Some are actually quite well known - Black Midi, Slowthai, DaBaby, Fontaines D.C., Just Mustard - although quite new as well, the rest both new and less popular. So, Stereogum chose - Norway coffeehouse indie duo Konradsen; California exhilarating aural assault 100 Gecs; some regular disco by Channel Tres; speed-metal Californians Dead Heat; psych-rock Canadians […]
'Up' appears on debut studio album by the Atlanta rap duo Earthgang, 'Mirrorland', and the video shows a young student wandering into a closed section of a museum...
Metallica's 'S&M2' movie screened last week in over 95 countries and more than 3,700 cinemas worldwide. The film achieved a significant global screen average of $1,500 with 460,000 admissions, earning in total $5.5 million, which makes it the largest ever global rock event cinema release in history, Loudwire reports. Thanks to the big demand, Trafalgar […]
Leading Chicago rappers Noname, Saba, and Smino announced this week that they had formed a rap supergroup called Ghetto Sage. Today, they’ve already shared their first song - 'Häagen Dazs'; listen below. They have an Instagram profile - here.
Brooklyn Vegan has, per usual, best selection of songs released this week: Fontanel is a "sultry, ethereal, mysterious and quite lovely" collaboration of Eartheater and Dadras; post-rockers Mono have a 2019 live-in-studio recording of one of the band’s earliest songs, Halo, recorded and mixed by Steve Albini; Michael Kiwanuka has a nice new song Piano […]
"It quickly becomes clear in Me that few people are more suited to the celebrity autobiography genre, given that he combines the most essential ingredients of the form" - Guardian writes about Elton John's new autobiography, written with the help of music critic Alexis Petridis - who "has a journalist’s eye for the comically absurd, such as […]
Songwriter and producer Justin Raisen has posted a video on Instagram comparing Lizzo's hit single 'Truth Hurts' to a song 'Healthy' he and others wrote with Lizzo in 2017, Time reports. Both songs share the same opening line – “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100% that bitch” – as well as […]
Stormzy won best solo act at last night's Q Awards, The 1975 were named best act in the world today, Scottish chart-topping singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi took home the best track gong for 'Someone You Loved', while song of the decade went to Lana Del Rey for her breakthrough hit 'Video Games'. Best breakthrough act went […]
Lil Tjay spent multiple two and three-month sentences for robberries, and in 2016, at the age of 15, he was sentenced to one year in a youth detention center. Last week, the New York rap-balladeer, barely 18, released his debut album 'True 2 Myself'. Consequence of Sound compares Tjay to Usher and Justin Bieber - […]
The new breed of punk isn't so punky sonically, it's the attitude, BBC argues: 30-year-old US rapper JPEGMAFIA channels the aggression of the crowd into brutal bursts of movement that sit somewhere between an intoxicated Iggy Pop and an irate DMX; snarling Northampton rapper Slowthai blasts what he sees as the toxicity of Brexit Britain […]
"The experimental rap trio have been exploring stark sounds and extreme circumstances since they emerged on their 2013 album 'midcity'... 'There Existed An Addiction To Blood', Clipping’s new album, is a meditation on the idea of horror — horror movies, horror stories, ’90s horrorcore rap" - Stereogum is impressed with new album by Clipping. It's no […]
"Complicated music and fun music don’t often go in hand... Battles debunk this fabulously within the first minute of their new album" - NME says in a review of new album by the American experimental rock group. On 'Juice B Crypts' they go into "conceptual weirdness, overflowing with ideas of technology, subservience and infinite loops. […]
Classic video 'Sweet Child O' Mine' by the Guns N' Roses is the first '80s music video to reach a billion views on YouTube, Loudwire reports. The video shows the band performing the track in front of their bullet logo, with cutscenes of the members' girlfriends. It was written by Rose about his ex-wife Erin […]
"My duty as a songwriter is not to try to save the world, but rather to save the soul of the world. This requires me to live my life on the other side of truth, beyond conviction and within uncertainty, where things make less sense, absurdity is a virtue and art rages and burns; where dogma is […]
Adele's '21' is the UK's best-selling album of the 21st Century, selling more than five million copies since being released in 2011. The record, which features the hits 'Rolling In The Deep' and 'Someone Like You', is more than a million copies ahead of the second biggest-seller, Amy Winehouse's 'Back To Black'. Adele also takes […]
Spanish Primavera is the first major music festival to switch to a mobile-only ticketing policy - Barcelona fest is abandoning physical and "print-at-home" tickets for its 20th anniversary next summer. Organizers say they hope to combat touts by implementing the technology, BBC reports. The festival draws 220,000 fans to Barcelona every year, and it made […]
'Glorious' is the latest single by American r'n'b singer Sudan Archives, a "slicing and boisterous [song], Parks’ impressive violin-playing serving as the pivot that the entire track hangs around", as Stereogum puts it. Her Bandcamp profile says she is self-taught on the violin, inspired by Sudanese fiddlers, R&B, West African rhythms, and experimental electronic music. […]
The Hall Of Fame just announced this year’s nominees, and nine of the 15 are up for the first time - The Notorious B.I.G., the Dave Matthews Band, Whitney Houston, T. Rex, Thin Lizzy, Pat Benatar, Motörhead, and the Doobie Brothers. Other nominees have been up for induction many times - Kraftwerk six times, MC5 […]
Rappers Noname, Saba, and Smino are joining forces under the name Ghetto Sage, with their first single presumably coming out October 17. Consequence of Sound emphasizes the fact that the trio is coming together at a highpoint of their solo careers - Noname shared her new album’s name along with one of the best songs […]
Fact Magazine calls it's For Club Use Only "one-stop guide to the best underground dance music from across the world" forecasting "next wave of sounds due to break through into the mainstream". It goes from Kelman Duran’s reggaeton and M.E.S.H.'s neo-goth to Air Max ’97's EBM/dancehall and Via App’s techno. Not that much a pleasant listen, rather […]
Wu-Tang Clan headlined the final night of Desert Daze on Sunday (10/13), and as a surprise for the crowd they brought out Texas psych-funk Khruangbin, to back them on 'Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off)', Stereogum reports. The trio is known to throw a medley tribute to ’90s hip hop into their sets. Turned up […]
Elton John spent his whole career "trying to show my father what I'm made of", he writes in his new autobiography, 'Me', out now. "It's crazy, but I just wanted his approval. I'm still trying to prove to him that what I do is fine - and he's been dead for almost 30 years" - […]
On Oct. 31, American actor and singer/songwriter Rain Phoenix will release her first solo album, 'River', on the same date her older brother and former bandmate River died in 1991. The music video for her first single, 'Immolate', directed by Gus Van Sant, director of 'My Own Private Idaho', is out now (watch below). Hollywood Reporter...
Harvard University is to honor rapper and actor Queen Latifah with Hutchins Center for African and African American Research's W.E.B. Du Bois Medal for her contributions to black history and culture. Latifah is one of seven honorees who will receive the honor at a ceremony on October 22 - other recipients include poet and educator […]
Pharrell Williams has distanced himself from ‘Blurred Lines’, the 2013 hit he performed alongside Robin Thicke saying he initially didn’t understand the furore surrounding the track’s reception. "There are women who really like the song and connect to the energy that just gets you up", he told GQ. "Then I realised that there are men […]
Dawson has just released his newest album '2020', so the Quietus had asked him to name his favourite albums. It's a diverse selection containing some classics like Nina Simone, and then there's Mongolian band Huun Huur Tu about men hunting with eagles, because - "so many musicians are posers, which is fine, but I never […]
“I’ve a kinship with women. That’s why I’ve always put women in strong positions in music” - Tricky tells in a Guardian interview about his new autobiography, 'Hell Is Round the Corner', out October 31, where he remembers his fans telling him how his music had helped them through dark periods in life. Bit part […]
In true Neil Young fashion, he splits his time in the trailer between performing songs and yelling expletives into his microphone - Exclaim says about the trailer for new Neil Young documentary about recording his latest album 'Colorado' (out October 25, watch trailer below). The film is described as "a raw and extremely unfiltered look […]
Loudwire is looking forward to the Helloween season, so they made a list of 15 musicians from rock and metal milleu, all the way from David Bowie in the 'Hunger' to Slipknot's Corey Taylor in 'Fear Clinic'.
"Writing a song like that’s ['Tiny Dancer'] a bit like having a wank, really. You want the climax to be good, but you don’t want it to be over too quickly – you want to work your way up to it" - Elton John answered Bob Dylan in a Guardian interview. The song he wished […]
Nine-year-old DJ Michelle from The United Arab Emirates has become the youngest ever entrant to the DMC World Portablist DJ Championships, the DJ Mag reports. The annual DJ competition began in 1985, and it showcases the world’s DJ Scratch skills on portable turntables and vinyl records. Competitions are taking place from April through December.
Metal band from California, Dig The Grave bought time of members of Mastodon, Anthrax, Lamb Of God, Alexisonfire, Sepultura, Shadows Fall and some others to be in their latest video 'ISO'. Dig The Grave lacked funds, so they used CAMEO to buy just seconds of metal master's time for a simple yet memorable video.
American bands are on a tour-announcement spree, including the almost-forgotten The Monkees. The band's two surviving members, Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz have announced a Farewell Tour with dates across the US this fall, Brooklyn Vegan reports. The shows will featuring a "magical night of music: all the hits, deep cuts and fan favorites".
Drum-playing, motorcycle-riding grandmother Dorothea Taylor has gone viral on TikTok with her simple video of “How to Play Doubles”, Consequence reports. Quick lesson on “doubles” by the affectionately named "The Godmother of Drumming” has surpassed 20 million views in less than a week. The nice lady has previously earned 13 million views on YouTube for a drum cover of Disturbed’s 'Down with the Sickness' last year.
Indie pop bands Blossoms and The Lathums played Liverpool's Sefton Park in Liverpool Sunday evening in what was the UK's first live music gig in more than a year, NME reports. The 5,000 fans were required to take a supervised COVID test before arrival, with entry only permitted once a negative test had been received. Once inside, fans did not need to wear masks, socially distance, or stick to the rule of six, and could also enjoy bars and food stalls. Fans will need to take another lateral flow test in five days time to see the event’s impact on spreading the virus.
Moneybagg Yo’s album 'A Gangsta’s Pain' has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with 110,000 equivalent album units, Billboard reports. They mostly derived from streaming - 106,000 were earned from SEA units, while 4,000 came from album sales, and less than 1,000 from TEA units. 'A Gangsta’s Pain' marks Moneybagg’s 11th time charting, with this album being his fifth top 10 charting set.
“Because of the way that I feel that the world sees me, I haven’t felt really desired. But that’s really my whole life, though, so I don’t know if it’s anything to do with fame” - Billie Eilish says in a Vogue interview, where she explains her body-image transition from a girl to a woman. She also discusses the issue of nudity - "Suddenly you’re a hypocrite if you want to show your skin, and you’re easy and you’re a slut and you’re a whore. If I am, then I’m proud. Me and all the girls are hoes, and f**k it, y’know? Let’s turn it around and be empowered in that. Showing your body and showing your skin – or not – should not take any respect away from you”. She tries to understand why men grope women: "I really think the bottom line is, men are very weak. I think it’s just so easy for them to lose it".
“I think having hope for the future is a default setting that we have. We choose to be in that energy that wants to succeed" - French prog-metal quartet Gojira say to Guardian about their newest album 'Fortitude', which explores the climate crisis. "We were confronted by nature hurting all the time, and nature hurting hurts you” - says vocalist and guitarist Joe Duplantier, who grew up in a French coastal town with his brother Mario, the drummer in Gojira. They deal with recent issues on their new album, such as deforestation on their single 'Amazonia' - “The greatest miracle is burning to the ground”, as they sing.
Loudwire reports about a slightly bizarre case of late drummer Brentnol McPherson who was placed behind a drum set at his own funeral. Guyana-born, Canada-based drummer spent his life drumming with Toots & the Maytals, Johnny Nash, Jimmy Reid, Brass Traxx with Deborah Cox and many more, and for his "last performance" he was posed behind a sapphire blue drum set, surrounded by elaborate floral arrangements...
Sir Tom Jones' new album 'Surrounded By Time' has debuted at the top of the UK album chart, making him the oldest man at the chart's top ever. Previously, the title has been held by Bob Dylan, who topped the chart last June aged 79 with 'Rough and Rowdy Ways'. The late Dame Vera Lynn holds the overall record after her 2009 greatest hits collection went to number one when she was 92. 'Surrounded By Time' finds Jones re-interpreting some old favourites, including Terry Callier's 'Lazarus Man'.
