Thursday, May 01, 2014

Big cheeses of the Big Apple

If ever you were in doubt as to New York's musical pedigree, photographer Christopher Anderson's series of portraits would be evidence enough, featuring as it does Big Apple legends Debbie Harry, 50 Cent, Thurston Moore, Grandmaster Flash, Mary J Blige, Cat Power, Rick Rubin, Ronnie Spector, Nile Rodgers, Afrika Bambaataa, Art Garfunkel and others. Add to that list the likes of The Ramones, LCD Soundsystem, Patti Smith, The Strokes, the Beastie Boys and (arguably) Bob Dylan (all unrepresented in Anderson's series) and the city's stature as a hub of envelope-pushing musical creativity is as secure as John Cale's choice of outfit is questionable.

On a related note, and from the same source - Vulture - here's Moore talking about what New York represented for him and how Sonic Youth came into being. It's familiar stuff for someone like myself who's devoured David Browne's Goodbye 20th Century, but, for anyone who hasn't, it's an evocative portrait of one of the most fertile periods in the city's history.

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