As life in the Anthropocene tips into a gradual decline brought on by the irreversible effects of climate crisis, the past becomes a highly valuable commodity in criticism because the future gets more volatile by the second. Those of us with a lot of time in the bank account sit comfortably on hundreds of thousands of pre-pandemic hours, while younger, more time-poor people wonder every day what kind of past they will actually inherit—what will their past be worth?

Why we are turning to darkly funny music during the coronavirus. --- Throughout history, music has been an integral part of how people cope with epidemics. Sometimes, we put them in familiar musical contexts to make them less scary (less “novel,” you could say). While the rest of the world called the 1918 outbreak “the Spanish Flu,” at home in Spain it was often described as “the Naples Soldier” after a song from a popular opera; one of the librettists claimed it was because the tune was just “as catchy” as the disease. […] The themes underpinning many of their songs—passion, intensity, body heat—reminds me that art gets much of its meaning from confronting the ephemerality of existence. We want things deeply and quickly because life is, indeed, short. And musicians know that; they usually only get a few minutes per song. Who better to guide us in how to squeeze as much out of life as possible?

Quarantunes is for... - sustaining the creation of (live) music throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. - providing a platform for artists + fans to connect, despite the cancellation of tours and shows in venues. - creating opportunities for artists to recoup lost earnings from cancelled dates through donations from fans via livestream. - encouraging new experiments in sound and music, using digital technologies and social media interfaces.

The country-folk singer, whose matter-of-fact style attracted a reverent cult following, died this week of complications from COVID-19 at age 73.

Our brains reward us for seeking out what we already know. So why should we reach to listen to something we don’t? --- The act of listening to new music in the midst of a global pandemic is hard, but it’s necessary. The world will keep spinning and culture must move with it, even if we are staid and static in our homes, even if the economy grinds to a halt, even if there are no shows, no release parties, and even artists sink even further into the precarity that defines a career as a musician. The choice to listen to new music prioritizes, if for one listen only, the artist over you. It is an emotional risk to live for a moment in the abyss of someone else’s world, but this invisible exchange powers the vanguard of art, even in times of historic inertia.

An interview with musician Siavash Amini. Following U.S. sanctions, widespread protests, internet blackouts, and government crackdowns, COVID-19 is the latest calamity to befall Iran’s avant-garde.

Electronic artists and agents talk about the potentially catastrophic ramifications of the current health crisis on the world of dance music. --- But as club cancelations and postponements pile up, DJs and electronic musicians are left facing the prospect of a month or more without earnings. And a global patchwork of measures—the UK has resisted banning large events, for instance, while San Francisco has temporarily prohibited all non-essential gatherings of 100 or more—means that many DJs are still uncertain as to which events they can still expect to play.