Daily Archives: April 2, 2021

Photo: Oksana Smith/EyeEm/Getty Images

After years of buildup, the moment has arrived: Recreational marijuana is now legal in New York State, with some parts of the new law going into effect immediately. As in, right now. The New York Times explains the details:

Individuals are now allowed to possess up to three ounces of cannabis for recreational purposes or 24 grams of concentrated forms of the drug, such as oils.

New Yorkers are permitted to smoke cannabis in public wherever smoking tobacco is allowed, though localities and a new state agency could create regulations to more strictly control smoking cannabis in public. Smoking cannabis, however, is not permitted in schools, workplaces, or inside a car.

Apropos of nothing in particular, and certainly not nice weather or the hedonistic summer that will soon be upon us, it is worth noting that smoking is not allowed in New York City public parks.

But while public consumption is legal as of this very moment (3/31 is the new 4/20 in New York, quipped the NYC Hospitality Alliances Andrew Rigie), other pieces of the legislation will take some time to go into effect. Eventually, though, New Yorkers will legally be able to get cannabis delivered to their homes, cultivate up to six plants for personal use, and buy recreational weed products at dispensaries and Amsterdam-style consumption sites though, as the Times notes, some of that is more than a year off.

First, officials will need to finish ahem hashing out the regulatory framework that will govern every aspect of a brand new, highly regulated market. One aspect of that process means earmarking half of new business licenses for social equity applicants: people from communities with disproportionately high rates of marijuana enforcement, women- and minority-owned businesses, farmers, disabled veterans, and applicants who have a marijuana-related conviction, or a close relative with such a conviction. (To put that into perspective: In 2020, 94 percent of NYCs weed-related arrests were people of color)

One essential change is effective immediately, though: Under the new law, the records of people who have been convicted on cannabis-related charges that are no longer criminalized will be expunged.

When we texted a weed-enthusiastic friend to discuss this news, she informed Grub that she was, at this moment, availing herself of the new policy.

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Read the rest here:

New Yorks Summer of Hedonism Gets an Early Start As Recreational Weed Becomes Immediately Legal - Grub Street

Lockdown has enforced a unique period of isolation and reflection for many of us, but for Moby, two decades from the height of his fame, that's not too far from the norm.

he electronic musician (55) has spent much of the pandemic doing what he'd usually do -spending time alone at his home in Los Angeles.

"Before the pandemic, I stayed home and I worked and went hiking and avoided socialising. So during the pandemic, I have stayed home and worked and been prevented from socialising," he says.

This Benedictine lifestyle is a far cry from the hedonism of Moby's early fame, chronicled in eye-watering detail in a new self-narrated documentary released in May. Moby Doc charts the artist's life from a traumatic childhood through to life as a teetotal animal rights activist.

Moby became a household name at the turn of the millennium when his record Play and a string of hit singles propelled an outwardly awkward, shaven-headed bedroom musician to rock superstar status.

"To my shame, I kind of defined myself - and a lot of my wellbeing was largely the product of - being a professional musician, and being a public figure," he admits.

That might be fine when things are going well, but, as the Harlem-born artist explained, it makes it all the more tough when things go the other way.

"In around 2002, the tide turned," he says. "All of a sudden the articles were negative, the reviews were bad."

More negative headlines followed in the wake of Moby's recent memoir, Then It Fell Apart, in which he described dating actress Natalie Portman when she was 20. Portman denied this characterisation of the relationship, claiming she was 18 at the time and simply remembered a "much older man being creepy" with her.

Despite initially insisting his account was accurate, Moby later apologised for behaving "inconsiderately and disrespectfully".

Another criticism, this time levelled at Moby's music, relates to his use of the work of black artists in some of his most successful songs. To some, including the artist himself, these reworkings were a mark of respect and helped bring them to new, much larger audiences. To others, they were simply exploitative.

"The only thing I've ever been able to say, in my defence I don't even like the word defence," Moby starts when asked about this debate.

"When I have used African American or black vocals, samples, it's out of a place of just profound love and appreciation for those voices, with the full understanding that I have no right whatsoever to use them or lay claim to any aspect of the experience that gives them their power," he says.

"Cultural appropriation is a real thing," he adds. "But we also live in an incredibly intertwined, complicated world. The clean lines between different types of artistic or spiritual and cultural expression. Oftentimes, sometimes they exist, and oftentimes, they're quite blurred."

Whether consciously or otherwise, Moby's new record Reprise - an orchestral album largely comprised of reworked hits - includes the aforementioned songs with the famous vocal parts performed by black singers, namely Gregory Porter, Amythyst Kiah and Apollo Jane.

One of the more poignant moments on the record is a tribute to David Bowie, a childhood hero whom he befriended and performed with after the pair became neighbours in New York.

The stripped-back rendition of Heroes references a special moment when he and Bowie performed the track on his sofa.

He explains: "It was one of the most special moments of my life, not even professionally, but personally, spiritually, to sit with my favourite musician of all time and play a delicate version of my favourite song of all time."

Belfast Telegraph

More:

'We live in an intertwined, really complicated world' - Belfast Telegraph

1 April 2021, 12:53 | Updated: 1 April 2021, 17:38

Get the story behind Skunk Anansie's name plus more facts about Skin and the band in their fan's Most googled Questions.

Skunk Anansie are one of the most important British bands of the '90s, breaking boundaries and smashing stereotypes since they formed in London in 1994.

The alternative band, who are fronted by the iconic Skin, are known for their hits such as Hedonism, Charlie Big Potato and Weak and are famed for playing all over the world.

Skunk Anansie lived through the Britpop era and made history by becoming the first Black British-led act to headline Glastonbury Festival.

The band have just as much history in their journey as they do their name. So what is the meaning of Skunk Anansie and where does it come from? Find out the answer to this question and more below.

READ MORE - The greatest ever female musicians

The name Skunk Anansie was inspired by the the Akan folk tales of Anansi the spider-man of Ghana, but it was directly inspired by a cartoon Skin watched when she was younger in Jamaica.

Skin told Radio X: "Anansie is the half-man, half-spider nursery rhyme character that I used to watch on TV in Jamaica when I was little. There was this lovely lady called Miss Lou and she used to read Anansie stories on television and she was this storyteller kind of character. So I wanted something that was to do with my heritage. Cass [Richard "Cass" Lewis] came up with the name 'Skunk' because he said skunk is a black and white animal in a jungle and nobody wants to bother that animal. Not even a lion would mess with a skunk.

She continued: "So I put them together because I remember Arnold Schwarzenegger said, people said to him 'why don't you change your name Mr. Schwarzenegger?' And he said, 'because it's really difficult to learn and I think that if you have to learn it you'll never forget it.'"

Skin also said that a lot of the bands at the time such as Blur, Oasis and Elastica all had one words, so she thought having two would make them "stand out a bit".

READ MORE - Skunk Anansie's Skin: "I dont think racism and prejudice ever really goes away."

Skin's real name is Deborah Ann Dyer. She was born in Brixton, London on 3 August 1967 to Jamaican parents.

Skin's famous name comes from her nickname as a child. She was always called 'Skinny' from a young age due to her small frame. When she got into the band, she halved it just because she thought it was cooler. However, to this day the band and all her friends call her Skinny.

Skunk Anansie were around during the Britpop movement, but Skin doesn't consider them to be Britpop and has distanced herself from the term. She told Radio X: "Britpop was all around, but we were never Britpop. Those guys didn't like us and we didn't like them. We are part of a really resurging rock scene."

She added: "There were loads of amazing rock bands but there wasn't a rock sound. Like Britpop, those bands were completely different from each other."

Despite not wanting much to do with Britop, Skin has recently recalled that Oasis and the Gallaghers were always very nice to them, but Blur weren't as welcoming.

Asked whether she had any run-ins with the two biggest bands of the era, Oasis and Blur, she told NME: We love the Gallaghers, you know? Damon always hated us."

READ MORE - Skunk Anansie's Skin: Our story was being whitewashed by Britpop

See original here:

What does Skunk Anansie mean? The story of the band's name and more - Radio X

Lockdown has enforced a unique period of isolation and reflection for many of us, but for Moby, two decades from the height of his fame, thats not too far from the norm. The electronic musician, 55, has spent much of the pandemic doing what hed usually do spending time alone at his home in Los Angeles.

Before the pandemic, I stayed home and I worked and went hiking and avoided socialising. So during the pandemic, I have stayed home and worked and been prevented from socialising, he says.

I feel this sense of guilt that my pandemic experience has been probably a lot more benign than most peoples as someone who lives alone and works alone, Im perhaps a bit too comfortable with my own company.

This Benedictine lifestyle is a far cry from the hedonism of Mobys early fame, chronicled in eye-watering detail in a new self-narrated documentary released in May. Moby Doc charts the artists life from a traumatic childhood through to life as a teetotal animal rights activist.

The in-between, though, is whats most shocking: belying his thoughtful, even wonkish persona, Moby describes his battles with addiction and depression in astonishing detail. In one of the films most stark moments, he even admits missing his mothers funeral due to heavy drinking.

Ive appreciated other public figures whove attempted to be honest, or whove been willing to be honest, he said. Not even public figures, but just humans, friends of mine, or people I meet at AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings, who are actually willing to be vulnerable, willing to be honest, and willing to openly discuss the things that so many people are either ashamed of, or work so hard to hide.

Moby became a household name at the turn of the millennium when his record Play and a string of accompanying hit singles propelled an outwardly awkward, shaven-headed bedroom musician to rock superstar status.

To my shame, I kind of defined myself and a lot of my wellbeing was largely the product of being a professional musician, and being a public figure, he admits. To that end, I went out and read, so many articles written about me, and I read reviews, et cetera.

That might be fine when things are going well, but, as the Harlem-born artist explained, it makes it all the more tough when things go the other way. In around 2002, the tide turned, he says. All of a sudden the articles were negative, the reviews were bad.

As someone who had largely propped up their sense of self and their wellbeing with the opinions of strangers, this was really challenging for me.

More negative headlines followed in the wake of Mobys recent memoir, Then It Fell Apart, in which he described dating actress Natalie Portman when she was 20. Portman denied this characterisation of the relationship, claiming she was 18 at the time and simply remembered a much older man being creepy with her.

Despite initially insisting his account was accurate, Moby later apologised for behaving inconsiderately and disrespectfully. It got a lot of attention, but it was, just in terms of page count, an incredibly minor banal part of the book. But the world we live in is thats what people prioritised, he says of the incident two years on.

Actual in-person relations are a lot more nuanced and probably not well represented by the sort of quick 120-character media, he added. Another criticism, this time levelled at Mobys music, relates to his use of the work of black artists in some of his most successful songs.

Plays Natural Blues is effectively a remixed version of Trouble So Hard by African-American folk musician Vera Hall, while another well-known single from the album, Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?, is built around vocals from little-known US gospel singers the Banks Brothers.

To some, including the artist himself, these reworkings were a mark of respect and helped bring them to new, much larger audiences. To others, they were simply exploitative. The only thing Ive ever been able to say, in my defence I dont even like the word defence, Moby starts when asked about this debate.

When I have used African American or black vocals, samples, its out of a place of just profound love and appreciation for those voices, with the full understanding that I have no right whatsoever to use them or lay claim to any aspect of the experience that gives them their power, he says.

He then recalls an anecdote from around the release of Play. I played some of the songs for (black comedian) Chris Rock. And I asked him: have I done a bad thing? I remember he looked at me, he said, No. He said beautiful music is beautiful music. And he said: youve made beautiful music.

And I felt like, okay, theres an imprimatur that comes with that from Chris Rock. That really reassured me. But at the same time, whenever I have availed myself creatively of the black or African-American experience, theres always guilt attached. And I hope that Im not doing something disrespectful.

Cultural appropriation is a real thing, he adds. But we also live in an incredibly intertwined, complicated world. The clean lines between different types of artistic or spiritual and cultural expression. Oftentimes, sometimes they exist, and oftentimes, theyre quite blurred.

Whether consciously or otherwise, Mobys new record Reprise an orchestral album largely comprised of reworked hits includes the aforementioned songs with the famous vocal parts performed by black singers, namely Gregory Porter, Amythyst Kiah and Apollo Jane.

Making the record was also notable in other ways: for the first time in his career, the self-described control freak handed control over the arrangements over to someone else.

The two or so years it took to make this record, I had a lot of challenging anxiety, having so many parts of the process out of my control. But then that wonderful sort of relief you get when you realise the people who are in control, are so good at what they do.

He added: I felt like as much as I love electronic music, its just, you know, you get a more unvarnished expression of the human condition, when its actually, when youre just recording humans without electronics.

One of the more poignant moments on the record is a tribute to David Bowie, a childhood hero whom he befriended and performed with after the pair became neighbours in New York. The stripped-back rendition of Heroes references a special moment when he and Bowie performed the track on his sofa.

It was just one of the most special moments of my life, not even professionally, but personally, spiritually, to sit with my favourite musician of all time and play a delicate version of my favourite song of all time.

And so, in covering it for Reprise, I wanted to, I guess, both honour and sort of represent and pay homage to David, to my friendship with David and also to the sort of like the inherent vulnerable beauty of the song. Mobys new album Reprise releases on May 28 on Deutsche Grammophon/Decca Records.

Excerpt from:

Moby: Cultural appropriation is real but we also live in an intertwined, complicated world - The News International

Author Sandi Scaunich Credit:a

***IMAGE IS PLACEHOLDER ONLY WHILE WE CANT ACCESS DCX****

PICK OF THE WEEKAsylum RoadOlivia Sudjic, Bloomsbury, $29.99

A flensing anatomy of the effects of childhood trauma, Olivia Sudjics Asylum Road takes us into the mind of Anya, a PhD student in London who grew up in Sarajevo in the 1990s, when the city was brutally besieged (for almost four years) by Bosnian Serb forces. Now in her 20s, Anya fights a constant battle not to recall the events; just traces of memory breach her defences. When her partner Luke proposes, Anya travels with him back to the city of her childhood and quickly loses ground. The fight to forget atrocities cannot be won when confronted by the place in which they occurred, and an encounter with her demented mother, who still believes her home to be under siege, provokes a long-delayed disintegration. Sudjic portrays grim subject matter with psychological acuity, and readers will be grateful she has a gift for black humour.

The Boy From The MishGary Loneborough, Allen & Unwin, $19.99

In this big-hearted love story, two Aboriginal boys fall for each other in a rural community. Its the summer holidays and 17-year-old Jackson is doing his thing on the Mish: poking fun at tourists and giving racists a wide berth in town, while avoiding feelings hed rather not admit. When his Aunty and cousins arrive as usual from the city, they bring an unexpected visitor. Tomas is fresh out of juvie and has lost his mob, and through Jackson reconnects with community and culture. As their friendship deepens and develops, they discover first love and find the courage to accept who they are. Gary Loneborough has written a queer Indigenous YA novel that brims with optimism and heartfelt self-belief, without being too rose-coloured about the challenges to be faced.

Friends & Dark ShapesKavita Bedford, Text, $32.99

Kavita Bedfords debut, Friends & Dark Shapes, is less a novel than a suite of vignettes inspired by share house life in inner-suburban Sydney. The stories swirl around an unnamed narrator and her housemates card-carrying members of the precariat in their late 20s whose camaraderie provides a tenuous buffer against social dislocation. This is a book steeped in the hedonism and the angst of youth and it carries an overwhelming flavour of the present age one of self-absorption, emotional disconnection, anxiety about the future. The zeitgeist, of course, is always the last thing anyone needs right now. And the narrator swims against it, with some of the most affecting passages involving the submerged grief of recent bereavement. Bedford is clearly talented, but these anecdotes never feel greater than the sum of their parts: they may need a freer, less manicured writing style, and the discipline of novelistic structure, for that.

Chasing the McCubbinSandi Scaunich, Transit Lounge, $29.99

Chasing the McCubbin takes readers into the intriguing world of Melbournes pickers, or collectors who bargain-hunt at garage sales and the like, hoping to find treasure among trash. The ageing Ron has been doing it for decades, but since his wife died, he has found the going hard. Pity that. With Melbourne in the grip of the early 1990s recession, valuable antiques are often going for a song if you know where to look. Enter Joseph, a troubled and unemployed 19-year-old from a disadvantaged background, and an unlikely mentorship follows. Scaunich illuminates a quirky subculture and creates an intergenerational male friendship of some poignancy. They are an odd couple blighted by loneliness and poverty, respectively and theres a wistful sort of comedy behind the friendship that emerges.

Read more:

Fiction: Asylum Road by Olivia Sudjic, and three other titles - The Age