Paul Oakenfold has become the first DJ to play a set at the ancient Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire. The trance DJ performed his set at the World Heritage Site on Thursday - a closely guarded secret. Just 50 people were allowed to attend the event which happened as the sun went down, BBC reported. DJ has […]
People don't recognize Paul McCartney on public transport, as he said to the BBC, well, actually, they don't SEE him. On the rare occasion he takes public transport, he says people are often too distracted by their phones to spot him. "If I'm on a train, I see everybody else just looking at their screens," […]
The Aerosmith, 'The Tonight Show' host Jimmy Fallon and his house band The Roots played a version of Boston rockers' classic 'Walk This Way' using only - classroom instruments, Loudwire reports. Like previous editions of this 'Tonight Show' bit, the band, The Roots and Fallon all cram into a small room, making sure to all get into […]
Fans were forcefully removed from a Dua Lipa concert in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday. Some social media users have said people were forcibly removed because they were dancing. Others have also said that it was because they were waving pro-gay rights flags, Daily Mail reported. Videos posted on social media show security workers pulling people […]
Controversial new copyright laws have been approved by members of the European Parliament. The legislation had been changed since July when the first version of the copyright directive was voted down. Critics say it remains problematic. Many musicians and creators claim the reforms are necessary to fairly compensate artists. But opponents fear that the plans […]
The first-known recording by David Bowie has sold at auction in Britain for £39.360, fetching around four times the expected price of £10.000. The recording was made when he was the 16-year-old singer of a band called the Konrads. Bowie left the Konrads shortly afterwards and did not achieve stardom until six years later. Promotional sketches by […]
Drake leads the field of nominees for the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards with 11 nominations. Cardi B follows Drake with 10 nominees, Childish Gambino has six, Travis Scott and Kendrick Lamar have five. Billboard...
Quite a collaboration - Tom Waits sings 'Bella Ciao' on Marc Ribot's new album 'Songs of Resistance 1948 – 2018', out September 14. This is a first new Tom Waits song in two years. It is an anti-fascist Italian folk ballad, Ribot says Waits sounds "exactly like an old ‘partigiano’!”. Listen in on Pitchfork. Video directed […]
The success of grime has helped diverse, diasporic tracks to hit the charts - Guardian says in an article about how it has now opened doors for a host of other genres of black British music. On the one side, there is the tabloid-worrying, tonally dark road rap and UK drill scenes, with artists including […]
Kanye West debuted his highly anticipated eighth studio album, YE, at a star-studded listening party Thursday night at Wyoming ranch. On Thursday, West flew out hundreds of journalists, celebrities and music industry vets to Jackson Hole, Wyoming's Diamond Cross Ranch for a massive listening party that included Chris Rock, Nas, Kid Cudi, Jonah Hill, Lil Yachty and […]
Belle and Sebastian have officially announced a music festival boat cruise - The Boaty Weekender is a four-day “floating festival and luxury cruise around the Mediterranean” that will feature live performances from Belle and Sebastian and other acts selected by the band, plus Q&A sessions, panels, theme parties, and much more. The band will also […]
NME has a list of the best long-running songs in pop, from The Orb and their 'Blue Room', an album length song of 39 minutes and 57 seconds, to Prince's almost Eurovision-short 'Purple Rain' at just 8m42s.
Guardian has a lovely story about strange, lonely and frequently ridiculous life of men who were once in boybands. "I kind of looked like an old lesbian aunt” - that's how Brian McFadden describes himself, post-Westlife when he started solo career, and had to chose his own clothes and haircut. Derek Moran of the Irish band D-Side […]
“The Thai punk scene in the past has only cared about partying. I organised this event because I think punk should be rebellious. I care about freedom and rights.” - one of the organizers of Thai punk concert told Guardian. The show was held earlier this month, marking the fourth anniversary of military rule in the […]
Drake's single 'Nice For What' returned to #1 on the Hot 100 chart, and his 'Yes Indeed' collaboration with Lil Baby came 6th, which earned him the distinction of passing Elvis Presley on an exclusive list - it's Drake's 26th Top 10 entry, one more than Elvis. Madonna maintains the #1 position with 38 Top 10s, […]
YouTube says it has deleted more than half of the "violent" music videos that Britain's most senior police officer asked it to take down - Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has blamed some videos for fuelling a surge in murders and violent crime in London - and singled out drill music. She asked YouTube to […]
Stewart Lupton, frontman of cult New York indie rock band Jonathan Fire*Eater, has died aged 43. The band formed in the early 90s in Washington DC, initially as the Ignobles, before a move to New York where their lineup and name changed, with Lupton taking on vocals. They released their self-titled debut in 1995, and […]
Thursday night, James Blake shared a somber piano ballad called 'Don't Miss It', after surveying responses to the song, the songwriter noticed the frequency with which people described him as an alleged “sad boy.” In a statement on Twitter, Blake speaks out about his frustration with the phrase, which he finds “unhealthy and problematic when used […]
Snoop Dogg made history on the BottleRock Napa Valley festival in Northern California, - he made world’s largest paradise cocktail… The drink was aptly titled 'Gin & Juice', the standout single from his debut album 'Doggystyle'. On stage with Uncle Snoop was fellow rapper Warren G and Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio, who graced the Williams […]
South Korean boy band BTS have become the first K-pop artists to reach number one on the US album charts. For the week ending on 24 May their new album 'Love Yourself, Tear' came in at 135,000 album units - which are based on sales, downloads and streams of albums - pushing the previous weeks' chart […]
The Flaming Lips have launched a new podcast that offers fans the chance to listen to a “song by song” history of the band. Episode one of the new series, titled ‘Socerer’s Orphan’, is available now. The podcast is presented by multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd and the first episode sees the musician talk about ‘Enthusiasm for […]
London is to introduce a contactless payment scheme for buskers in what organisers say is a world first. The project Busk in London will allow street musicians across London to accept payments via cash, contactless cards, wearable technology and chip and pin. Charlotte Campbell, a full-time busker in London, said she had seen a “significant […]
As Canada’s first ‘consent captain’, Tanille Geib can be found wandering most nights of the week through drunken crowds on a dance floor in the western Canadian city of Victoria - – she’s there to help patrons navigate the sometimes murky world of flirting, dating and hooking up in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Geib was […]
Two weeks after Spotify removed music by R Kelly and rapper XXXTentacion from its editorial playlists, in accordance with its new "hateful conduct" policy, the streaming platform will restore music by the latter in response to a backlash from the industry and its own staff. Spotify announced the "hate conduct and hateful conduct" policy on […]
Composer Ramin Djawadi will use local orchestras alongside his own soloists from the United States as he travels across Europe, in a Game of Thrones themed tour. They cover Europe with 23 shows, and USA with 25. The 2018 dates for the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience Featuring Ramin Djawadi will include new music […]
Spotify will pay out $112m in a settlement agreement, following two lawsuits that claimed songwriters hadn’t been paid enough in royalties for their work being streamed on the service. The class action, a combination of the two lawsuits, originally came from David Lowery, an musicians’ rights advocate from the band Camper Van Beethoven, and Melissa […]
“For years I couldn’t even listen to any music, let alone a Nirvana song. When Kurt died, every time the radio came on, it broke my heart” Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl sad GQ in an interview. He adds, “I don’t put Nirvana records on, no. Although they are always on somewhere. I get in the car, […]
Will Smith is returning to music by lending his rap vocals to the official song of the 2018 soccer World Cup, a collaboration with Diplo, reggaeton star Nicky Jam, and Kosovar singer Era Istrefi. The tournament will begin in Russia next month, although fans will likely have to wait to hear Will perform, as the […]
Parliament have released their first studio album in 38 years - a new 23-track, near-two-hour album from the seminal George-Clinton-led funk unit entitled 'Medicaid Fraud Dogg' unexpectedly surfaced on streaming services yesterday. The release of the sprawling album was preceded by the band’s January comeback single 'I'M Gon Make U Sick O'Me' which features Scarface. Clinton […]
Kanye West urged his fans to reconsider how much they invest in using their phones - "Look at your phone as tool not an obligation. Would you walk around with a hammer in your pocket? You would pick up a hammer when you needed it you would never be addicted or obligated to it. Use your […]
10-year-old sensation Nandi Bushell released s drum cover of The Who classic 'My Generation' describing it as - "one of the most difficult covers I have ever made. I think this song really suits my style. Fast, Fun and Rocking with a Punk edge!”. Apart from showing talent and plenty of practice in the video, she’s a bundle of energy and joy behind the kit.
Anti-riot police have arrested Spanish rapper Pablo Hasél who barricaded himself with dozens of his supporters in a university, BBC reports. The rapper was escorted by riot police out of Lleida University's rectorate building, in the northeastern Catalonia region, where he and over 50 supporters had locked themselves in since mid-Monday. Hasél has been sentenced to 9 months in prison for glorifying terrorism and slandering the crown and state institutions over tweets and lyrics that attacked the monarchy and police.
'Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell' docu on the life and career of The Notorious B.I.G. is officially coming to Netflix on March 1, and the streaming service unveiled the first trailer. The documentary is executive produced by the late rapper's mother Voletta Wallace and his friend and collaborator Diddy, both contributing candid interviews to the film.
Quick coronavirus testing could enable nightclubs and theatres to reopen, British premier Boris Johnson said, according to Daily Mail. The PM said "rapid" lateral flow tests "in combination with vaccination, will probably be the route forward", could be used by "those parts of the economy we couldn't get open last year". Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the government would rely on rapid testing and "making people access their own personal vaccination records" on the NHS app, rather than issuing vaccine passports.
Iced Earth singer Stu Block and bassist Luke Appleton have quit the band following founding member Jon Schaffer's arrest for his involvement in the Washington DC riot on January 6, Loudwire reports. "It’s the best decision in many ways for my personal/ professional growth going forward. Time to move on, heal and prosper" - Block wrote on Facebook. Schaffer is in federal custody facing six counts related to the January 6 incident, including "engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building".
Johnny Pacheco, the legendary bandleader who cofounded Fania Records in the 1960s and became one of the leading architects of salsa, has died aged 85, NPR reports. Pacheco found success recording with his band Pacheco y Su Charanga, and also sparked a musical revolution when, in 1964, he met Jerry Masucci and together, they founded Fania Records. Fania soon became known as the Latin Motown, home to superstars like Celia Cruz, Cheo Feliciano and Héctor Lavoe, and the breeding ground for seminal artists in the genre of music that would come to be known as “salsa”, a collision of traditional Cuban song and pan-Latin rhythms with American jazz and funk.
"Cowpunk is a reaction against conventional country, yet embodies some of its distant and deepest traits; likewise, it is also a reaction against punk, yet manifests as one of its purest expressions" - PopMatters writes about the common ground the two seemingly distant genres have found some 40 years ago.
British pianist Joseph Middleton describes the hassle he would have to go through to play a recital in Spain: "Even though I would only spend 24 hours there, my agent would be required to work on a raft of extra paperwork, my accountant to furnish me with documents giving proof of income, and my bank would need to provide me with recent certified bank statements (no pesky home printouts here, thank you). My passport would need to be submitted to the Spanish embassy and held there until the visa was processed, causing problems for when I had to travel for other work". And it's an expensive hassle as well - £600 just for visa costs.
"But frankly, the whole list made me wonder what the hell the Hall Of Fame has been doing all these years, getting a bowling alley fitted? I mean, Iron Maiden? Chaka Khan? Todd Rundgren? Fela Kuti? All still in the queue? What is this, The Great Escape for pop legends?" - NME columnist Mark Beaumont comments on this year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. How it's set-up now - "it’s just making successful rock’n’roll look like a thing of the increasingly distant past".
Guardian jazz music critic combs through "one of the most garlanded and wide-ranging catalogues in the genre’s history" to present Chick Corea's 10 best recordings, from "showboating and sensitive", as the pianist "traversed the distance between experimentation and accessibility".
