Music News
Primavera Sound 2020 Canceled Due to COVID-19
Primavera Sound 2020 has been officially canceled. The Barcelona, Spain music festival was originally scheduled for June 3rd-7th, but was postponed until August 26th-30th in light of the ongoing pandemic. Now, the 2020 event has been completely called off. “We are devastated and are terribly sorry for the inconvenience caused, but the health and well-being of our festivalgoers and all of the people involved in the festival has always been and is still our absolute priority,” Primavera Sound said in a statement addressing the “most difficult decision in it history.” Editors’ Picks The festival’s original 2020 lineup included Pavement, The Strokes, Massive Attack, and Lana Del Rey. Tyler, the Creator, The National, Beck, Bauhaus, and Bikini Kill were also slated to perform. While the c...
Shinedown Singer Says Band’s Summer Tour Is Still a Go: “You Can’t Stay Inside Forever”
While most bands are conceding that touring won’t happen for at least the next several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shinedown frontman Brent Smith says his band is planning as if they’re hitting the road this summer. As he puts it: “We are not afraid to play for you.” Shinedown were forced to postpone their spring North American “Deep Dive Tour” due to the pandemic, but quickly rescheduled the dates for the summer, before health experts and government officials started predicting that concerts wouldn’t resume until 2021. In a new interview with Jose Mangin for Zippo Live, Smith explained that the band is still hoping to honor the newly scheduled dates. “We are supposed to be on tour right now doing that tour, interspersed with headlining some festivals,” said Smith. “We rescheduled...
Migos Share New Track “Racks 2 Skinny”: Stream
Migos, the prolific rappers with the sticky triplet flows, have returned with a new track, “Racks 2 Skinny”. Produced by DJ Durel, “Racks 2 Skinny” finds the Migos having just spent an unwise amount of money. But the trio are not deterred. “When the racks too skinny (too skinny),” Quavo says in the hook, “I can make somethin’, squeeze a milli (squeeze, uh).” The song comes with a music video directed by Joseph Desrosiers and Migos. It features huge piles of rubber-banded cash, expensive grills, and space-age sports cars filmed like something out of Sin City. Check out “Racks 2 Skinny” below. This is the second new track that Migos have released in as many weeks. On May 5th (Cinco de Mayo) they released the new track “Taco Tuesday”. In February, they teamed up with Young Thug and ...
Laura Marling Performs Quarantine Version of “Held Down” on Colbert: Watch
Updated for the pandemic era, The A Late Show with Stephen Colbert now sees musical guests perform from their respective self-isolation spaces. Such remote, stripped-down settings may require some acts to make major adjustments to their arrangements, but for Laura Marling, whose intimate folk translates seamlessly. Broadcasting from her cozy London living room Friday night, Marling delicately offered up “Held Down”, a quiet yet still powerful single from her recently released Song for Our Daughter. The new album came out last month during the peak of the coronavirus, so its tracks feel especially tied to this time; watching the UK songwriter sing, “‘Cause we all want to be here now/ And we all want to be held down” in front of her fireplace certainly has a different meaning in co...
Suicide Silence Announce Plans for Virtual World Tour
With the concert industry shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, bands are coming up with new and creative ways to present live music to their fans. Suicide Silence have just announced plans for a “Virtual World Tour”, in which they will play streaming concerts for select geographic areas. Each performance will feature the band playing a full set professionally filmed by multiple cameras, followed by a Q&A session. The shows will be geo-gated, meaning only people within a certain radius of the city on the virtual tour stop will be able to purchase tickets to view that concert. The band has not unveiled an itinerary yet, but expects to launch the tour with virtual shows in New York and Los Angeles in June. Fans in each market will be able to purchase merchandise unique to that particul...
Supreme Launches New Daniel Johnston Clothing Line
Premier streetwear company Supreme is launching a new clothing line dedicated to the late, great Daniel Johnston, who passed away last year. The Spring 2020 collection will feature Johnston’s own original and distinct artwork emblazoned on plaid shirts, sweatshirts, and t-shirts. The legendary lo-fi musician’s illustrations will also appear on outerwear pieces and beanies. This new line, seen below, will be available for purchase online beginning Thursday, May 14th. It marks the third time Supreme has released Johnston-focused clothes; as Complex points out, similar lines were launched back in 2012 and 2015. Editors’ Picks Supreme recently partnered with My Bloody Valentine for a new line of products. Other previous collaborations include Neil Young, Lou Reed, and David Lynch. Morris...
David Gilmour Covers Syd Barrett Songs in Quarantine: Watch
During quarantine, David Gilmour, his wife Polly Samson, and their family have gathered for a weekly “Von Trapped Family” livestream. Originally set up to promote Samson’s new book Theater for Dreamers, the livestreams have evolved to become a sort-of virtual hangout during which the family sings songs, reads poetry, answers fan-submitted questions, and drinks wine. During the latest episode, Gilmour covered two songs composed by former Pink Floyd bandmate Syd Barrett: “Octopus” and “Dominoes”. Gilmour also shared some personal andecdotes about Barrett and their time working together, in addition to revealing that he was asked to proofread a forthcoming book of Barrett’s lyrics. Watch video of the livestream below. Gilmour’s covers of “Octopus” and “Dominoes” can be heard at the times...
Paul McCartney: Little Richard Taught Me Everything I Know
There’s no hyperbole in stating that Little Richard changed rock & roll as we knew it when he broke into the music scene. Look no further than the countless artists who’ve paid tribute to Richard after learning of his passing on Saturday, including Bob Dylan himself. Now, arguably the biggest pioneer of pop-rock music, Paul McCartney, has gone on the record to claim Little Richard taught him “everything he knows” and more. McCartney memorialized Richard with a lengthy tribute on Twitter, essentially crediting Richard for paving the way for The Beatles. When the Fab Four were busy playing residencies at small, McCartney looked to him for inspiration and guidance. “I owe a lot of what I do to Little Richard and his style,” he wrote. “From ‘Tutti Frutti’ to ‘Long Tall Sally’ to ‘Good...
Slowthai Turns His NME Awards Drama Into New Song “ENEMY”: Stream
Slowthai loves to get up to no good, and now he’s ready to immortalize one of his most egregious actions in a new song. Presenting “ENEMY”, a single the UK rapper released this weekend that digs deep into his controversial speech from this year’s NME Awards. To understand what he’s getting at on this new track, you must first revisit what went down at the awards show. Back in February, Slowthai was primed to have a big night at the NME Awards. He opened the evening by performing his excellent Mura Masa collaboration “Deal Wiv It”, which went swimmingly until he decided to get cheeky by mooning the crowd. Things somehow got worse. When Slowthai accepted his fan-voted award for Hero of the Year, he harassed host and comedian Katherine Ryan by propositioning her. One audience member was so re...
Bad Bunny Drops Surprise Album Las Que No Iban a Salir: Stream
The Latin trap and reggaeton star Bad Bunny returns today with a surprise new album called Las Que No Iban a Salir. The 10-track LP features appearances from Nicky Jam, Don Omar, Zion & Lennox, Yandel, Gabriela, and Jhay Cortez. Listen below via Spotify. Las Que No Iban a Salir arrives just two months after Bad Bunny’s record-setting sophomore album, YHLQMDLG, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, making it the highest-charting all-Spanish album in history. It remains in the Billboard Top 10 as of this week. Editors’ Picks
Denzel Curry Unleashes “I’m Just Sayin Tho” Freestyle Featuring Tommy Swisher: Stream
Denzel Curry has unleashed a new freestyle, “I’m Just Sayin Tho”, featuring Atlanta MC Tommy Swisher. In a statement on YouTube, he wrote he was releasing the track now, “because we need music and happiness at a time like this.” Here, Curry borrows a track produced by The Olympicks, which had previously appeared on the Rick Ross rarity “Bust Back”. But while Ross used the epic strings as an excuse to stunt, Curry’s verse is more relatable. He starts with the words “2020 vision”, and then uses it to look backwards: to That’s So Raven, Mr. Miyagi, and the Rugrats. But while he plans to skip a visit to Dr. Lipschitz, his childhood comes loaded with trauma. “Try to keep the balance, be honorable and sadistic/ Lost a lot of homies, but in my dreams they revisit.” Check out “I’m Just S...
Dave Grohl Says Foo Fighters’ New Album Is Their Version of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance
Whenever this pandemic finally comes to an end, Foo Fighters’ fans have a lot to look forward to. Not only is the band planning to hit the road in celebration of their 25th anniversary, but a new album is in the can and ready to be released. This week, Dave joined his mother, Virgina Grohl, for a Mother’s Day-themed interview with Los Angeles’ ALT 98.7 FM. They primarily spoke about Virginia’s recent book, From Cradle to Stage, in which she interviews fellow mothers of famous rock stars. Virginia also revealed that she and her son are working on a docu-series inspired by the book. Toward the end of the interview, however, mom and son discussed how they were spending their time in quarantine. Dave noted that he was supposed to be out on tour right now, and was bummed to have postponed ...
