Violinist, singer, songwriter and producer Sudan Archives has announced her debut album, 'Athena', out November 1 via Stones Throw Records, Fact Magazine reports. 'Athena' explores duality, a concept Sudan has long been familiar with as an identical twin, it was produced by Washed Out, Paul White and Rodaidh McDonald, and Sudan says the full-length is “more […]
Just a lovely story in the Guardian about Hemen, tiny Kolkata sitar shop, opened 73 years ago, and still working on the same principles. Hemendra Chandra Sen started the business, first as a repair shop, then as manufacturers, and after his death in 2010 his sons Ratan and Tapan took over. But it isn't a […]
“I never thought heartbreak could be so all-encompassing" - FKA twigs said in a press-release about her new album, 'Magdalene', out October 25, adding - "the process of making this album has allowed me for the first time, and in the most real way, to find compassion when I have been at my most ungraceful, […]
Kurt Cobain’s estate has launched a new clothing collection “Kurt Was Here”, featuring T-shirts, sweaters, hoodies and more branded with the late icon's artwork, sketches and journal entries. The clothing is available in limited quantities through Barneys in the United States, Selfridges in the U.K. and through an official Cobain webstore. A number of the shirts […]
Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore chose five songs that influenced him while he was a young musician in NYC in the late 1970s. It's 'Lesson No. 1 for Electric Guitar' by Glenn Branca, 'In My Eyes' by Minor Threat, 'Too Many Creeps' by Bush Tetras, 'Man Ah Warrior' by Tapper Zukie, and, finally, as he told Rolling Stone, […]
Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson unexpectedly halted band's show at Tacoma Dome on Wednesday (9/5), saying he had seen a fan being repeatedly punched by a group of security guards. According to Dickinson, the fan’s injuries were so severe he was bleeding from the head, and being treated backstage by medical professionals. The security professionals say the […]
Sony has unveiled a limited edition Walkman to mark the device’s 40th anniversary – the new NW-A100TPS looks identical to the cassette-gadget, but the tape is simply appearing as a nifty graphic on a 3.6″ inch display. The new digital device holds thousands of songs, has a 26-hour battery life, boasts 16GB of storage and […]
UK alt-rock band Supergrass have reunited, after a 9 year hiatus, and have already played their first post-reunion show. They headlined the Pilton Party, an all-day event hosted by Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis as a thank you to the Glastonbury staff and residents of the nearby area, Brooklyn Vegan reports.
"Shaun Ryder is the son of John Lennon, Johnny Rotten with a few kilos of John Belushi stamped in" - writer/director Matt Greenhalgh ('Control', 'Nowhere Boy', 'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool'), says about his new project 'Twisting My Melon', the musical biopic of Shaun Ryder, of "the last true working-class band — the Happy Mondays". "Since […]
Tool first album in 13 years, 'Fear Inoculum', debuts at No. 1 with the biggest week for any rock album in over one year. The band’s fifth album sold 270,000 equivalent album units, and of that sum, 248,000 were in album sales. 'Fear Inoculum' was only sold in two formats - a digital download and a […]
Just a lovely article by the Rolling Stone, about famous artists and their early bands. There's Madonna and her post-punk act Emmy where she played drums at first; Radiohead members played in a saxophone heavy band On a Friday (“the worst band name ever” Thom Yorke later said); Neil Young had a Motown pop band […]
Leverage Models is an electronic ensemble led by former Stars With Fleas founder Shannon Fields, and their new compilation 'Greys' is the work of "20 brilliant artists whom I respect and adore", as Fields says. One hundred percent of the profits from the sales and streams of Greys will go toward the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees. […]
For the first time since 1986, vinyl records are on pace to outsell CDs this year - in the first half of 2019 vinyl sales made $224.1 million, comparatively, CDs yielded $247.9 million. Vinyl revenue grew 12.8% in the second half of 2018, and 12.9% in the first six months of 2019. The profits and […]
The Quietus is going metaly in this month's edition of Columnfortably Numb, their selection of best new psych-rock editions. Why? King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard went that direction on their latest album. So, what's on offer this month? Lo-fi stoner doom by Flowers, hairy heavy psych rock by Ecstatic Vision, psych-folk by Wet Tuna, and "colourful […]
Danny Brown's fifth album 'uknowhatimsayin¿' is “my version of a stand-up comedy album", and his new song 'Dirty Laundry' is in the same vein. The album will feature production from the iconic likes of A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, Flying Lotus and JPEGMAFIA, with Run The Jewels, Obongjayar and Blood Orange appearing on the album.
Radio Roshani from the northern Afghan city of Kunduz is run by women, promoting women's rights, broadcasting today despite several attempts by the Taliban to kill its founder and editor, as BBC reports. Sedika Sherzai set up Radio Roshani in 2008, at first the Taliban warned Sediqa to stop broadcasting, in 2009, rockets were fired […]
Nicki Minaj says she's "decided to retire and have a family" - American rapper is dating a man called Kenneth Petty and has hinted that they're planning to get married. Apart from music, the 36-year-old has appeared in several Hollywood films and has her own radio show. She's not made it clear how many of […]
The project takes in various bits of text, sound, visuals and external links, and centres around an audiovisual piece titled 'Can the Sub Bass Speak?' (watch below), a "free jazz inflected collage", and it includes sounds from Algiers' Franklin James Fisher, as well as Skerik on saxophone and D'Vonne Lewis on drums. Press release explains […]
Their second studio album 'Cry' arrives October 25, and the first single from it has just arrived. Frontman/guitarist Greg Gonzalez said 'Heavenly' was “inspired by the overwhelming beauty [he] felt watching an endless sunset on a secluded beach in Latvia one summer night”, Pitchfork reports. Gonzalez said 'Cry' was "really about romance, beauty & sexuality".
American soprano Kathryn Lewek was taken by surprise and was hurt by some opera critics whom she accused of body-shaming. Her performance as Eurydice in 'Orpheus in the Underworld' has been widely praised, but some writers also reviewed her body shape, describing her as “buxom” and “stocky”, Guardian reports. "Don’t describe me with the same kind […]
London R&B/experimental electronics producer Klein has announced a new LP, 'Lifetime', out September 6. She has shared a new song from it, 'Claim It' (listen here), very atmospheric, rich, yet soft. A great way to start a day!
Rolling Stone made a selection of 20 album covers censored in the US. However bizarre it might seem today, The Mamas and the Papas had their cover for their album 'If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears' censored in 1966 because it was showing - a toilet. 47 years later Sky Ferreira was also […]
Canadian electronic producer TR/ST will be releasing his new album 'The Destroyer (Part 2)', second part of his double album, on November 1, and the album’s title track, out now, is a little different than typical TR/ST dark synthetic club banger, more atmospheric, organic and wide-open. Listen below.
Guardian combs through an ocean of mixes to find these: Dazed Mix: Anthony Naples - flits between ravey stutters and soulful crunch An AFROPUNK Mix: UNIIQU3 - blood-pumping sprints FADER Mix: SHYBOI - dishing out east coast club, breaks, techno and gqom for a slammer of a summer romp M2 Performance Enhancer: MssingNo - some […]
Twin Shadow has promised a new album for today, but he “got caught up”, since "I needed a bit longer to live some life. It took some time, and I took that time”. But there's a new single 'Crushed' (explaining the delay), with heartbreak lyrics: “You played up all your innocence/ And I downplayed experience/ […]
NME really likes "blistering guitar riffs and yelping vocals" of political dance-punk by The 1975 in 'People', as well as "sunshine-laced instrumentals" with "dark lyrics" by Bakar in 'Hell 'N Back', and "fearless guitars and galloping rhythms" by Los Blancos in 'Dilyn Lesu Grist'. Brooklyn Vegan makes a broader choice, as usual. They've got "cold […]
"The truth of the matter is that I didn’t give up on PJ Harvey, PJ Harvey gave up on me... I pick up the phone and it’s Polly. 'Hi,' I say 'I want to break up with you.' 'Why?!' I ask. 'It’s just over,' she says" - Nick Cave writes in latest edition of his The […]
Very prolific and very talented musician Neal Casal has passed away at age 50. Casal was a member of Blackfoot, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, and Chris Robinson Brotherhood, and he was also a solo artist, a member of The Skiffle Players (with Cass McCombs and others), and a collaborator of The Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh, Lucinda Williams, […]
Metal band Ancient Burials was supposed to play in Portland on August 20, but one of their guitarists didn't meet the minimum age of 21 to get into the venue, so they hooked him up with some wireless gear and he played in front of the venue, with his band playing inside (he could hear/see […]
The most interesting, although bizarre, thing about Velvet Negroni, so far, is his childhood story. He was brought up by a strict white evangelical Christian family where secular music was forbidden, but still he had to play the piano at least an hour a day, as Guardian reports. College allowed him to spread his wings, […]
