"Identifying with that sense of having been duped for following your dreams in every closed shop window we passed" - Little Scream says about her latest album, 'Speed Queen', and her new song 'Disco Ball' (listen below). She made the album, Stereogum reports, "thinking about struggling as a musician, but having that be the thing that allows […]
Robert Hunter was a poet and musician who wrote many of the Grateful Dead’s lyrics, has released a couple of solo albums in the mid-’70s and co-wrote two songs for Bob Dylan. In the early 1960s, Hunter met and befriended Jerry Garcia, Hunter composed his first lyrics for the Grateful Dead on acid when he […]
"A nihilistic, nocturnal brand of psychedelia: mechanistic krautrock rhythms, guitars overdriven into furiously combusting engines, a detached delivery that alternated between slithering and swaggering" - Stereogum says about San Francisco psych-band's seventh album. This time around, the band is "looking back to ’70s funk and disco", with songs feeling "almost like circles".
Actor and singer David Hasselhoff has released a cover of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s 'Head On'. 'Baywatch' star has enlisted the Cars guitarist Elliot Easton for his revved-up version of the track (listen below), and it comes out this Friday on his forthcoming album 'Open Your Eyes', Pitchfork reports. The record is full of seemingly strange covers - […]
The newest album by Swedish prog-metal band Opeth, their first entirely in Swedish, "is an exquisite exercise in perpetual contrasts that, while familiar, demonstrates how much Opeth can still intrigue and impress after so many years" PopMatters says in review (9 of 10 stars). They conclude: "Their most wicked record of the decade, signifying that […]
Acclaimed American rapper CupcakKe has announced she's quitting music and has deleted her Twitter and Instagram accounts, XXL reports. 22-year old author of songs like 'Cum Cake' and 'Best Dick Sucker', in an Instagram video said she feels like she's corrupting the youth - "When I made those songs I was 16, 17 and I […]
DJ Shadow has a new album 'Out Pathetic Age', coming out in November, and it's starry affair - Nas, Pharoahe Monche, Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, De La Soul, Run the Jewels and more are featured, Fact Magazine reports. The album has 23 tracks, it is split into two sections, the first 11 songs are […]
In a surprise announcement, Nick Cave said that the Bad Seeds‘ new album ‘Ghosteen’ will be arriving next week. Answering fan's question on his Red Hand Files blog, Cave said it is a double album, with part 1 comprised of eight songs, and part 2 consisted of two long songs, linked by a spoken word […]
New Nigerian pop-culture movement, mostly music, but not just, is fusing R&B, soul, raps, Afrobeats, and indie-rock. Alté puts creativity, individuality and a sense of rebellion in its core – qualities at odds with Nigeria’s conservative culture, where, in a country dominated by Christian and Muslim values, those who go against the grain are often […]
"New album has them sounding like a fired-up, hungry band" - Brooklyn Vegan writes about Swedish post-metal band's new album. "It’s got plenty of familiar Cult of Luna elements, from towering sludge metal to soaring post-rock to hints of psychedelia, but they do all of that and more in ways that don’t just feel like […]
Radiohead frontman was the latest guest at BBC Radio 4’s 'Desert Island Discs' where he chose eight musical recordings, a book, and a luxury item that he would take with him to a desert island, Consequence of Sound reports. So, he's survival essentials are: Talking Heads’ 'Born Under Punches', Neil Young’s 'After The Goldrush', R.E.M.’s 'Talk […]
The 11th album by the folk-rock band Hiss Golden Messenger is "a fantastic sounding record, which doesn’t appear to be solely the result of the playing or the production" the Guardian says in review. "The mixes are uniformly fantastic, with electric guitar foregrounded, but not so much it swamps anything, and the folkier elements are […]
An excellent article in The New Yorker about a tendency of American courts to use rap lyrics and videos as evidence against rappers. The latest such example is a testimony of Brooklyn rapper 6ix9ine. Before him, there were Texas rapper Tay-K, Florida rapper YNW Melly, and California rapper Drakeo the Ruler, whos videos and lyrics […]
The Michael Jackson estate has grown by $1.7 billion since the superstar’s death in 2009. Jackson has left behind $500 million in debt at the time of his passing, and "as of December 31, 2018, the Estate generated gross earnings exceeding 1.7 billion dollars,” Jackson’s estate attorneys informed the courts. The Blast...
"The rhythmic energy... The joyful nature of Afro-pop... Whirlwind of head-bopping, dance-inducing melody" - the latest album by the Super Furry Animals' frontman is, seems so, exactly what the Quietus likes these days. "An album which represents optimism, cross-culturalism and the erasing of borders in favour of creativity and collaboration, is a breath of fresh […]
"A wide-eyed, curious creature, willingly alert to the world" - Guardian says about the new album by UK folk-rock band Red River Dialect. Other critics like it a lot as well: "Thoughtful compositions that mix straightforward observation with naturalistic imagery & philosophical inquiry" – Uncut Magazine: "Beatific [but] thrillingly combustible. Morris’s earnest tones crack with loss. A […]
"She’s as gloriously weird as ever. Hence her excellent new Madame X tour, a testament to the genius in her madness" - Rolling Stone says about Madonna's new tour. Instead of big shows, she’s performing in intimate venues, starting with 17 nights in Brooklyn, with the show being "messy", which is good, Rolling Stone says […]
A posthumous Leonard Cohen album 'Thanks for the Dance' of previously unreleased music has been announced, NPR reports. It's "an unexpected harvest of new songs, exciting and vital, a continuation of the master’s final work”, the press release said. In big part it is a work of Cohen's son Adam - the father had asked […]
"A reminder that we're not made to do life by ourselves" - Norwegian/Welsh folk-pop duo Firewoodisland says about their newest song 'Hollow Coves' (listen below). PopMatters says their music stands alongside the chamber/indie/folk pop-rock excellence of artists like Bon Iver, Of Monsters and Men, and Passenger. It comes out on band's 2nd album 'Firewoodisland', in 2020.
A session Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash recorded in Nashville in 1969 is set for release in the 15th installment of Dylan’s Bootleg Series, Rolling Stone reports. The 3xCD set 'Travelin’ Thru, 1967 – 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15' compiles their session where they laid down 'Girl From the North Country', jammed with Carl […]
DJ Premier let the word out this week that he is working on a new album of unreleased material from Gang Starr, his iconic collaboration with the late MC Guru, Consequence of Sound reports. Yesterday, we get our first taste of the surprise effort with the song 'Family and Loyalty' featuring J. Cole.
"The album is named after Howard’s sister, who died at 13 after being diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer. It was Jaime who first taught Brittany to write a song, and now she’s writing her most unyielding and vulnerable ones, songs about coming to terms with personal identity, guarded secrets, spiritual and social […]
A pretty context, and, finally, a pretty song. Toni Cornell wrote the song 'Far Away Places' when she was just 12 (she turned 15 on Wednesday). Chris Cornell produced it for his daughter, as one of the last songs he will record before his death in May 2017, Billboard reports. It is featured in a […]
Electro-pop producer and singer KUČKA is the newest artist at the Scottish independent label LuckyMe, and she came there with a present - her new single 'Drowning' (watch below). KUČKA, aka Laura Jane Lowther, has collaborated and co-written with an array of high-profile artists, including SOPHIE, Vince Staples and A$AP Rocky, Fact Magazine reports.
London rapper Dave has won the 2019 Mercury Prize with his debut album 'Psychodrama', a critically acclaimed concept album about mental health, relationships and social conditions. This year the Mercury shortlist was just great: 1975‘s 'A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships', slowthai‘s 'Nothing Great About Britain', black midi‘s 'Schlagenheim', Little Simz‘s 'GREY area', Foals‘ 'Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1', Nao‘s 'Saturn', IDLES‘ 'Joy as […]
Pianist and singer Kodi Lee, who is blind and autistic, has won the America’s Got Talent show competition, season 14. Lee has been the favourite since he appeared at the show, and won after a string of stirring performances at the piano. Billboard reports. The award: $1 million grand prize and a headlining show in Las Vegas, at […]
Singer/rapper Sampa The Great released her first solo debut album "the breathtaking 'The Return'. On it, she manages to fuse the music and cultures of just about all the places she’s lived. There’s traditional South African folk, tribal music, and slang, along with Afrobeat, American hip hop, jazz, soul, funk, R&B, spoken word, and more"; she […]
"I've never really considered myself so much Mr. Guitar. To me, playing guitar was a means to an end. I needed to play something" - former Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore says in a PopMatters interview about himself and his latest project. It's a box set, named 'Spirit Counsel', with three instrumental pieces spanning nearly […]
An excellent interview in the Quietus with Andrew Falkous from the newly reformed UK indie-punks Mclusky*, with a great introduction. Now that they're playing again "it's the first time I haven't lived month-to-month since I was 18", Falkous says, "I basically don't have to worry about money for a while. And I get to go […]
Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard has shared new single '13th Century Metal', a groovy-jazzy song with powerful lyrics - "Every day I am alive I am given opportunity to become that which I admire most of others. I am nonviolent/I am a master student and my spirit will never be stomped out'” (watch the live version below). […]
The production team behind the 'Framing Britney Spears' documentary are reportedly at work on a new film about Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s infamous 2004 Super Bowl Halftime show and the "wardrobe malfunction" which had dire consequences for Jackson, Page Six reports. While Timberlake went on to release a smash album in 2006, 'FutureSex/LoveSounds', Jackson was essentially blacklisted from Viacom-owned networks like MTV and CBS and saw her career all but halted. Jackson was also tacitly banned from playing the Super Bowl again, while Timberlake headlined in 2018. The documentary is "going to be all about the fallout and the suits who fucked over Janet [at] Viacom”.
Trapital appreciates how H.E.R. went from a 9-year-old star to a 23-year-old Oscar winner, completely changing her identity on the way: "At nine she was on Nickelodeon’s 'School Gyrls'. When she was 10, she performed on The Today Show and covered Alicia Keys. At 12, she was a finalist on Disney’s Next Big Thing and performed at the BET Awards. She was first signed by Sony when she was 14. She released music under her real name Gabi Wilson. In 2016, she emerged under the new persona, 'H.E.R.'. There was no public connection to Gabi Wilson. H.E.R. added to the allure by wearing sunglasses at all times. This wasn’t like Puff Daddy or Christina Aguilera developing alter ego-type names. This was a brand new artist".
A pair of prototype Nikes worn by Kanye West during his performances of 'Hey Mama' and 'Stronger' at the Grammy Awards in 2008 has been sold for $1.8 million in a private sale, al Jazeera reports. The sale marks the highest publicly recorded price for a sneaker sale and the first pair of sneakers to top $1 million. The buyer was sneaker investing platform RARES, the leader in fractional ownership, allowing users to invest in sneakers by buying and trading shares in them.
Spotify is set to raise prices for its Premium Duo, Premium Family and Student plans in the UK and Europe from the end of this month for new users and starting from June 2021 for existing subscribers. In the US, Spotify will be raising only the monthly price of Premium Family, the Verge reports.
UK:
Student — £4.99 ➡️ £5.99 (+£1)
Duo — £12.99 ➡️ £13.99 (+£1)
Family — £14.99 ➡️ £16.99 (+£2)
EU:
Student — €4.99 ➡️ €5.99 (+€1)
Duo — €11.99 ➡️ €12.99 (+€1)
Family — €14.99 ➡️ €17.99 (+€3)
US:
Family — $14.99 ➡️ $15.99 (+$1)
Inspired by the 'Sound of Metal' movie, Guardian explores the problem of hearing loss among musicians, which, as it appears, is worryingly widespread. “For a musician, losing your hearing is like losing a hand” - says Steve Lukather of Toto, who developed tinnitus in 1986 and also suffers from hearing loss, but thanks to hearing aids he can continue his career. Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy was diagnosed with tinnitus in 2002, when he left the music business for 18 months only to come back thanks to meditation and the advanced technology of in-ear monitors. It's not only musicians who get it. Eleanor Goodman, deputy editor of Metal Hammer magazine, also has tinnitus - “I used to worry that people would think I couldn’t do my job. But when I started talking about it, I found out that tinnitus is very common in the music industry".
Social media has always been less spontaneous than it appears, but from its inception, TikTok has been even more controlled than competing apps. Company executives help determine which videos go viral, which clips appear on the pages of personalized recommendations, and which trends spill out from the app to flood the rest of the world - Blomberg writes in its article about the mechanisms at work on the popular app.
YouTuber Sabrina explores why lo-fi hip-hop has become the poster child for study music and if it even works. She also tries to teach a machine to generate lo-fi music.
Very charming Jon Batiste gave an interesting speech while accepting his best score Oscar for 'Soul': “God gave us 12 notes. It's the same 12 notes Duke Ellington had, Bach had. It's the same 12, Nina Simone, and all the nominees... I'm just thankful to God for those 12 notes, man, that's so dope".
Concord Music Publishing announced the purchase of Downtown Music Holdings’ entire portfolio of 145,000 owned and co-published music copyrights for an estimated $400 million, Music Business Worldwide reports. Numerous artists are included in the deal: Adele, Aretha Franklin, Beyoncé, Blake Shelton, Bruno Mars, Carrie Underwood, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, the Grateful Dead, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Maroon 5, Marvin Gaye, Mary J. Blige, Mos Def, Mötley Crüe, New Order, Rage Against the Machine, Ray Charles, Santigold, Sam Smith, Stevie Wonder. Also in the songs rights news, financial giant Blackstone is about to acquire Entertainment One Music (eOne Music) $385 million in cash, according to MBW. The eOne music label features artists such as Snoop Dogg, Wu-Tang Clan, the Lumineers, Kaytranada, Cypress Hill, the Game, High on Fire, Tegan and Sara...
Haru Nemuri shares a bit of pop hard-rock with 'Inori Dake Ga Aru'; Illuminati Hotties step into pop-punk chaos on 'MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA'; Musk Ox share beautiful instrumental chamber folk 'Memoriam'; Moonshine shares a bit of afrobeat 'Zaire Space Program | Act I', while the video explores a bit of Congolese tradition; 20-year-old singer-songwriter Uwade shares a simple and pretty 'The Man Who Sees Tomorrrow'; Midwife goes airy on 'Christina's World'; Para One explores the power of dreams on 'Spectre: Alpes'.
