Music News
Weezer Dedicate New Song “Hero” to Frontline Workers: Stream
Due to the ongoing pandemic, Weezer have been forced to postpone their new metal-inspired album, Van Weezer. A new release date hasn’t been given yet, but Rivers Cuomo & co. are making it up to their patient fans by sharing a fresh single titled “Hero”. Although Weezer are suckers for a darn good cover, today’s offering is not plucked from Mariah Carey’s catalog. “Hero” instead finds them amplifying their KISS and Metallica fandom for a cut rife with sharp, shredding guitars and a blaring, arena-ready chorus. The new song comes paired with an official music video shot during quarantine. It features footage of the band while on lockdown — Cuomo is sporting an interesting mustache these days — but more importantly pays tribute to the real heroes: frontline workers. “This one is for ...
Lady Gaga Announces New Release Date For Chromatica
Lady Gaga’s fifth studio album, Chromatica, was all set for an April 10th release before the coronavirus pandemic caused led to its postponement. Now, Gaga has announced that her new LP will instead arrive on May 29th. The follow-up to 2016’s Joanne, Chromatica contains 16 tracks, including “Chromatica” parts I, II, and III. As fans learned when the tracklist leaked last month, it alsofeatures collaborations with Ariana Grande, the K-Pop group Blackpink, and Sir Elton John. Pre-orders have begun, and you can check out the artwork and official tracklist below. Editors’ Picks Previously, Lady Gaga shared the lead single “Stupid Love”. In April, she curated the coronavirus relief special “One World: Together at Home”, and this June, she’ll join Barack and ...
Baroness, Old Man Gloom, Candiria Members Cover Danzig’s “Snakes of Christ” in Quarantine: Watch
Another day, another cool quarantine performance. This time, members of Baroness, Old Man Gloom, Candiria, and Potion join forces to rock Danzig’s “Snakes of Christ” as part of Two Minutes to Late Night’s “Bedroom Covers” series. The performance features Two Minutes to Late Night host Gwarsenio Hall (aka Jordan Olds) on vocals; Baroness’ Gina Gleason and Candiria’s John LaMacchia on guitars; Potion’s Stella Leung on bass; and Old Man Gloom’s Santos Montano on drums. What makes the video even more entertaining are the intro and outro, featuring Montano delivering his best Glenn Danzig impression as he mimics an old interview the rock icon did in which he talked about his book collection. As for the performance itself, it’s pretty impressive. Gwarsenio Hall does a nice job capturing Dan...
Ezra Koenig Performs Vampire Weekend Medley on Fallon from Quarantine: Watch
This past weekend marked the one-year anniversary of Father of the Bride, the stellar fourth album from Vampire Weekend. In celebration, frontman Ezra Koenig delivered a quarantine-style medley of the album’s songs on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday. Shot from his own spacious home studio, Koenig performed solo piano renditions of standout tracks “Flower Moon”, “Stranger”, and “Big Blue”. The album versions of these three songs benefited from robust instrumentation, but Koenig proved they sound just as lovely and clever when stripped bare. Watch video of the Fallon medley below. Editors’ Picks Prior to lockdown, Vampire Weekend shared three FOTB bonus tracks, as well as campaigned hard for former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Earlie...
Things Get Hairy on JPEGMAFIA’s “BALD! REMIX” Featuring Denzel Curry: Stream
In February, JPEGMAFIA released a new jam for everyone with a “fucked up hairline,” “BALD!”. While Denzel Curry has a full head of hair, he also takes great pleasure in rapping about anything at all, and the two off-kilter MCs have unleashed a “BALD! REMIX” that takes on the haters and promises there’ll be hell toupee. After Peggy’s initial exuberant verse, the remix shaves down the beat to bare percussion. Curry starts off with a relentless, driving flow, before switching it up to a jazzier delivery. The accompanying music video was filmed on a cellphone outside of a convenience store, as the two artists take turns filming each other. It’s a delightfully lo-fi experience, as simple and full of joy as a couple of kids rapping on the corner. Check out “BALD! REMIX” below. In addition to “BA...
Adele Celebrates Birthday, Thanks Essential Workers in Rare Social Media Post
On Tuesday night, Adele celebrated her 32nd birthday with her very first Instagram post of the year. The rare photo captured the pop icon smiling ear to ear in a lush courtyard, as well as featured a special message of thanks to essential workers and first responders on the frontlines of the pandemic. “Thank you for the birthday love. I hope you’re all staying safe and sane during this crazy time,” the Grammy winner wrote on IG. “I’d like to thank all of our first responders and essential workers who are keeping us safe while risking their lives! You are truly our angels. 2020 okay bye thanks x .” Adele has been on social media only sparingly the last 12 months — yes, even that secret Twitter account has probably gone dark — in an effort to focus more on herself following her split from&nb...
R.I.P. Florian Schneider, Kraftwerk Co-Founder Dies at 73
Florian Schneider, co-founding member of Germany’s electronic music group Kraftwerk, has died at the age of 73. A representative for the band said Schneider had been battling cancer. Schneider founded Kraftwerk alongside Ralf Hütter in 1970, after meeting at the Academy of Arts in Remscheid in Düsseldorf. The pair were part of Germany’s experimental music underground scene, initially playing together as members of a group called Organisation. However, after Schneider became interested in synthesizers, the duo began recording music under the name Kraftwerk. Their initial two studio albums — Kraftwerk and Kraftwerk 2 — consisted of free-form experimental recordings, created using guitar, bass, drums, organ, flute, and violin, and later distorted with audio-tape manipulation and multiple dubb...
Florence and The Machine Perform Digital Met Gala Concert: Watch
Grab your biggest sunglasses and get dressed in your finest garments: Florence and the Machine have announced they will perform a live digital benefit concert for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The livestream, dubbed “A Moment with the Met”, will take place this Monday, May 4th at 6:00 p.m. ET on Vogue’s YouTube channel. Watch below. The Met Gala traditionally takes place on the first Monday in May, but because of the pandemic, this year’s event has been canceled. In its place, this livestream will seek to raise funds for the Costume Institute and A Common Thread. In addition to a live set by Florence and the Machine, fashion designer Virgil Abloh will perform a DJ set, Vogue will recount previous Met Galas, and new videos will be released featuring Cardi B, Naomi Campbell, Liv Tyler...
Jehnny Beth Shares New Song “Heroine”: Stream
Jehnny Beth’s debut solo album, To Love Is to Live, sounds like it will be a heavy affair. Early singles have all been various levels of intense, from the sensual pulse of “Flower”, to the ominous stalk of “Innocence”, to the thunderous spasms of “I’m the Man”. However, the album’s latest preview, “Heroine”, brings a more melodic air to the affair. To be fair, the Savages singer hasn’t taken her foot off the post-punk pedal for this one — not at all. But with warped jazz horns and undulating baking vocals swirling together over propellant drums, there’s a more hypnotic thrust here. It’s coupled with lyrics that, as Beth explained in a press release, owe a lot to the galvanizing of her collaborators: “When I think of this song, I think of Romy from the xx strangling my neck with her hands i...
Rock Concert to Take Place in Arkansas Next Week With “Pod” Seating and Temperature Checks
On Monday, Missouri Governor Mike Parson officially gave the okay for concerts to return to parts of the state — though few venues or artists were ready to make the risky move in the middle of the pandemic. Similarly, beginning on May 18th, the state of Arkansas will allow live events to resume, and already one concert is on the books. Bishop Gunn singer/guitarist Travis McCready has announced a limited-capacity concert taking place at TempleLive in Fort Smith, Arkansas next Friday. Perhaps a preview of what’s to come for future live events across the country, Ticketmaster is listing tickets broken down into “fan pods,” blocks of seats set six feet apart that must be purchased in groups of two to 12. The venue boasts a 1,100-person capacity, but has slashed it by 80%, with only 229 se...
Lil Tjay Drops “Ice Cold” Verses About Quarantining on New Song: Stream
New York rapper Lil Tjay has returned with his first new solo single of the year. It’s called “Ice Cold” and it’s arrived with a new music video in tow, too. Update: Lil Tjay has announced the impending release of a new mixtape, State of Emergency, due out on May 8th. Lil Tjay has helped re-popularize Auto-Tune in hip-hop with tracks like his Polo G collaboration “First Place” or his 2019 album True 2 Myself, and he doesn’t step away from the effect here either. As it turns out, he dropped “Ice Cold” as birthday gift to himself to celebrate turning 19 years old earlier this week. “Ice Cold” is an of-the-moment single that’s as mellow as it is catchy. Over a straightforward beat, Lil Tjay sing-raps about losing his mind during the coronavirus pandemic and how exhausting it is experiencing t...
Amanda Palmer Uses Patreon to Announce Separation From Neil Gaiman
The Dresden Dolls singer Amanda Palmer and fantasy author Neil Gaiman have separated. On Sunday night, Palmer broke the news on her Patreon by revealing that Gaiman is living in the UK while she and their son quarantine in New Zealand. On Monday morning, Gaiman took to Twitter to express surprise at her sharing the news without his consent and he requested privacy moving forward. Allegedly an influx of queries regarding Gaiman’s location prompted Palmer to write the Patreon post and make it public, as she assumed that “he’s finally told the internet that he’s left New Zealand.” Palmer confirmed that she’s in lockdown in New Zealand with their four-year-old son, Ash, and said that their break-up is not a result of COVID-19 or lockdown. “All I can say is that I’m heartbroken, I really a...
