Over 50 love letters from Leonard Cohen to Marianne Ihlen (who inspired 'So Long Marianne' and many other of his songs) have been sold for $876,000 at a recent Christie’s auction. The letters sold individually, with one from December 1960, where he wrote about being “alone with the vast dictionaries of language,” went for $56,250, another, which was from 1964 and had Cohen […]
Nas shared a photo of his new book on Instagram, a children’s book 'I Know I Can', named after one of his biggest hits, All Hip Hop reports. Is was written by Nasir 'Nas' Jones himself along with illustrations by Michael Lukowski, and, according to the rapper, it will be the first of many titles targeting […]
NME reports about this awesome music project that you can walk into, smell, watch, hear and touch. Beyond The Road interprets UNKLE’s ‘The Road: Part I’ and ‘The Road: Part II/Lost Highway’, it's set at the top floor of London’s Saatchi Gallery, where you, well, experience it. "What 'Beyond The Road' offers is a tantalising glimpse into […]
Well, there are actually others that are at least equally good, but U Discover Music has selected these. It goes from tragic Rolling Stones show taped for 'Gimme Shelter' (1970), to this years' 'Linda Ronstadt: The Sound Of My Voice'.
Eddie Vedder met a Dutch woman Valeska Custers in 1993, while performing a show with Pearl Jam in Utrecht. They met up at a cafe following the concert and talked until 3am, at which point she drove Vedder back to his hotel on her brother’s bicycle. He kept her backpack, she got married and had […]
German industrial rockers Rammstein and Icelandic electro band Hatari have recently made music videos about colonialism. Consequence of Sound says Rammstein's 'Auslander' falls short of the mission, with Hatari's 'Klefi/Samed' providing "a stirring example of how to make a politically charged video authentic and meaningful". Watch the videos below.
Grandmaster Flash, one of the architects of hip-hop, accepted the prestigious Polar Music Prize from the hands of His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden on tuesday. Grandmaster Flash acknowledged his mother for encouraging him to study electronics and his father for inspiring him with his impressive collection of records, which he wasn’t allowed […]
Evan Adamson played drums with his favourite band Metallica in Amsterdam, Loudwire reports. He was invited onstage for his 13th birthday, as James Hetfield feigned surprise upon turning around and not seeing Lars Ulrich behind the kit: "Oh god, Lars shrunk. They put Lars in the wash. Told them not to put him in the […]
Netflix shared a new song from recently released fifth season of 'Black Mirror' - a remake of Nine Inch Nails' 'Right Where It Belongs' by Miley Cyrus, Spin reports. Cyrus stars in the episode 'Rachel, Jack and Ashley' as pop singer Ashley O, who performs re-worked, bubbly pop versions of NIN songs. NIN mastermind Trent […]
PJ Harvey has six new tracks - they are a part of the soundtrack to the Channel 4 mini-series 'The Virtues'. She previously released the soundtrack single 'The Crowded Cell' (watch it below). 'The Virtues' tells the story of Joseph, a man coming to grips with his identity as he uncovers repressed memories and seeks revenge, […]
"Even if you're the only person who gets you, that counts. And trust me, you're not the only person who gets you" - experimental artist Debby Friday says in the PopMatters interview. They met at Obey Convention, a four-day experimental festival in Halifax, Canada. PM also talked to Korea Town Acid, a classically-trained pianist who creates […]
Taylor Swift's anti-hate anthem 'You Need to Calm Down' has caused an influx of donations to GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, since it has been released on Friday midnight. GLAAD also started a Facebook fundraiser for fans to support the LGBTQ advocacy work for Pride month, with $1300 as a goal since […]
Bruce Springsteen and the backing musicians from his new album 'Western Stars' play the title song in a bar, with scenes of Bruce driving a vintage Chevrolet El Camino though the West. The song tells the story of an aging actor that was once shot by John Wayne on screen, now he does credit card […]
Consequence of Sound picked stand out tracks of the week, and the No. 1 among them is 'Bored and Razed, new single from what will be The Raconteurs’ first album in over 10 years (coming out next week). It is an ode to Jack White’s native Detroit (lives in Nashville now). A riffy song...
At least 10 artists whose master recordings may have been destroyed in a 2008 fire at a storage facility on the grounds of Universal Studios Hollywood plan to sue Universal Music Group, the LA Times reports. “Claims of the people who have lost their futures in some respects are far more significant than would be […]
Billboard reports about huge numbers in ticket sales for BTS shows at their tour in USA and Europe. The Korean boy-band grossed $44 million from six shows in Pasadena, Chicago and New Jersey in May (two shows in every city), selling 299,770 tickets. It was followed by stadium dates in Sao Paolo, London, and Paris, which […]
Warp Records will take over NTS radio over 21-23 July weekend, with 100 hours of exclusive mixes, live sessions, unreleased music and curated archive recordings. WXAXRXP programme will see Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards Of Canada, Kelela, Flying Lotus, Brian Eno, Battles, Lorenzo Senni, Gaika, Evian Christ, Oneohtrix Point Never and Yves Tumor, among others.
Many music fans in UK are turning to so-called "fake" versions of big music events featuring tribute acts - over the past five years, ticket sales for Glastonbudget, Tribfest and The Big Fake Festival have seen a healthy increase, BBC reports. There are now more than 30 outdoor music festivals in the UK showcasing tribute […]
"This is the sound of a new Radiohead taking shape" - NME writes about Radiohead 'OK Computer' leaks. They combed through 18 hours to find 10 songs worth the while. The Guardian gave the mini-discs 4 out of 5 stars, and said it's "endlessly interesting chronicle of a band reinventing the mainstream by rejecting it".
Paramount is working on an animated movie about Spice Girls, with all five members of the original band giving their voices (Victoria Beckham rarely does anything with the rest). The plot sees the quintet become superheroes, it will be produced by 90s music mogul Simon Fuller, and it is written by Karen McCullah and Kiwi […]
British detectives will be given powers to pursue gangsters who glorify knife and gun violence and stoke tensions through videos posted on social media, targeting them in the same way as terrorists who call for attacks online. Rapper Konan of the duo Krept & Konan wrote an article for the Guardian about how freedom of […]
“I just listen to who [artists] are as people. The most I can do is get inside their minds and see what they’re thinking” - American songwriter Starrah tells Billboard about how she makes songs. She wrote for Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Drake, Halsey, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Camila Cabello, Maroon 5 and Rihanna, some of […]
“I wrote some songs on my own for the last album, but this time it’s all co-writes, Reason being is I want it to be even better than 'As You Were' [first album]. I know my strengths and I know my limitations. I’m an OK songwriter, but I’m a great singer and frontman. I want the […]
"Callahan writes about his happiness, and how much his happiness proves to be enlightening for us... 'Shepherd' feels like his most something album ever—his warmest, his most generous, possibly his most profound... It is a high note, fond and deep and sustained" - Pitchfork says of it's latest choice for Best New Music. Listen to the album at […]
American hard-rockers Baroness have a new album 'Gold & Grey' out, with a new guitarist, and the one to end the color-themed series. Consequence of Sound says the band finds "themselves in a place of great maturity, exhibiting superb musicianship", NME says it's "super-tight, slick and takes sonic soundscapes to the next level entirely", Exclaim's […]
Matthew Murphy of the Wombats gathered a new collective, Love Fame Tragedy, with his famous friends - Joey Santiago of the Pixies, Pearl Jam drummer Matt Chamberlain, and Gus Unger-Hamilton of Alt-J - and made an EP 'I Don't Want to Play the Victim, But I'm Really Good at It', last year. This year they […]
Mashup master Andy Rehfeldt wrote and recorded a jazz version of Slayer's 'Raining Blood', with some Tom Araya's vocals, adding a bit of 'Girl From Ipanema'. Jazz remake with Slayer "playing" it below.
"Some of my fans don't want me to discuss politics in my songs, which makes me want to discuss politics in my songs even more" - Americana singer-songwriter Eilen Jewell says in a PopMatters interview. She has a new single, 'Crawl' (listen to it below), and a new album 'Gypsy', which were heavily influenced by […]
It goes from Hot Chip to Vampire Weekend, it covers a lot of ground, but it lacks some outstanding British music - Slowthai, Little Simz, Dave, Maverick Sabre, and generally some leftfield music - Spelling, The Comet Is Coming, Bibio, Aldous Harding, Holly Herndon, to nema a few, but still it's a good starting point […]
"He is careful and meticulous, malleable and introspective. His sound totters between drill and pop, sometimes hard, sometimes smooth. Eventually, he blurs the lines between them. All of this is on full display on his brutal, powerful debut, 'Die a Legend'" - Pitchfork says about it's latest Best New Music choice, Chicago rapper Polo G's album.
Britney Spears spoke for the first time about the New York Times' documentary 'Framing Britney Spears' saying that she had cried for two weeks after seeing parts of it (she never saw the whole thing), Billboard reports. However, it's the other thing that she has said that speaks volumes about her mental health: "I do what I can in my own spirituality with myself to try and keep my own joy … love … and happiness !!!! Every day dancing brings me joy !!! I'm not here to be perfect … perfect is boring … I'm here to pass on kindness !!!! ... My life has always been very speculated … watched … and judged really my whole life !!! For my sanity I need to dance... every night of my life to feel wild and human and alive !!!".
Brian Rohan, the San Francisco “dope lawyer” who represented rock clients like Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Santana, Aerosmith, Boston, Jefferson Airplane, and Kris Kristofferson, has died at 84, Consequence of Sound reports. Rohan's rock career was opened by Grateful Dead in 1966 when he helped them organize their first album contract with Warner Bros. Several months later in January 1967, the police arrested nearly 100 people on charges of loitering and “being hippies” after the Human Be-In. Rohan brought the case to trial and won, getting all other charges dismissed. Rohan also co-formed the Haight-Ashbury Legal Organization that same summer and often set up a table in front of the band’s house where he offered service to live-in and walk-in clients alike who needed help. A story has it also that Rohan punched David Geffen for having his phone calls for clients ignored, earning the applause of “Jann Wenner, Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt, and Leonard Cohen".
Aphex Twin has partnered with British start-up ODDSound to develop MTS-ESP, a software plugin that allows for the use of nonstandard tunings. Most Western music is created using the 12 Tones of Equal Temperament (12 TET). However, other cultures have used various tunings for millennia, such as the microtones in Arabic maqam, the complex tuning systems of the Indonesian gamelan, or perhaps most famously, the micro-intervals in Indian ragas. MTS-ESP allows users to import, edit existing tuning files, or define tuning systems using its built-in algorithms, Pitchfork reports.
“Humour, optimism and positivity” are the main ideas behind Hell Bent for Metal, a new podcast about heavy metal from a gay perspective. HBFM founder and co-host Tom Dare’s hope was to be visible to other LGBTQ+ lovers of heavy music, and to offer a queer perspective that he felt was missing from a scene that is still affected by homophobia, as the Guardian reports. Titles to some of the episodes describe the content as well as the spirit of the podcast: 'Gay Satanic Love Songs', 'BDSM Gear and Black Metal', 'Horny German Werewolves', 'Anaal Nathrakh’s Adaam Ant Armograaphy', 'Between The Balls, The Wall And Me'...
Nike is suing Brooklyn art collective MSCHF over a pair of "Satan Shoes" that contain a drop of real human blood in the soles, feature an inverted cross, and a pentagram, the Verge reports. MSCHF released 666 pairs of shoes in collaboration with rapper Lil Nas X who wears a pair in his latest video 'Montero (Call Me By Your Name)', where he hangs out with the devil. The trainers, which cost $1,018 a pair, sold out in less than a minute. Nike claims trademark infringement, and believes they’ve harmed its reputation since consumers might think "that Nike is endorsing satanism”. MSCHF is known for stunt products like its 2019 “Jesus Shoes”, a $1,425 pair of white Nike Air Max 97s with custom stitching and 60ccs of water from the River Jordan. Nike didn’t object to the Jesus Shoes. UPDATE: Nike's lawsuit succeeded in halting production.
Paying a minimum per diem of £75 / $120 to each songwriter working with your artist would be a sensible and structure-preserving measure. This per diem would be non-recoupable from the artist share - a group of over 300 songwriters wrote in an open letter to record labels to guarantee them and their peers a per diem payment for collaborating with artists. The reason? Songwriters' work in sessions isn't guaranteed to actually see the light of day, let alone become a hit. Songwriters who've signed up for the Pay Songwriters campaign include Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Stargate, Savan Kotecha, and dozens of others.
Streaming had the biggest impact on recorded music revenue growth last year - 62% came from streaming. Trapital emphasizes three few less discussed but interesting findings from IFPI reports. Vinyl sales grew 23.5% last year - vinyl are collectibles. It's a callback to a time when fans valued owning art. Synchronization - the use of music in media like games, TV, film, ads, podcasts, etc. - declined 9.4%, but that dip came from pandemic-related production delays. Now that vaccinations are up and production is back on, this will bounce back. South Korea's music revenue grew 44.8% last year. It's now the sixth-largest music market (behind the US, Japan, UK, Germany, and France). It's driven by K-Pop, which is driven by the world's biggest musical act of 2020, BTS.
Korean boyband BTS have expressed "grief and anger" in response to deadly mass shootings in Asian-owned spas in Atlanta, Insider reports. A statement from the band - published in Korean and English - refers to discriminatory experiences that made them feel "powerless". The recent spike in the deliberate targeting of Asian parts of the US population is thought to come from people blaming China for the coronavirus pandemic.
Pioneering music producer and engineer Malcolm Cecil has died at the age of 84, Consequence of Sound reports. Cecil produced plenty of big releases in his time, including numerous Stevie Wonder albums, still, he is best known as the co-creator of the TONTO — the world's largest analog synthesizer. Over the years, the TONTO has been used by the likes of the Isley Brothers, the Doobie Brothers, Joan Baez, Quincy Jones, Bobby Womack, Weather Report, Gil Scott-Heron, Diana Ross and many others. TONTO was obtained by Calgary's National Music Centre in 2013, it was fully restored by 2018 and is available for contemporary artists to use.
Xiu Xiu share a new video for smooth 'Sad Mezcalita', featuring Sharon Van Etten; The Joy Formidable share a power-pop 'Into the Blue'; Gojira go tribal on 'Amazonia'; Jesse Malin shares a raaawk'n'raaawl 'The Way We Used To Roll'; Dallas rapper Bobby Sessions delivers some strong verses on 'Cog in the Machine'.
