Music Videos
Jacknife Lee Starts a Riot With Beth Ditto and Earl St. Clair on “I’m Getting Tired”: Stream
Between lockdown, the pandemic death toll, and The White House’s endless foibles, it’s hard not to feel completely burnt out on reality. That’s the kind of energy producer Jacknife Lee is channeling on his latest single, “I’m Getting Tired”, featuring Beth Ditto and Earl St. Clair. With the help of his two collaborators, Lee turns all of his inner frustrations outward in the form of soulful chaos mixed with noise-rock and fiery jazz fusion and funk. The collision of genres may seem a little busy on paper, but Lee is a master of balancing everything out — after all, his production credits do include an array of artists, such as R.E.M., Taylor Swift, and The Killers, and Regina Spektor. And at the end of the day, it’s that clashing of feelings and sounds that ultimately provides the catharsi...
Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande Premiere New Collaborative Song “Stuck With U”: Stream
Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande may be stuck inside, but that hasn’t stopped them from recording new music together. Today, the global pop stars have revealed their new collaborative single “Stuck With U”. Though the two are known for their upbeat numbers, “Stuck With U” sways with ease, delicacy, and a retro sound reminiscent of the ’60s. The track’s tender nature is especially fitting, given that all proceeds from the streams and sales will benefit First Responders Children’s Foundation to fund grants and scholarships for children of healthcare workers, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, police officers, and firefighters serving at the front lines during the global pandemic. On Instagram, Grande gushed over the song, writing, “i can’t fully articulate ……… howwwww...
Soccer Mommy Goes on Tour in New 8-Bit Video for “crawling in my skin”: Watch
If you’re not aggressively baking bread in quarantine, chances are most of your time is spent online. That’s been the case for Soccer Mommy, who has adapted to the lockdown era by getting super creative about her digital presence. Not only did she throw a massive online concert on video game platform Club Penguin Rewritten (featuring more than 10,000 “attendees”), but she also recently released a set of her own Zoom background images. For her latest endeavor, the indie songwriter also known as Sophie Allison has found a way to go “on tour” without ever leaving her home. Enter her 8-bit music video series concept for “crawling in my skin”. Directed by Bella Clark, each clip follows Soccer Mommy as she “performs” in different North American cities alongside her fellow 8-bit band members. Alt...
Reignwolf Fights “Cabin Fever” with New Song Recorded in His Garage: Stream
Jordan Cook of Reignwolf has been isolating like the rest of us, and like the rest of us he’s going a bit crazy. He’s channeled those emotions into the new quarantine banger “Cabin Fever”. Cook recorded the song in his garage using one mic and a a 4-track recorder. He pounded out that violent drum beat himself, while attacking the guitar riffs with nervous, almost jittery fingers. The lyrics are urgent and wild. “I go insane! Insane! Insane! Insane!/ Wait for tomorrow to be yesterday.” In a statement, he explained how the song came together with “tension” baked in. “The song came together quickly and I didn’t want to wait to record it so I used what was available. I dusted off the 4-track, set up a single mic in the garage and went to work. It felt like old times when I used to r...
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 ...
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...
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...
Dirty Projectors Announce EP Series, Share New Song “Lose Your Love”: Stream
Felicia Douglass and Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors, photo by Jason Frank Rothenberg Dirty Projectors have announced a new EP called Flight Tower that’s due out June 26th via Domino. As it turns out, it’s the second installment in a five-EP series that the band will roll out over the course of 2020. To celebrate the reveal, they’ve released a new single called “Lose Your Love” and an accompanying music video. For the series, each EP will feature a different band member on lead vocals. Windows Open, which came out in March, saw Maia Friedman leading the way. The upcoming Flight Tower follows keyboardist-percussionist Felicia Douglass through four new songs. The next two installments will see Kristin Slipp and frontman Dave Longstreth each taking the reigns individually, with the fifth ...
July Talk Share the Origins of New Song “Identical Love”: Stream
In our new music feature Origins, musicians give fans an inside look at the some of the inspirations behind their latest song. Today, July Talk tell us how they found their “Identical Love”. “I want to be changed/ I want to be rearranged,” go the first lines on July Talk’s new album, Pray for It. The words set the tone for the whole effort, as the Toronto rock outfit set out to find renewal in rebirth — both for themselves personally and their band’s sound. Both types of restoration are denoted in the LP’s latest single and opening track, “Identical Love”. Though known for their snarling indie rock, “Identical Love” shows July Talk operating with a gentler touch. Synths beat like a pulse in the chest of someone slowly reaching out to their lover in a profound moment of truth. A glorious sa...
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever Share New Song “Falling Thunder” and Video: Stream
Next month, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are set to drop their sophomore album, Sideways to New Italy. In the video for the album’s latest single, “Falling Thunder”, the Melbourne outfit return to old Italy, the place of singer/guitarist Tom Russo and bassist Joe Russo’s ancestral heritage. Th intention of the video was to juxtapose shots of Italy with an Italian-founded venue in Melbourne. However, as Tom Russo explained in a press release, things didn’t exactly go as planned: “Our friend Jamieson Moore shot the footage of Sicily, Sardinia, and the Aeolian Islands on her phone while on vacation last year. The Aeolian Islands is also where my and Joe Russo’s ancestors are from. We were also planning to shoot the band playing in Eolian Hall in Melbourne (it’s a community hall founde...
Hundreds of Hours Worth of 1980s-Era MTV Programming Uploaded Online
We want our MTV now… and, in a way, it looks like we got it. After years of missing the channel’s glory days, one Internet Archive user has been steadily uploading VHS recordings of MTV’s early years in the ’80s and ’90s, reports BrooklynVegan. There’s hundreds of hours’ worth of footage online there and it’s all free to watch. The MTV collection is being uploaded chronologically under the apt title “’80s MTV VHS Recordings 1981 to 1989 Collection”. So far, most of the footage features everything you would have seen live on TV as it aired, including the network’s promos and now-outdated commercials. It begins with the dawn of MTV: the channel’s August 1st, 1981 debut where they introduced themselves by way of The Buggles’ legendary and topical hit “Video Killed the Radio Star” before movin...
Fontaines D.C. Announce New Album, Share “A Hero’s Death”: Stream
Fontaines D.C. will let loose their sophomore album, A Hero’s Death, on July 31st through Partisan Records. As a preview of the follow-up to 2019’s warmly received Dogrel, the post-punk outfit has today unveiled the album’s title track. The forthcoming collection spans a total of 11 songs, produced by Dogrel collaborator Dan Carey (black midi, Bat for Lashes) in his London studio. Whereas the Dublin group’s debut LP bristled with rambunctious and undeterred post-punk, A Hero’s Death is described as a more restrained affair, one that puts an emphasis on patient “spectral balladry.” To tap into this kind of energy during the songwriting process, Fontaines D.C. found inspiration in Leonard Cohen and The Beach Boys, as well as contemporaries like Beach House. The new album is sa...
