February 2012
37 posts
“The story [Rihanna] wants to tell is the one in which the endangered woman...”
– Ann Powers on Chris Brown, Rihanna and occupying the emotionally difficult space where blues women, country singers and girl groups once trod. (via nprmusic)
(McNutt: So glad for great writers Powers who are trying to actually analyze this difficult, confounding situation. It’s always easier...
“What I found off-putting about the concert was that the emotion from the crowd...”
– Having seen Mangum twice last year at All Tomorrow’s Parties (Asbury Park), I think Evan Rytlewski is very close to being correct in his AV Club “Why Don’t You Like This?” debate with Josh Modell, but also very wrong. He’s correct in that there’s good deal of...
My piece on gender, music writing and the Grammys ended up in conversation with Jian Ghomeshi and Sarah Liss on CBC’s Q today. You can listen to it here (skip to about the 50-minute mark).
I’m flattered that the essay is resonating with people. It took a lot of Sunday night sweat to pull together, and it deals with several sensitive subjects, so it’s very rewarding to know that...
...in which McNutt reflects on The Grammys, Adele,... →
It took 2,000 words, but I managed to somehow tie together almost everything I wanted to write about this week. The exceptions: Karmin (who I want to get to next week) and Whitney (where the Abebe piece I posted last night kind of says it all)
blownspeakers:
You know, I get that it’s the Grammy’s, so I’m not under the illusion that my favourite bands will perform or anything. But Drake was there and Rihanna didn’t do “What’s My Name?”, Nicki Minaj didn’t do “Superbass”, and Adele didn’t do “Someone Like You.” C’mon now.
The Grammys’ eligibility window—October to September—makes for some tension between “what artists are...
“It’s telling that when news of Houston’s death spread last night, one of the...”
– Nitsuh Abebe - Whitney Houston and the Burden of Perfection. (Vulture)
WatchEven by Kanye’s standards, he’s really out-seizured himself with this one. Great vid.
Metallica Announce Orion Music Festival →
Arctic Monkeys, Modest Mouse, Gaslight Anthem, Fucked Up, Best Coast, Hot Snakes, Titus Andronicus, Liturgy…
A nakedly transparent grab for relevance, sure. But this festival is already the least embarrassing thing Metallica have done since The Black Album.
“Danger Zone.” “Just What I Needed.” “Hey Jealousy.” “Modern Love.” “Flagpole Sitta.” “Ignition.” “Panama.”
I love that this year’s AV Uncovered lineup is pretty much my personal karaoke list.
What Hollywood Can Learn From the End of... →
R.I.P., best worst idea of the past decade.
...in which McNutt considers Madonna's pop... →
A piece that was better in my head than on paper (err…Internet?), but given the release of “Give Me All Your Luvin’” and last night’s Super Bowl lip-sync spectacle, I felt it was time to turn some attention to just how fascinatingly obsessed Madonna is with being “relevant” in a pop sense – far more so, really, than any of her peers.
Major purchases
I know that buying floor tickets to two back-to-back Springsteen shows in LA is completely rational to the music side of my brain, but my financial management side is having a serious fit right now.
January 2012
9 posts
WatchJust another Monday night, watching ‘Mats and Westerberg vids.
December 2011
8 posts
