mentioned in the musical Rent during the song La Vie Boheme. The line states To riding your bike midday past the three suits, to fruits, to no absolutes, to Absolut, to choice, to The Village Voice. Seventeen alternative weeklies around the United States are owned by the Voices parent company Village Voice Media, in 2005, the Phoenix alternative weekly chain New Times Media purchased the company and took the Village Voice Media name. After The Village Voice was acquired by New Times Media in 2005, the Voice was then managed by two journalists from Phoenix, Arizona
17.
Spin (magazine)
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Spin is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. The magazine stopped running in print in 2012 and currently runs as a webzine, in its early years, the magazine was known for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college rock, grunge, indie rock, and the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard and it pointedly provided a national alternative to Rolling Stones more establishment-oriented style. Spin prominently placed newer artists such as R. E. M, Spins extensive coverage of hip-hop music and culture, especially that of contributing editor John Leland, was notable at the time. Editorial contributions by musical and cultural figures included Lydia Lunch, Henry Rollins, David Lee Roth, the magazine also reported on cities such as Austin, Texas, or Glasgow, Scotland, as cultural incubators in the independent music scene. A1990 article on the country blues scene brought R. L. Burnside to national attention for the first time. During this time, it was published by Camouflage Associates, in 1997, Guccione sold Spin to Miller Publishing. In February 2006, Miller Publishing sold the magazine to a San Francisco-based company called the McEvoy Group LLC and that company formed Spin Media LLC as a holding company. The new owners replaced editor-in-chief Sia Michel with Andy Pemberton, an editor at Blender. The first issue to be published under his command was the July 2006 issue—sent to the printer in May 2006—which featured Beyoncé on the cover. Pemberton and Spin parted ways the next month, in June 2006, the following editor, Doug Brod, was executive editor during Michels tenure. For Spins 20th anniversary, it published a book chronicling the prior two decades in music. The book has essays on grunge, Britpop, and emo, among other genres of music, as well as pieces on musical acts including Marilyn Manson, Tupac Shakur, nirvana, Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, Limp Bizkit, and the Smashing Pumpkins. In July 2012, Spin was sold to Buzzmedia, which renamed itself SpinMedia. The September/October 2012 issue of Spin was the magazines last print edition, in December 2016, Eldridge Industries acquired SpinMedia via the Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group for an undisclosed amount. In 1995, Spin produced its first book, entitled Spin Alternative Record Guide, although the book was not a sales success, it inspired a disproportionate number of young readers to pursue music criticism. Notable contributors to Spin have included, SPIN began compiling year-end lists in 1990, note, The 2000 album of the year was awarded to your hard drive, acknowledging the impact that filesharing had on the music listening experience in 2000. Kid A was listed as number 2, the highest ranking given to an actual album,1994 roadside attack on Spin magazine journalists Anon
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Robert Christgau
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Robert Thomas Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed Dean of American Rock Critics. One of the earliest professional rock critics, he spent 37 years as the music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and is a visiting arts teacher at New York University. Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, first published in his Consumer Guide columns during his tenure at The Village Voice from 1969 to 2006 and he has written three books based on those columns, along with two collections of essays. He continued writing capsule reviews in MSN Music, Cuepoint, Christgau was born in Greenwich Village and grew up in Queens, the son of a fireman. He has said he became a rock and roll fan when disc jockey Alan Freed moved to the city in 1954. After attending a school in New York City, he left New York for four years to attend Dartmouth College. While at college his musical interests turned to jazz, but he returned to rock after moving back to New York. Christgau has said that Miles Davis 1960 album Sketches of Spain initiated in him one phase of the disillusionment with jazz that resulted in my return to rock and he was deeply influenced by New Journalism writers such as Gay Talese and Tom Wolfe. My ambitions when I went into journalism were always, to an extent, literary, Christgau initially wrote short stories, before giving up fiction in 1964 to become a sportswriter, and later, a police reporter for the Newark Star-Ledger. He became a writer after a story he wrote about the death of a woman in New Jersey was published by New York magazine. He was asked to take over the dormant music column at Esquire, after Esquire discontinued the column, Christgau moved to The Village Voice in 1969, and he also worked as a college professor. In early 1972, he accepted a job as music critic for Newsday. Christgau returned to the Village Voice in 1974 as music editor and he remained there until August 2006, when he was fired shortly after the papers acquisition by New Times Media. Two months later, Christgau became an editor at Rolling Stone. Late in 2007, Christgau was fired by Rolling Stone, although he continued to work for the magazine for three months. Starting with the March 2008 issue, he joined Blender, where he was listed as senior critic for three issues and then contributing editor, Christgau had been a regular contributor to Blender before he joined Rolling Stone. He continued to write for Blender until the magazine ceased publication in March 2009, in 1987, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in the field of Folklore and Popular Culture to study the history of popular music
