Alec Hanley Bemis

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A Rasta-Colored Dixie Flag

Alec Hanley Bemis
At the turn of the century, the duo behind Brightblack Morning Light moved from the Deep South to Northern California — Humboldt and Marin counties, home to Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Jerry Garcia, ’60s counterculture and high-quality marijuana. They squatted in chicken coops, built tepees, and brewed up a new musical......
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Foreign Pop Stars, Bubblegum Karaoke and a Mysterious Celebutot

Alec Hanley Bemis
YouTube & the Secret History of the Numa Numa Dance In the halcyon days of punk, “blurring the line between audience and performer” meant Sid Vicious might spit on you. Today, YouTube (www.youtube.com) has put an interesting spin on this phenomenon. If you don’t know about the site already, you......
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Summer Songs, Blues Hollers and Genre Actions

Alec Hanley Bemis
Lily Allen British buzz acts Maya Arulpragasam (a.k.a. M.I.A.) and Mike Skinner (a.k.a. The Streets) may resonate with hipsters, but they don’t translate well into American English. Skinner is obsessed with his PlayStation and lower-middle-class stoners; M.I.A. is a bit too fascinated by her dad’s ties to Sri Lankan terrorists......
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Spank Rock, Wolfrock and Honest Hips

Alec Hanley Bemis
James Hunter: People Gonna Talk (Go/Rounder) James Hunter is a 42-year-old Sam Cooke sound-alike who’s had a not particularly illustrious career as Van Morrison’s favorite blue-eyed soul singer. Translation: He’s an unknown, middle-aged white guy. Hunter cut records in ’96 and ’01 that are reputedly fine, but no one heard......
Illustration by Deanna Staffo

Mean Snacks and Monkey Shit

Alec Hanley Bemis
Some artists need to invent a persona; others are formed (and informed) by interesting life experience. George Saunders, a onetime Ayn Rand–reading geophysicist, is today a pop culture–loving Buddhist and Syracuse University professor. In light of his background, it is not particularly surprising that his fiction portrays America’s empire-building and......

Rock & Roll Torchbearer

Alec Hanley Bemis
IS ROCK MUSIC DEAD? A growing sentiment among music-industry cognoscenti is that consumers have lost interest in the genre, save for emo-crazed teenagers and obsessive indie hipsters. If you think that’s an exaggeration, witness today’s most high-profile major-label execs — e.g., Warner Bros.’ Lyor Cohen; Jay-Z and Antonio “LA” Reid......
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Stratocaster Collage

Alec Hanley Bemis
In late 2004, composer Glenn Branca made his first effort to record Hallucination City, a.k.a. Symphony No. 13, at Queens’ Kaufman Astoria Studios. Written for 100 electric guitars, it is his definitive work. Kaufman Astoria Studios, longtime home to such television programs as The Cosby Show and Sesame Street, had......
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Chapter and Verse

Alec Hanley Bemis
Given that 2005 was a banner year for literate pop, one during which the rich narratives of musicians like the Hold Steady and the Mountain Goats earned accolades in The New Yorker, and Chronicles Vol. 1, the first installment of Bob Dylan’s memoirs, got nominated for a National Book Award,......