Enrico Monti, guitarist for Italian death metal band Skulld, played a bit of Slayer's classic 'Raining Blood' from his balcony to spread some devilishly good vibes in the time of government-mandated quarantine. The audience wasn't that big - an elderly woman, looking slightly perplexed.
The kids from the O'Keefe Music Foundation covered the tough Pantera song 'Walk', with 9-year-old Colt Sheddin singing Phil Anselmo's parts. The rest of the band are children also - guitarist Aidan Fisher is 16, bass player Jonas Miller is 15, and drummer Justin Laroche is 15 - but only when counting in years...
The song that Chris Martin calls the most important he wrote in his career, has been remade by the Acapop! KIDS, an American acapella group famous for their covers of famous songs. Coldplay song in the new arrangement sustained its suspense and grandeur, although it's being sung by teenagers. There are 11 of them now.
The 'Other Music' documentary about the much-loved New York independent record store that closed in 2016 got a new trailer, featuring interviews with Tunde Adebimpe (TV On the Radio), Regina Spektor, Jason Schwartzman, Matt Berninger (The National), Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend), as well as rare footage of in-store performances by Neutral Milk Hotel, Vampire Weekend, The National, Mogwai, The Rapture, and more (watch below). Docu is coming to US theaters this spring around Record Store Day.
"There's a lot of people and entities out there who are deathly afraid of a world that is less vanilla and more chocolate" - soul singer Zeshan B told the Fader about his new song and video 'Brown Power'. He explains further on - "but no matter what, I feel that no one - no matter how hard they try - will have the power to halt this 'caramelization' of vanilla and chocolate. Whether it be interracial marriages, business partnerships, artistic collaborations, elections, sports-people are slowly starting to embrace a more brown paradigm that is more inclusive, more dynamic and more accountable to the complexities of the human race". In the Adeel Ahmed-directed video, several politicians and celebrities like Hasan Minhaj, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Hari Kondabalu make cameos.
Melodicka Bros are two Italian brothers making unusual covers, preferably funny. Last one they made is an acoustic cover of Pantera's 'Walk' recorded while - running. Previously, Melodicka Bros remade Korn's 'Freak on a Leash' in Christmas style, Radiohead's 'Creep' in happy style...
Ozzy Osbourne offered his fans a trailer before releasing his new album 'Ordinary Man', with Prince of Darkness being played by the prince of Hawaii - Jason Momoa. In the minute-long clip, a cape-laden figure shows up, heads to the stage or boxing ring, where (way younger and prettier Ozzy) Momoa pops up, stands at the mic and lets it rip (well, lets it lip-sync). Osbourne's album is out today, this video counts as funny/charming marketing.
In a hilarious promo in support of Buffalo Wild Wings' boneless wings, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony change their name to "Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony". "I'm not gonna lie, I like boneless wings, man" Wish Bone, now known as Wish Boneless, says to the camera in the documentary-style ad, but Layzie Bone was not down for the name switch - "I ain't changin' s---! It's preposterous". He tries the boneless wings also, likes them but - "they ain't change-your-name good".
A-ha’s classic 1985 music video for 'Take On Me' has passed the one billion views threshold on YouTube, making them the first 1980s pop band and the first continental European act to step into the billion club. It’s one of the few pre-‘90s music videos to join the billion-views club alongside Guns N’ Roses' 'November Rain' and Queen’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. 'Take On Me' was recently restored and upgraded to 4K resolution.
“Michael is not a fearless person, but he is a fearless artist” - bandmate Thor Harris says about Michael Gira in a new Swans documentary 'Where Does a Body End?', focused mostly on the frontman. It was directed by Marco Porsia who spent five years “in the band’s tight inner circle”, filming “rehearsals, songwriting sessions, the grind of life on the road, petty arguments and transcendent performances”, and Swans final tour.
Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats released a new short film, where they argue over who leaked their collab album. They have to go into a video-game and rescue their files at various levels of the game, with some interesting thoughts on music-files theft on the way. While they play, there is some music from the pair too - good beats and plenty of funny lines.
Created by French artists Octave Marsal and Theo De Gueltzl, the animated 'Redemption Song' clip features nearly 3,000 original drawings of Jamaican imagery that represent the song’s message of emancipation. The clip is the first installment of “Marley75”, a year-long celebration of Bob Marley's birthday, who would have turned 75 years February 6. Upcoming YouTube videos of previously unreleased material will be dropped throughout the year, encompassing music, art, photography and more.
In Super Bowl commercials it was mostly beers, sodas, snacks, and cars, and - rappers. H.E.R. and Missy Elliot linked up with Pepsi singing their version of Rolling Stones' 'Paint It Black'; Post Malone starred in two Bud Light commercials, Lil Nas X and Sam Elliott are dancing cowboys as Billy Ray Cyrus plays his guitar in a Doritos Cool Ranch commercial; LeBron James is the face of the new GMC Hummer EV; MC Hammer ironically stars in a new commercial for Cheetos singing his popular line “Can’t touch this”; The Roots were featured in a commercial alongside Jimmy Fallon in a funny spot.
Toronto rapper untradition raps to himself in a mirror in an isolated cabin in this stark black and white video. Director Devon Little set 'FEBRUARY' in the wilderness without a soul in sight, with plenty of whiteness, and small amount of threatening blackness. The song by the blues/jazz/funk/hip-hop maestro features freeform jazz production and frenetic sax melodies.
Michael Stipe was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where he talked about his new photography book 'Out Interference Times', and how he felt the need to create art again, inspired by the eco-activists, so he made two new solo songs - 'Your Capricious Soul' and 'Drive to the Ocean'. He also described an occasion from late 90s when he told Donald Trump to "shut up" at a Patti Smith concert because he was talking too loud.
“In the near future, It would be exciting to be able to rewrite ads as freely as is depicted in this music video while wearing such a device and wandering around the city” - director Daito Manabe explains the new video he made for 'Terminal Slam', the latest track from Squarepusher's new album 'Be Up a Hello'. In the video, the advertisements that inundate Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing are visually disrupted by a pair of augmented reality goggles. A good song, also.
Halsey and Jimmy Fallon took turns on his late night show singing popular songs after running the lyrics through Google Translate. Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' became 'Unwed Woman', and Halsey's hit 'Without Me' became 'You Soft Head'.
First, there was a long-form Mercedes ad, then there was a visually memorable performance on Colbert, and now The Weeknd has released an official music video for his hit 'Blinding Lights'. Anton Tammi directed it as a continuation of storyline from the previous video 'Heartless', with The Weeknd in reflective shades and a red sport coat gallivanting across Las Vegas, Michael Jackson-meets-'Drive' style.
Today at midnight Eminem surprise-released his 11th studio album 'Music to be Murdered By', and the first video from it is a very dark song 'Darkness', about mass shootings. It shows a loner in a hotel room who turns to tablets and booze, before he takes a gun and starts shooting at people - a direct remake of the night in 2017 when Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd of music fans in Las Vegas, taking 58 lives (not including his own). Video wraps up with a compilation of news items from mass shooting in the USA, being shown on TV-screens assembled in the geographical shape of the US. The leitmotif through the song is the piano riff and opening lyrics from 'The Sound of Silence' - "Hello darkness my old friend".
Previously unseen footage of David Bowie shot in 1998, recovered from a university archive has been released. The 30 minutes of experimental film was shot by friend and collaborator Prof Martin Richardson to create a hologram. The finished short film was used on artwork on the album 'Hours'.
"We are faced with a conundrum about whether or not to remain as consumers, and continually take from the world we live in, or to start looking after our planet" - British Americana singer-songwriter, Robert Vincent said about his newest song 'Conundrum'. It comes out on his new album 'In This Town You're Owned' February 14.
Vincent is a funny guy making dead-pan serious covers of famous songs in various styles. This time around it's 'Down With the Sickness' by the Disturbed, sang in style of Simon & Garfunkel, Metallica, Earth, Wind & Fire, silent movies (he keeps quiet, of course), The Hu, Faith No More etc.
Grandmother and drum instructor Dorothea Taylor published her drum cover of Disturbed's 'Down With The Sickness', showing how people should just be open, as Kerrang reports. Video begins with several reenactments of the type of biased treatment Taylor has endured as a drummer - an instrument store clerk presumptuously directs her to the string instruments […]
The Norwegian trio released a restored version for the music video of their 1985 hit Steve Barron, which blends animated pencil sketches and live-action scenes in an eye-catching visual. A press release said that "most music videos from this time were edited in tape format, while this clip was uniquely restored from the original 35mm […]
Nirvana's most famous song reached 1 billion views on YouTube, making 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' the second-most-viewed ’90s music video on YouTube, only trailing Guns N’ Roses’ 'November Rain' (1.3 billion views). GN’R also have the most-viewed video of the ’80s - 'Sweet Child O’ Mine' recently topped 1 billion views.
Nick Cave has made his concert film, 'Distant Sky — Live in Copenhagen', available to stream for free on YouTube. The live film was shot during a special 2017 concert at Denmark’s Royal Arena, featuring a full album performance of 'Skeleton Tree', as well as a number of other Cave&Seeds songs. 'Distant Sky' was directed by […]
Moses Sumney released a new song 'Polly', second single from his upcoming double album 'græ'. The first half of that album is coming out in February, second half in May. 'Polly' is the closing track to the first half of 'græ', a simple acoustic love song, accompanied by a one-take video with plenty of tears... Watch […]
The Weeknd performed his new song 'Heartless' on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert this week, while wandering the elaborately lit, mysteriously shifting halls of the Ed Sullivan Theater. The video starts, also unusually, with Colbert wondering away trying to find the singer, and finishes with the Weeknd appearing in front of the audience. Later […]
Daddy Yankee’s 'Con Calma' feat. Snow was the most-watched YouTube video globally, and in the USA the top one was 'Old Town Road - Remix' by Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus. Full Top 10 lists below. Top music videos global: 1. Daddy Yankee & Snow - 'Con Calma'2. ROSALÍA, J Balvin - 'Con Altura' […]
Director Cole Kush made a great video for a new song 'Gimme Summn' from TNGHT's comeback EP 'TNGHT II'. Kush has taken different computer-animated versions of producers Lunice and HudMo - the duo as babies, as adults, as tiny toys, as old men - and put them in various surreal scenarios. It turned out spooky-cool! Watch it […]
