Entertainment News
Jeopardy! Celebrated Rob Zombie’s Birthday with a Clue About the Rocker-Director: Watch
Rob Zombie turned 56 years old on Tuesday (January 12th), and he received the ultimate television honor — a mention on Jeopardy! The rocker-director was the correct response to a clue about his movie House of 1000 Corpses. With previous champion Ken Jennings guest hosting in the wake of the legendary Alex Trebek’s tragic passing in November, last night’s new airing of Jeopardy! featured a category titled “Insane Clown Posse”. No, the category wasn’t about the face-painted rap duo or their Juggalo fans. Instead, it focused on famous clowns from horror movies and TV. The clue was, “Hooray for Captain Spaulding, the murderous clown in House of 1000 Corpses, directed by this White Zombie frontman.” The correct $1,200 question, of course, was, “Who is Rob Zombie?”, as answered by contestant Dus...
ERRA Announce New Self-Titled Album, Share Music Video for “Divisionary”: Stream
Metalcore act ERRA have announced their self-titled fifth studio album, which arrives March 19th. The band has also shared the music video for the lead single, “Divisionary”. ERRA’s dynamic take on progressive metal shines through on the new song. Complex riffs mingle with upfront melodies to create an immersive soundscape. It’s a fitting single for the new album, which aims for an atmospheric, escapist listening experience, even if the songs like “Divisionary” are rooted in a very real dystopian fear. “It’s a song about our relationship to technology,” vocalist/guitarist Jesse Cash said in a press announcement. “The song is pretty on the nose and intentionally a bit tongue-in-cheek. It creates a sort of campy parallel between our phones and religion. In the song, technology is God and we ...
CARM and Sufjan Stevens Collaborate on “Song of Trouble”: Stream
Contemporary classical ensemble yMusic has been dabbling with the indie rock world for over a decade now, working with everyone from Justin Vernon to The Tallest Man on Earth over the course of their career. CJ Camerieri, the group’s co-founder and horn player, is bringing that experience with him into CARM, his debut self-titled album under that solo moniker, due out January 22nd. Case and point: he got Sufjan Stevens to sing on his brand new single “Song of Trouble”. Co-written by both artists, “Song of Trouble” is a beautiful orchestral number that sees CARM wielding his horn in a way that’s typically reserved for guitars. There’s a sense of sadness that guides it as well as a subtle hopefulness. That feeling is drawn out all the more thanks to the lyrics Stevens wrote. “I called to eac...
Corey Taylor Recruits Reality Star, Movie Actors, and Steel Panther for “Samantha’s Gone” Video: Watch
Corey Taylor’s new music video for his solo single “Samantha’s Gone” is a star-studded affair. The Slipknot frontman recruited the likes of Vanderpump Rules reality star Tom Sandoval, actor Dean Cameron (Summer School, Straight Outta Compton), and hair-metal parody band Steel Panther for the humorous clip. The backdrop is the set of the video shoot for the song, a track on Taylor’s recent debut solo album, CMFT. Sandoval appears as a mulleted frontman of an overzealous indie-rock band that also features Greg Grunberg (Star Wars movies), Latin musician Travis Miguel, guitarist Ace Von Johnson (Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns), and musician Jonah Nimroy. As they deliver a ridiculous performance of “Samantha’s Gone”, the director (played by Cameron) screams in disgust. When he begs them to stop, T...
D’Angelo, Björk, FKA twigs, and The Chemical Brothers to Curate Their Own Sonos Radio Stations
FKA twigs (photo by Matthew Stone), D’Angelo (photo by Gregory Harris), and Björk Ready those speakers, because D’Angelo, Björk, FKA twigs, and The Chemical Brothers are about to take over the airwaves — on Sonos Radio, that is. The online radio streaming service has asked all four acts to curate their very own radio stations. Given the eclecticism of this group of musicians, the new stations are sure to contain exciting finds. Airing first is D’Angelo’s station, named “Feverish Fantazmagoria” (January 13th), followed by FKA twigs’ “main squeeze” (February 10th). On February 24th, Björk will debut her lengthily titled “21 years worth of wave files liquidated into a stream”, while The Chemical Brothers will launch “Radio Chemical” on March 2nd. In addition to these stations, all four ...
Screen Style: The Movies and TV Shows Shaping Our Wardrobes This Year
It’s no secret that the stylish characters of our favourite films and TV series were the unexpected fashion influencers of 2020. In only 28 days, The Queen’s Gambit was Netflix’s most watched series to date, and that’s heavily in part due to Beth Harmon’s bombshell ’60s style. Then, the internet was divided over that green coat on The Undoing and if we should all be dressing like Regency-era debutantes in Bridgeton. If you’ve been living vicariously through glamorous onscreen fashion moments lately, then you’ll love the stylish movies and tv shows coming up in 2021. This year’s most fashionable films include psychological thriller Last Night in Soho, directed by Edgar Wright and starring Anya Taylor-Joy as an up-and-coming fashion desig...
Andra Day Refuses to Be Silenced in First Trailer for The United States vs. Billie Holiday: Watch
Andra Day in The United States vs. Billie Holiday trailer Billie Holiday’s fame in the ’30s and ’40s threatened the very fabric of racist white America. But it was her popular recording of “Strange Fruit”, a song protesting the lynching of Black people, that officially made Holiday an enemy of the country. In an effort to discredit and silence her, the Federal Department of Narcotics targeted Holiday relentlessly, knowing she’d had a history of drug abuse. That’s the haunting premise of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, a new Hulu biopic from director Lee Daniels (Precious) written by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks. The legendary jazz singer is played by real-life Grammy nominee Andra Day, who embodies Holiday’s brazen outspokenness and magnetism in equal measure, as seen in to...
Bassist Marko Hietala Quits Nightwish, Condemns Music Industry on the Way Out
Former Nightwish bassist Marko Hietala, second from right, courtesy of Nuclear Blast Longtime Nightwish bassist Marko Hietala has quit the symphonic metal band after joining the Finnish group in 2001. Hietala issued a highly personal statement regarding his departure, condemning the music industry in the process. Among his grievances, Hietala cited “streaming company big guns demanding 9-to-5 work from artists of inspiration while unfairly sharing the profits.” Nightwish have long been a leading artist in the world of symphonic metal, and their 2004 opus, Once, remains one of Nuclear Blast Records’ most successful releases after topping the charts in multiple countries. The bassist didn’t expressly call out his record label, specific promoters, or any of his bandmates, but said that a pers...
Toledo Share New Song “Dog Has Its Day”: Stream
Although they share a name with the Ohio city, Toledo are a band from Brooklyn. The duo of Daniel Alvarez and Jordan Dunn-Pilz are in the midst of rolling out an EP called Jockeys of Love, and today they’re giving fans a preview with a song called “Dog Has Its Day”. The track follows October’s “Challenger” and December’s “It’s Alive!”, which serve as a solid representation of the sounds that Toledo’s music straddles: brisk, slightly surfy dream-pop and crisp, tranquil indie-folk. “Dog Has Its Day” retains the prettiness of the former, but musically it leans closer to the latter sensibility. Over a mellow yet steady groove, Alvarez and Dunn-Pilz stack a whispery falsetto over a mesmerizing acoustic guitar lick and let that ride for a while. Eventually, some beautifully congealed harmonies e...
IAN SWEET Announces New Album Show Me How You Disappear, Shares “Drink the Lake”: Stream
IAN SWEET, the CoSigned indie project headed up by Jilian Medford, has announced a new album. Show Me How You Disappear arrives in March and is being teased today with a single called “Drink the Lake”. The upcoming effort is IAN SWEET’s third overall and follow-up to 2018’s Crush Crusher, which Medford broke down for us track by track. According to a statement, a bulk of the songs on Show Me How came to fruition after Medford completed a two-month intensive outpatient program in early 2020. The rigorous treatment involved six-hour days of therapy and saw Medford looking inward more than ever before — so much so that she even took a break from music in order to focus on her self-care. Show Me How is a direct result of those reflections and the emotional catharsis that came with them. “...
Hardcore Act Thirdface Announce Debut Album, Unleash Single “Villains!”: Stream
Nashville hardcore group Thirdface have announced their debut full-length, Do It With a Smile, which will arrive on March 5th via Exploding in Sound Records. In advance of the LP, they’ve unleashed the song ‘Villains!” as the first single. For many, this ripping track will their introduction to Thirdface, and a fine introduction it is. As the song title implies, “Villains!” is loud and grinding, anchored by swirling bass work and bold declarations against the oppressive forces of society. “When writing ‘Villains!’ I was watching a lot of [the anime series] Fist of the North Star, which gives the song its title,” vocalist Kathryn Edwards told BrooklynVegan. “I wanted to write a song about tearing some evil down from its pedestal like Ken from FOTNS would do. But decided to speak on reality ...
Chadwick Boseman’s Wife Simone Gives Tearful Tribute at Gotham Awards: “Keep Shining Your Light On Us”
At Monday’s Gotham Awards, Simone Ledwick Boseman accepted an award on behalf of her late husband Chadwick Boseman. Via EW, she offered a tearful tribute honoring “the most honest person I’ve ever met.” Boseman had been nominated for Best Actor for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and while Riz Ahmed eventually won for Sound of Metal, Boseman received a posthumous Actor Tribute. His widow made a virtual appearance, offering one of the most emotionally raw speeches of this or any other award ceremony. “He was the most honest person I’ve ever met,” she said, “because he didn’t just stop at speaking the truth, he actively searched for it: In himself, in those around him and in the moment, The truth can be a very easy thing for the self to avoid, but if one does...
