Legendary Jamaican producer and a pioneer of dub, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, whose pioneering accomplishments made him of of reggae's most eccentric producer-vocalist, has died aged 85 in Jamaica, Jamaica Observer reports. State Prime Minister Andrew Holness confirmed the news in a tweet on Sunday, adding that Perry has "worked with and produced for various artists, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Congos, Adrian Sherwood, the Beastie Boys, and many others. Undoubtedly, Lee Scratch Perry will always be remembered for his sterling contribution to the music fraternity".

Marisa Anderson & William Tyler released their new album with the haunting ‘Haunted By Water’ closing the LP; house producer Ross From Friends shares 'The Daisy', accompanied by a funny and amazing Rubic-cube-themed video; Eddie Vedder’s daughter Olivia Vedder shares a song ‘My Father’s Daughter', written by her dad and Irish songwriter Glen Hansard for the new Sean Penn movie ‘Flag Day’; Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are back in collaborative action with ‘Can’t Let Go’; Esperanza Spalding shares ‘Formwela 10’, song created “for grieving the consequences of, becoming more alert to, and dissolving one’s own romantic-entitlement tendencies”; Berlin-based saxophonist Bendik Giske shares a minimalist and atmospheric 'Flutter'.

New Sounds produced a podcast with a selection of music from Afghanistan, putting a different light on the troubled nation. Among the selected are Homayun Sakhi and Quraishi with their rubâb music, folk poems of Afghani women, the Hazara tradition by Hamid Sakhizada, and adapted music from the Khorasan region by the duo Badieh. Much of the music comes from musicians who have fled the country to Europe or North America.

AIR Montserrat was one of the most legendary recording studios in the world – it was built by the Beatles’ producer George Martin in 1979 and destroyed by two cataclysmic natural disasters a decade later. Situated on the island in the Caribbean, where the harbour was too shallow for cruise ships and the runway too short for jets, it served as a safe haven for musicians trying to "get away". Elton John arrived in 1982 with no songs and in the middle of a career slump following his 1970s heyday, and recorded three albums back to back, including hits 'I’m Still Standing' and 'I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues'. The Police recorded 'Ghost In The Machine' (1981) and 'Synchronicity' (1983) there, albums that catapulted them to superstar status; the video for 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' was recorded in the AIR Montserrat studio and the island itself. Dire Straits recorded their magnum opus'Brothers In Arms' at AIR Montserrat in 1984 and 1985. Following a period of estrangement between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones regrouped and healed old wounds to record their 1989 comeback album 'Steel Wheels', the final recording session at AIR Montserrat. On September 17, 1989, Hurricane Hugo damaged or destroyed 90 percent of the structures on the island, leaving AIR Montserrat in ruins. Then, between 1995 and 1997, Montserrat’s volcano erupted, burying the capital, Plymouth... Producer Cody Greenwood, whose parents lived on the island and befriended Martin at the time, has produced a documentary about the studio called 'Under the Volcano', available on all major digital platforms from September 1. The Sidney Morning Herald tells the lovely story of the island, the studio and the producer's family.

An amazing Instagram profile by Adnan Lotia who remakes famous album covers with lego bricks. There's Lego Radiohead, Michael Jackson, Guns N' Roses, Bruce Springsteen, Janet Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Blur, Soundgarden, Eminem, Missy Elliott and many more. Some of them are truly brilliant.

Exploring British youth culture of the time, 'Scorcha!: Skins, Suedes and Style From The Streets 1967 -1973' is "a hefty book by Paul Anderson and Mark Baxter. Covering the rise of first the suedeheads and then the skinheads on British streets, it is a fascinating, lovingly compiled piece tracking in detail the fade from the musicality of the modish, ska-loving suedeheads – who were bravely swimming against the prevailing hippy tide in 1967 – into the more brutish skinheads. The attention to interview detail and mountains of picture research is monumental" - The New Cue recommends a new book.

“We are a hardcore band. That’s the scene we come from. But one of the things that drew me to hardcore and punk in the first place, the thing I always believed it was fundamentally about, was that it was a place for open minds and for people who want to challenge norms" - says singer Brendan Yates of the band Turnstile in Guardian interview. “I want Turnstile to maintain the sense of community we found in hardcore. But I want a bigger community, to connect with as many people as possible. I’d like them to feel like I did when I discovered music – like magic existed, like anything was possible" - says Yates. Their new album 'Glow On' is the star of the week, getting glowing reviews in Stereogum, Pitchfork, Kerrang...

Spencer Elden, the baby from Nirvana's 'Nevermind' front cover, now a 30-year-old, just like the album, filed a lawsuit alleging that the cover constitutes child pornography. Legally speaking, however, experts who talked to Rolling Stone, say Elden does not have much of a case on his hands. At the core of this knotted web is one thing: Elden’s legal guardian agreed to let a buzzing punk band take photos of him as a baby for 200 bucks. The band’s team asked, and the guardian said yes. “The case is likely going to be dismissed” - says criminal defense attorney Matthew Matejcek of Beles & Beles, pointing to the Department of Justice’s definition of child pornography. “It has to appeal to the viewer’s prurient interest. What’s going to be at issue here is whether this album cover incites the lustful interest, sexual stimulation, or gratification of the viewer. And I think it’s pretty clear that’s not the purpose”. Anne Higonnet in Slate puts some sense into the unpleasant story: "We desperately want to alter the past according to what we sincerely believe right now. I am among those who believe we have a more just vision of society today than we had in 1991. But that doesn’t make me think we can retroactively redo the past. Elden’s feelings about his infant fame in 2021 can’t change what Kurt Cobain meant back in 1991. Let’s change the future instead".

The Rolling Stones will proceed with their planned tour of the U.S. this fall, the band’s promoter confirmed after the band's drummer Charlie Watts died this week. Longtime Stones associate Steve Jordan is taking his place behind the drum kit, Loudwire reports.

Inge Ginsberg has composed songs for Nat King Cole, Doris Day and Dean Martin, and in her 90s she decided to reinvent herself as a death metal singer. In a documentary, she said she had turned to death metal because she wanted to be heard. She has died at age 99, the New York Times reports

Input analyses Kanye West's career as it was mirrored in his fashion: "Kanye has curated his aesthetic universe to be one of the most recognizable in the music industry. His relationships with music and fashion have not only been symbiotic within his own life, but with the streetwear landscape around him. While the Yeezy label carves Kanye’s imprint within luxury fashion, he uses his merch as a creative playground, transforming each album into collectible garments. The lasting impact of Kanye’s merch has less to do with the artist himself, but more so with the creative ecosystem he creates around each project, and the aesthetic footprint it leaves behind". West's listening event for his still-unreleased album on August 5 proves the point - with 40,000 ticketed guests, it raked in $7 million from merch sales, breaking the record for highest-grossing U.S. tour.

Inspired by the strange case of naked child photo of Spencer Elden and Nirvana's 'Nevermind' cover art, Pitchfork looks back at the history of bands being sued by their cover art subjects. Apart from the grunge icons, Cardi B, Rolling Stones, Vampire Weekend, Dead Kennedys, and Dido have also gotten themselves into similar problems.

11-year-old music prodigy Nandi Bushell made a surprise appearance during Foo Fighters' sold-out concert at the Forum in Los Angeles, sitting in for their closing performance of 'Everlong'. Their lovely relationship started when Bushell dared Grohl for a drum battle. After the show Bushell wrote on Instagram “It Happened!!! It was #EPIC!!! Tonight I jammed with the @foofighters live @theforum!!! Wow!!! What an INCREDIBLE night!".

Olivia Rodrigo has added Paramore's singer Hayley Williams and ex-guitarist Josh Farro as co-writers of her hit single 'Good 4 U'. They were not credited when the song was originally released in May. Warner Chappell Music announced this week via Instagram that Williams and Farro were now credited 'Good 4 U' songwriters. "The fact WCM confirmed this fact during 'Good 4 U' fourteenth week in the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 perhaps says something about the journey that was required to make it happen" - Music Business Worldwide writes. C

"On his debut album, 'The Long and Short of It', [Graham] Jonson, now 21, reconciles his approach to beat music with a form of bedroom pop, using two genres known for their modular simplicity to create complex psychedelic music with vast emotional horizons" - Pitchfork reviews quickly, quickly (grade it 8.1, don't call it emo-rap). Magnetic describes it as quickly, quickly's "most complex and interesting project to date".

Free-jazz band Irreversible Entanglements has shared 'Open the Gates' from their upcoming new album, a short and energetic, groovy-jazz song. Polyrhythmic percussion is expanded by alto sax and trumpet, as vocalist Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother) adds a sinister touch to the freedom song.

Salon's Bernadette Barton joins the discussion about Britney Spears "exploring the gender inequality trapping Britney.  In particular, I examine Britney Spears's story in light of the pornification of society over the past three decades. Pornification, the sexualization of culture also referred to as raunch culture, socializes women and girls to believe (and boys and men too) that a key element of female identity is looking 'hot' like a porn star or stripper. Pornification sells itself to girls and women using the rhetoric of sex positivity and empowerment. 'Look how free you are to express your inner porn star and be sexy.' This narrative falsely equates commodified sexualization with freedom, and devolves the language of sex positivity from an ecosystem of consent, pleasure, safety, and respect into the single expectation that women present themselves as sexual objects first and foremost".

"He was the anti-drummer. He wasn’t performative to let you know how hard he was fucking working. He gave you the basic foundation. What I really felt akin to, as far as Charlie’s and my drumming is concerned, was the fact that my reputation is as stoic as Charlie’s reputation — like, the serious face that he always had. I came to the world in a time where the temptation to show off was at a high, and it’s a mighty task to check your ego at the door when you’re a drummer, to not beg for attention or to do anything to distract from the team mentality" - Questlove looks back at the life and life's work of Rolling Stone Charlie Watts.

"Some of 2021's most hyped albums are from Pop Smoke, DMX and now, Aaliyah. So what's the difference between honouring a legacy and cashing in?" - The Face asks in its new article, inspired by the latest Anderson .Paak tattoo. "Putting out new records that are often assembled from scraps to sit in their discographies is an act of legacy trampling. It is the capitalist pursuit of squeezing a person’s commercial potential for every last bit of juice. Yet it’s not impossible to put out unreleased recordings in a way that feels appropriate, egalitarian even" - The Face insists.

Joni Mitchell has been named the 2022 Person of the Year by the Recording Academy’s MusiCares organization, Variety reports. Mitchel is being honored "for breaking down barriers for women in the music industry; for tenacity in creating and following her own voice and for her ability to bring comfort, joy and inspiration to countless listeners and artists alike".

Music industry journalist Eamonn Forde has put forward a new set of rules that could improve concerts for everyone; via Music Business Worldwide:

1) No guestlist tickets for at least a year

2) Anyone talking during the performance is immediately ejected and banned from every concert venues and festival for six months

3) Anyone taking photos or videos during the show will have their phone smashed with a lump hammer in front of their eyes

4) Buy as much merchandise as you can afford

5) The end of hidden booking and/or processing fees

6) Loyalty cards for regular concertgoers

7) No U2 shows until at least 2035

Rolling Stone is celebrating the life of the deceased Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts with a (repeated) list of 100 "kings and queens of slam". An interesting list, starting with Christian Vander from the French prog-rock band Magma, and finishing with Led Zeppelin's John Bonham.

Spencer Elden, who was the baby featured on the cover of Nirvana’s 'Nevermind' reaching for a dollar in a swimming pool, now a 30-year-old, is suing Nirvana, its individual surviving members, Kurt Cobain’s estate, photographer Kirk Weddle, and the labels involved in releasing the album, alleging that the 'Nevermind' cover is child pornography. According to Elden’s lawsuit, neither his legal guardians nor he (obviously, as he was four months old at the time) consented to his naked genitalia appearing on the 'Nevermind' cover. He alleges that the band promised to cover his genitals with a sticker, which was never incorporated into the album art, and that Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl failed to protect him from being sexually exploited. He is hoping to receive $150,000 from each party named in the lawsuit, TMZ reports.

Charlie Watts, longtime drummer of The Rolling Stones, has “passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier today surrounded by his family” at the age od 80, NME reports. Watts joined The Rolling Stones shortly after their formation in January 1963. He was the only member of the band other than Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to have been featured on all of their studio albums, and also never missed a gig.

"Folks like Diddy, Jay Z, and Master P are in their 50s, healthy, and wealthy. Music was their gateway to other businesses... Kendrick is rarely mentioned among hip-hop's highest earners. Forbes once wrote an article about how Kendrick is not a cash king!... For years, Kendrick looked past most business partnerships and stayed focused on music. His love for hip-hop is admirable, but it's hard to ignore trends of older artists who focused on business early on and are still living well" - Trapital's Dan Runcie writes about the announcement that Kendrick Lamar is leaving the TDE label after his new album is released.

China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has banned any music that breaches a fresh set of government rules from being played within the country’s near-50,000 karaoke venues. Among other rules, tracks deemed “contrary to public morality”, and/or content “that which insults or defames others” will be banned from October 1. The new set of rules are most likely to target domestic Chinese music and, in particular, Chinese hip-hop.

"The first songs to express personal emotions and individual aspirations appeared more than 3,000 years ago in Deir el-Medina, a village on the west bank of the Nile. By seeming coincidence this was also the location of the first successful labor protest in history, when artisans launched a sit-down strike that forced 'management' - Ramesses III in this instance - to increase grain rations. Is it just by chance that a major musical innovation and a historic expansion in human rights took place in the very same (and tiny) community?" - music writer Ted Gioia asks in his great article about the connection of art and activism.

The Face brings a brief history of some of Africa’s most exciting modern music genres. Kwaito was born as a voice of South Africa’s Black population and liberation from Apartheid. Amapiano is kwaito's derivate made in the same country. Singeli is a fast-paced, jangly offshoot of the party-friendly bongo flava genre, sped up to between 180 and 300 BPM. Asakaa is also known as Ghanaian drill. Coupé-décalé is characterised by soaring guitars, triumphant horns and lilting basslines.

"A fascinating look at a fascinating article" - Music Journalism Insider writes in an announcement of the latest edition of their Notes On Process segment. MJI's Todd L Burns talked to music writer Simon Reynolds about his 1992 Melody Maker article 'Gathering of the Tribes' about a free party that drew tens of thousands of ravers to the English countryside. MJI shared Reynolds' final draft and the article that came out in the UK music weekly. A great read!

“I cannot imagine a society without music, it would be a dead society, I don’t know how it could survive. You can’t take music out of the hearts of people” - Ahmad Sarmast, the founder and director of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, told the Guardian after the Taliban overtook Afghanistan. The Institute also encompasses the Afghan Women’s Orchestra, which has become a “symbol of the emancipation of women”.