Ricky Gardiner, a guitarist for Iggy Pop and David Bowie, has died aged 73, Pitchfork reports. Gardiner is best known for his close collaboration with Iggy Pop, with whom he co-wrote 'The Passenger'. In addition to Iggy Pop’s 'Lust for Life', Gardiner was a significant presence on David Bowie’s Low and Tonight.
"'Mr Morale & the Big Steppers' is absolutely crammed with lyrical and musical ideas" - Alexis Petridis writes reviewing the new album by Kendrick Lamar. Clash Music is equally enthused: "One of his most profound, complex, revelatory statements yet, a double album fuelled by sonic ambition, the will to communicate, and Kendrick’s staunch refusal to walk the easy path". Consequence hears "another bonafide masterpiece", whereas NME says "this album is as much about struggle as it is freedom, and what a beautiful sentiment that is".
A great essay about life lessons from Fugazi: "The band that I believed knew more about how to live a better, more just, more punk life, were vegan, even on tour, eating veggie burgers out of their van in between shows across the country... Veganism involves questioning the dominant worldview, doing things for yourself, and sticking to principles. Being vegan means saying “fuck you” to a system even many meat eaters know is wrong — and that’s punk rock, even if there’s no crashing drums and searing guitar involved".
"This was a savage festival, a free-for-all, beyond chaotic. The survivors in the film, they gave a good picture of what happened that night, and they were all fortunate they didn’t die or get seriously injured" - film-maker Charlie Minn says to LA Times about his documentary 'Concert Crush', on the Astroworld disaster in November that left 10 concertgoers dead at the Travis Scott show. Minn reconstructs the night’s events from phone footage and interviews with survivors - "with 50,000 people there and everyone on their phone, imagine how much footage is still out there". However, High Snobiety points out Minn was previously accused of sensationalizing tragedy and exploiting trauma for profit.
Groups representing songwriters, music publishers and record labels have reached an agreement about mechanical royalty rates in the US paid to songwriters for sales of physical music, as well as downloads, MBW reports. Since 2006, the mechanical rate paid to publishers/songwriters for music purchased on a physical disc (or a download) has been set at 9.1 cents per track. The new settlement proposes a 32% increase to that current royalty rate, to 12 cents per track. The agreement also provides that these songwriter royalties will increase automatically each year of the rate period in connection with the inflation.
Adam Neely gives a detailed breakdown of all of their last West Coast tour expenses in his latest video. He also explores why it is so risky to tour as an independent artist in the year 2022 and why they do it anyway. However, it did almost cost them $17,000. A great video, almost terrifying at some points.
Regine, who claimed to have invented the term “discotheque” as she ran a nightclub empire that stretched from Paris to Los Angeles, died Sunday at 92, Vulture reports. Regine opened her first nightclub in Paris’s Latin Quarter in the 1950s, installing turntables and disc jockeys instead of the usual juke boxes. Thus was born a new format, she claimed, the “discotheque.” Her venues included “Regine’s” in New York in the 1970s, and others in Miami, Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles. At its height, her nightlife empire had 22 venues.
Music YouTuber Rick Beato made a list of the top 20 strangest guitar solos of all time, based on a few criteria - weird harmony, unusual sounds, and odd techniques. Included on the list are Nirvana, The Police, Rush, Judas Priest, Van Halen, Allan Holdsworth (very high on the list), and Jeff Beck at the top.
The Face asks whether Coachella is being transformed from a festival into a platform: "As hundreds of thousands influencers and festival-goers flocked to Indio, California for the festival over the past two weeks, an abundance of content surrounding everything except the music flooded the internet. The veil of manufacturing fun and doing things solely for the internet has lifted, begging the question: has Coachella transformed from music festival to content festival with music in the background? And what does that mean for festival style?".
"The best punk movies are stories that tap into the spirit of the time through imagined characters and invented situations. A biopic can’t help treating its protagonists as exceptional figures—stars commanding the stage of History—in a way that undercuts the iconoclastic, 'no more heroes' spirit of punk" - the Simon Reynolds writes introducing his best punk movies list, which goes from "the first punk movie" 'Jubilee' to 'We Are the Best!' by Lukas Moodysson.
Experimental music newsletter Tone Glow selects 31 albums and songs from the first quarter of 2022. An interesting selection of albums by ASP Doze, Voivod, Toshimaru Nakamura, Bengt Berger, Matches and others. Check the full list here!
An interesting angle on music-making by Paddy Considine from Riding The Low in The New Cue interview - "It’s purely my own self-expression. It’s completely unfiltered. It doesn't go through any other process. I'm not giving a performance and second guessing what I'm doing. I'm not having to run it past script supervisors, or financiers or anything like that. I'm not doing a performance and leaving it to the mercy of editors. It's the thing that I find is the truest form of expression that I have, really... I think only a few times when I've acted, and possibly directed, has it been purely from my soul, if you like".
"The album is the sound of a band stretching into new shapes" - NME writes in a review of Fontaines D.C.'s 'Skinty Fia'. It's also Alexis Petridis' Album of the Week, because - "In a polarised era, there’s something cheering about Fontaines DC’s bold refusal to join in, to deal instead in shades of grey and equivocation. There’s also something bold about their disinclination to rely on the most immediate aspect of their sound". Pitchfork tries to go to the bottom of it: "The Irish post-punk band’s most demanding and musically adventurous album is also its most open-hearted, striking a perfect balance between tough and tender".
"Recent rulings may herald a turning of the tide. It is hoped that the US appeal in Dark Horse and the UK court’s findings in Smith v Dryden and Sheeran v Chokri signal the end of a damaging, regressive culture of speculative claims over commonplace and, critically, much-loved musical elements" - lawyers Simon Goodbody and Mark Krais that represented Ed Sheeran in his recent copyright infringement bat
"When you enter into that space, try to be mindful of what's happening and pay attention and don't talk" - Big Thief's Adriane Lenker says in her recent Instagram video about the need for silence at concerts - "There is a real magic that happens when there is... actual silence."
Plenty of tamed sexuality and running in the latest Interpol and ††† (Crosses) videos. New York post punk band shared 'Something Changed' from their upcoming seventh studio album with a video showing a naked pair on the run from Interpol's own Paul Banks. “Reality and reverie converge and our two lead characters find themselves in a kind of dream state – being pursued inexorably by an ominous figure (played by myself.) The lives of the three are intertwined in a nebula of fear, retribution, desire, and defiance. I’m sure you could look at a psychoanalysis, in the context of a pandemic, why an artist who typically writes morose shit might go in a different direction” - Banks explained the narrative behind the video. ††† (Crosses) also go to explore sexuality in their latest video 'Protection'.
Drake has generated more U.S. on-demand streams in 2021 than the total number of pre-1980 records combine, according to Billboard. The Luminate numbers show that tracks from the ’50s to 1979 made up only 0.6% of streams last year, whereas Drake, whose first album came out 15 years ago, was responsible for 0.8% of all streams in 2021. Across the 988.154 billion U.S. streams from 2021, the catalog business made up 69.8% of the album consumption units in 2021, a 4.1% increase from 2020. Of that number, 90% of these units were from records relea
Trapital's Dan Runcie looks into the recent poor performance of Coi Leray's latest album, compared to his social media presence: "On most social media networks, it’s impossible to segment your followers into different categories. Are your fans there because they love your music? Or because they like you as a person? Or do they find your posts entertaining? Do they follow because they find you attractive? Or do they love the Shade Room-worthy posts you share and don’t want to miss the tea? For some artists, it’s all of those combined, but most of the time it’s not".
"Turning the volume down on a brutal metal riff feels almost sacrilegious, like it's disrespectful to the music to hear it at anything but full volume. But why? Many genres can be enjoyed perfectly fine at a nice, comfortably quiet level, but metal resists that, and metalheads reject those efforts. So what's going on? Why does metal only work when it's loud as hell?" - music theorist 12tone asks in his latest video. Watch it below!
"'Aethiopes' is a dense text full of bursts of language that demand serious thought and analysis. You could transcribe all of woods’ lyrics on the album and sell them as a poetry book, and on paper, they’d cut deeper than most of the (admittedly very little) poetry that I’ve forced myself to read over the years. But this isn’t homework. This is a rap record, and it’s a great one" - Stereogum writes reviewing billy woods' new album. "With Preservation behind the boards on every track, 'Aethiopes' skids across eras, countries, and cultures... A clear mid-career apex that shoves woods’ always outlandish style into territories further afield than ever before" - Pitchfork wrote.
The Walrus looks into the wave of cancelling shows by Russian artists in tbh West: "If they have any impact at all, the cancellations may play into the Russian regime’s narrative about the 'hostile' acts of the 'collective West'—a characterization of NATO that serves as a philosophical counterpoint, socioeconomic scapegoat, and Russophobic supervillain in Putin’s rhetoric. To the extent that the Kremlin is aware that there’s a little less Tchaikovsky being played or that a Russian kid isn’t touring, the cancellations are serving as confirmation that the West is waging a cultural war against Russia. But the impact on artists is potentially significant, not least because artists are already usually in a state of financial precarity. Undermining them professionally, silencing their work, and pressuring them to speak out against the war at their own risk not only fails to do anything to support Ukraine, it’s also unfair to the artists, many of whose work tends to be antiwar".
These days it might be harder than ever for young bands, and not only because of astronomical gas prices and rising food costs. The pandemic has been devastating for the live-music industry, for artists and behind-the-scenes workers alike. Many bands were forced off the road for much of the past two years; now that they’re back, they could test positive and be forced to cancel a string of tour dates - Rolling Stone reports on the issue.
A new David Bowie documentary 'Moonage Daydream', directed by Brett Morgen (best known for the Kurt Cobain doc, Montage of Heck) and the first Bowie doc to have the approval of the late musician’s estate, is set to screen at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. The film is described as both a concert documentary and an “experimental cinematic odyssey” that will track Bowie’s life and career, delving into his work as a musician, but also his multidisciplinary approach to his craft. Ethan Coen’s doc, 'Jerry L
YouTube music theorist shared a video of his band Band Practice playing a gig in New York that's essentially - band practice. Also, in the video, prior to the concert they talk about what to play at the gig, although it's practice. Cool and funny stuff!
The U.K. government has agreed to temporarily suspend post-Brexit “cabotage” rules for some music haulers, following warnings from live-industry executives that the regulations were placing more than 100 European summer tours at risk, some of which have already been cancelled. The relaxation of rules allows some of the U.K.’s biggest trucking firms to work and travel freely across Europe by temporarily switching their vehicles from an EU operator’s license to a U.K. one for the home leg of a tour. Since January of 2021, truckers in both regions have been subject to the cabotage rules, which require haulers to return to the EU or the U.K. — wherever their business is based — after making three stops in the other market, NME reports.
LA teenage pop-punk band The Linda Lindas released their debut album 'Growing Up' this week, dealing with the issue from the title. “We hope it resonates with everyone and not just kids. You don’t stop growing up after you’re a kid!” - as guitarist Lucia de la Garza (15) told MTV. Her sister Mila (11), shares - “[The songs] are like parts of us. So if you listen to it, you kinda get to know us a little better, Consequence reports.
Photographer Lucía Nimcová began traveling to the Ukrainian side of the Carpathian mountains in 2014 with the sound artist Sholto Dobie, where they documented potka (vagina songs), a raunchy subgenre containing coded language with which women could communicate secretly in the presence of men. Tone Glow talked to the artist.
Pink Floyd have released a new song 'Hey, Hey, Rise Up!' featuring Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band Boombox. The lineup on the track includes David Gilmour and Nick Mason with bassist Guy Pratt and keyboardist Nitin Sawhney, Guardian reports. 'Hey, Hey, Rise Up!' is the first original music from the band since 1994’s 'The Division Bell'. In similar news, Portishead will regroup next month for their first show in seven years, playing a short set as part of a War Child benefit concert supporting relief efforts in Ukraine, Consequence reports.
A viral Twitter thread from Asheville indie rock band Wednesday about not being paid enough for live shows sparked a conversation about the economics of touring in 2022. Stereogum talked to a few bands about their touring experiences, including one which does delivery on the side while on tour. Also, a burning question - should a band book an Airbnb or sleep in the van?!
No physical medium required at the customer interface. A wide selection of songs available for instant listening. Music choices made by the user, not some corporation or station manager - a quite correct description of a streaming service. However, it's a business started in 1939 by Seattle inventor Ken Shyvers. Ted Gioia goes back in time.
Spotify has launched a new AI feature called “DJ” which will deliver a curated selection of music, The Verge reports. It also features AI-powered spoken commentary about the tracks and artists, using a “stunningly realistic voice.” The idea is for Spotify to get to know users so well that the DJ can choose what to play. Spotify feels this is life putting an “AI DJ in your pocket.”
Taylor Swift has been named the Global Recording Artist Chart for 2022 by the IFPI, the global recorded music trade body. This chart is the only global ranking to accurately measure consumption across all formats, including streaming formats, digital and physical album and singles sales and all countries. The IFPI’s Top 20 list reveals, in order, the artists who generated the most money last year globally across streaming, download, and physical record sales combined in 2022. Here it its:
Mixmag has started the Cost of Living series exploring how the current economic crisis is impacting dance music. "Surging electricity bills, spiraling travel costs, increases in the price of goods and services and a dramatic change in crowd habits have hit an industry still reeling from lockdown to near-breaking point" - Mixmag underlines the environment clubs and promoters are having to deal with. Interesting phenomena is occurring with festivals: "A number of club-focused promoters appear to have turned their attention to putting on festival-like 'day parties' since the end of lockdown... As disposable incomes become tighter than ever, the 'day festival' gives attendees the chance to attend a festival — but without having to add on extra costs such as transport and accommodation, and the chance to pre-drink and pop off home without the Monday morning dread knowing they have to pull a shift in a few hours, or inadvertently spend hundreds at the bar".
Drugs and partying specialist Michelle Lhooq is wondering how the eminent psychedelic legalization is going to affect partying in general. She asks three pivotal questions for the emerging era of post-alcohol partying:
"How might the energy of a dancefloor shift if everyone is vibrating on psychedelics?
What new aesthetics emerge from a social space designed for recreational psychedelic use?
Can nightlife be sustainable if its economic model does not revolve around booze?"
Harry Styles had the world’s best-selling single of the year across all digital formats last year – including paid subscription streaming, ad-supported platforms, and single-track downloads with his single 'As It Was', making him the winner of IFPI’s Global Single Award for 2022. His single 'As It Was', according to IFPI, generated 2.28 billion global subscription stream equivalent units last year.
"On this album, Algiers wants it all: righteousness and humility, dignity and disgust, hurting and joy, cynicism and hope... Algiers lashes out at injustice, exults in its sonic mastery and insists on the life forces of solidarity and physical impact. But it refuses to promise any consolation" - New York Times reviews the fourth album by the Atlanta, Georgia band. The Line of Best Fit looks into the poetry and its meaning - "the record is largely knit together by a series of spoken-word passages and recordings, splitting the distance between poetry, confessionals, and sermons." Stereogum heard an album of the week - "The music is provocative, but it’s pleasurable, too. In 'Shook', I hear some of the grand catharsis of rap and punk and MC5-style bomb-throwing garage-rock. Parts of 'Shook 'feel freaked-out and terrified, and parts of it feel triumphant. Sometimes, those are the same parts". The Quietus believes both the band, and this record are deeply unique: "Here, they sound like a band.. utterly revitalised, and now only reaching their peak, through a record loaded with collaborations that are never perfunctory or box-ticking exercise, but joyous and celebratory... 'Shook' is a record that exudes zeal, sweat and effort – heart, mind and body music of the highest order".
"I’ve long believed that 80 years is a typical span of pop culture fame for superstars. I’m referring to the biggest names—the lesser stars burn out in 80 months or 80 weeks or 80 days. But the top draws retain their fame for the entire lifetime of their youngest fans—and given current life expectancies of the US audience, that can’t be much more than 80 years. We already see the price of Elvis Presley memorabilia starting to drop" - music writer Ted Gioia estimates how long stardom lasts.
The National have shared a new song 'New Order T-Shirt' from their forthcoming album 'First Two Pages of Frankenstein'. “To me the line ‘I keep what I can of you’ means something about everyone I’ve ever known or loved,” the National’s Aaron Dessner said in a statement, adding “there’s a simplicity to ‘New Order T-Shirt’ that reminds me of our earlier records, but with the full maturity and experience we have now. It feels like a really important song for the future of our band.” The band has partnered with New Order for a limited edition T-shirt drop. 'First Two Pages of Frankenstein' is out April 28 via 4AD, featuring contributions from Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens, and Phoebe Bridgers.
"Reggaeton artists dominated the Spanish top 50 songs chart in 2021, edging out every English-language performer except for the Weeknd and Lil Nas X. The genre’s continuous rise in Spain has raised urgent questions about cultural ownership, colonialism, and race as a result of centuries-old social hierarchies between Europe and Latin America" - Pitchfork looks into the sensitive issue. "There is concern about Spanish artists profiting off the music of Afro-diasporic cultures once colonized by Spain, sometimes even eclipsing the visibility of those who founded the movement... Meanwhile, other industry executives and cultural commentators hail reggaeton’s takeover in Spain as a sign of globalization’s advantages."
London’s Victoria & Albert Museum has acquired David Bowie’s archive of more than 80,000 items as a gift from the late musician’s estate. The collection includes costumes, instruments, letters, photos, lyrics, and much more, including a Ziggy Stardust jumpsuit, his Alladin Sane tour costumes, handwritten lyrics for 'Heroes,' and notebooks Bowie kept throughout his lifetime. In 2025, the collection will be viewable at The David Bowie Center for the Study of Performing Arts, part of V&A East Storehouse, which is being built in east London’s Olympic Park. The collection was secured by the David Bowie Estate, while a 10 million pound donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation and Warner Music Group will go toward a display and home at the V&A East location.
