Next to Nothing: The Economics and Aesthetics of Streaming Music Next to Nothing: The Economics and Aesthetics of Streaming Music
Apps like Spotify and Apple Music haven’t just changed the way we purchase music—they've changed the way we listen.
Aug 24, 2015 / David Hajdu
August 16, 1977: Elvis Presley Dies August 16, 1977: Elvis Presley Dies
The myth of the King “allows us to cling to the notion that art is pure and society is corrupt and corrupting.”
Aug 16, 2015 / 150th Anniversary / Richard Kreitner
U2 and the Art of Digital Compromise U2 and the Art of Digital Compromise
How social media brought its own set of troubles to U2’s latest tour.
Aug 7, 2015 / David Hajdu
July 11, 1937: George Gershwin Dies July 11, 1937: George Gershwin Dies
“More than any other one person, George Gershwin has reminded his hearers that the division between good and bad cuts across all others.”
Jul 11, 2015 / 150th Anniversary / Richard Kreitner
The Fierce Urgency of Nina Simone Now The Fierce Urgency of Nina Simone Now
Perhaps her real audience was not her contemporaries in the civil rights generation, but their grandchildren.
Jul 2, 2015 / Syreeta McFadden
Patti Smith’s Summer of Rebellion Patti Smith’s Summer of Rebellion
The veteran rocker is giving Europe “a masterclass in focused protest rock that puts younger artists to shame.”
Jul 2, 2015 / John Nichols
Theo Bleckmann’s Bazaar Theo Bleckmann’s Bazaar
A vocalist as playfully experimental as Albert Ayler or Ornette Coleman.
Jul 1, 2015 / David Hajdu
A History of Hate Rock From Johnny Rebel to Dylann Roof A History of Hate Rock From Johnny Rebel to Dylann Roof
One of the most powerful tools white power groups use to spread their ideology to young people is music.
Jun 23, 2015 / Zoë Carpenter
Cover Me Cover Me
Today's Altercation features interesting and relatively obscure cover songs.
Jun 19, 2015 / Eric Alterman
Have We Reached the End of Jazz Itself? Have We Reached the End of Jazz Itself?
John Coltrane and other “lost” musicians of the ’60s are teaching a new generation of artists to bend time and space.
Mar 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Gene Seymour