It’s been two years and counting since we last got a proper album from Death Grips, but today’s surprise drop should keep fans preoccupied in the meantime. The group’s experimental EP Gmail and the Restraining Orders and one-off single “More Than the Fairy” have finally been added to streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple. Gmail and the Restraining Orders is a 30-minute collection of noise rock that was played prior to Death Grips’ live shows in 2015. The project was then featured in Warp Records’ WXAXRXP radio festival in 2019, before subsequently being released onto YouTube. As for “More Than the Fairy”, this track was initially put out on YouTube in 2016. It notably features bass from special (and very unexpected) guest Les Claypool of Primus. The collaboration is consider...
Hilton Valentine, guitarist and founding member of The Animals, has died at the age of 77. A representative for ABKCO Records announced Valentine’s passing on behalf of his wife, Germaine Valentine. A cause of death was not immediately made available. In 1963, Valentine was recruited by Eric Burdon, Chas Chandler, and Alan Price to join what would become The Animals. The UK band quickly made a name for themselves thanks to their high-energy concerts and rock ‘n’ roll covers of Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, and John Lee Hooker. They achieved their first No. 1 single in 1964 with “House of the Rising Sun”, on which Valentine is credited with playing the song’s iconic arpeggio introduction. The Animals’ early success culminated in visit to America in October 1964. As was the case for The Beatles mo...
T.I. and Tameka “Tiny” Harris, image via Instagram/@majorgirl Rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris have both been accused of horrendous sexual abuses by former family friend Sabrina Peterson, who says she has anonymously collected dozens of women’s stories. Now, the Atlanta MC and his partner have released a statement “emphatically” denying the claims. Peterson, who runs the Instagram account @TheGlamUniversity, posted a statement earlier this week accusing the Atlanta MC of putting “A GUN TO MY HEAD IN FRONT OF CHILDREN.” While she herself has not accused T.I. of sexual misconduct, she alleges that dozens of women have since anonymously reached out to her. Their stories, which she has collected on her Instagram stories as screenshots of DMs, include being pressur...
Bristol-based indie rocker Joe Sherrin has been making music under the moniker SLONK for quite some time now, all while playing in other bands like Fenne Lily, Milo’s Planes, and Let’s Kill Janice. Today, he’s sharing a new song called “Colin” and it sees him changing gears from his typical sound to embrace the anthemic side of synth pop. “This song came about a few years ago at a temp job where I didn’t know (and still don’t) what I was actually doing there,” explained Sherrin in a statement. “I knew what type of thing I was supposed to be doing on the computer, but had no idea what it meant or what its purpose was. ‘Colin’ is about the idea staying there forever, told through the eyes of the characters who I worked there with.” As bleak as being trapped in a dead-end job may be, SLONK ma...
The Knife had a big 2020, marking their 20th anniversary with a series of reissues, a long-awaited migration to Bandcamp, live performances, and a new anti-nationalist anthem. With the celebration behind them, though, the group’s Olof Dreijer is back to his own work. Today, he’s shared a remix of “Monument” by Robyn & Röyksopp. “Monument” comes from the Swedish collaborators’ 2014 Do It Again EP, but it’s given a completely new spin here. The original pulsed with heavy sultriness as Robyn delivered slow and deliberate lyrics of determination. Dreijer kicks up the tempo considerably, speeding the vocals and panning the audio back and forth. The instrumentation also has been given something of a more classic dancefloor vibe, to the point where you can almost see the flashing lights cutti...
iHeartRadio’s annual ALTer EGO festival went down in livestream form on Thursday night with headlining performances fro Foo Fighters and Billie Eilish. Foo Fighters kicked off the evening with a four-song set. “Shame Shame” and “Waiting On A War”, from the band’s forthcoming album Medicine at Midnight, were bookended by classics “Everlong” and “The Pretender”. Eilish closed the night with performances of her latest singles “therefore I am” and “my future”, along with “everything I wanted”. Though Foo Fighters and Eilish did not perform together, Dave Grohl was no doubt pumped to be sharing a bill with the young superstar. Last year, he likened Eilish’s rapid rise to Nirvana’s in 1991: “People say, ‘Is rock dead?’ When I look at someone like Billie Eilish, rock and roll is no...
Squid have announced their debut album Bright Green Field, which is set to arrive in May. As a first look, the Brighton post-punk band is sharing a sprawling lead single called “Narrator”. Bright Green Field follows Squid’s pair of 2020 songs, “Sludge” and “Broadcaster”, as well as their 2019 EP Town Centre. This LP was produced by Dan Carey (black midi, Bat For Lashes, Hot Chip), and judging by the recording process, it sounds like they went big: a 30-person choir, a horn and string ensemble, and actual field recordings of bees. Although its title and artwork evoke a pastoral setting, drummer/vocalist Oliver Judge says that this album exists in a shadowy cityscape. “The tracks illustrate the places, events and architecture that exist within it,” he explains in a statement. ...
The Philly-based R&B artist Son Little has returned with a new song called “Phantom Killer” that might be his most forward-thinking tune yet. On last year’s aloha LP, his third full-length for ANTI- Records, Little continued to refine his signature blend of lo-fi indie-rock and psychy soul. Like on 2017’s New Magic and his 2015 S/T debut, the music centered Little’s undeniable vocal talent — a raw, dusky croon that sounds great when he’s belting and softly cooing. “Phantom Killer” is a one-off loosie that makes a hard pivot into some very different, though equally beautiful, sounds. On this track, Little douses his voice in auto-tune and sings with a mournful inflection that brings to mind Kanye’s “Blood On The Leaves”. The frisky shaker noises and looping acoustic guitar rif...
Pop singer and former Disney star Selena Gomez has announced her first-ever Spanish-language EP. Titled Revelación, it’s scheduled to drop March 12th. Gomez, who is of Mexican and Italian descent, revealed the news on Twitter on Wednesday. However, rumors of a forthcoming Spanish effort had actually surfaced earlier this month after multiple murals bearing her name were spotted around Mexico and Brazil. A tracklist won’t be unveiled until the EP is available for pre-order tomorrow, but the project is expected to feature her recently released single “De Una Vez” (“At Once”) and a forthcoming one called “Baila Conmigo” (“Dance with Me”) that’s due out this Friday, January 29th. Editors’ Picks The 28-year-old Gomez previously joined DJ Snake and Ozuna on the 2018 Spanish release “Taki T...
Two icons known for bucking tradition and wearing bangs have been united at last. As The Film Stage reports, Radiohead‘s Jonny Greenwood will score the new film Spencer about Diana Frances Spencer, better known as Diana, Princess of Wales. It’s directed by Pablo Larrain and stars Kristen Stewart as the titular hero. The tale takes place over a Christmas weekend in December of 1991. Diana’s marriage to Prince Charles is imploding amidst rumors of his infidelities, and in 1992 they will separate. Spencer is set just before the separation, as a deeply-unhappy princess makes up her mind to leave. Filming has begun, and the movie is expected to bow sometime in the fall of 2021. In a statement, Stewart said, “Spencer is a dive inside an emotional imagining of who Diana was at a pi...