"Something is happening to boys in bands up and down the country and across the Irish Sea. They are singing about things that matter, such as mental health and gentrification. They are disillusioned, but dressed smartly, in faded shirts and starched slacks. They are white, usually, and serious, very serious... They’re also cutting across the generations, resonating with people who want heavy music that means something" - Guardian writes presenting The Murder Capital, a new band that shares the same energy as Fontaines D.C. or Idles.

Acapella teen-nonet Acapop! KIDS made another can't-stop-listening cover - they remade Mark Ronson's 'Nothing Breaks Like a Heart', usually sang by Miley Cyrus, using not much more than their voices, hands and feet.

Washington D.C. mayor has signed into law a bill that makes go-go music the official music of the district. "This is a musical genre that originated here, and we want to make sure it lives on for generations to come" - Muriel Bowser said. Go-go is a popular music subgenre associated with funk originating in the Washington, D.C., area during the mid-60s to late-70s. Go-go is a blend of funk, rhythm and blues, and soul music. Go-go's place at the heart of D.C.'s culture has come under increased threat over the years as a younger, whiter population has moved in and changed the city's landscape.

California rapper Kamaiyah, a former US security guard, has released a new mixtape 'Got It Made' which shows "a renewed confidence here", the Guardian writes, adding "things seem to be coming together at last". Stereogum says the mixtape is "everything great about her distilled into one mean, fun, breezy half-hour listen. It’s nothing but slaps".

Universal Music Group generated €921m, or $1.02bn, in recorded music streaming revenues in the last quarter od 2019, and it's overall revenues in 2019 – across recorded music, publishing and other activities – hit €7.16bn ($8.04bn), according to Music Business Worldwide. That revenue number was up 14.0% year-on-year at constant currency and perimeter, recorded music streaming revenues leapt up by 21.5% in calendar 2019 to €3.33bn ($3.73bn). This means that streaming contributed some 59.1% of UMG’s total recorded music revenues in 2019, and physical recorded music revenues also grew in 2019 - up 3.1% year-on-year to €1.01bn ($1.14bn). Biggest money-makers: Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and 'A Star Is Born' OST.

"A hypnotic songwriter, guitarist, and producer with a glassy falsetto and an immense vocal range, he exposes unlikely connections between pop and experimental, with songs that are rooted in knotty emotions" - Pitchfork writes in a long read about Moses Sumney, who is releasing his double album 'græ' May 15. The title "acts as a one-word summary. His interpretation of greyness is not just the kind of cloudiness that sometimes marks his temperament, but the kind that rejects binaries, that asserts that life is not lived in blacks or whites but in the gloriously complex in-betweens"

Billie Eilish’s official James Bond theme ‘No Time To Die’ has gone straight in at Number One on this week’s Official Singles Chart in the UK with 90,000 chart sales across the past seven days including 10.6 million streams. This made for the biggest opening week for a Bond theme of all time, the biggest opening week for a single so far this year, Eilish's first UK Number One single. The result means Billie Eilish is now the youngest artist and the first female to take a Bond theme to the top of the Official Singles Chart.

A lovely story in the Rolling Stone about Jerry Lee Lewis who, after having a stroke and being paralyzed, started playing again. He had not played music since February 2019, when he suffered a serious stroke that robbed him of use of his right hand. When he entered Nashville recording studio late last month he told his team and producer T-Bone Burnett that he didn’t want a piano in the room at all: his right hand wasn’t working, and he just wanted to sing. But they kept one in the room just in case. When Lewis sat on its stool, he couldn’t help but lift his right hand onto the keys. To his own surprise, his fingers started moving...

"The mobile experience of Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and YouTube Music are all built in a way where unless one seeks out playlists created by friends, it’d be easy to be completely oblivious to their own musical tastes. Why, with so many music streaming platforms, we’ve arrived at a fairly flat and isolated way of experiencing music" - Penny Fractions asks in an excellent article about the social context of streaming media.

Ozzy Osbourne offered his fans a trailer before releasing his new album 'Ordinary Man', with Prince of Darkness being played by the prince of Hawaii - Jason Momoa. In the minute-long clip, a cape-laden figure shows up, heads to the stage or boxing ring, where (way younger and prettier Ozzy) Momoa pops up, stands at the mic and lets it rip (well, lets it lip-sync). Osbourne's album is out today, this video counts as funny/charming marketing.

David Bowie, Gorillaz, Black Sabbath, New Order, kd Lang, Notorious BIG, My Chemical Romance, John Lennon, Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Prince and Pink Floyd, among others, are releasing exclusive records on Record Store Day. The big day is on April 18.

ol #1 Dark Blue' by London band Caroline is nice, psychedelic folk floating on a violin; 'A Thousand Words' is some arty-pop by Jay Som; Pearl Jam released an animated video for their new song 'Superblood Wolfmoon'; Neck of the Woods play progy death metal on 'Vision Loser'; instrumental trio Vasudeva play psycho/post-rock on 'Breaks'; jazz-pop singer-songwriter and violinist Joe Kye advocates for immigrant families on 'Stick on Me', a great video to go with.

UK high-street bakery chain Greggs has handed Strormzy a "black card", an invite-only membership that grants the owner “special pastry privileges”, meaning - free pastries for life. Stormzy said he had “peaked” when he unwrapped the VIP card. The Independent reports the "black card" allows Stormzy to get meals for up to five people at any of their restaurants for free.

Musicians from EU countries will require work visas to play in the UK starting from next year, following the end of the Brexit transition period this December. The rule means that bands, DJs, solo musicians and their crews will all require Tier 5 visas in order to play gigs, festivals and club nights in the UK. It costs around £1,000 per band member from the UK/EU to obtain a visa, which takes a lot of preparation and can take months to get approved.

"His improvised condemnation of Boris Johnson as a “real racist”, commentary on Windrush, reparations, Grenfell and tribute to London Bridge victims Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones made the moment a landmark for the music of black Britain" - Kehinde Andrews, professor of black studies, wrote in the Guardian about Dave's performance at the Brits Awards, adding - "respect to all of the artists empowering a new generation of black people emerging from Britain: this is only the beginning of the next stage of the struggle".

In a hilarious promo in support of Buffalo Wild Wings' boneless wings, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony change their name to "Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony". "I'm not gonna lie, I like boneless wings, man" Wish Bone, now known as Wish Boneless, says to the camera in the documentary-style ad, but Layzie Bone was not down for the name switch - "I ain't changin' s---! It's preposterous". He tries the boneless wings also, likes them but - "they ain't change-your-name good".

500 parents and music listeners took part in TickPick survey, which looked into how parents influenced the music taste of their children. 64% of parents said they attempted to influence the music their child enjoys, and just slightly smaller portion of parents (58%) were concerned with the appropriateness of the music their children listen to. Children were exposed to explicit Researches music at 12,5 years old, and first heard their future favourite band at 13. Ten following factors are the most important in determining a young music fan’s taste: radio, movies, father, mother, friends, siblings, TV, concerts and festivals, social media, and finally hobbies and interests.

Andrew Weatherall was producer and remixer of tracks by the likes of Happy Mondays, New Order, Björk, The Orb, The Future Sound of London, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, among others. Guardian made a selection of 10 of his greatest tracks, from Primal Scream and Saint Etienne to Ricardo Villalobos and Fuck Buttons. Listen to the 10 gems by the recently deceased musician here.

Since the beginning of indie-rock scene in the 1980s, bands have usually been putting out albums every two years, but within the last year-and-a-half, artists on indie labels like Domino, Polyvinyl, Sup Pop, Barsuk, Saddle Creek, and Matador have been putting out music at a more frequent rate - every couple of months there's something - single, EP, song for compilation - coming out. “People used to tour to support music, and now people put music out to support tours” - as indie musician Sasami Ashworth told Billboard. Polyvinyl Label Director Seth Hubbard shares her sentiment - “The model of never going away does seem to be like the new normal... Now with Spotify being what it is, and social media being what it is, the reality for a lot of artists is that they need to tour more often to make a living".

In the last few decades, musicians have come to rely heavily on touring to generate revenue, and that means more travel, more concession stands, and more cars jammed into parking lots, which means more carbon in the atmosphere and more waste on the ground (and in the water). To limit their carbon footprint some bands have stopped touring (Coldplay), others are cooperating with Reverb, a nonprofit that supports musicians looking to neutralize or at least lessen the environmental impact of their work. Its premier service involves embedding a trained Reverb staff member within a band’s preëxisting crew, with the exclusive purpose of handling the logistics associated with running an environmentally responsible tour.

There are encouraging signs of change in the gender gap on the country radio:

Maren Morris’s 'The Bones' is the first song by a solo female to stay at the summit of Country Airplay for two weeks since 2012

For five consecutive weeks, there have been five female-inclusive acts in the Top 20 of the Country Airplay chart

For the last six weeks, women have co-written the No. 1 song

Should Andress’ 'More Hearts Than Mine' and Gabby Barrett’s 'I Hope' go to No. 1 on Country Airplay, it will mark the first time two women have taken their debut singles to No. 1 in a calendar year since 2001

India dance troupe V Unbeatable has won season 15 of America's Got Talent: The Champions with their amazing performance that includes dancing and athleticism. BBC wrote that watching them perform is "is almost like watching an Olympics 100m final. It's exhilarating, nerve-wracking and an athletic marvel".

American rapper Pop Smoke has been shot dead during an armed robbery at his Hollywood Hills house yesterday morning. He was 20 years old. Two men wearing masks and hoodies reportedly entered Pop Smoke's home around 4:30 a.m. local time and fired multiple shots. Pop Smoke has been declared dead later in the hospital. Pop Smoke had his breakout single just last year with 'Welcome to the Party' from his debut mixtape 'Meet the Woo', that went on to be remixed by Nicki Minaj and Skepta. Later in 2019, Pop Smoke also collaborated with Travis Scott, and earlier this month he released his second mixtape, 'Meet the Woo 2'.

Brooklyn Indian dhol player, drummer, and composer Sunny Jain mixes jazz, a multitude of Indian folk and classical traditions, cinema sounds, and surf rock on his new anti-xenophobia album 'Wild Wild East', presenting "stories that speak to the importance of human rights", PopMatters says. The music here is "phenomenal", PH says, adding that an "understanding of the stories he tells here with such musical brilliance is liable to change hearts and minds for the better".

Funny and clever as always, NME's Mark Beaumont delves into questions of fashion and identity in his latest Mark, My Words post: "Metallers' image has been assimilated deep into the mainstream. They’ve undergone painful surgeries at the hands of their drunkest mates in order to declare their extreme tastes and lifestyle to the world, yet if you wander into a record shop (remember them?) in 2020 with piercings through your pancreas and Cannibal Corpse lyrics tattooed across your eyelids, you’re more likely to be recommended a Post Malone, Billie Eilish or Lil’ Jaily record than anything that might even slightly melt your face. The ultimate signs of personal non-conformism have become the New Normal. Luckily, there is an answer – if the mainstream has stolen your identity, why not steal theirs?".

"When faced with certain doom, our natural instinct is not one of self-preservation but of dogged pleasure-seeking" - FACT says in an announcement of Blanck Mass' mix. "Oscillating from jubilation to dread from one moment to the next and veering from post-punk and harsh noise to synth-pop and kosmische, Power pulls together a selection of tracks that’ll have you confused as to whether you should be celebrating or running for cover" - FACT adds. Intense, strong, a hard listen. Listen to it - here.

In the week he turned 30, The Weeknd dropped 'After Hours', title song from his album of the same name, a slow-burning nightly record; Nnamdi released an unusual folk song 'Flowers to my Demons'; American soul/r'n'b veteran Swamp Dogg got some help from Bon Iver's Justin Vernon on 'Good, Better, Best'; Canadian dream-pop band Purity Ring shared a song 'Stardew' from their first new album in five years; Greg Dulli made a great sunny song 'A Ghost'; Pearl Jam go retro rock on 'Superblood Wolfmoon' experimentalists Horse Lords go reggaeton and make a cool video to go with 'People's Park'; Yves Tumor stays in the weird-pop lane with 'Gospel For A New Century'; underground rap legend Kool Keith released a collaboration 'Hallucinations' with duo Thetan; Sightless Pit, the new collaborative project of Lee Buford (The Body), Kristin Hayter (Lingua Ignota), and Dylan Walker (Full of Hell), have shared two new songs.

PJ Harvey documentary 'A Dog Called Money', about her trips to Washington D.C., Kosovo, and Afghanistan, will have its US theatrical premiere at Film Forum in New York City on March 18. Those trips inspired the Seamus Murphy documentary, as well as PJ Harvey’s 2016 album 'The Hope Six Demolition Project'. It's not hard to connect the dots on the map - destinies of both Kosovo and Afghanistan were heavily influenced by Washington politics...

A-ha’s classic 1985 music video for 'Take On Me' has passed the one billion views threshold on YouTube, making them the first 1980s pop band and the first continental European act to step into the billion club. It’s one of the few pre-‘90s music videos to join the billion-views club alongside Guns N’ Roses' 'November Rain' and Queen’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. 'Take On Me' was recently restored and upgraded to 4K resolution.

Lewis Capaldi was the big winner at last night's Brit Awards picking up statues in Best new artist and Best song categories ('Someone You Love'). Dave won the No. 1 award, the Best album category, for 'Psychodrama', Mabel was awarded Best female award (30 years to the day her mother Neneh Cherry won her very own trophies), Stormzy got the Best male, and the Foals Best British group awards. Billie Eilish won in the International female category, with Tyler, the Creator wining in the International male category. Rising star award went to Celeste. Independent points out to Dave's political statement at the Brits - called out UK prime minister "racist", and lack of women, nominated or awarded.