Who Wants to Tour the Death Star?
On America's on-coming cultural poverty
I want to address some recent events in music regarding the singer/songwriter Bells Larsen and pianist Sir András Schiff. Before I do, I’d like to start with a story about the recent past.
Back in the mid-00s I was a teenager just discovering the international world of progressive metal. One of my favorite bands in this style were Pain of Salvation, a quintet out of Umeå, Sweden led by singer & guitarist Daniel Gildenlöw. One reason I preferred Pain of Salvation to their American & British contemporaries in Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree or to their fellow Swedes in Opeth or Meshuggah were Gildenlöw’s lyrics. Unlike the fantastical or myopically personal lyrics typical to the genre, Gildenlöw at his best had a clear eye on the bigger picture. Instead of singing about ghosts or cyborgs, Gildenlöw wrote about arms dealers, pollution, or troubled youth who fell through the gaps of the social safety net. This social realism gave the band an intellectual substance that balanced out their flashy, nearly histrionic style.
Even more impressive to a young Ian was that Gildenlöw walked the walk. From 2004 to 2009 Gildenlöw refused to tour the United States either with Pain of Salvation or as a hired gun in bands like Transatlantic or The Flower Kings. His stated reason was the Department of Justice’s requirement that visitors and immigrants submit to fingerprinting upon entering the States. This was a policy of the Bush Administration, which was in its second term during Gildenlöw’s one-man protest. During that same period Pain of Salvation released Scarsick, an album primarily animated by Gildenlöw’s open contempt for American culture; its imperialism, consumerism, obsession with celebrity, and rising religious fundamentalism. I respected that Gildenlöw stood by his convictions, ones that I agreed with as a budding leftist with my own bone to pick with my home country, but I won’t pretend like I wasn’t a little annoyed that I couldn’t see Pain of Salvation live and sing along to those protest songs in person. You can imagine my excitement when, following the election of Barack Obama, Daniel Gildenlöw rescinded his ban on State-side touring, expressing an optimism about the direction of the country. When he joined Transatlantic on their 2009 American tour I made a point to track him down after the show and thank him for making the trip. He said something appreciative, if a little aloof, signed my copy of The Perfect Element and moved along. Let me tell you, that guy is TALL.
I probably don’t need to tell you that Gildenlöw’s optimism was premature. The America of 2025 is an uglier, stupider, and more callous nation than even the America of 2007 when Scarsick was released. So it should be no surprise that other artists are declining to tour the United States for policies far more egregious than fingerprinting. The first to come across my timeline was Sir András Schiff, who earlier this year cancelled all of his Stateside appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Philharmonic in 2025 and 2026. If you’re not familiar with classical music, trust me, this guy is a big deal. I can personally assure you that he regularly sells out his dates, and those tickets are not cheap either. I would not have wanted to man the phones the day he bowed out. Sir Schiff didn’t give a specific reason for his decision, only vaguely alluding to “Europe in the 1930s”. Whatever the proverbial nail or straw, the effect is a shattering of America’s exceptionalism. Per Schiff: “It is no longer obligatory” to perform here.
Not all artists have the luxury of skipping out on the US market as a matter of ethics. For others avoiding the border is a question of safety. Take Bells Larsen, a trans man from Montreal, who cancelled the dates on the southern end of the Canadian border due to the Trump administration’s passport requirements. “To put it super plainly,” Larsen wrote in his public statement about the cancelled dates “because I’m trans (and have an M on my passport), I can’t tour in the States. I hesitate to include a ‘right now’ or an ‘anymore’ at the end of my previous sentence because — in this sociopolitical climate — I truly don’t know which phrasing holds more truth.” It isn’t just that the administration has made it logistically impossible for artists like Larsen to tour here. Even if you get past the border the culture here might be too hostile for trans artists to endure the risk.
I expect that in the coming years we’ll see a lot more artists avoiding the United States in their tour routing, either out of ideological protest or for their own safety. After all, who wants to spend a month touring the Death Star? Why would artists from South or Central America risk coming north when ICE agents and vigilantes are rounding people up? How long until artists with BDS sympathies boycott the United States on the basis of our military support for Israel?
There is an isolationist argument that this state of affairs is a net positive for the American music business. If foreign acts aren’t performing here, wouldn’t that leave more opportunities for American artists to fill the market? Leaving aside the cynical opportunism of American musicians profiting off of the threat to foreign artist’s livelihood and safety, I can see the argument that a greater focus on local and regional musical economies would be an improvement. However, I’m skeptical about the American scene’s ability to rise to the challenge. As Jaime Brooks recently outlined, the USA has tacitly ceded the field of cultural production to the countries like Canada, England, and Sweden who, unlike the States, actually invest in the performing arts. Music education is mostly handled by private universities and private businesses, while grants and other subsidies for musicians are scant. An American music culture that hasn’t been invested in properly would not be able to replace the Swedish pop songwriting apparatus overnight, for example.
Besides, the bigger problem is that music is fundamentally a global culture. This is especially true of the weirdo genres that I enjoy. Heavy metal is global, as is jazz fusion, progressive rock, and so on. But in the streaming paradigm its also true of mainstream pop music. Americans have enjoyed access to a cosmopolitan wealth of music, which now threatens to turn its back on the States. It may seem like small potatoes compared to the blatant disregard for due process and the cruelty of state-sanctioned bigotry, but we are on the brink of a new cultural poverty. Maybe this is what we deserve.
# # # # # The Promo Zone # # # # #
Jeez, sorry for the bummer! In brighter news related to live music, I’m joining my old friend Dan Rico for a show at the Empty Bottle in Chicago, IL on April 29th! This will be my first show in Chicago since moving back here. Playing with Dan is always a blast and the Empty Bottle is one of the best places to see live music in the city. If you’re around, come hang out! [DAN RICO SHOW]
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Listening Diary ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Listen to this year’s running diary on Apple Music.
“Anabacoa” by Grupo Folklorico Y Experimental Nuevayorquino (Concepts in Unity, 1975)
Salsa spring is back, baby!
“Defeat” by Stander (Collapsing, 2025)
Shouts to the homie Mike Boyd, who reliably sends me Thrill Jockey promo emails and Stephen Waller, who I’ve commiserated with over Stick Control challenges. I’m sure Derek’s a cool a guy too I just don’t know him as well. Congrats to the trio on their new release. Regardless of what “instrumental rock music from Chicago” means to you, whether it brings to mind Tortoise or Russian Circles, Stander have something for you to sink your teeth into. I’m a big fan of this long form tune featuring the wild saxophone style of Patrick Shiroishi.
“Let ‘Em Roll” by Mean Mistreater (Razor Wire, 2024)
One of the great things about old school heavy metal is that all you need to do to make it sound vital again is write good songs. The form has opted out from the parallel arms races of extremity and technicality that define much of the “modern” metal scene, which leaves it free to focus on what matters, namely writing songs that are fun to listen to. What strikes me most about this Mean Mistreater record is how efficient their songwriting is. They don’t try and cram every song with every idea, just the ones that work best. For example, this is the first song on the album that devotes a serious chunk of time to a classic twin-lead guitar part and boy howdy does it hit the spot.
“Melancholia” by Asher Gamedze & The Black Lungs (Constitution, 2024)
Catching up on some of the big name jazz records from last year. Lovely descending piano line here, I especially enjoy the way the bass and horns reframe the harmony throughout the form. Gamedze is, as always, a terrific drummer.
“Sports” by Aaron Parks (Little Big III, 2024)
The NBA playoffs begin tomorrow. Nothing gets me in the mood for incredible feats of athletic performance and improvisatory teamwork like the smooth sounds of jazz fusion.
\ \ \ \ \ Micro Reviews / / / / /
Here are five micro reviews of albums from my vast Rate Your Music catalog. Long time Lamniformes Instagram followers will recognize these from my stories, however they’ve been re-edited and spruced up with links so that you can actually hear the music instead of just taking my word for it.
OV by Orthrelm (2005) - Minimalism
An absolute brain blender from a pre-Krallice Mick Barr and drummer Josh Blair. 40+ minutes of continuous instrumental shredding. Barr & Blair take a handful of short musical phrases, the kind that would zip by in a larger solo or fill, and repeat them until they become worlds unto themselves. Minor changes in meter or emphasis feel seismic, offering temporary relief from the repetition of the last pattern before taking its place. As with a lot of minimalist compositions, there’s a point where this record tips from being tedious to being transcendent. The mind boggles trying to picture how exhausting this was to rehearse and record. If you approach this with the right headspace you might find this soothing or thought provoking, but step to it wrong and it’ll likely drive you nuts. Wild to think that I found out about this album from a positive review in AP Magazine of all places lol.
Darkness on the Edge of Town by Bruce Springsteen (1978) - Rock
The critic-safe pick for best Springsteen record, maybe because it was produced by a former music critic. This record cuts back on the rambling jams and extra verses that gave his previous records their epic scope and instead delivers a tight, efficient collection of rock songs. This economy of style raises the floor significantly on his writing, there are a number of deep cuts that wouldn’t appear on any Springsteen 101 playlist that wipe the floor with lesser imitators. The usual Springsteen themes abound: hating your job, hating your dad, hating your hometown, driving fast as a means toward spiritual freedom, having sex as a means toward having sex with Bruce Springsteen, etc. Despite the concision, the songs are just as dense with beautiful arrangement choices, keep an ear on the piano and organ parts! I’ve long wanted to cover “Adam Raised A Cain”, maybe I’ll have an occasion to soon1. Great record.
So It Goes by Ratking (2014) - Rap
The sole full length from this short-lived NYC rap group, before Wiki went on to have a fruitful solo run. Self-consciously anti-nostalgic, this record makes no effort to recapture the golden era of boom bap or 90s lyricism. Instead, by pulling from footwork, grime, and trap, producer Sporting Life creates a new vision of NYC as the cosmopolitan center of a global rap culture. The lyrical concerns however are entirely local, as Wiki and Hak navigate a Manhattan landscape infested with cops, coke dealers, and swarms of NYU transplants. This felt like a breath of fresh air when it first dropped, but honestly it hasn’t held up as well as I’d hoped. The production is still cool, and Wiki clearly had star potential, but a lot of Hak’s sing-songy flows feel like empty calories that stretch the songs out to tiring lengths. And that last Princess Nokia verse on “Puerto Rican Judo” is, uh, really unfortunate. An interesting piece of recent east coast rap history, largely overshadowed by Wiki’s superior solo output.
Rust by Harm’s Way (2015) - Metalcore
Metallic hardcore at its absolute CHUNKIEST. All the riffs are slow and simple, but Harms Way deliver each note with maximum force. It’s like watching people hurl blocks of concrete at each other. I’ve seen this compared to both industrial metal (to be fair there are a few bits of sound design that warrant at least some of that comparison) and nü metal, but its always struck me as Celtic Frost’s Monotheist had it been made by straight edge jocks and not aging Satanists. Its still just as apocalyptically bleak, but grounded closer to material reality. Its the kind of record that would be completely exhausting if it weren’t so well paced and efficient in getting to the good parts then getting out of there. I’ll always associate this record with the last year of the Thibs era Bulls, both icons of a particular brand of Chicago toughness.
Slaves Beyond Death by Black Breath (2015) - Death Metal
An instant critical hit that, from what I can tell, has aged into an accepted classic. By which I mean not just that it’s a well liked record but that it recaptures the magic of previous classics and updates them for a then modern audience. The mythic scope of the 80s golden era, the brute physicality of metallic hardcore, the nauseating strangeness of death metal, all presented with the best burnt-to-a-crisp guitar tone that the mid 2010s could buy you. Until recently this would have been my pick for “best Metallica album of the 21st century” despite it being not being made by Metallica and only intermittently sounding like them. A terrific marriage of heavy metal’s wild imagination (sounds like exploring a vast abandoned fortress) and hardcore’s real world immediacy (sounds like bruised ribs in the pit). I hope this decade’s headbangers will keep this one in the rotation for the next decade’s.