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Jake Trussell
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Published in Mood Bling

·Jul 1

Acid House: Fluke, Innovation, or Both?

Risk-taking, failure and resilience can lead to success, but not always. How did the out-sound of acid house become the in-sound of a generation. — Dave Swindell was in London in 1998 at the emergence of rave. As a nightlife photographer for Time Out magazine, he stumbled upon a nascent movement which would come to define a generation. When I read The Guardian’s review of his book of photos from that era, I was reminded…

Acid House

3 min read

Acid House: Fluke or Innovation?
Acid House: Fluke or Innovation?

Published in Mood Bling

·Jun 14

Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres (Review)

Kelefa Sanneh’s new book explores rock, r&b, country, punk, hip-hop, dance, and pop, not only as art forms, but as identities that emerged from countercultural movements to become the fabric of popular music. — This book felt like a mind-meld from one music nerd to another. Although at first I disagreed with Sanneh’s emphasis on the importance of genre, I came to appreciate his framework for investigating how music cultures form, rise, and are ultimately defined in retrospect.

Book Review

3 min read

Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres (Review)
Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres (Review)

Published in Mood Bling

·Mar 3

Nu Jungle

Buoyant Beats for the Turbulent Twenties — The article below accompanies a DJ mix of resurgent jungle featuring recent releases (2017 — 2022) in a genre that’s remained largely underground for more than a quarter centry. DJ C “Nu Jungle” on Mixcloud When I first heard jungle music nearly 30 years ago it was a transformative experience, combining a number of the genres…

Music

3 min read

Nu Jungle
Nu Jungle

Published in Mood Bling

·Feb 1

An Open Letter to Neil Young Regarding Spotify

I’ve never used the term “OK, boomer” since I don’t like the idea of shaming elders. I have to admit though, that it’s crossed my mind more than once during your boycott over Spotify’s Joe Rogan show. It’s not that I agree with Rogan’s Covid misinformation, or that I think…

Music Industry

3 min read

An Open Letter to Neil Young Regarding Spotify
An Open Letter to Neil Young Regarding Spotify

Published in Mood Bling

·Dec 29, 2021

The 21 Best Tracks of 2021

Here we are, solidly into the soaring twenties and, even though sociopolitical realities may make it feel more like the choring twenties, music is flying higher than ever. The peculiarities of my own musical taste are at least as far out in the stratosphere as ever. Sure, I’ve got a few pop tunes on my year-end list, and yeah, there’s some minor overlap with Pitchfork’s “best songs,” but generally, my selections are weird, eclectic, and off-the-grid.

Music Curation

3 min read

The 21 Best Tracks of 2021
The 21 Best Tracks of 2021

Published in Mood Bling

·Aug 31, 2021

When Jamaican Sound Engineers Invented Electronic Dance Music

I began this article and its accompanying DJ mix before Lee “Scratch” Perry passed away yesterday, but a number of his tunes feature in the mix so I felt compelled to add these thoughts: I’m hard pressed to think of anyone who’s been as influential on the development of dance…

Dub

3 min read

When Jamaican sound engineers invented electronic dance music.
When Jamaican sound engineers invented electronic dance music.

Published in Mood Bling

·Dec 27, 2020

Shelter in Place DJ Mixes

Shifts in the social fabric uncovered new ways to share music in 2020 Social norms changed drastically and quickly in 2020 as we realized our civic duty to protect the greater good. …

Livestream

4 min read

Shelter in Place DJ Mixes
Shelter in Place DJ Mixes

Published in Mood Bling

·Dec 16, 2020

The 20 Best Tracks of 2020

What will define this year’s music in retrospect? Like no other History will speak volumes about this unprecedented year for many reasons. While we’ve been on lockdown, under stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders, quarantining, practicing physical and social distancing, masking up, and hand washing, the anxiety around homeschooling and work-from-home Zoom calls, combined with the desperate need and push for racial equity…

Best Of

3 min read

The 20 Best Tracks of 2020
The 20 Best Tracks of 2020

Nov 12, 2020

Is American Democracy Happy?

And how can we save it? The United States’ system of checks and balances between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government is brilliant and flawed. That there’s just one leader at the head of the executive branch who’s elected by the citizens means that person has to be the leader for all. …

Politics

4 min read

Is American Democracy Happy?
Is American Democracy Happy?

Published in Mood Bling

·Aug 18, 2020

Black Music in Chicago: 100 Years of Innovation & Influence

Black music not only defines the American canon but in one form or another has dominated global popular music for the past 100 years. As Black Americans migrated north to escape the Jim Crow south during the Great Migration of the early 20th century, Chicago became a beneficiary of, and…

Music

3 min read

Black Music in Chicago: 100 Years of Innovation & Influence
Black Music in Chicago: 100 Years of Innovation & Influence
Jake Trussell

Jake Trussell

Listener Maker Communicator: JakeTrussell.com

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