In recent years, a wave of conceptual artists has helped to cultivate a thriving contemporary art scene in Beirut, despite Lebanon’s history of chaos, tragedy and political instability. A legacy of war and a weave of complicated cultural realities is fueling a movement of art rooted in a nation’s collective memory. Paper Magazine examines the latest developments. More in Art>>>
For musician Salman Ahmad, the current plight of flood-ravaged Pakistan is highly personal. His country has endured more than 1,100 deaths and millions as a result of the recent flooding, the worst in generations. He’s planning to release a record meant to call the world’s attention to the situation — and to downplay the Pakistan that people only know by terrorism-related news stories. There’s another Pakistan, he says, one with 100 million young people whose actions in the future could well be determined by the world’s response to this tragedy today.
Since late last year, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, one of the most recognizable bands in the Mexican norteño regional genre, have been banned from performing in their hometown and namesake, the border city of Tijuana. The reasons stems from the group’s songs, which authorities claim glorify the lives of narcocorridos, the drug traffickers who have terrorized the city. For the group, however, it’s a matter of playing the songs that mirror the reality of a dangerous time.
Abbey Lincoln, a jazz singer who made the evolution from compelling nightclub singer to actress to ardent champion of progressive causes distilled in music, died on Saturday in Manhattan, at the age of 80. In working with jazz greats such as Sonny Rollins and Max Roach, Lincoln made a transformation that dovetailed with the civil rights movement, eventually embracing the idea of jazz as statement as well as song.
Netflix on Tuesday announced a five-year, $1 billion online streaming deal with Lionsgate, MGM, and Paramount that will add titles from those studios to Netflix’s expanding online streaming library. The arrangement, according to Netflix, gives the company the rights to stream movies from these studios 90 days after they make their debut on premium and pay-TV services. Get the popcorn ready: Films from these studios will be available starting Sept. 1.
Wolper: An appreciation “David L. Wolper, who died Tuesday at the age of 82, was television's first marquee producer, a personally embodied brand who in the 1960s and '70s was synonymous with seriousness and quality and scope, though not everything he produced actually fit that description.”
Livin’ in Life Recently discovered photographs of the legendary Rat Pack of the 1950’s and 60’s have been published at Life.com, released on the 50th anniversary of "Ocean's 11." The gang’s all here: Frank, Sammy, Dino, Peter and Joey are living the high life in the series of revealing photos that look at their lives behind the spotlights.
Twenty years ago, two albums — Midnight Oil's Blue Sky Mining and Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet — addressed a man-made global environmental disaster and an American racial divide that never seemed to close. You'd think these albums would sound dated today. You’d be wrong. Sean McCarthy weighs in from PopMatters. More in Music>>>
The longstanding impasse between the Beatles and Apple continues. Rebuffing iTunes and other online retailers, the surviving group members and heirs continue to resist a move into the digital age. “Don't hold your breath ... for anything,” Yoko Ono said Thursday. The Beatles have pushed back against the attraction of digital downloads for years, selling millions of actual compact discs CDs just last year after remastering the Beatles catalog.
A new Newsweek The Washington Post Company has sold Newsweek, the celebrated but financially battered 77-year-old newsmagazine, to Sidney Harman, philanthropist and founder of the Harman/Kardon audio equipment company. "I would be delighted over a period of some years to see Newsweek flourish,” he said Monday. “Break-even is a serious accomplishment, especially in this world, the world of journalism. I’m not here to make money, I’m here to make joy."
More in Media>>> The Daily Beast on Newsweek sale: Harman's pocket change purchase of Newsweek has to be a passion play. It certainly isn't a financial one.
Mitch Miller: He got America singing MICHAEL E. ROSS
Mitch Miller, record producer, talent scout, conductor and leader of the band when the band was the American people, died on Saturday, at the age of 99. Miller’s singular way of celebrating musical Americana was a refreshing counter to the velocity of the times, and the last hurrah of the endearingly quaint before the onslaught of rock and roll.
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In recent years, a wave of conceptual artists has helped to cultivate a thriving contemporary art scene in Beirut, despite Lebanon’s history of chaos, tragedy and political instability. A legacy of war and a weave of complicated cultural realities is fueling a movement of art rooted in a nation’s collective memory. Paper Magazine examines the latest developments. .jpg)
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