Tinariwen bassist Eyadou Ag Leche at the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival.
(Lionel Flusin/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images)
Tinariwen bassist Eyadou Ag Leche at the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival.
(Lionel Flusin/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images)
MUSICREDEF PICKS
Gangbangers & Guitars, Artists & the Travel Ban, Young M.A, Cassette Hoarders, Yacht-Rock Revival...
Matty Karas, curator February 8, 2017
QUOTABLES!
quote of the day
One group of presenters says, 'Now's the time for us to really promote cultural understanding by presenting music from Muslim countries.' The other side says, 'I'm not going to take on the economic risk of working with artists from those parts of the world.' And both sides are right.
music
rant n' rave
rantnrave://

She was warned... She was given an explanation... Nevertheless, she persisted... A Muslim travel/visa story that gave me a much-needed smile: ABDULLAH AL-RIFAIE, a Shiite Muslim from IRAQ, was in JORDAN, renewing his US student visa, when PRESIDENT TRUMP's travel ban went into effect. ABDULLAH, whose aunt is LA TIMES music writer LORRAINE ALI, had a major concern and a minor one. The major one was ever seeing the US again. The minor was one was getting back to LA in time for METALLICA's show at the PALLADIUM next weekend. You can read LORRAINE's story for the details of the struggles and fears of pretty much any Muslim trying to fly to the US. But here's the smile (and spoiler): After he gets through border control, he opens his jacket to reveal a t-shirt with the famous image of JOHNNY CASH flipping the bird. What if a border agent had seen that?, his astonished US hosts ask. Abdullah: "I would just tell them the truth. I’m a huge Johnny Cash fan"... Which is all to say, maybe we're not as different from each other as some of us would like to think... The travel ban is a big concern for artists who make their living on the road. Musicians from across the Muslim world are finding it hard to book US shows for spring, summer and beyond when promoters have no way of knowing if they'll be able get here. Americans will be deprived of culture. Artists will be deprived of livelihoods. The effect is chilling, promoters and artists tell ROLLING STONE. Iranian composer-producer MAHDYAR AGHAJANI tells THUMP he and the rappers he works with "can't get money in Iran because [the government] says we aren't Muslim enough. [And now] the US says that we are too Muslim." But he isn't giving up hope. "Right now, with all this technology, we don't have to physically be there to do a show," he says in a separate interview with NPR MUSIC. "You've got projection to hologram to augmented reality, virtual reality, all these streaming services. There's so many technologies right now that we have access to, that I think the artists should be creative." Hopefully, no one tries to close the internet in the meantime... Do you want to hear JAY Z's "99 PROBLEMS" mashed up with WEEZER's "ISLAND IN THE SUN"? (Spoiler: Yes.) Or maybe VANESSA CARLTON's "A THOUSAND MILES" instead? (Spoiler: Go to themagicpod.com, but make sure you have a couple hours of free time before you do)... RIP SVEND ASMUSSEN, DENNIS BARTON and RITCHIE YORKE.

Matty Karas, curator

February 8, 2017