September 17, 2021 - Issue #14 - Past Issues

Welcome to the Uncaged Bird newsletter. This issue is a roundup of some of my favorite recent recordings and some music-related news I found interesting. Uncaged Bird also offers in-depth articles on singing, which you can find here.

Big H/T to Music Journalism Insider for many of the stories featured in today’s newsletter.

COVID mandates and rap

Andre Gee has threaded the needle in this piece exploring rap artists and anti-vax culture. 

The cleverness of lyrics

The latest episode of This American Life features a conversation with rapper Breeze Brewin, and I found myself loving his stuff. I confess I’ve never really followed rap and hip-hop, even though I love wordplay. Tastes can evolve, right? Do you have a rapper to recommend? Visit the “Ask us anything“ page to let me know!

Discrimination and Asian classical musicians

Nicholas Phan blew my mind with his now-famous album of songs by Benjamin Britten. He and other musicians share their experiences of discrimination in this excellent piece from VAN Magazine.

The Velvet Gentleman’s daily routine

Erik Satie was a true original. YouTuber and pianist Nahre Sol endearingly attempts to follow the French composer’s wild schedule for three days. By the way, Satie wrote songs. Here’s one of my favorites. And, yes, he wore grey velvet suits.

The serendipity of the YouTube algorithm

For some reason, YouTube listed this live concert featuring Esparanza Spalding as the first suggestion while I was watching Kehlani’s latest release. About the only thing they have in common is that they are both singers. Huh.

Have a lovely weekend!

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