Avant-Pop
Kate Bush’s 10 Best Songs
This article originally ran in 2014 and has been updated in celebration of Kate Bush’s birthday on July 30th. Top Songs is a feature in which we definitively handpick the very best songs in an artist or band’s catalog. Sounds simple, right? Oh, if only. Considering the formidable back catalog of someone as musically gifted as Kate Bush, the inevitable dilemma is what to leave out of any top 10. With 10 studio albums and 33 singles to ponder, it’s a particularly tough ask. Advertisement Despite Bush’s status as a national treasure in the UK and considerable success around the world, her career has never really taken off in the US — until this year’s “Running Up That Hill” explosion, that is. Indeed, Bush’s genius is finally getting the recognition it deserves in the States (though this list...
Neneh Cherry Announces Collaborative Album, The Versions, Featuring Robyn, Sia & More
Neneh Cherry has revealed the tracklist for her upcoming collaborative album, The Versions, out June 10th via Republic Records. The 10-track LP was heralded by Robyn’s take on the singer-songwriter’s 1988 worldwide hit “Buffalo Stance” featuring a guest assist from Mapei, but will also include interpretations from her substantial discography by the likes of ANOHNI (“Woman”), Seinabo Sey (“Kisses on the Wind”), Jamila Woods (Man’s Europe-exclusive single “Kootchi”), and more, plus a remix of 1993’s “Buddy X” by Honey Dijon. The list of all-female collaborators on the studio set were hand selected by Cherry due to their personal connections to her life, career and music. In a statement, Robyn referred to the singer as her “very first queen,” saying, “Neneh was my favorite artist when she hit...
Sly and the Family Stone’s Musical Riot Still Rages Through Decades of Sampling
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Radio Public | Pocket Casts | RSS As Season 17 Consequence Podcast Network and Sony’s The Opus, continues, we’re exploring how the legacy of Sly and the Family Stone’s masterpiece There’s a Riot Goin On can still be heard today. Related Video Sly and the Family Stone are one of the most covered and sampled artists in all of soul music. Everyone from Jurassic 5 to Janet Jackson, *NSYNC to members of the Wu-Tang Clan have drawn inspiration from the songs on Riot to make classics of their own. The musical revolution that the band started in 1971 is still going on to this very day. Advertisement In Episode 2 of The Opus: There’s a Riot Goin On, host Jill ...
Lydia Ainsworth Gets Lost in a Pop Dream on New Single “Cosmic Dust”: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-05T14:03:04+00:00“>May 5, 2021 | 10:03am ET Avant-pop artist Lydia Ainsworth has shared a new single called “Cosmic Dust”. It’s from her upcoming album Sparkles & Debris. Stream it below. Musically, “Cosmic Dust” sees Ainsworth doing what she does best: infusing a pop song structure with futuristic flair, heavenly instrumental flourishes, and skipping from one falsetto to the next with ease. It’s breezy and anthemic, but Ainsworth manages to sneak great, intimate details into the mix despite that, like harp notes and gentle piano notes that descend one after the other. This is the third single Ainsworth has shared from Sparkles & Debris so far. It follows the retro lead s...
Helena Deland and Ouri Announce Hildegard Album, Share “Jour 1”: Stream
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-04-07T20:53:56+00:00“>April 7, 2021 | 4:53pm ET Canadian singer-songwriter Helena Deland and South American-based producer Ouri (Ourielle Auvé) have a new project together called Hildegard, named after the artistically-inclined 12th century nun Hildegard of Bingen. They’re releasing their self-titled debut album later this spring, and today they’re previewing it with a new single called “Jour 1”. In her solo discography, Deland makes a shadowy blend of folktronica and art-pop, and many of her sonic overtones are a natural fit for Ouri’s dense, murky electro-R&B compositions. Back in 2018, the two linked up for just eight days of studio time, where they quickly connected and...
Ora The Molecule Announces Debut Album Human Safari, Shares “Creator”: Stream
Norwegian avant-pop artist Ora The Molecule has signed to Mute Records and announced her debut album Human Safari. To pair with the news, she’s shared its elastic lead single, “Creator”. Ora The Molecule is the project of the Oslo, Norway-born songwriter Nora Schjelderup, who started putting out music under this name back in 2018. In 2019, she released a great EP called Sugar that sonically landed somewhere between The Eurythmics, Austra, and Jessie Ware. Throughout the rest of 2019, she dribbled out singles that were in the same vein of sleek, icy, slightly strange dance-pop, and clearly she resonated with a wider audience. According to a press release, the 12-track Human Safari was informed by Schjelderup taking the opportunity to really examine the world around her. ...
Charli XCX’s How I’m Feeling Now Offers Honest Expression for Uncertain Times: Review
The Lowdown: Throughout her musical career, Charli XCX, born Charlotte Aitchison, has occupied both sides of pop stardom — the radio mainstream and the small, sweaty clubs where experimental pop flourishes. Coming onto the scene in 2012 with “I Love It”, Icona Pop’s chart topper, which was written by and featured Aitchison, was quite the breakout, reaching car-commercial levels of unavoidability. Not long after that, Aitchison’s feature on “Fancy”, which she co-wrote with Iggy Azalea, was named Billboard’s song of the summer, and her song “Boom Clap”, featured in teen-favorite The Fault in Our Stars, rivaled “Fancy” for that title. Despite Aitchison’s ability to craft radio hits, her affinity for experimental hyperpop is what makes her a cult-pop icon who continually pushes the genre forwa...
