U2 fan site ATU2 has uncovered a live recording of the band from the summer of 1979, the oldest known recording of the Irish band, and it features two previously unheard songs. It was on August 11, exactly 40 years ago that U2 played the Dandelion Market in Dublin, and the show was taped by […]
Eddie Vedder performed in Düsseldorf on Sunday, where he included a very special cover of Chris Cornell's song 'Seasons'. It was the first time Vedder had performed the song live and solo, and he dedicated it to Cornell's daughter Lily, saying he heard the news of Cornell's daughter being born on that date 19 years […]
Loudwire made a list of 10 new metal bands "everybody should hear" in 2019, it's these: Ukraine’s Jinjer lead by Tatiana Shmailyuk and her highly impressive guttural vocals; hardcore-infused metal by Knocked Loose; Danish black-gaze by Mol; nu-metalers Tallah; Siberian black-metal by Ulta; UK death-metal by Venom Prison; Dallas/Texas band Creeping Death does not play […]
Talib Kweli, John Legend, Yusuf Islam, and actor Mahershala Ali have vowed to help raise funds for the restoration and preservation of Nina Simone's childhood home. Now a crowdfunding campaign has been launched on Indiegogo to allow members of the public to donate to efforts to renovate the exterior of the house in Tryon, North […]
American singer Fiona Apple will donate all of the 2019 and 2020 earnings from TV and movie placements of her hit single 'Criminal' to the While They Wait, a fund that helps refugees secure life necessities, immigration fees, and legal assistance, CNN reports. “After months and months of reading the news about how my country […]
The Quietus made a selection of the world's most interesting punk and hardcore from the month of June. They obviously like queer Mexican goth punks Heterofobia the most ("infallible combination of descriptors"), but there's more punk gold to be found. Extended Hell is a great name, and New York band's music is just pure hardcore. […]
Lil Nas X has set a new record with his breakout hit 'Old Town Road' - the country-trap tune is now the longest-running Hip Hop song at #1 on the Hot 100, All Hip Hop reports. 'Old Town Road' clocked its 13th week at the pinnacle of the chart, passing the respective 12-week runs for […]
"All of her work smacks of unpretentiousness, and her writing has a direct quality... She’s young sure, but she’s mature" - the Quietus really likes first EP by British MC/singer Arwen. "She’s a songwriter that gets how to employ simplicity. Small feelings made big for an empathetic ear. 'Lemon Love' is an honest and big hearted record". […]
Producer Banshee repurposed vocal snippets discovered in “deep YouTube wormholes” into four glossy club constructions for hit new EP 'Thought Bubbles', out this week, Fact Mag reports.
The Quietus made a collection of best French underground music from the month of June, which includes progressive/psych trio Nour, debut album from rapper Junior Bvndo, anti-capitalist hip-hop-meets-Europop by Jardin, guitar and electronics jam from French Loatian artist Ayankoko, and elegantly evolving drones and pulses by Mondkopf. Listen to it at tQ or Mixcloud.
PopMatters gave Jane Weaver's new album 'Loops in the Secret Society' high mark of 9 (out of 10 stars) - "this music might better be received and approached as a kind of gestalt to which the best response is mere surrender and an acknowledgment that this is a sui generis musical experience, and that on occasion it approaches the […]
'Chansons D'Amour' sounds like some Faith No More ballad, with Patton singing in a Leonard Cohen-esque voice, all with a French vibe. It's coming out on Patton and Vannier's debut album 'Corpse Flower', out in September.
Moodymann is back, five years after his last album, and after spending time outside house music. Judging by Pitchfork review, it'll take time to get the grips on it: "Song by song - even moment by moment - it shows Dixon pulling in multiple directions. The music teems with small details, but it doesn’t feel […]
Cro-Mags were synonymous with 1990s hardcore, having released their last music in 2000, but now they're back with three new songs - 'Don’t Give In', 'Drag You Under' and 'No One’s Victim'. "All three songs find Cro-Mags at their punishing and ruthless best" Rolling Stone says, and frontman Harley Flanagan tells the tracks are “all in […]
A luxury festival VestiVille - with Ja Rule! - was supposed to take place last this weekend, in Kristalpark, Lommel, Belgium, but it was cancelled. The bill boasted appearances from Ashanti, Cardi B, Future, A$AP Rocky, Migos, Meek Mill, and a promotional video for the fest, featuring a terrible Cardi B impersonator, promised guests luxury […]
No need to get into that Swift-Braun feud, there's a broader picture about music ownership that BBC paints. They write about Hipgnosis Songs Fund, that has steadily been buying hit songs and inviting big institutional investors to share in the proceeds. The man who founded it, Merck Mercuriadis, who managed artists including Beyoncé, Elton John, […]
Lil Nas X has opened up about his sexuality on World Pride Day, revealing to his followers on Twitter that he is a member of the LGBTQ community. He posted the video for his song 'C7osure' and urged fans to listen closely to the lyrics - "deadass thought i made it obvious" (well, maybe not that obvious). […]
It's 100 albums, and nobody in the world has heard them all properly. It's interesting to start exploring, even if not all of those are really that great. TH has an audio file for every album, so - press play!
Cave likes Morrissey's music, doesn't like his political views, but he should still have the right to express those. Just separate the two, in order not to ruin the music. "He has written a vast and extraordinary catalogue... original and distinctive works of unparalleled beauty", Nick Cave writes in a new blog post at The […]
Metallica's Kirk Hammett and Rob Trujillo played a cover of Iron Maiden's classic 'Killers' at a recent London show, Loudwire reports. It's a rare occasion to hear Hammett sing, and he can't really sing, neither can Trujillo. Which is exactly why this is so cool - they had the guts to do something they most […]
BBC chooses highlights of this year's Glasto: Sign-language interpretation of Stormzy, horses dancing to Anne-Marie, Lewis Capaldi's entrance with Noel Gallagher saying "Who's this Capaldi fella" on loop, George Ezra's confetti sabotaging Stormzy, Lizzo saying "I love you, you are beautiful, and you can do anything!", Billie Eilish's phone-advice: "If you want to film me, […]
"'Tears of Joy' is a magnetic and loving tribute to his mother, who passed away recently. After years of shadowy raps, MIKE is at his most vulnerable in the face of tragedy, able to turn grief and frustration into an album rich with both musical and individual growth" - Pitchfork reviews new album by New York […]
The University of Newcastle in Australia is offering a PhD in heavy metal, including a scholarship to undertake the program. The degree will be in the study of the social geography of heavy metal culture. The University will host the two fully-funded PhD scholarships (or one international PhD scholarship, it boasts a living allowance of $27,596 AUS) to study either […]
Around 2,000 festival-goers have joined climate change campaigners Extinction Rebellion in a procession across the Glastonbury festival site, paying tribute to indigenous people who have led the fight against global heating. Dr Gail Bradbrook from ER said it is "not a protest. It is not a campaign. It is a rebellion. We are in active […]
"There’s a post-rocky atmosphere to 'Clairvoyant' and some beautifully melodic instrumentals, but it’s rarely a clean or quiet sounding album... They seem more like they could be the next Deafheaven" - Brooklyn Vegan says about the new album by State Faults. Sputnik Music likes it even more: "'Clairvoyant' is thunder and lightning, it’s felt before it’s understood, it’s […]
“I don’t want to just be Stuart up there with my everyday issues. I want to forget myself, to put on clothes and get that other Stuart out the way!” - says poet Stuart McKenzie, the guitar player in the Wild Daughter, performance art rock’n’roll trio, in an interview with the Guardian. Band's frontman James Jeanette, […]
"What impresses me the most about ‘Magic Johnson’ is the way the album flows as a whole. This is what I call a ‘road trip’ album. Just put it on and let it play as you wind down the road" - Jammerzine says about the latest album by Californian rock band the Black Watch. The […]
The latest guest in Fact Magazine's segment Against The Clock is Birmingham’s grime and garage producer Preditah. In ATC a musician, or a band, needs to make a song in no more than 10 minutes. Preditah has been making beats for MCs since he was a teenager, so he was done really fast, and the […]
"The 16-track 'VWETO II' is a foray into simmering, sun-drenched, bass-driven g-funk, seasoned with Muldrow's way-out arrangement sensibilities" Exclaim writes in a review of psychedelic/jazzy funk Californian's newest album (it's officially her 18th, counting in all). E! calls it "a balmy summer soundtrack for the cosmic funk faithful". You can listen to it on YouTube, […]
“The therapy of ‘I don’t want to write a bunch of songs. I want to just make noise’ was great and I found myself immersing myself in old musique concrète and all this anti-music and it was great. I loved it” - Thom Yorke says in a new interview on Apple Music’s Beats 1 about […]
“I remember listening to this song in the car while riding to middle school with my Mom. I think it has one of the strongest melodies ever written" - Jeremiah Fraites of the Lumineers wrote as he released his cover of Nirvana's 'Heart-Shaped Box' on the 27th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death, Spin reports.
Pitchfork did a great job of talking to the owners, bookers, and managers of 36 independent music venues in the US to see how they’ve been doing over the past year, and what their fans can do to help. The thing all of them are waiting for is best described by the Washington, D.C., 9:30 Club operator: "The show’s been booked, tickets have been sold, production is finished, soundcheck is done. The artist is excited and ready to go, and the audience is, too. It’s a magic moment".
Flying Lotus has scored and executive produced the new anime series 'Yasuke', which is set to premiere on Netflix on April 29th, and the trailer is out now. LeSean Thomas, a veteran of 'The Boondocks' and 'Black Dynamite', created and directed the series, while LaKeith Stanfield ('Atlanta') voices the titular character. Yasuke takes its name from the first Black samurai to serve a warlord in Japan.
H.E.R. has released a new video for her song 'Fight for You' from the 'Judas and the Black Messiah' soundtrack. The short clip offers a condensed history of the Black Panther Party and the events that led to the assassination of Fred Hampton, the subject of the new movie.
American DJ and record producer Bassnectar is being sued by two women who allege that he groomed, trafficked, and raped them while they were underage, EDM.com reports. The women are suing for damages, past and future emotional distress, and medical expenses. Last year, the popular EDM musician announced that he was “stepping back” from his music career after an Instagram page called @evidenceagainstbassnectar collected dozens of sexual misconduct accusations against him. Now, two of the women who shared their experiences on that page are taking the musician to court.
Sons Of Kemet share groovey 'Hustle' featuring Kojey Radical; Moist go pop-rawk on 'End of the Ocean'; Wavves share a seemingly feel-good song 'Sinking Feeling' about depression; bedroom pop meets hyperpop on Spill Tab's 'Pistolwhip'; Toronto poet Mustafa offers words of peace and hope on sad, sad 'Ali'; Rejjie Snow's 'Relax' says it all with the title.
'You’re History: The 12 Strangest Women in Music' by Lesley Chow is a look at twelve groundbreaking female artists who remain criminally underappreciated, including Neneh Cherry, Janet Jackson, Nicki Minaj, Azealia Banks, Kate Bush, Sade, and TLC. "I wanted to come up with a different value system, celebrating music which has a hot, immediate effect on your body - seizing your impulses as much as your conscious mind" - as the author had told in the Music Journalism Insider interview.
Rolling Stone renewed their list of great one-of albums by artists who published their debut LP and were promptly derailed by death, internal band politics or the simple desire to put something down and never pick it back up. Here's the top 10:
10. Madvillain - 'Madvillainy'
9. The Postal Service - 'Give Up'
8. Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers - 'L.A.M.F.'
7. Buena Vista Social Club - 'Buena Vista Social Club'
6. Minor Threat - 'Out of Step'
5. The Modern Lovers - 'The Modern Lovers'
4. Jeff Buckley - 'Grace'
3. Lauryn Hill - 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'
2. Derek & the Dominos - 'Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'
“My heart breaks for my people of Ethiopia as innocent civilians ranging from small children to the elderly are being senselessly murdered and entire villages are being displaced out of fear and destruction” - The Weeknd wrote on Instagram announcing his donation of $1m in food aid to Ethiopia, amid the ongoing conflict in the country’s Tigray region. This $1 million will provide 2 million meals through the United Nations World Food Program, CNN reports. The singer was born Abel Tesfaye in Canada to Ethiopian immigrant parents, Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye.
A group of Cuban musicians has released a rap/reggaeton song 'Patria y Vida', which has been viewed more than four million times on YouTube, blasting the dire economic situation on the island, BBC reports. The title 'Fatherland and Life' plays on one of Fidel Castro's favourite revolutionary slogans "Fatherland or Death". The official Havana has released its own pro-revolutionary song in response, an electro samba 'Patria o Muerte por la Vida' ('Homeland or Death for Life'), which got over 900 thousand views on YouTube.
