“During the week ended May 30, the U.S. music industry sold a total of 4.98 million albums, according to Nielsen Soundscan. That figure, which includes new and catalog releases, represents the fewest albums sold in one week since Soundscan began compiling this data in 1994.”
Tag: 06.06.10
Art-Theft Blogs – The Smell Of Stolen Art In The Morning
“The minute I saw the Paris heist in the news, I knew Turbo Paul would be psyched: traffic to Art Hostage would spike, his brain would rev high and he would get to peddle innuendo and what he presents as underworld intelligence.”
Laurie Anderson – Music Only A Dog Could Like
“Some in the audience howled with glee, others stood on trembling legs and a few drooled in delight as famed performance artist Laurie Anderson debuted her original “Music for Dogs” composition outside the Sydney Opera House on Saturday.”
Seattle’s Experience Music Project, Ten Years On
“It’s a sculpture, one of the most successful public-arts pieces in Seattle. It’s a bit irresponsible and irreverent in the same way the music it represents was. It’s gutsy. Seattle needs a few buildings like that — just not too many.”
The Mythology Of American Individualism
“The idea that personal liberty defines America is deeply rooted, and shared across the political spectrum. But are Americans really so uniquely individualistic? Are we, for example, more committed individualists than people in those socialist-looking nations of Europe? The answer appears to be no.”
Is The Internet Making Us Stupid?
Nicholas Carr “insists that the negative side effects of the Internet outweigh its efficiencies. Consider, for instance, the search engine, which Carr believes has fragmented our knowledge. “We don’t see the forest when we search the Web,” he writes. “We don’t even see the trees. We see twigs and leaves.”
Death Of The Blues?
“The blues, so deeply embedded in the cultural fabric of Chicago, stands at a perilous juncture. Nearly banished from radio, marginalized by rap and rock, celebrated in just a few scattered clubs, the blues struggles to be heard in the 21st century. Can the blues survive? Will it? Should it?”
In These Times – Pre-Nostalgia For Paper Books?
“Many people, regardless of age, are feeling nostalgic these days for book culture. It’s a sort of prenostalgia, really, because books are still here — but their days seem numbered. Or do they?”
How Technology Is Changing The Meaning Of Art
“For years now numerous observers have described the process by which the very fundaments of art are changing from the old principle of one man, one creation. Recombinant art is the rage. What all these forms have in common is appropriation and a sense of rampant collaboration in which every work of art is simply raw material for anyone who decides to put his or her imprint on it.”