South Korean pop boy-band BTS has reportedly already sold over 2,6 million copies of it's new album 'Map of the Soul: Persona'. The septet’s upcoming album is said to have achieved this feat within five days of going on-sale March 13 for pre-orders ahead of its release on April 12, Billboard reports.
Fyre Fest merchandise is being auctioned to pay back part of the $26 million debt accrued by the event's founder Billy McFarland. "We have an assortment of the ‘real thing’ Fyre Festival-branded tee-shirts, sweatpants, sweatshirts, hats, wristbands and medallions,” stated a spokesman for the United States Marshals Service’s Manhattan office. “We know that there is […]
"Aa collection of exquisitely assembled songs that appear delicate from a distance before revealing a close-quarters core strength... A triumph" - The Observer reviews Cinematic Orchestra's fourth album 'To Believe', published for electronic music powerhouse Ninja Tune. Lister to the song 'A Promise' here.
Scientists have revealed that playing hip-hop music while making cheese results in it having the ‘funkiest’ flavour. According to a study conducted by Swiss cheesemaker Beat Wampfler and a team of researchers from the Bern University of Arts, while hip-hop made it ‘funky’, cheese made whilst rocking out to Led Zeppelin or relaxed with Mozart […]
Philip Anselmo and his band The Illegals were slated to play two shows in New Zealand later this month, but in the wake of the recent massacre in the country, the gigs have been canceled due the Pantera former singer's past “white power” incident. In January 2016, Anselmo yelled "white power" and gave a Nazi […]
Singer and producer Andre Williams has passed away at the age of 82. The rhythm ‘n’ blues legend started his career in America in the 1950s. He found a home in Detroit's R&B scene and signed with the R&B label Fortune Records as a teenager. Williams fronted the 5 Dollars and issued hit solo tracks […]
Australian singer/songwriter Dean Lewis was named Apple Music's newest Up Next artist, after 6LACK, Juice WRLD, H.E.R., Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Khalid and Daniel Caesar had the honour. His debut album, 'A Place We Knew', is coming out on Friday, Billboard reports. Listen to his song 'Be Alright' here.
Grime music faces significant challenges because of discrimination against urban acts - despite the success of Stormzy, Dave and Skepta, it is often difficult for grime acts to play live, UK's members of parliament said in a report. Licensing authorities and police have been known to cancel gigs at short notice, affecting musicians' ability to […]
"This is the new face of scenes in 2019. Tiny enclaves of like-minded locals sharing a mutual, hermetically sealed party vibe all their own, caught forever at the initial spark stage of a national explosion that never comes... The mystique and magic of bubbling under, undiscovered, can last forever in a place like this, unspoilt […]
California rapper Juice WRLD opened at Number One on the Billboard 200 with his second album 'Death Race for Love'. The album has sold 165,000 total copies in its first week of release, including 120,000 streaming equivalent albums (SEAs), to give Juice WRLD his first Number One album after two separate trips to the Top […]
Praise the universe! - the London electro-jazz band The Comet Is Coming have a new album out, 'Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery'. It is their second full length, next to two EPs, not to mention awesome Sons of Kemet and Shabaka Hutchings and his Ancestors, band's saxophonist's other projects. "This is hardcore […]
MySpace accidentally lost all the music uploaded between 2003-2015 in a server migration, losing over 50 million songs from 14 million artists. MySpace still boasts some 50 million users every year. NME...
“We have to separate the man and his humanity and his faults and failures ... from his genius,” said Riser, a Motown Records alum who wrote the orchestra parts and directed the strings and woodwind musicians for R. Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly'. James Walker Jr., an Atlanta-based entertainment attorney who has represented Rick […]
Progressive metal act Meytal made a cover of the Eagles classic 'Hotel California', due on April 5 on their new album 'The Witness'. The instrumentation is heavier and experimental the vocal (not too much) dramatic, and the song itself got a new touch. Listen to the song on SoundCloud. Band's drummer Meytal Cohen is famous […]
The guitarist Dick Dale, the pioneer of surf rock, affectionally known by many as 'The King of the Surf Guitar', has died age 81. Dale developed his distinctive sound by adding to instrumental rock influences from his Middle Eastern heritage, along with a “wet” reverb sound and his rapid alternative picking style. His most famous […]
"The Japanese quartet devote their second album to enthusiastic, maximalist pop with a bluntly feminist message... Chai is a band who screams yes to joy, and 'PUNK' is a record written in earnest about being yourself, loving your friends, and not caring about what anyone else thinks about the way you live your life... If […]
Guardian picks out Doncaster-based 28-year-old Skinny Pelembe in their One to Watch section: "On his latest single, 'No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish', this unexpected mix of styles comes to the fore. Referencing the racism of 1950s British boarding houses, as well as Beardmore’s own experiences of xenophobia, the single also nods to London’s broken […]
Cherry Glazerr's singer, main songwriter, and guitar player Clementine Creevy has made a big rock star album in 'Stuffed and Ready' and she's having a blast playing sold-out shows, so PopMatters made an interview with her. "I wanted to make an album of studio rock bangers. I could see them being played loudly in big […]
Beto O'Rourke now is a suit-clad american presidential candidate, but years ago he was a skateboarding punk rocker playing in a band Foss with Cedric Bixler-Zavala, who went on to become lead singer of At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta. Back then O’Rourke also used to be a hacker - in the 1980s he […]
Guardian present new Jamaican reggae potential - Koffee: "She might be small, but the impact that Koffee has made on Jamaica and its reggae scene is mighty. She won single of the year at the Jamaica Music Industry Association awards for 'Toast', which has amassed more than four million streams on Spotify. 'Toast' is typical […]
The follow-up to last year’s 'Oxnard', 'Ventura' is due out April 12, and it features appearances from André 3000, Smokey Robinson, Brandy, the Late Nate Dogg, and more. Pitchfork...
From Drastus' monumental second LP to Mystifier's righteous comeback, to Venom Prison's evolution towards death metal infamy, and enthralling debut full-lengths from Devil Master, VLTIMAS, Heaume Mortal, and more, PopMatters' MetalMatters for march highlights a bounty of subversive brilliance.
BBC reports from The Queens of Art tour, which travels across eight UK cities and towns, and claims to be the first UK tour to feature a female line-up of rappers, musicians and DJs for every date.
"The UK duo’s ambitious second album has an alluring and unclassifiable sound. Rarely has a hybrid of new wave and experimental electronic music led to such an introspective place" - Pitchfork. Listen to it here.
Two decades ago, the Afghanistan National Institute of Music would have been unthinkable, now there's an unique Afghan all-female orchestra, formed five years ago. Zohra is now visiting the UK for the first time, and BBC writes about ANIM that now in Kabul teaches music skills to some 250 young people, both male and female. […]
On the 40th anniversary of Gloria Gaynor’s 'I Will Survive' topping the charts – and as the UK blunders towards its own acrimonious divorce, The Guardian makes a list of 20 greatest breakup songs, from Gang Starr's 'Ex Girl to Next Girl' to Roy Orbison's 'It's Over'.
Michael Jackson's daughter Paris took to Twitter to let the world know that she doesn't feel it's her place publicly speak out about the documentary or abuse claims against her dad. "There’s nothing i can say that hasn’t already been said in regards to defense... But that’s not my role" (Billboard). Meanwhile, The Children’s Museum […]
"Both Karen O and Danger Mouse have accomplished many of the things that artists might set out to accomplish, and both have reached an age when many musicians grow complacent. How wonderful it is then to report that 'Lux Prima' sounds vibrant and fresh. 'Lux Prima' is Latin for 'First light'. The album delivers on […]
An excellent mixture of pop, hip-hop, folk, and electronic elements, it's a continuously cherishable sequence that once again cements Dido as a singular artist... 'Still on My Mind' is another rich outing for Dido in every way. At its peak, it provides awe-inspiring combinations of singer/songwriter radiance and novel sonic manipulations and juxtapositions - PopMatters […]
In the 1970s and 80s Mogadishu's airwaves were filled with Somali funk, disco, soul and reggae. Musicians rocking afros and bell-bottom trousers would perform at the city's trendiest nightclubs during the height of the country's golden era of music. Somali Night Fever tells the story of the people keeping Somali music alive, including two friends, […]
Los Angeles-based singer Lady Blackbird is releasing her debut album 'Black Acid Soul', a pop piano-jazz-sounding one. The New Cue says Lady Blackbird's "arresting voice breathes new life into old jazz moves. It’s powerful stuff".
Netflix documentary 'Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell' is "the first to successfully sidestep the quicksand of murder mystery, and focus instead on what Wallace accomplished in life", Guardian writes in a review. Also, "it’s the contribution of Wallace’s mother, though, that’s particularly significant. Firstly in the form of family photos and stories illustrating a childhood spent between their Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant and her family’s home in Trelawny, Jamaica". And - "there’s a detailed account of how Biggie came to dominate the local crack cocaine economy. These mid-90s, north-west Brooklyn specificities are fascinating and relevant; to Biggie’s art, certainly, but possibly also to his death".
Italian metal band Lacuna Coil joined a wide array of Italian acts in showing support to local venus - by standing silent, Loudwire reports. The group announced "L'Ultimo Concerto" at the Alcatraz-Milano stage, and while some fans may have expected a performance, Lacuna Coil have just stood still. It was a form of protest as part of an initiative pointing out the importance of these essential clubs for developing artists and contributing to the country's art and economy.
The prospect capacity re-opening in the largest U.S. markets with over 75% capacity was “within sight”, Live Cation's CEO Michael Rapino told Music Business Worldwide. He said that “a clear outline to a 75% to 100% capacity for outdoor U.S. events in 2021 was looking likely to be green-lit”. Good news from the UK as well - festival organisers are enjoying record ticket sales after the government’s announcement of its roadmap out of lockdown in England, Guardian reports.
A total of 11 women have come forward to accuse Atlanta scene staples T.I. and his wife, former Xscape member Tiny, of drugging and sexually assaulting them, according to the New York Times. None of the couple’s accusers know each other, but many describe sexual abuse, forced ingestion of illegal narcotics, kidnapping, terroristic threats and false imprisonment.
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste won best score - motion picture at 2021 Golden Globe Awards for their collaborative work on Pixar's 'Soul'. In other music-related Golden Globes news, 'Io Sì (Seen)' from 'The Life Ahead', written by Daine Warren and performed by Laura Pausini, won Best Song, Chadwick Boseman won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', and Andra Day won Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture for 'The United States Vs. Billie Holiday'. The full list of winners and nominees - here.
Morgan Wallen makes Billboard history with his latest release 'Dangerous: The Double Album' as the only country album to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1 in the 64-year history of the Billboard 200. Previously, Garth Brooks held the top of Billboard 200 for six weeks in 1992 with 'The Chase'. 'Dangerous' earned 89,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 25 (down 5%), Billboard reports.
New documentary 'Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché' looks and the life of the late singer of iconic 1970s UK punk band X-Ray Spex, the first woman of colour in the UK to front a successful rock band. "Poly Styrene... introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism... the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements" - the press statement reads.
'Bad Dreams' is the stand-out song from Indigo Sparke's new album 'Echo'; NoName shares funk/jazzy groove-banger 'Rainforest'; Hannah Jadagu shares some happy melancholia with 'Think Too Much'; The Armed go raaawk on 'All Futures'; Francis of Delirium share rock'n'cool song 'Let It All Go'.
Music streaming increased 13.4% in 2020 in the US compared to 2019, generating $10.1 billion last year compared to $8.9 billion in 2019, according to RIAA. Music streaming is accounting for 83% of the total revenue of the industry now. Vinyl sales have increased a whopping 29.2% to $619.6 million, compared to $479.5 million in 2019. Streaming has driven the industry to grow for the fifth consecutive year, with revenues increasing 9.2% in 2020, generating $12.2 billion in total.
