John Grant's 'The Only Baby' is long, angry, and - awesome!; Kikagaku Moyo release a fun psychedelia song 'Elevation Jam' from their new live album; Ghetts gets help from Stormzy for his new groovy track 'Skengman'; rapper Dessa stands against "global powers who stand to profit by stoking our basest vanities and appetites" on 'Rome'; French actress Isabelle Adjani covered Elvis Costello's 'Revolution #49'.

BBC talked to Hockey, leader of the band Rap Against Dictatorship, who said they want to reform the monarchist system of their country. The monarchy says RAD are just too rude and vulgar. Hockey now faces prison for his songs.

Treblezine doesn't agree with The New York Times' pop music critic statement that the album is dead, here's why: "What too many 'album is dead' arguments seem to ignore is that the consumer has a choice in this—it’s easier to be a passive listener and let the machine feed you what it thinks you want, but we can choose to be better listeners and more actively engage with music on a deeper level. The song might be the primary unit of popular music, but an album can tell a larger story—perhaps not literally, but the best of them still serve to transport you away from the mundane and into a self-contained world that’s worth exploring repeatedly". Funny thing is, Caramanica made a list of best albums of the year - in 2020 as well 🙂

Quant Fund or Metal Band? is a fun little game that asks players to decide whether a given name belongs to a quant fund (an investment fund in which investment decisions are determined by numerical methods) or a metal band.

The 'Killing in Thy Name' project is a RATM collaboration with a collective of international artists called The Ummah Chroma (“communities of color”), which seeks to be “a fire escape from the fiction known as whiteness and a spring for discovery". The better part of the 15-minute docu features footage of a teacher and some schoolchildren learning about the west’s dark history of slavery, manifest destiny, and the very concept of “whiteness” within the context of America, Loudwire reports. The film is spliced with quotes from members of the band, and their song 'Killing in the Name'.

It was the UK government's choice to end visa-free touring for musicians in the EU, officials in Brussels told the BBC. The EU says that it was London who "refused" a plan that would have let musicians tour without visas. "From last March, we made fairly ambitious proposals in terms of mobility, including for specific categories such as journalists, performers, musicians and others" - the EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said, but the UK didn't agree on it. Since Brexit, British musicians and crews may need extra work permits to play in certain European countries such as Germany and Spain.

US music producer Phil Spector - who transformed pop with his "wall of sound" recordings - has died at the age of 81, while serving a prison sentence for murder. Spector worked with the Beatles, the Righteous Brothers, Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Ike and Tina Turner, producing 20 top 40 hits between 1961 and 1965. In 2009, he was convicted of the 2003 murder of Hollywood actress Lana Clarkson. NPR has an interesting article about his life.

Nice-guys Foo Fighters share a song 'Waiting on a War' which Dave Grohl wrote for his daughter who "deserves a future"; German indie The Notwist announce their first new album in seven years with mighty electronica 'Al Sur' song featuring Argentinian Juana Molina; The Antlers' 'Solstice' is like a soft and warm pillow, a song about change; CARM announced his first album with a nice-y 'Song of Trouble' featuring Sufjan Stevens; Vince Staples and Pusha T shared their 'White Tiger' soundtrack contribution 'Jungle Mantra' which sounds... just what the title suggests; Jane Birkin is dramatic and charming on 'Les jeux interdits'; ASTRYD delves into "humanity reckoning with the outcome of its actions" on 'Blind Summit'.

Spotify, Pandora and Deezer are all using personalised systems to suggest playlists or tracks tailored to the user, so people using these service end up listening to - more of the same. Wired suggests how to break out of that loop. The simplest way is to actively seek out something new - a new genre, or something completely different, just to shake up the algorithm. Listening to playlists curated by individuals also helps, as well as content-based recommendations which are based on sound rather than other people’s listening habits.

MF Doom's various projects had 25 million on-demand streams after the news of his death on December 31 was released, and in the previous week his music had pulled in 2.6 million streams, making for an 870 percent increase, Billboard reports. Also, in that week, 5,000 MF Doom songs had been purchased for download, which was a 2,879 percent increase from the sales in the days prior. There is also news about the new Madvillainy, Doom's collaborative album with Madlib, as there are 11 finished songs from it.

Another great thing Bandcamp is doing - the streaming company is going to press vinyl runs for 10,000 different artists on their platform, as their director Ethan Diamond has announced. The company will also ship records, fulfill digital, and handle customer service, all while letting the artist choose their own design and set the price. And another thing - these vinyls will be financed by the fans who order them (vinyl batches start around $2,000 mark). So, Bandcamp is turning itself into a record label - they are the manufacturer, the distributor, and the logistics team - without taking any ownership of the records themselves.

"The beginning, near bankruptcy, pills, thrills, spats, prats, success, excess and breakdowns" - goes the synopsis of 'Creation Stories', the biopic about legendary UK indie label Creation Records, made by the 'Trainspotting' team of director Danny Boyle and writer Irvine Welsh. It is out in March, and the trailer is out now (watch it below). Ewan Bremner, who played Spud in the 'Trainspotting' films, stars as Creation's larger-than-life founder Alan McGee, who brought us My Bloody Valentine, Oasis, Primal Scream...

Scottish postman Nathan Evans has become a worldwide sensation after he posted a shanty song on his TikTok, which has started a new trend. In late December he shared 'Soon May the Wellerman Come', a sea shanty song about sailors on a whale-boat, which went on to become upgraded by other singers, and has reached up millions of views by now. Sea Shanty TikTok has exploded in the meantime, and Spotify also now has a “sea shanty season” playlist. BBC, Guardian, and many others report on the story.

"When I was young and did a set at a jazz club called the Tin Palace, there was a bass player named Richard Davis who saw me singing, and he told me, 'You have to talk to your audience, people like to be talked to'. And I think he's right" - Suzanne Vega explained to AllMusic her latest live release, 'An Evening of New York Songs and Stories', which brings together 15 songs with Vega explaining the stories behind many of the songs. "Imagine a setlist full of songs like 'Cracking' and 'Luka' and 'Gypsy' with no stories and no explanations, it would feel really weird. The shows that I've done where I don't speak, it quickly has a weird atmosphere" - Vega explains, adding - "I had so much weirdness that I thought, if I wanted applause at the end of the show, you've got to talk to your audience".

Two rappers moved to the Colorado desert to grow weed and make SoundCloud rap. Their friend, director Marnie Ellen Hertzler visited them for a week to make a documentary. Animal Collective, also deeply affected by life in the desert, made music for it. 'Crestone' had its debut during last year’s virtual SXSW festival, and it is coming out February 16.

Julien Baker has shared an animated music video for her new single 'Hardline', coming out on album 'Little Oblivions' end of February. The stop-motion video was created by Joe Baughman who said he spent 600 hours making it - "a fun and ambitious challenge creating something that could accompany such a compelling song".

Sylvain Sylvain, songwriter and founding guitarist with punk icons the New York Dolls, has died aged 69 following a battle with cancer, Rolling Stone reports. The Dolls came together in 1971, preceding the punk and glam movements. with bands from Sex Pistols, to the Ramones, Guns N' Roses, the Damned, and the Smiths all said to take inspiration from the NY outfit. Following Sylvain’s death, just one member survives of the original lineup for their debut self-titled 1973 album, frontman David Johansen.

LNZNDRF share members of Beirut and National, and sound like none - on 'Brace Yourself' they take a turn toward synth-pop; yet another supergroup, SOM, shares members of Caspian, Junius, and Constants, plays post rock-meets-shoegaze on 'Awake // Sedate'; producer Bicep shares India-influenced, ambient and pretty 'Sundial'; singer-songwriter Ian Sweet shares her sweet new song 'Drink the Lake'; Hazing Over changed their lineup, name, and sound - to math-metal, on 'Jock'.

Pawn Stars shares a lovely story about a lady named Dani who walks in a Las Vegas pawn-shop with a flamboyant western suit that she believes ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons once owned. She wants $25,000 for it. She's in for a surprise.

Flashmobs performing protest routines accompanied by South African hit ‘Jerusalema’ has become the main medium in the fight against the destruction of Indian region of Goa. This UNESCO protected area is under threat of infrastructure expansion, and ‘Jerusalema’, a 2019 track by Master KG and Nocembo Zikode, has become the unofficial hymn of the ecology movement. Gal Dem shares a pretty story of good against the machine.

Online live concert database BandsInTown announced first-of-its-kind subscription service created to bring live streaming experiences to the homes of fans. Subscribers are entitled to perks like chat sessions with artists and access to footage of concerts highly sought-after on other platforms. For $9.99 per month fans get an “All Access Pass” to over 25 live shows per month. Fans can also take comfort in knowing their money will directly benefit the artists they love. An inaugural lineup featuring names like Flying Lotus, Toro y Moi, Little Dragon and more.

Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and alter-rock singer interview each other for Interview Magazine about favorite music, movie characters, their beginnings, identity, silence etc. For starters, they define rock'n'roll: "an attitude more than a particular instrument. Rock and roll will constantly be re-contextualized" - Grandson; "There’s something that taps into the reptilian brain, and our human DNA of a combination of rhyme and reason, and aggression and power and the communal gathering of the tribe that is the rock and roll show that’s unlike anything else" - Morello.

“The heaviness comes from our ancestors. I am Black and Indigenous. There’s been so much that has happened to us, and I feel this. I don’t feel like I could not make heavy music” - guitarist and saxophonist Takiaya Reed says about her band Divide And Dissolve. She is of Māori descent, and Sylvie Nehill, the other half of the duo, Cherokee. Together they play really intense instrumental ambient metal which aims to "destroy white supremacy”. Their newest album 'Gas Lit' is published by Portishead's Geoff Barrow who said “It totally freaked me out with its beauty and extreme heaviness”. The Quietus speaks to the ladies, and reviews the album - "a powerful, impressively unconventional, predominantly instrumental suite, linking sludge and doom metal with a desolate reading of jazz".

“There are people who are alive, but live like they’re dead. They don’t strive to go further. But I know life is really short because I’ve seen people die just like that, in the street. So this question speaks to me: how can we be absent from our own lives?” - Belgian rapper Damso says in the Guardian interview about his musical goals. Although mellow sonically, his lyrics touch on serious subjects as well, such as suicide, and paedophilia. Generally, he aims high as well - "The questions that I ask myself about death aren’t about dying, they’re about death in this life".

'The United States vs. Billie Holiday', a new film about the life of legendary singer, is coming to Hulu in February, and the trailer is out now (watch it below). It is directed by Lee Daniels, stars R&B singer Andra Day in the titular role, and it “unapologetically presents the icon’s complicated, irrepressible life”. Screenplay is written by Suzan-Lori Parks.

“We sought a mutually beneficial agreement that would have allowed performers to continue working and perform across the continent without the need for work permits" - the UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden told NME about Brexit negotiations with the EU regarding work permits for musicians. However, Dowden claims "musicians, artists, entertainers and support staff would have been captured through the list of permitted activities for short-term business visitors. This was a straightforward solution for our creative industries which would have benefited all sides. But the EU turned it down, repeatedly. It did not propose and wouldn’t accept a tailored deal for musicians and artists". The Independent got unofficial information from the EU side that it was the UK who didn't agree to a special agreement for musicians.

DÆMON combines his intense lyricism with industrial hip-hop production by Endgame, a style the duo describes as “cybernetic warfare melodies”, for their new songs 'Eye Teeth', the Fact reports. The video is equally on that level - director Brandon Tauszik captures both artists in a guerilla trip through a sprawling hardware store.

Shakira has sold 100 percent of the publishing rights to her entire catalog of 145 songs - including hits such as 'Hips Don’t Lie', 'Whenever, Wherever', 'She Wolf', and 'Waka Waka' - to Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Shakira is the bestselling female Latin artist of all time, and she currently has over 32 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Music Music Worldwide reports. Hipgnosis, the company that invests in music catalogs this year alone has bought catalogs from Jimmy Iovine, Lindsey Buckingham, and Neil Young.

Jimi Hendrix’s brother Leon Hendrix and niece Tina Hendrix have been ordered by a court to recall and destroy all apparel and merchandise bearing any Jimi Hendrix name, and to change the name of their tuition-free Hendrix Music Academy school, Billboard reports. Tina Hendrix said - “I am astonished that the courts have ... stripped us from our rights to use our own family surname after a lifetime of doing so". Experience Hendrix and Authentic Hendrix, created by Jimi Hendrix's father Al and cousin Bob, own all the rights to the guitarist's image and music. However, it is Tina Hendrix's attitude that they "gained the Hendrix name by virtue of adoption and has used it ever since, only to exploit millions of dollars off of Jimi Hendrix’s music, while using the proceeds to eliminate Jimi’s biological family members one by one, starting with Jimi’s own son, then Jimi’s brother and now his niece. I have never made one dollar off of my uncle while running a free music school for kids". The courts have sided with Experience and Authentic so far.

King Crimson's Robert Fripp and his wife Toyah Willcox are just having fun during lockdown covering rock classics, but not really doing it the usual way. Their last cover was Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' with Fripp playing his Les Paul all buttoned up, and Willcox very much not. And she also rides an exercise bike while singing. Previously they covered Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' with a bit of an S&M theme, Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' while in "prison", The Kinks' 'You Really Got Me' with Willcox dressed as the devil, and more.