“My thing with Jay is he often inverts collective social justice rhetoric for individualist capitalist pursuits,” says Jason England, a former English professor and cultural critic who published a scathing critique of hip-hop on its 50th anniversary. “They killed all our heroes. So we pivoted to people who achieved visibility, acceptance, and financial success. I get it.”

I have such a distaste for Jay-Z and his brand of Black Capitalism, partially because I have to be the asshole at family dinners who points out that this is no more "liberatory" than any white-fronted attempts to sanitize the toxic brand of capitalism. I cannot stand someone this bald-facedly opportunistic.

The definitive oral history of Silversun Pickups’ “Lazy Eye” music video. The band, director, and actors reveal how the 2006 indie rock classic was made.

I was obsessed with this video when it first came out, so neat to see a proper interview about how it came about. We're all old millennials now.

Attendees float outside their environment and consciousness, smoking opium and building a Xanadu pleasure-dome near the desert stream of Wadi Nahabir. Suddenly: a massive boom. Sirens. Cracks. Pops. Hisses. And screeches. A universe is broken and remade by the warfare that nurtured it into being.

Absolutely fantastic, heartbreaking, infuriating writing on the legacy of Israeli genocides, Palestinian resistance, raves, and EDM.

Music scenes often develop through the same dynamics of resource enclosure and commercial exchange that those who live through them typically ignore. For instance, it would be dishonest to speak of Chicago house music without some understanding of land theft, racial segregation, environmental neglect, and wealth inequality in the North American Great Plains. The same is true of Israeli rave and EDM. Culture never develops in isolation, and electronic music is a reflection of the political systems—in this case, colonization—that allows it to thrive. It is through that system, especially its security and policing guarantees, that land is stolen, reallocated, remade, and finally positioned to force permanent exile on its refugees living nearby.

I don't even know what more to say. If you're interested in the modern rave scene I think this has to be required reading.

Israeli electronica launders the reality of mass killing, managing the psyches of those whose lives are built through the violence of a racist system. It will be remembered for its fascistic utility like Wagnerian opera and Beethoven symphonies in Nazi Germany, and those who resist it will be remembered for their bravery and steadfast opposition to injustice. When the guns fall silent, and Zionist leaders like Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir are brought before a new version of the Nuremberg Trials, there must be a parallel discussion about Israeli raving and the roles it has played in the bloodshed.

Hard to say what my favorite cover song is, but this would be very high up there.

I still think their latest album is probably their best overall but 'Beast of Carthage' is constantly stuck in my head and is an amazing track.

It's a nice idea that "This Land Is Your Land" should be our national anthem, a wonderful song full of generous and idealistic sentiment that's actually easy to sing. [...] But the truer one, the one that speaks to our collective inability to stop repeating the sins of our forebears and the ultimate inadequacy of even the brightest and boldest among us when it comes to making our long violent history actually past, is "John Henry."

Maybe still my favorite song from crazy arms. just a beautiful, beautiful track.

It's gonna be a #MedievalSummer

I have been playing this a lot on repeat. Beautiful song.

I had never heard this before and this song slaps

Remember Girl Talk? God we are all so old and so millennial

Great album by a friend. Been playing it all day.

Japanese music of the 80s collection blog.