Guardian writes about K-pop fans, desperate to get close to band members, who buy expensive airline tickets and then abruptly cancel their flight once they have taken photos of their idols. Korean Air has documented 35 such cases which has prompted them to increase refund penalties for late cancellations. But, isn't there some good marketing […]
It's silver, its unbuttoned, and it actually makes sense with the cheezy song. And is it silver cowboy boots?
“There was no way that I was going to get enough attention being a rock artist in 2018 unless I did something to get people to pay attention” - 29-year-old Jered Eames says in his first interview after he had duped venues across Europe by creating fake industry backing and buzz around his band Threatin. He […]
Every sensible person should aspire to this precise degree of celebrity: Goldblum is rich enough not to have to worry about money again, yet he can still wander into a Trader Joe’s without a security detail. Goldblum also enjoys an offscreen hobby as an accomplished jazz pianist - Pitchfork reviews his debut album.
Over the past several months, dozens of rap shows have been canceled by authorities, and russian president Vladimir Putin, who has been known to breakdance, hosted a roundtable on the discussion where he recognized the power of the genre. "If it is impossible to stop, then we must lead it and direct it," Putin reportedly said […]
The new Queen biopic 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is now the highest-grossing musician biopic of all time - the film surpassed $600 million at the global box office. It has outperformed previous music biopic record holder 'Straight Outta Compton', as well as breakout hit 'The Greatest Showman'. Deadline...
Peter Murphy of Bauhaus was ejected from his concert at Nalen in Stockholm, Sweden after expressing aggressive behavior, Slicing Up Eyeballs reports. One of the videos filmed at he venue shows Murphy kicking a stage light and throwing a bottle into the crowd. Another video below appears to show Murphy being pinned to the ground by security following […]
When Taylor Swift performed at the Los Angeles Rose Bowl venue on 18 May, fans could watch rehearsal clips at a special kiosk. What they didn’t know was that a facial recognition camera inside the structure was taking their photographs and cross-referencing the images with a database held in Nashville of hundreds of Swift’s known stalkers. While […]
“I do not support the current government in Israel, yet do not accept that my decision to play in the country is any kind of tacit support for that government’s policies. Nor do I condone the atrocities that you have described; nor am I ignorant of them.” Nick Cave wrote in his letter to Brian […]
Albums by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Courtney Barnett, Dead Can Dance, The Presets, Troye Sivan and 80 more are nominated for the Australian Music Prize. The prestigious annual honor is modeled on Britain's Mercury Music Prize and Canada's Polaris Prize and is decided by a music industry panel, whose chief goal is to identify […]
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams have been told to pay $5m in the long-running copyright case over hit song 'Blurred Lines'. Legal battle began in 2013, when Marvin Gaye's family claimed 'Blurred Lines' copied Gaye's 1977 hit 'Got to Give It Up'.
Radiohead, Roxy Music and Janet Jackson will join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year, alongside Def Leppard, The Zombies, Stevie Nicks and The Cure. The seven inductees are the biggest intake since 2004, and bring the total number of acts in the hall to 330. Nicks was already a member as part […]
“It’s been about a year now,” Richards told Rolling Stone of his decision to cut back on drinking. “I pulled the plug on it. I got fed up with it”, although not completely - he still enjoys “a glass of wine occasionally, and a beer”. His fellow guitarist Ron Wood told that Richards in now “a pleasure to worth […]
Eight nominees in the category Album of the year: H.E.R. - 'H.E.R.', Brandi Carlile - 'By the Way, I Forgive You', Drake - 'Scorpion', Various Artists - 'Black Panther: The Album', Kacey Musgraves - 'Golden Hour', Post Malone - 'Beerbongs & Bentleys, Cardi B - 'Invasion of Privacy' and Janelle Monáe - 'Dirty Computer'. Grammy.com has full list of nominees.
“The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character... Her dialogue is as accurate as I could make it but she is not intended to offend! She is just supposed to be an authentic character and not all characters in songs and stories are […]
Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton is free after serving seven years in federal prison on drug charges. At trial in Florida in 2011, federal prosecutors showed the jury audio and video recordings of Banton that they said proved he was involved in a deal to buy 11 pounds (nearly 5 kilograms) of cocaine for $135,000. He […]
It's mostly solo women and only one band in the top 10 artists nominated for BBC Sound of 2019. Names and description: Grace Carter Searingly personal, piano-led pop Silence Flohio Raw, punchy, poetic rap Wild Yout Dermot Kennedy Folk roots with a hip-hop influence Power Over Me King Princess Queer pop queen-in-waiting 1950 Mahalia Casual, […]
On Kanye West: Kojey Radical: I feel conflicted. I’ve got Yeezys on right now. The problem is, for all the contribution he’s made to music, he’s gotten to the point now where he just likes the conversation. Jenny Hollingworth: I don’t like it when people censor others’ opinions by saying they’re crazy – it’s a bad way of […]
Ireland is currently sparring over its holiday classic, The Pogues’ 'Fairytale of New York', namely its use of a word "faggot". It’s important to remember that the word itself is ensconced in the character and speech of a particularly volatile character within the song, and is not a declaration from singer Shane MacGowan. Consequence of […]
Sam Fender has been announced as the winner of the Brits critics’ choice award. Figures in the media and music industry are asked to nominate artists they believe will enjoy future success but who haven’t yet scored a UK Top 40 album. Fender specialises in energetic, glossy garage-rock topped with his soulful vocals, the lyrics tending towards […]
Billy Corgan, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Edgar Wright, Pearl Jam, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Neil Gaiman, R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch, New Order’s Peter Hook, the Cure’s Lol Tolhurst, Meredith Graves, Superchunk, Thursday, the Afghan Whigs’ Greg Dulli, and more have paid tributes to Pete Shelley, Buzzcocks co-founder and vocalist. Pitchfork...
Ghostface Killah and Czarface (Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric) have announced a new studio album 'Czarface Meets Ghostface'. It arrives on February 15, 2019. The record was produced by the Czar-Keys (7L & Jeremy Page). Listen to the new song 'Iron Claw' on Pitchfork.
A lot in between Deafheaven's 'Ordinary Corrupt Human Love' and Sleep's 'The Sciences'. Loudwire...
The council of Chelsea and Westminster will next year introduce public space protection orders, which make predefined activities – in this case, busking – prosecutable in specific areas. Buskers say high street’s biggest problem is councils that don’t understand busking’s role in the community creating uncertainty for those who practise it. Guardian...
American radio station Star 102 banned christmas song 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' because it's seen as unsuitable in the #MeToo era. The band has reignited a debate about the song, and raised questions about other potentially questionable Christmas classics. A former English teacher wrote a feminist defence of the song in a viral Tumblr post, suggesting the […]
Cat Power's 'Wanderer' comes in 50th, Mitski's 'Be The Cowboy' first on Consequence of Sound's Top 50 albums for the year 2018.
A radio station in Cleveland has decided to stop playing the popular holiday song 'Baby, It’s Cold Outside', citing listener concerns about predatory undertones in the lyrics. The song, which was originally written by Frank Loesser in 1944, is a call-and-response duet in which a man tries to convince a woman to stay the night. “I […]
The UNESCO has added reggae music to its list of international cultural treasures worthy of protection and promotion. The UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation said: “[Reggae’s] contribution to international discourse on issues of injustice, resistance, love and humanity underscores the dynamics of the element as being at once cerebral, sociopolitical, sensual and spiritual”. Rolling Stone...
When 6ix9ine got to jail, he was immediately Gangsta-checked by the Crips, what got him transferred to a new prison facility, All Hip Hop reports. This in not the only trouble he got in - TMZ reports a missed unofficial event scheduled for Howard University Homecoming weekend in October could cost 6ix9ine half a million dollars. Another […]
Madison Square Garden Company started a project in Las Vegas which, when finished, will be the most up-to-date concert venue in the world. It will host 157,000 ultra-directional speakers, a three-and-a-half-acre spherical ultra-high-res video screen and vibrating floors in a enormous dome built from scratch. Should be open for New Year's eve in 2020. Photos […]
Experimental Indonesian metal Senyawa are releasing their new album ‘Alkisah’ on 44 different independent labels around the world (release dates vary from Feb 19 to Feb 21). Labels span from the experimental duo’s hometown of Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to the United States, United Kingdom, EU and other Asian countries, the New York Times reports. Senyawa confirmed the album release will vary by label, each with their own “different design and packaging, with multiple remix/reinterpretations by various artists”. Senyawa said that the concept of releasing through multiple labels would decentralise the “former hierarchical system of music distribution” and would allow shipping distances and cost to be reduced, and empower “smaller scattered powers to grow and connect”.
Đjorđe Balašević, a Serbian folk-pop singer who remained widely popular throughout the former Yugoslavia after the wars of the 1990s, has died aged 67 after contracting the new coronavirus, ABC reports. Balašević started his musical career in late 1970s, and, as an anti-nationalist and a pacifist during the wartime-era, he remained popular in ex-Yugoslav states, filling up concert halls after the wars. In 1998 he was named UN's Goodwill Ambassador. Balašević is survived by his wife, three children, and his music.
The third album by East London rapper "depicts honest tales of London through the art of true lyricism, a tradition that will never die out" - NME writes about Ghetts' 'Conflict of Interest', an album rich in lyrics and collaborations (and minutes - it's over an hour long). Alexis Petridis says the album "feels like the work of an artist who’s in it for the long haul rather than short-term rewards". Clash Music puts it simple: "His strongest album to date, and one of grime’s true classic".
Billboard examines the financial side of Morgan Wallen's scandal, estimating that Wallen's label, Big Loud, is currently making more than $1.5 million a week from sales and streaming of his album 'Dangerous'. This record has been the #1 album in the US for five weeks, two of those weeks coming after his racial slur. Officially, Big Loud has suspended Wallen, but his fans are coming to his defense, so the sales of that double album have gone up. Country star Maren Morris sums it up pretty good: "I think that your fans are a reflection of you and what you’re about. And you can’t control a human being, but you absolutely can let them know where you stand", meaning it's a change that'll take time.
Music mogul Irving Azoff has acquired a majority interest in Beach Boys' music, their master recordings, a portion of their publishing, the Beach Boys brand, memorabilia, an archive of photos, videos and interviews, for an estimated $100 million to $200 million, Rolling Stone reports. Azoff, manager of the Eagles and Jon Bon Jovi, takes control over everything from Beach Boys' social-media accounts to their names, likenesses, and life stories. Azoff's company Iconic will be overseeing Beach Boys their work even after the remaining members die.
A year ago Pop Smoke was shot and killed at age 20, as he was preparing to release his debut album. Although he died, his music reached high levels in the meantime, as Independent sums it up. Last summer, the rapper’s breakout 2019 single 'Dior' became fuel for the Black Lives Matter movement. His posthumous single 'What You Know Bout Love' reached the top spot on the US rhythmic radio chart last month. Song 'For The Night' is now a staple among the top five played songs on urban radio stations. His posthumous album 'Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon' has topped the Billboard 200 twice...
1980s pop singer Glenn Medeiros was often asked for sex by music industry figures in return for help with his careers - as he has told the Celebrity Catch Up podcast. Medeiros said he saw these offers "everywhere", and he refused them all, but other artists, as he said, would accept them: "I had friends who specifically said, 'I am going to be moving in with this person because this person is going to be helping me with my recording career. The person's attractive and I like them anyway, so it's OK"". Medeiros now runs a school in Hawaii.
Miles Cooper Seaton, a founding member of the experimental rock band Akron/Family, has died aged 41, Stereogum reports. Seaton took a multi-instrumental role in Akron/Family releasing six albums with the band in the 2005-2013 period, continuing to make experimental music under his own name in the following years.
Perseverance, the largest, most advanced rover NASA has sent to another world, touched down on Mars Thursday, carrying for the first time a small microphone that will have recorded the sounds of the descent and the martian environment itself. NASA doesn't really make audio-recordings - “in the space business we don't do a lot with microphones and sound, since most of our research is done in a vacuum”, so the microphone was designed by Jason Achilles Mezilis, a Los Angeles–based rock musician, composer, and lifelong space enthusiast. The mic is scientifically focused, and it sits in an instrument called SuperCam to help study what happens to rocks when they get zapped with a laser. It could also record ambient sound. Wired brings the amazing story.
Prince Markie Dee, a member of the pioneering hip-hop group the Fat Boys, died aged 52 on Thursday, a day before his birthday, Rolling Stone reports. Together with Human Beatbox and Kool Rock Ski he launched Fat Boys in 1983, becoming one of rap’s premier pop culture ambassadors. The Roots' Questlove said “they were figuratively (no weight jokes) the biggest act in hip hop at some point in time. Like the first act that showed this culture might have some real international legs to it". After the band's breakup, he wrote and produced pop songs for the likes of Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey under his birth name Mark Morales.
