Turn the music up and tune into these five articles.
1. “The Soundtrack to My Late Blooming Sexual Awakening: A Round Table.” (Rachel Vorona Cote, Kirsten Schofield, Sarah Seltzer, and Lindsay King-Miller, The Hairpin, August 2014)
What maelstrom of musicians is this?! These four authors elaborate on everyone from Usher to Fiona Apple as they reminisce about their teenage dreams.
2. “How to Fight Loneliness.” (Steven Hyden, Grantland, August 2014)
Family comes first in Jeff Tweedy’s life as he teams up with his teenage son, Spencer, and engages in his first solo project.
3. “Jenny Lewis on ‘The Voyager,’ the end of Rilo Kiley, and High School Classmate Angelina Jolie.” (Marlow Stern, The Daily Beast, August 2014)
On forgoing acting for music: “I just got to a certain age where I wanted more creative control over the words. I’d always been interested in words, and it felt a bit weird to not have any particular say in that respect. And music, with me, was just supposed to be.”
4. “The Making of Mykki Blanco.” (Jenna Sauers, Village Voice, April 2013)
Michael Quattlebaum Jr, a.k.a. Mykki Blanco is sharp and talented and smart as heck. This profile is full of amazing quotes, including, for example, when the rapper subverts the common narrative about queer artists in hip-hop: “I’m not going to be some sort of gay political dress-up doll.”
5. “What St. Vincent Has Been Telling Us All Along: Gender in Juxtaposition.” (Cara, Autostraddle, June 2014)
A superb analysis of St. Vincent’s exploration of the gender binary and its politics. You’ll want to revisit every music video after this.
Photo of Jeff Tweedy and his son, Spencer: Jarret Campbell