Music

Lady Gaga vs. Malaysia

Staff / Truthdig Mar 25, 2011 Apparently the heavy-handed radio stations of Malaysia are not too keen on the pro-gay message of Lady Gaga's newest ubiquitous single and have taken to editing out parts of "Born This Way." The monster-in-chief told her Malaysian fans to "do everything that you can if you want to be liberated by your society, you must call, you must not stop, you must protest peacefully." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Lady Gaga Takes Target to Task for Little LGBT Monsters

Staff / Truthdig Feb 23, 2011 So, Lady Gaga struck a deal with Target to release a special version of her new album, "Born This Way," which rankled some of her core devotees, as the retail giant had made a supersized slip-up in the political arena with contributions to a political action committee . Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

I’m Dreaming of a Right Christmas

By Nora Eisenberg Dec 24, 2010 A new take on an old song to help make Christmas and all our days bright with what's right. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Florida Finally Gets Over Morrison’s Jimmy

Staff / Truthdig Dec 10, 2010 Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has pardoned the late Doors frontman Jim Morrison on a conviction of showing his penis to a Miami concert audience in 1969. Morrison's bandmates have long claimed that the singer may have been belligerent, drunk and obnoxious that night but kept his instrument in his pants. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Beatles and iTunes Come Together, Finally

Staff / Truthdig Nov 17, 2010 The Beatles played their iconic songs in countless legendary venues, but until Tuesday their music had yet to conquer one crucial platform: iTunes. That's about to change, thanks to a long-awaited and now done deal between the band and Apple Inc. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Study of the Worldly Art of Jazz

BLANK Sep 3, 2010 Developing an appreciation for jazz is partly a matter of understanding how it is influenced by other forces of life, as this review of a new book by Gary Giddins and Scott DeVeaux notes, and how the music plays—and breaks—with form. Developing an appreciation for jazz is partly a matter of understanding how it is influenced by other forces of life. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

The Day the Music Died — in Iran

Staff / Truthdig Aug 3, 2010 Iran's Islamic government has long had a fairly dodgy relationship with music, but just in case the crackdowns and dearth of public performances weren't making things clear enough, the country's supreme leader announced that teaching and promoting music is "not compatible with the highest values of the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Joyful Noises and Joyless Measures in New Orleans

Larry Blumenfeld / Truthdig Jul 3, 2010 David Simon's HBO series "Treme" picks up on a theme that courses through the show: the longstanding tension between the city's culture bearers and its powers that be. That tension has ratcheted up, or at least has grown more pointed, since 2005.In post-Katrina New Orleans, tensions between the city's culture bearers and its powers that be has ratcheted up since 2005. Dig deeper ( 15 Min. Read )

These Iranian Troubadours Show How Music Can Corrupt the Soul

Robert Fisk / Truthdig Dec 7, 2009 Music and Islam have a dodgy relationship. I guess it's really all to do with that most jealously guarded commodity, the human soul, over which music exerts such passion. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Yuletide Weirdness With Your Host, Bob Dylan

Staff / Truthdig Nov 20, 2009 Is yet another Christmas album from a recording artist who just might be phoning it in really necessary? Bob Dylan apparently thought so. He's released his own holiday collection, "Christmas in the Heart," from which this odd little polka number -- and its even stranger accompanying video -- has sprung. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Yes We Can Can

Larry Blumenfeld / Truthdig Aug 30, 2008 New Orleans has figured into this election season as a reminder of the Bush administration's bungled, uncaring response to Katrina. Yet amid so much talk of hope and change, on this anniversary of disaster, many in New Orleans hope for a change of policy -- the kind of federal assistance that can make a dent in crises of housing, public safety, education, health care and levee protection. It makes sense for musicians to kick-start that conversation. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Jazz Fest ’08: Homecoming on Muddy Ground

Larry Blumenfeld / Truthdig May 27, 2008 It's easy in New Orleans these days to read meaning and purpose into every lyric or song choice -- was Sheryl Crow commenting on the housing crisis by covering "Gimme Shelter," or was she just doing a Stones tune? Also, it's impossible to take in all the music and all the messages emanating from the Jazz Fest's 10 stages. Still, a good deal of what I did catch was timely, topical and worth remembering. Dig deeper ( 14 Min. Read )