Music News
Jeff Rosenstock Drops Surprise New Album NO DREAM: Stream
Just as he did with his stellar 2018 album POST-, Jeff Rosenstock has released its follow-up without any advanced notice. Yes, there’s a brand new Jeff Rosenstock album out in the wild: It’s called NO DREAM and it’s now streaming in full via Apple Music, Spotify, and all other digital music providers. A vinyl version of the album will be available August 21st (pre-orders are now ongoing). Spanning 13 tracks, NO DREAM marks Rosenstock’s first release since re-locating to Los Angeles. Working alongside producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Hard Girls, Joyce Manor) at Oakland’s Atomic Garden, he recorded directly to tape with outboard gear and mixed the album entirely himself. “It was feeling like a very personal record for me,” says Rosenstock of NO DREAM. “A lot of it was stemming from the anx...
Sia Shares New Song “Together” from Upcoming Directorial Debut: Stream
Sia’s last proper album, This is Acting, hit shelves more than four years ago. The pop superstar has been quite busy since then, though — and not just with her music. Not only is she working on the soundtrack to a movie she herself directed, she has also expanded her own family by adopting two 18-year-old boys. Marking Sia’s feature directorial debut, the forthcoming film is called Music. Co-written by Sia and children’s author Dallas Clayton, it’s based on a short story the singer penned in 2007. The story follows the life of an autistic teenager (Maddie Ziegler) who is cared for by her drug-dealing half-sister (Kate Hudson). If you’ll recall, actor and dancer Ziegler often appears in Sia’s music videos, including the now-classic clip for “Chandelier”, one of the best hits of the 201...
Kendall Jenner Settles Fyre Festival Lawsuit, Ordered to Pay $90K
Remember when Fyre Festival seemed like the closest thing to the apocalypse? Kendall Jenner sure does, as she was sued over her involvement in the doomed festival back in December. Three years after the event was meant to take place, the 24-year-old model can finally put the ordeal behind her — and it’ll only cost her $90,000. Along with a number of musicians and influencers, Jenner was sued by Gregory Messer, the trustee in charge of the bankruptcy for Fyre Media, co-founded by Fyre Fest mastermind and disgraced entrepreneur scam artist Billy McFarland. The lawsuits are aiming to recover the reported $14.4 million McFarland spent planning the luxury festival. $275,000 of that sum was paid to Jenner for a single Instagram post promoting the event, something the trustee argued amounted...
Nickelback Cancel North American Tour Due to COVID-19
Not even Nickelback is safe from COVID-19: the Canadian rockers have pulled the plug on their All the Right Reasons 15th anniversary tour due to concerns over the pandemic. The tour was scheduled to kick off in mid-June, with direct support from Stone Temple Pilots, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, and Switchfoot. In announcing the tour’s cancelation, Nickelback wrote, “The ability to make music, tour and share memorable experiences with everyone across the world is all that we could have ever possibly imagined and hoped for throughout our career.” “Over the past few months we have been in constant communication with our team, tour industry professionals, medical professionals and everyone that could help guide us collaboratively on a safe path forward,” the band continued. “The heal...
Prince’s Long-Lost Blue Angel Cloud Guitar up for Auction
Earlier this month, Julien’s Auction announced the lots for its annual Music Icons collection. Amongst the items on the block is one of Prince’s famous Cloud custom guitars — which was recently discovered to be worth far more than initially appraised. That’s because it turns out the instrument is the long-lost Blue Angel guitar that was Prince’s favorite from 1984 to 1993. When the auction was first announced, Paisley Park conservationist and Cloud expert John Woodland contacted Julien’s Auction. After examining the guitar via FaceTime, Woodland was fairly certain this was indeed the second Cloud Prince had commissioned, affectionately known as Blue Angel. Julien’s got the instrument CT scanned to confirm that it was indeed the fabled guitar. Apparently, it had been in the collection of a ...
The Weeknd Announces Rescheduled Tour Dates for 2021
After releasing one of the most popular albums of the year in After Hours, The Weeknd was understandably excited about a massive arena tour. Unfortunately the coronavirus pandemic put the kibosh on that, but the Canadian pop star has now announced that he’s rescheduled those tour dates for the summer and fall of 2021. “The After Hours (Rescheduled) Tour” kicks off in Vancouver in June, exactly one year and a day after it was originally set to commence. The 67-date trek criss-crosses North America until October, at which time he’ll take the show to Europe. All of his old performances have found a new home except for a November stop in Glasgow, the exact time of which is still TBD. He’ll be joined on tour with openers Sabrina Claudio, Don Toliver, and Black Atlass. Check out the full sc...
Mr. Rogers Sued Ice Cube for Sampling Him in “A Gangsta’s Fairytale”
Mr. Rogers and Ice Cube Over the weekend, Ice Cube celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut solo album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, with a digital listening party. He hosted the event on Instagram Live where he rapped along to his hits, shared insight into the songwriting process, and recalled old memories. Unexpectedly, one of those recollections involved getting sued by Mr. Rogers himself. As noted by Stereogum, the N.W.A. rapper brought up the surprising legal tussle practically as an aside. “I actually wrote [‘A Gangsta’s Fairytale’] for Eazy-E. But y’all know what it is; we weren’t getting down at the time so I had to take it myself,” he said on Instagram. “It’s a trip because off this song, Mr. Rogers sued us. He was mad because we had the Mister Rogers theme at the beginning of thi...
Kendall Roy’s Succession Rap “L to the OG” Gets an Official Release: Stream
During Season 2 of Succession, the character Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) tried to honor his father Logan with a lot of effort and no self-awareness by writing the octogenarian a rap song. Now you can relive that cringeworthy moment, as HBO and WaterTower Music have released the official studio version of “L to the OG”. Written by Succession composer Nicholas Britell, who also plays DJ Squiggle on the show, “L to the OG” is an intoxicating mix of simple rhymes, brown-nosing lyrics, and one of the whitest characters in TV history appropriating black vernacular. “Yo, bitches be catty, but the king’s my daddy,” he raps, “Rock all the haters while we go roll a ’rati/ Squiggle on the decks, Kenny on the rhyme / And Logan big ballin’ on Hamptons time.” In an interview with Vulture,...
Guns N’ Roses Postpone North American Tour Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
Guns N’ Roses have officially postponed their summer North American tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The outing, which was set to feature support from The Smashing Pumpkins on select dates, will be rescheduled. The tour was slated to run from a July 4th gig at Milwaukee’s Summerfest through an August 26th show in Missoula, Montana. The Pumpkins would have opened a handful of shows from July 8th through July 18th. The news comes roughly a week after GN’R called off their European tour, which was set to kick off today (May 20th). A full statement regarding the North American postponement reads as follows: “GN’R Fam, some news: the North American tour is being rescheduled out of an abundance of caution. We will share the updated schedule as soon as the dates are finalized & all tickets ...
Julianna Barwick Announces New Album Healing Is a Miracle, Shares “Inspirit”: Stream
Julianna Barwick has announced a new album called Healing Is a Miracle just in time to help soothe our global anxiety. It’s her first record in four years and is due out on July 10th via Ninja Tune. To celebrate, she’s shared the lead single, “Inspirit”, along with a scenic music video that captures the mood. Healing Is a Miracle was built on improvisation, reflection, and collaboration. In particular, the latter takes shape in the form of some very notable guest features by Jónsi of Sigur Rós, Nosaj Thing, and Mary Lattimore. While this may appear like a departure from her past work, the press release assures that Healing Is a Miracle is a natural evolution from her previous albums, including 2016’s Will and 2013’s Nepenthe. Barwick began drafting ideas for Healing Is a Miracle last sprin...
Trent Reznor Mocks “Puking” Ted Cruz with Fake News Tour Merch
It’s true that Nine Inch Nails had to cancel their fall tour, but it’s also true that the tour already happened, totally kicked ass, and “every single comment on the internet about it was positive.” No, we’re not having a psychotic break (our hydroxychloroquine hasn’t even kicked in) it’s just that with a new line of tour merch, Trent Reznor is leaning in to the national mood of alternate facts and fake news, while taking another shot at his old enemy, “puking” Ted Cruz. NIN are selling collectibles from their “2020 Black and Cold and Infinite Tour” — which, just to be clear, really did get cancelled. In the last few days a couple of choice items appeared on the Nails’ website, and while the tote bag and wall flag are perfectly fine in their own right, the real action is in the descri...
Rina Sawayama has a Bloody Breakdown in New “Bad Friend” Video: Watch
Rina Sawayama, our April Artist of the Month, is back with a new music video for “Bad Friend”. It comes in support of SAWAYAMA, her recently released debut album of “brilliant” and “lyrically complex, refined pop.” Directed by Ali Kurr, the film noir-style clip sees Sawayama play the role of a man drinking down his breakup sorrows at a bar. Though initially reserved and private in nature, after a few too many shots, he completely lashes out and attacks his drinking companion. For Sawayama, this was the first time doing her own stunts and working with prosthetic makeup. Editors’ Picks In a statement, the Japan-born, UK-based pop artist talked about the purposefully shocking tone of the visual, “The song is about the heartbreak of losing a friendship and realizing that you were the cau...
