"Regrowth’s sound is a grand, intense form of hardcore — huge, anthemic, emotionally wracked, full of big-gesture hooks. They scream hard, play big riffs, and put busy textures into their sound... The songs on 'Lungs' are long and ambitious and sometimes beautiful. They can be heavy, but they always have hooks" - Stereogum writes about the debut album by the Sardinian band.

Phoebe Bridgers covered Radiohead’s 'Fake Plastic Trees' with the up-and-coming London musician Arlo Parks, in a church, turned out to be just a pretty song; Teyana Taylor released a powerful video for her song 'Still' with images of Black civil rights leaders and victims of police brutality; The Polyphonic Spree released a sugary cover of Rolling Stones' 'She's a Rainbow'.

London-based music tech startup MelodyVR, which streams gigs, bought Napster las month for $70m (£52m). Lockdown has proved to be the best thing to have happened to MelodyVR - app installs are up 1,000% since the start of quarantine, month-on-month usage is growing at 36%, and the company has raised almost $30m from investors in recent months, Guardian reports. The company has had 100 artists perform virtual gigs during lockdown, including Emeli Sandé, Liam Payne, The Chainsmokers and Cypress Hill. The gigs can also be watched on virtual reality headsets, an experience that allows fans to choose what part of the auditorium they watch the performance from. MelodyVR charges £9.99 per gig, and it is now adding a monthly subscription option.

Fewer than 10 percent of the students who graduate with jazz degrees from American universities are Black, although they make 12,7% of general population, and in 2017 only 1 percent were Black women (over 6% in general population), New York Times reports about the issue of race in music, jazz in particular. It says that "over the past 50 years, the music has become entrenched in academic institutions. As a result, it’s often inaccessible to, and disconnected from, many of the very people who created it: young Black Americans". Georgia Anne Muldrow, a student in the jazz program at New York's New School, goes deeper with her insight about the very character of jazz taught in schools: "At the center of the teaching would always be the idea that jazz is not about race. And it absolutely is. It was absolutely about where people weren’t allowed to go, which made them travel in their music".

Blaccmass is an up-and-coming Atlanta producer who is going viral for blending drill beats with classic songs from artists like Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Earth, Wind & Fire and even classic musicians like Beethoven, Complex reports. Blaccmass credits the success of the mashup to an inherent element of surprise. People don’t expect Maurice White’s iconic vocals to pair so well with the haunting, gliding bass that anchors most drill beats.

But Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s 'WAP' was the U.K.’s best-selling single last week, becoming the first-ever female rap collaboration to go to the summit in that territory. After two weeks at No. 2, the track snags 65,000 charts sales, including 8.5 million streams, to take the title, the Official Charts Company reports. It’s a person best for both artists.

Taylor Swift set a few records this week with her album 'Folklore': it collects its sixth week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the album with the most weeks atop the list in nearly four years; Swift also ties Whitney Houston for the most cumulative weeks at No. 1 among women - Swift’s cumulative weeks at No. 1, across all of her seven chart-topping albums, now rises to 46, which is as much as Houston (the all-time leader is The Beatles, with 132 weeks at No. 1), Billboard reports.

Complex presents (not so new) art rap scene, "a movement that has become one of the most vital things happening in hip-hop today". What these artists from the scene have "in common, more than a sound or a location, is a determination to be original and exist outside of the mainstream... and sound wildly different". The strongest names on the scene are R.A.P. Ferreira, billy woods, Elucid, Quelle Chris, and Armand Hammer (a duo consisting of woods and Elucid).

Last year, classically trained musician Kelsey Lu published her critically acclaimed album 'Blood' that combined classic music with disco, pop, and electronics. This year, she's into music-therapy. Her latest project Hydroharmonia works with frequencies - “I’ve found that 432 Hertz is said to be mathematically consistent with the patterns of the universe – and there’s evidence of that being healing and therapeutic”. The theory sounds nice, though it's much-disputed.

Kanye West has spent nearly $6 million since entering the presidential race on July 4th, with him loaning approximately $6.7 million to his campaign between July and August. He’s received eight outside donations totaling $11,500. Most of the money spent has gone to consulting firms who’ve been working to get his name on states’ ballots. He has been kicked off more states’ ballots than he’s actually gotten on - he’s gotten his name on the ballot in just 10 states. In a recent survey, Kanye received just 2% of voters aged 18-34, so it seems his candidacy won't change much for the other candidates, especially since Democratic voters don't have a favorable opinion of him.

David Bowie's 1970 album 'The Man Who Sold the World' is being reissued in November, with its original title 'Metrobolist', an homage to Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis', Brooklyn Vegan reports. The reissue has been remixed by the album's producer, Tony Visconti, except for 'After All' which Visconti considered perfect as is. New artwork was designed by Mike Weller, who did the original design which Mercury Records found too controversial at the time. Bowie said in 2000 that "Weller devised this kind of very subversive looking cartoon and put in some quite personalised things. The building in the background on the cartoon in fact was the hospital where my half brother had committed himself to".

Level talked to four women from different parts of American culture to discuss how hip-hop should change its attitude and behaviour toward women. "A lot of these C-suites and the music industry needs to be torn down and rebuilt with the younger people and people who are not complicit in decades of rape culture and abuse" - music producer Drew Dixon said. Journalist Clarissa Brooks is hopeful: "I do feel like things are getting better, though, because people are making art for themselves and their communities. People aren’t interested in celebrity in the same way". Author Danyel Smith put it simply: "Good people have to do good things and good work".

Saturday afternoon (September 6) an organ chord that's been held since October 2013 will change in Halberstadt, Germany. It's a musical and concept piece, part of a 639-year performance of John Cage's 'Organ2/ASLSP (As Slow As Possible)'. Saturday's chord will be held for the next 20 months. Check out the latest chord here. Soprano singer Johanna Vargas and organist Julian Lembke manually changed the chord on Saturday, drawing hundreds of fans to witness the event, Associated Press reports. The composition is played on a special organ built specifically for this piece, with a compressor in the basement blowing air into the pipes to create a continuous sound. If all goes according to plan, the performance will end in 2640.

Arab Strap are back with new music, their first in 15 years, a funny little song called 'The Turning Of Our Bones'; Bette Smith dropped soul-heavy rocker 'I'm a Sinner', about her relationship with her mother; Thurston Moore dropped a 12-minute dreamer 'Siren'; Killer Be Killed supergroup - featuring Troy Sanders (Mastodon), Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan), Max Cavalera (Soulfly), and Ben Koller (Converge) - dropped a catchy metal song 'Deconstructing Self-Destruction'; Hey Colossus colab with Mark Lanegan 'The Mirror' is slow and not really loud, still it's powerful; Nadine Khouri grew up in 'Beirut' and said that 'To Sleep' was written as "a lullaby from a war zone"; Anohni dropped a political song 'R.N.C. 2020'.

Perfume Genius will perform from the Palace Theater in downtown Los Angeles, on Saturday, September 19. Tickets are available in advance for $15 ($20 day of the event + $5 for access to stream an acoustic solo encore). During the concert, Perfume Genius mastermind Mike Hadreas will be joined by a six-piece band as well as a string quartet. They will perform music from Perfume Genius’ latest, critically acclaimed album 'Set My Heart on Fire Immediately'.

Well, this is just really sweet: 10-year-old drum-sensation Nandi Bushell accepted Dave Grohl's challenge for a drum-off, and - matched the Foo Fighters' leader performance of Them Crooked Vultures’ 'Dead End Friends'. In her YouTube description, Bushell said - "Thank you for giving me this incredible opportunity. I am extremely grateful. The Rock Gods of old are happy!”. It all started when Bushell invited Grohl for a match-off by playing Foo Fighters' 'Everlong'. He accepted, played 'Dead End Friends' himself, and has now acknowledged defeat, but teased there’s more to come from the two - “Ok, @Nandi_Bushell ……you win round one….but it ain’t over yet! Buckle up, cuz I have something special in mind…”.

"There are fewer pleasures greater, at the movies, than the moment a perfect track starts at a perfect moment, and the marriage of music and film creates an entirely new beast, a work of art in that new connection alone" - the Quietus writes in the introduction to their great list of 50 best "needle-drop" moments in films (complete with all the videos).

The Guardian is reporting on new wave of Norwegian black metal scene, represented by Ulver, Enslaved, and Emperor frontman Ihsahn, who are staying true to Norwegian black metal’s original rebellious and forward-thinking spirit, while rejecting its violence. They're also expanding beyond the genre - into prog, folk, synth, etc.

"When I was a kid, I had all sorts of options for cultivating my rap palate in a way that fell under the rules my parents had... As an adult, I’ve carried on the no-cursing rule in my own house. But despite an explosion of ways to hear music — between streaming services and YouTube, any song you can imagine is at the other end of typing its name — my kids’ options are even more limited than mine were... It’s hard to listen to rap with my kids. Unlike when I was coming up, edited rap music is much harder to come by" - Level author wrote about lack of edited versions of rap albums in times of supposed diversity.

The Show Must Be Paused initiative made a list of demands for the music companies, Billboard reports, asking for, well, not too much really. Health insurance benefits to artists and road crews; addressing internal pay disparities and converting long-term temp jobs to staff jobs; adding anti-racism and anti-sexism clauses to touring contracts; actively recruiting Black employees and make internships available to people who aren't in college. The Show Must Be Paused initiative made a list of demands for the music companies, Billboard reports, asking for, well, not too much really. Health insurance benefits to artists and road crews; addressing internal pay disparities and converting long-term temp jobs to staff jobs; adding anti-racism and anti-sexism clauses to touring contracts; actively recruiting Black employees and make internships available to people who aren't in college...

Little Simz, Dave and Jamie Cullum were major winners at 2020’s Ivor Novello awards, which honour the best in British songwriting, uDiscover Music reports. London rapper Little Simz was awarded Album of the year for 'Grey Area'. Dave was awarded best contemporary song for 'Black', his track that charts the struggles of black people from slavery to today’s racial inequality and stereotyping. Jamie Cullum was awarded in the “best song musically and lyrically” category, for his power ballad 'The Age of Anxiety'.

In November Nick Cave will release 'Idiot Prayer' live album and film made on his live-streamed solo piano concert back in June. The film is an extended version of the original stream featuring four "unseen performances". 'Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace' is a "prayer into the void—alone at Alexandra Palace—a souvenir from a strange and precarious moment in history", as Cave says. 

Haim singer-songwriter Alana Haim will make her feature debut in Paul Thomas Anderson's untitled ’70s coming-of-age film, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Details remain scarce, but it’s being reported that Haim and Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, will be the lead stars of the ensemble drama that’s set in the San Fernando Valley. Together, they join star Bradley Cooper, who was previously attached to the project. Anderson has been steadily working with Haim since 2017’s 'Something to Tell You'.

Los Angeles has just unveiled its official logo for the 2028 summer games, and it’s also recruited Billie Eilish to design an alternate logo. The LA Olympic Committee has actually brought in a number of different people to design different versions of the Olympic logo - athletes like Gabby Douglas, Adam Rippon, and Alex Morgan, as well as celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, and talk show host Lily Singh. Billie Eilish said about her logo that "The font is the font that I use for my logo. And who knows if that’s going to be relevant in my life in eight years?".

The Atlantic has a great article about America and its system in general, seen through the eyes of incarcerated rappers. Drakeo the Ruler has managed to record an album while in prison, although he has been kept in solitary confinement for months - “It’s like they keep tryna silence me ... That’s what all these protests are about, too”. L.A. rapper 03 Greedo, currently serving a 20-year sentence on drug-trafficking and weapons-possession charges, has recorded an album just before he had to go to prison - “Honestly, I could be a whole ’nother artist if I was from somewhere nicer”. BL Shirelle grew up surrounded by drug usage and crime, and she ended up in prison at age 18 - “they knew I was coming; my bed was prepared way before the act was even done”.

Snoop Dogg is set to launch a gin line 26 years after the debut of his signature track 'Gin & Juice', Complex reports. The rapper and entrepreneur unveiled Indoggo Gin after working to create a beverage that evokes a "laid-back California style", embodying the spirit of the party anthem.

NME's Mark Beaumont is pissed with VICE's article 50 Greatest Landfill Indie Songs, because, well, they're utterly wrong: "The ‘00s UK rock scene was as exciting, energised and unpredictable as Britpop or punk, and far more varied than both. It was a golden age for indie rock as bright as any before or since and you were lucky to be there for it, not least because the shadow of ‘landfill’ has since crushed the opportunities and exposure granted to alternative rock, to the point where current generations are rationed to one or two new breakthrough guitar bands every couple of years".

Brandy and Monica reunited on Monday night on the Verzuz series to celebrate their own solo back catalogs. The two went back-and-forth with their most beloved hits, including Monica's 'Angel Of Mine' and 'So Gone' as well as Brandy favorites 'I Wanna Be Down' and 'Have You Ever', with Monica taking advantage of the huge audience to debut new song 'Trenches', produced by The Neptunes, the Fader reports. Verzuz claimed to have broken their own record for live viewers on Instagram, with over 1.2m people watching on around the world.

Internet scammers have hit UK festival-lovers this year charging them to view live streams of festivals across the country, Guardian reports. Facebook phishing scams with fake pages and events were charging individuals £2.95 to £7.50 view live streams – even though they are often free to view on official festival pages.

Woodstock ’99 was planned as a music festival of "peace and love" featuring Limp Bizkit, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against the Machine, and Insane Clown Posse, but it devolved into squalid havoc, with arson, injuries, and sexual assaults, Deadline reports. Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst infamously incited the crowd to actually break stuff as the band performed their song 'Break Stuff'. An activist group in attendance passed out candles to the crowd as part of a planned anti-gun vigil during the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ set, but it quickly went awry - uncontrolled bonfires erupted and plywood pieces from the Woodstock Peace Wall caught fire. These, and other events, are being recollected into a Netflix documentary.