Out sick today and tomorrow, so here's a quick note:

This month's waxpoetics has a fairly comprehensive, provocative article on the history of graffiti called "Graffiti's not hip-hop" . . .

Children as young as seven and eight were racking paint and sneaking into yards, escaping danger at every turn just to make a mark on a society that had turned it's head.

Morgan Wells promotes the viewpoint that hip hop has, "grown out of its own shoes" . . . or gone wayward from its original embodiment of "defiance and creativity." Some of the clearest insights involve the effect of mass media on a grass-roots movement. He quotes one writer . . .

"You can even live your life thinking you're part of a culture without
knowing that it was created by someone in order to sell it to a network. That's how deep the control, the manipulation, and the creation of these false concepts goes."

We (I?) read NME . . .
(Nov 25 and Dec 2)

Hedonism, hedonism, hedonism . . . the NME writers crack me up. Only a UK mag would tag the rock star life-style every single time with a four syllable word that refers to a Hellenic philosophy.

- Looks like we should keep an eye out for The Killers' attempted "Christmas classic" called 'A Great Big Sled.' It says they take inspiration from John Lennon's 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' but the title doesn't exactly convey any world-saving aspirations. Unless America is a great big sled on an icy switchback with hair-pin turns. No idea.

- Hee. An article dedicated to the "MENTAL riders bands are demanding" -- a David Hasselhoff shrine is involved. That's all I need to say. I'm pretty sure that single-handedly put Jamie Frost at #20 on the Cool List.

- Yikes. Just watched the new Gwen Stefani video on NME.com. My hubby adores Gwen Stefani, and this is the first album he hasn't bought on the release day . . . in fact, he hasn't even mentioned it. Neptunes and Gwen, you need to back away from each other slowly. See other people. Yodeling in da club. Word. What?

- Again, NME writers rule.

And while Radiohead continue to shirk that mantle by retreating ever deeper into their own world and Coldplay continue to worry themselves into baldness over whether or not they are actually good, it's left to Muse to have the time of their lives.

It's probably safe to say that the vast majority of professional library literature does not deal with music topics. Not regularly, anyway. As of today, however, this serial has jumped to the top of my request list:

Library Media Connection Magazine

LIBRARY MEDIA CONNECTION (LMC) is the professional magazine for school library media and technology specialists. Blending the best of THE BOOK REPORT, LIBRARY TALK, and TECHNOLOGY CONNECTION, LMC delivers proven, real-world practical information, professional development, and book and technology reviews by educators seven times each school year

According to some of the articles that were popping up in the Library Lit databases, this magazine feature music website reviews and copyright Q&A. Even if it's geared to elementary schools -- (isn't that what "school library media specialist" usually means?) -- it should offer some interchangeable and state-of-the-art technology updates.

Two websites that it reviewed lately:
- www.NaxosMusicLibrary.com -- a collection of 170k+ classical, jazz, blues and world music songs that you can license for educational purposes.
- www.azlyrics.com -- "We have a large, every day growing universe of lyrics where stars of all genres and ages shine."

I think I mentioned that our library is getting current magazines again, since the subscription provider transition. In case it's helpful to see which I'm getting, here's the title list:

Alternative Press / Big Takeover / Billboard / Blender / CMJ Music Report / Communication Arts / Downbeat / The Economist / Electronic Musician / EQ / Future Music / Game Developer / HOW Magazine / Juxtapoz / Layers Magazine / MacAddict / Magnet / MIX / Modern Drummer / MOJO / Musicians Guide to Touring and Promoting / Newsweek / New Musical Express / No Depression / Paste / Performing Songwriter / Pro Sound News / Re: Up Magazine / Recording / REMIX / RES Magazine / Revolver / Rolling Stone / SCRATCH / Sound & Vision / Sound on Sound / SOURCE / Under the Radar / Variety / VIBE / Wax Poetics / Wire / Wired

I'd love to hear any recommendations of others . . . (We offer entertainment business degrees, as well.)

One month and a half later . . .



Sorry for the posting gap, folks. Jaina is too busy with her new job to post. And (1) I don't have a fraction of her music insight, (2) I had a month of frantic prep for our Accreditation visit, AND (3) my magazines have finally started arriving -- without regurgitation I am nothing as a blogger. It was sort of an existential month.

So, I'm on the lookout for two new blogging partners. If you have any interest, email me a paragraph or two about your background to erikab@comcast.net. Meanwhile, I have two other candidates in mind who I will be recruiting with shameless abandon over the next few weeks.

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Fun librarian nerdlinger activity of the day --

Search for the first use of the phrase "hip hop" and/or "rap music" in your databases.

Students have been researching genre papers here this week, and there are some real class standouts who are intense hip hop historians.

So I gained some cool points with the following link (without once describing it as a "cool link", which gave me extra cred, I'm sure . . .) :

We talked about the strategy in this search string -- "hip hop" OR (rap AND music). Then, we had to put a date limiter on the results to get . . .

Freedberg, Mike. "Rapping It Up." Boston Globe. Boston, Mass.: Apr 10, 1980. pg. 1

Some of the best quotes include --
"Rap boogie may not sound like old Chicago blues or New Orleans rock 'n' roll, but it is identical in attitude to the raw basics of those genres. . . . In rap boogie, (the rappers) parade their importance."

" Taking their image and concept of verse from Muhammad Ali, their equating of sex and ambition from James Brown, their sardonic and vaudeville humor from Rufus Thomas and perhaps George Clinton, the DJs created an alternative form of disco."

The article offers a way to instantly demonstrate the relevance of our library resources for this assignment. It also grants a revealing glimpse at the birth of the genre. And, of course, libraries get a little more hip when we share this kind of thing. Stellar.