Monday, March 14, 2016

Link roundup

1. "Inside the elite, super-secret world of L.A.’s coolest girls on Facebook"
Lest you be confused (or hope to try to join it), you should know that it’s not actually called ‘Girls Night In,’ but rather changes names constantly based on a rotating series of inside jokes. Getting in requires recommendations from at least three women already in the group. “If you meet a nice girl in a bathroom while you are drunk i am really happy for you and for her but that’s not cause to add her to this group,” its rules advise.
2. "Even before the police heard of the baby’s killing, the authorities on South Andaman Island were struggling with the question of whether to allow the Jarawas, who are classified as a 'particularly vulnerable tribal group,' more access to the world outside their reserve."
Baby’s Killing Tests India’s Protection of an Aboriginal Culture
3. MTV:
One of the reasons to be excited about indie rock was that historically it didn’t face the cookie-cutter constraints of radio or major labels. Factors like the transformative success of The O.C. as a soundtrack and cultural force, the collapse of the traditional music industry, and people forgoing the radio for iPods forced many bands toward a path of sync licenses (soundtracking TV and commercials), often necessitating odd corporate plays in order to have anything resembling a career. The bands that suited the palate of this mainstream were ones that could plausibly fit into inoffensive, accessible, cute, quirky spaces: Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, Death Cab for Cutie, Grizzly Bear. Their collective summit of Mt. Urban Outfitters created a pathway, which in turn created a code — if your band checked these boxes of poesy and generic indie rock sound, then you, too, could have it all. The result is a generation of bands that make music that could easily fade into the background if you don’t keep the volume high enough.