"Swans is now comprised of a revolving cast of musicians, selected for both their musical and personal character, chosen according to what I intuit best suits the atmosphere in which I’d like to see the songs I’ve written presented" - Michael Gira wrote about new lineup of the Swans. They've made an album - 'Leaving […]
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 […]
"...Sings exquisitely of freedom and transformation and the wreckage of being alive. It establishes her as one of America’s greatest living songwriters" - Pitchfork chooses American singer's fifth album for their "Best New Music" segment. She's better than ever, P. says - "Lana’s pillars are intact before you even hit play: glamour, eccentricity, the absurd, […]
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 […]
"A neon-lit, cinematic love letter to Los Angeles, to romance itself, to the sounds of our youth — that is, the sounds that shaped us" - Stereogum writes about Bat For Lashes' fifth album, 'Lost Girls', inspired by Los Angeles, her ’80s childhood, vampire movies and kids movies. "It is not an aggressively retro-sounding album; […]
Critics don't use the word "exciting" describing Tool's new album, for a reason, and, in general, it comes down to 'Fear Inoculum' being just really good music. So: "This is the most intricate and densely-layered album Tool have yet made" - Kerrang; "a languid and blissful work – one that will richly reward future listens" […]
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!
Invisible Oranges made a selection of metal releases for this week, and what really stands out is new album 'No Rising Sun' by Californian atmospheric tech-metal band WRVTH. "With cleaner breakdowns and grander interstellar harmonic odysseys, 'No Rising Sun' represents a stunning maturation of WRVTH’s sound" - IO says, with Sputnik Music saying - "It is an […]
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.
“Everything we do, we try to do it in a weird way. The whole album is full of weird beats, and just weird shit everywhere" - Tropical Fuck Storm guitarist Gareth Liddiard says about band's new album 'Braindrops'. Brooklyn Vegas says they sound "like planet earth 2019 - larger than than life, totally surreal and […]
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 […]
"One of the most spectacular debut albums in recent memory", Konradsen's 'Saints And Sebastian Stories' is coming out in October, and it culminates a decade of friendship between vocalist and pianist Jenny Marie Sabel (24) and multi-instrumentalist Eirik Vildgren (26). Stereogum has an interview with the Norwegian duo.
Brooklyn Vegan says everybody should give a chance to Philly indie rockers Queen of Jeans with their second album 'If you’re not afraid, I’m not afraid': "These songs have still got a modest indie rock backdrop, which sounds sharper than ever thanks to help from go-to punk producer Will Yip, but there’s nothing modest about […]
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, […]
"The best way to hear 'Like The River Loves The Sea' [is] as the musical complement to the dear friends and the wine, or as the thing that might make us feel a little better while everything comes apart" - Stereogum says about their latest choice for Album of the Week. It's "an album about private rooms […]
California based producer and vocalist Debbie Friday, continues in tradition of merciless industrial-rap experimentalists, and, as Pitchfork puts it, on her new "terrifyingly seductive 'Death Drive' EP, Friday continues to entangle polar Freudian concepts, underscoring the similarities between brutality and desire, love and carnality". Listen to the EP here, and watch the video for 'Fatal' below.
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, […]
English singer-songwriter's new album 'Any Human Friend' is about sex, what it means, what it really is. NME discussed it with her: “As a queer woman I find the idea that sex is penetration really interesting. It’s like, who’s to tell anyone what sex is? It’s so much broader than that. Technically, if that’s the […]
"Just as the physicality of exercise takes one out of the mind, so does the bodily response to the thud, thud, thud of techno. The rattling of the ribcage; the beat of the music in your chest – as if you had the world’s most muscular, obnoxious heart. There’s no space for bad thoughts, doubt or […]
Los Angeles based guitarist and composer Alexander Noice assembled a band of skilled musicians to publish his new album 'Noice', a rich and a demanding listen. PopMatters gave it 9 stars (of 10): "There's Reich-inspired minimalism, highly disciplined math rock, jazz of both the free and fusion types, and art rock that falls somewhere between […]
American rapper Rapsody just released her third album 'Eve', with each song dedicated to one of her heroes -Michelle Obama, Oprah, Egyptian queen Hatshepsut etc. (there's no 'Eve' on the album). Guardian really likes her lyricism and skill - "With a delivery cut from the same cloth as Jay-Z or Lauryn Hill, she’s a storyteller, and counterbalances […]
"Suzi sings a lot about dysfunctional relationships, I sing a lot about fucked up cultural things, and usually there’s humor - a little bit of humor - to it. We all crack each other up too" - L7’s Donita Sparks says in a Spin interview about band's lyrics. The "not-grunge" band started playing in the […]
"As increased loneliness and stress have contributed to declining mental health, people have turned to online communities to seek reassurance and companionship" - and some have found Oddly Specific Playlist, a Facebook group with bizarre playlists, such as songs i listen to when the gang of 15 year olds at the train station are intimidating me or looking for songs that make you feel like a misunderstood villain who is just struggling with past trauma. Slate insists it's not just about the music, but also the community - "people wrestling with heartbreak, trauma, nihilism, low self-esteem, and other personal issues find not just song recommendations but also people who empathize with their struggle".
4,000 people will be allowed to the Brit awards in London next month to enjoy the show and - take part in a government-led research programme into how crowds can safely return to mass-participation events, Sky News reports. Audience members will not have to wear masks or socially distance, but they will, however, have to have proof of a negative Covid test. After the performances by Dua Lipa, Headie One, and Arlo Parks, the audience will have to take a Covid test.
Classical music has always been a natural fit for podcasting. And podcasting, it turns out, might be just as fitting for the concert hall - the New York Times argues in a recent article about classical music's bigger steps into podcasting. Next to the older ones like 'Aria Code' by Rhiannon Giddens (trained in opera, better known for her banjo playing), 'Sticky Notes' by the conductor Joshua Weilerstein, and 'On a Personal Note' about the last gathering on an ensemble before the pandemic, there are new ones breaking ground. 'Mission: Commission' follows three composers over the course of six weeks as they create short pieces. 'Trilloquy' goes outside music and into social issues. 'Beginner’s Mind' is idealistic in its premise - making a better world through music.
Rockfield is known as the world’s first residential studio - a former farm remade to a studio, where Black Sabbath, Queen, Robert Plant, Oasis, Coldplay, Simple Minds, and more made their albums. Directed by Hannah Berryman, documentary 'Rockfield: The Studio on the Farm', is out next month featuring interviews with Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Liam Gallagher, Robert Plant, Chris Martin, and the Ward family (made the studio and still, after 50 years, own both the farm and the studio, in their 80s).
“We were the ones most negatively affected by the war on drugs, and America has turned around and created a business from it that’s worth billions” - Jay-Z said explaining his decision to launch Social Equity Ventures Fund worth $10 million, to support minority-owned cannabis start-ups. America’s legal marijuana market is estimated to be worth $61 billion at the moment and heading all the way up. Rapper-turned-cannabis mogul B-Real of Cypress Hill explains - “everybody and their mama is gonna come and stake a claim. The only thing you can do is to stay ahead”. "I’ve got a built-in marketing mechanism" - late Nipsey Hussle said of his cannabis business, now being overseen by his brother. XXL Magazine insists that hip-hop artists getting paid from the cannabis boom is more than just a side hustle - it's a matter of social justice.
"Music has always acted as a pillar on which teenagers hang visions of their ideal life, with each generation forging a sound representative of their era. This time, the urge to escape is magnified and, in the face of a global pandemic, increasingly unrealistic" - Clash Music looks into slowed + reverb, re-worked songs in a way that features the angst and longing for post-COVID freedom, mirroring the moodiness of its teen creators. Slowed + reverb edits have catapulted into popularity over lockdown, because, as one of its producers, Slowerbed believes - “people might be very bored or sad during lockdown because their freedom is limited. They find their escape in slowed songs which make you relax and get your mind off bad things”.
Flying Lotus shares jazzy/soul songs 'Black Gold' featuring Thundercat and 'Between Memories' featuring Niki Randa, both from anime series 'Yasuke'; Tirzah shares 'Send Me', a sparse song with plenty of tension; Ethel Cain goes from calmness to noise on 'Unpunishable'; Wu-Lu goes for a fresh take on rap-rock on 'Times'; Wolf Alice share an indie-rock smash 'Smile'.
Boomtown festival got cancelled Tuesday morning, days after the arts festival Shambala and the indie rock festival Barn on the Farm announced last week that they would not go ahead. All three cited the financial risk of staging events that could be shut down at a moment’s notice by a reimposition of Covid restrictions. Guardian reports that more than nine in 10 independent events are privately indicating they may not go ahead.
An amazing read in the CBS about Prince and his legacy, remembering him five years after his untimely death in an accidental overdose of painkillers. In July, 'Welcome 2 America', the first full previously-unreleased studio album of Prince material is to be released posthumously. It will be the tenth posthumous Prince album release overall (all the other albums were a mix of re-releases and newly mined gems). 'W2A' is an album about racial inequality and social injustice, recorded more than a decade ago just outside Minneapolis, crackling with relevance today. This album is just a small part of what Prince has recorded and stashed in his vault, which he couldn't come into since he has - forgotten the password. There's roughly 8,000 Prince's recording left unreleased, which means we could get a Prince album every year for the rest of the millennium.
An interesting interview in the Rolling Stone with Bob Dylan manager Jonathan Kaplan, who releases his new book ‘The Magic Years: Scenes from a Rock-and-Roll Life’ May 4. The part about drugs says plenty about his rock years: "Robbie called Eric [Clapton] a 'chicken junkie' because Eric snorted it. He didn’t shoot it in his veins. But he was definitely at loose ends in a way that I hadn’t seen". Kaplan refused to manage Rolling Stones because of drugs: "I had just dealt with Eric, and just the nervousness of trying to get somebody onstage who was wrestling with heroin didn’t seem like it was worth it. Life was too short. I reached that point where I thought, maybe there’s a way to make a living where you don’t have to worry about a call at 3 a.m. because Richard has driven his car into a tree. The only person they call is the tour manager, right?". Slightly better experience with the Band: "Everybody was pretty well behaved from, say, June of ‘69 until June of ’70. Richard [Manuel] wasn’t drinking that much. Levon [Helm] liked sleeping pills, but it didn’t get to the bad spot. Rick [Danko] would snort anything that was put in front of him, but quite frankly, cocaine was not an issue in the late Sixties, and neither was heroin". George Harrison, on the other hand, liked to speed-drive and - meditate!
