The Brooklyn-based Aye Nako puts a unique spin on the sound of classic pop punk, creating relentlessly catchy riff-based music with strong political undertones.
So, Aye Nako got reviewed by Pitchfork, which is neat, just because it’s such a huge outlet (for better or for worse), although, whoever reviewed this obviously hasn’t listened to any pop-punk in the past 15 years (Blink 182 reference? Really?). The best thing about bands like Aye Nako, Sourpatch, Jesus and His Judgemental Father, and tons of others, is that they are expanding what pop-punk is and what it can be. It isn’t just for whiny, entitled acting, middle class white dude twenty somethings, and hasn’t been for a while now. That’s not to say that those bands don’t still dominate pop-punk and act as the awful, violent, often misogynist and homo/transphobic face of the genre. They most definitely do. But there have always been artists and bands in pop-punk working against that, and thanks to the Internet, it’s easier than ever for more people to find these bands and for them to have a modicum of success, however they may define that.
Which brings me to my second complaint about this review: the writer essentially says that Aye Nako’s awesomeness is essentially pointless because they’re a DIY act. Like, what? Yes, being a small DIY act can make it more difficult to reach new listeners, but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible or not worth it. I’m sure new people, people who want or need to hear music like this are finding it, and for those who aren’t, well, it’s up to fans and blogs and whatever else to say to their friends/readers/also whatever that hey, there’s this awesome band doing some awesome stuff and maybe you should check it out because more folks need to know about pop-punk that isn’t made by straight, cis, white dudes. Is it a perfect system? No. But neither is releasing anything through a label. Ugh.
tl;dr Yay Aye Nako got some coverage on a major site, but shut up, Pitchfork
June 2013
38 posts
How the digital music biz makes it difficult for musicians to offer free downloads.
There are some Web sites, like YouTube, SoundCloud and BandCamp, which are set up to allow free music and video sharing. But even these are problematic. They are policed by “netbots,” software algorithms that constantly search for sounds allegedly owned by someone or other. My friend Etienne Noreau-Hebert recently uploaded a new work to SoundCloud, to share with others for free, and received back the following reply:
“Our automatic content protection system has detected that your sound “121223-Muhamarra-v0.3” may contain the following copyright content: “Love Lockdown (as made famous by Kanye West)” by Future Hit Makers Of America, owned by Big Eye Music. As a result, its publication on your profile has been blocked.”
Kanye West, of course, is a major figure in the world of corporate hip hop, with megahit records, movies, a fashion line, and more than 30 million paid digital downloads of his songs. Etienne is an unknown musician making abstract electronic music he would like to share with others for free. There is nothing in his music that sounds even remotely like Kanye West. But some netbot has judged that Etienne has infringed on Kanye’s rights, and so Etienne’s composition is banned from SoundCloud.
Fear inhibits innovation. In expensive cities, people live in constant fear. A small wrong move can upend everything, so they conform, terrified of losing their jobs, apartments, health insurance. They conform intellectually, and they conform in behavior. They cling to a career ladder with a drop-off to hell. I don’t judge them. People do what they need to do to survive. But when survival is an aspiration, society has failed.
” —Sarah Kendzior, Why You Should Never Have Taken That Prestigious Internship (via bookofgenesis)
I swear to god, no band likes to remind you that they got a liberal arts degree from an ivy league college more than vampire weekend.
- 1: Write your URL in some writing that you thought were super cool when you were younger. Eg, bubble letters, digital clock letters, letters with lots of embellishments, or letters with smiley faces in them.
- 2: Write a list of all the countries or states you’ve been to. Write a comment on each of them. Or some, if you can’t be bothered.
- 3: List your top three statistical Tumblr crushes and draw their icons.
- 4: Draw a selfie.
- 5: Name three things you like about yourself.
- 6: Do you like the climate you live in? What do you like about it or what would you change?
- 7: What is your current mood? Write and/or draw.
- 8: Can you tie a bow-tie? A regular tie? If yes, how and when did you learn?
- 9: Pick something from your immediate surroundings and tell the story behind the item.
- 10: The last time you noticed you’d put a piece of clothing on incorrectly, i.e. backwards/inside out/etc?
- 11: What is a typical breakfast for you?
- 12: How do you take your favorite coffee? Eg strong or weak? Black or with cream/milk and/or sugar/sweetener? Filter, espresso, French press or instant? Hot or iced? Regular or decaf? None of the above?
- 13: Describe your favorite food. Who makes it?
- 14: List 5 movies that you love.
- 15: What is a wanky memory from Tumblr that still makes you blush?
- 16: What brought you to Tumblr?
- 17: Have you had any real Tumblr crushes? If you want to keep your mystery, answer with a drawing.
- 18: Do you prefer to text or call your friends?
- 19: Write an autograph version of your URL.
- 20: Pick up the nearest printed material in your first language and copy out a random paragraph.