HOT
Vinyl Overload
If you ever feel guilty about spending half your paycheck on music, reading through a great article from the recent New York Times Magazine about a collector in Brazil should make you feel better. The piece profiles Zero Freitas, a rich businessman who has amassed a collection of “several million” vinyl records over the years. If you’ve ever sold large bundles of vinyl on eBay, there’s a decent chance Freitas bought them — his buyers scattered across the world scour the Internet for sellers and also buy ads offering to pay “higher prices than anyone else.” Freitas deserves a six-part mini-series version of Hoarders, but it isn’t like he’s just some guy who can’t part ways with his giant collection of plastic forks. In the profile, his deep passion for music is clear and he’s working to digitize his collection (featuring many out-of-print works) and make it available to the public.
WARM
There’s Something About Molly
This summer’s seen a lot of headlines about concertgoers dying or being hospitalized due to “suspected overdoses.” And one needn’t read the articles to know that these concerts are Electronic Dance Music events, and the drug involved is usually (likely tainted) Molly, the poison of choice for many EDM fans that old-timers call Ecstasy and scientists call MDMA. Promoters of such fests are in a difficult position, but at least the promoters of the upcoming Electric Zoo fest in New York are trying. Two people died from overdoses at 2013’s Electric Zoo, so organizers are requiring ticket buyers to watch a two-minute PSA about Molly. Though a noble effort, the video is ridiculous, featuring a tweaked-out dancer chatting up a woman at a concert. The consequences of getting a bad batch of Molly are dire, but the worst things to happen to the PSA’s star are embarrassment and a sweat outbreak — things that happen to thousands of geeks daily.
COLD
Sexist Videos Make Rapists?
A group called the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAWC) wants all music videos labeled for age appropriateness (online and elsewhere), citing supporting research and findings that seem as over-the-top as some of the old PMRC scare tactics. Misogyny has long been a problem in music videos (remember Warrant’s “Cherry Pie”?), but the EVAWC’s report says that, today, they found those who viewed “sexualized” music videos were more likely to have sexist attitudes, be tolerant of sexual harassment and sympathize with the rapist when asked about a “date rape” scenario. They must’ve found their sample group at a frat house keg party during mating season.
