music
Ariana Grande’s Mom Is Doing The Most To Support ‘Rain On Me’
Ever since Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande dropped their shimmering, dance-floor single “Rain on Me” on Friday (May 22), the praises have rushed in like a torrential downpour, both from fans and from the pop icons themselves. The collaboration, which served as the second single off Gaga’s forthcoming album Chromatica releasing on Friday (May 29), has been met with overwhelming support, apparently leaving the singers feeling rather humbled. On Tuesday (May 26), Gaga asked Ari in a tweet: “Are most of our streaming numbers just us being crazy and obsessed listening on repeat?” To which Grande posited a likely answer. “i think so. or just @ joangrande alone,” she responded, directing the conversation to her mother, Joan Grande. Respond...
Waxahatchee to Play Entire Catalog During Weekly Livestreams
Live music may not return until next year, but for the safety and longevity of music it’s probably for the best. On the bright side, it’s also the reason why everyone will get the chance to see Waxahatchee play her entire five-album discography next month. Today, Katie Crutchfield has announced a new livestream series where she will perform a different record in full each Monday in June. Crutchfield, the singer-songwriter behind the Waxahatchee moniker, plans to dig through her catalog in chronological order over the course of the next month. Starting on June 1st, she will play her debut solo album, American Weekend. Following that on June 8th, she will revisit her breakthrough sophomore record Cerulean Salt from 2013. June 15th will see her play 2015’s critically lauded Ivy Tripp, with a ...
Sheryl Crow, Rufus Wainwright, David Crosby to Play Joe Biden’s Virtual Fundraiser
As much as our current POTUS would like to ignore reality, it’s not feasible to hold in-person political rallies right now. Instead, Democratic presidential candidate and presumptive nominee Joe Biden is taking things virtual with an online fundraising event dubbed “Rock Out on a Night In”, set for May 28th at 8:00 p.m. EDT. As Variety reports, the evening will be hosted by Whoopi Goldberg and Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, a potential running mate for Biden. Musical performances will come from big-name talents Sheryl Crow, David Crosby, Joe Walsh, Rufus Wainwright, and Jimmy Buffet. Speaking of his involvement in the fundraiser, Wainwright recounted meeting Biden at a White House LGBTQ reception hosted by President Barack Obama. Recalling the “moving” event, Wainwright wrote ...
Death’s 1990-1991 Recordings Unearthed for Latest Live Album: Stream
Recordings from Death’s 1990 and 1991 tours have been unearthed for the fourth entry in the legendary metal act’s archival Non:Analog live album series. The latest installment features tracks recorded at various shows while the band was touring in support of 1990’s Spiritual Healing and 1991’s Human. LIVE 1990, 1991 UNKNOWN features staple Death songs such as “Flattening of Emotions”, “Zombie Ritual”, “Living Monstrosity”, and “Denial of Life”, among others. The release revisits a seminal turning point in the career of the iconic death metal band. After the pioneering sonic filth of 1987’s Scream Bloody Gore, the late Chuck Shuldiner and company adopted a leaner, more technical approach. Spiritual Healing is that transitional pivot, touting precise thrashing and a more discernible vocal mi...
Primavera Sound Reveals 2021 Lineup: Gorillaz, Tame Impala, The Strokes, Pavement & More
Gorillaz (David Brendan Hall), Tame Impala, and The Strokes (Carlo Cavaluzzi) to play Primavera Sound 2021 Good things come to those who wait: Primavera Sound has unveiled the lineup for its rescheduled 20th anniversary festival, and it’s even more stacked than before. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Barcelona, Spain music festival was forced to push back its celebratory 20th edition to 2021. Festival organizers put that time in quarantine to good use, as they’ve managed to expand an already impressive lineup with several exciting additions. Joining previously confirmed acts including Pavement, The Strokes, Iggy Pop, Beck, The National, and Tyler the Creator are Gorillaz, Tame Impala, FKA twigs, Charli XCX, and Jamie xx. Also set to play Primavera Sound in 2021 are Bad Bunny, Bikini ...
The Lemon Twigs Share the Origins of New Song “Moon”: Stream
In our new music feature Origins, artists are given the chance to offer listeners insight into what brought about their latest track. Today, The Lemon Twigs map out how they got to the “Moon”. Despite being on lockdown like the rest of us, The Lemon Twigs are making 2020 a busy year. Last month, they released their surprise benefit album LIVE, and after a slight delay, they’ll drop their new proper full-length, Songs for the General Public, on August 21st via 4AD. They teased the LP with the kaleidoscopic lead single “The One” in March, and today they’re delivering a second shot with “Moon”. The Lemon Twigs’ Michael D’Addario may describe the tune as a perfecting of the band’s “dumpster sound” (more on the later), but trust he means that with all positivity. Ringing from the back...
Queen’s Brian May “Grateful” to Be Alive After Suffering Heart Attack
Queen’s Brian May revealed Monday that he recently suffered a small heart attack earlier this month, and was rushed to the hospital by his doctor. The incident came amidst other notable health concerns for the legendary guitarist. A few weeks ago, May revealed on Instagram that he had torn his gluteus maximus muscle in his buttocks during a “moment of over-enthusiastic gardening”. In his new video message, the guitarist admitted he was “pissed off” by the “Brian May Is a Pain in the Bum”-type headlines. While May did indeed tear his gluteus maximus, he said that he found out later, after another MRI, that the excruciating pain he described at the time actually came from a severely compressed sciatic nerve. “That’s why I had a feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back,” he e...
Lana Del Rey Reveals New Album Title, Name-Checks Marianne Williamson in Latest Attempt to Clarify Controversial IG Post
Lana Del Rey took to Instagram on Friday to announce a new album and poetry collection — but the message was largely lost in the context of the rest of the post. The singer drew the Internet’s ire for framing a rebuff against critics by comparing herself to other female singers, mostly naming women of color like Doja Cat and Beyoncé, “who have had number ones with songs about being sexy, wearing no clothes, fucking, cheating, etc.” Meanwhile, Del Rey argued, she is met with allegations of glamorizing abuse “when in reality I’m just a glamorous person singing about the realities of what we are all now seeing are very prevalent abusive relationships all over the world,” The pop star insisted that modern feminism should allow for her point of view, too: “There has to be a place...
Bright Eyes Share New Song “One and Done” Featuring Flea on Bass: Stream
A release date for Bright Eyes’ new comeback album still hasn’t been set, but that has stopped Conor Oberst and co. from teasing their fans with new music. Following “Persona Non Grata” and “Forced Convalescence”, the reunited outfit is now sharing “One and Done”, and single that once again features cameos from members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queens of the Stone Age. Similar to last month’s “Forced Convalescence”, today’s offering sees RHCP’s Flea on bass and additional percussion courtesy of QOTSA drummer Jon Theodore. Also like the preceding single, Oberst can be heard ruminating on the current state of the world — specifically the bleakness of its collapse and final days. “This whole town looks empty but we knew it wouldn’t last/ Behind b...
Spotify Removes its 10,000-Song Library Limit
Sourced from Forbes. Spotify has finally removed its 10,000-song cap on library sizes, now allowing users to add as much music as they’d like to their personal libraries. Fixing an issue that has irritated music-lovers on the service for years. With more than 50-million songs available to customers to stream at any time, until today, there was a hard limit of 10,000 songs that users could save to their own “Your Music” collections on Spotify for easy access. This is no more. After today, you can add as many songs as you like to your Liked Songs on @Spotify I’ve been working with a small team on the refactoring necessary to pull this off for a while now. Very happy to see this finally out. https://t.co/1nSExF5o3V — Felipe O. Carvalho (@_Felipe) May 26, 2020 Users have been requesting ...
The Pandemic Trapped a Bolivian Orchestra in a (Haunted?) German Castle
Since March 10th, a Bolivian orchestra has been stranded in the German palace at Rheinsberg. According to the BBC, the medieval palace is a moated castle, surrounded by “23 packs of wolves,” which is said to be haunted by Frederick the Great. In early March, the Orquesta Experimental de Instrumentos Nativos flew to Germany to perform three concerts and see some sights, with the total trip expected to last a little over two weeks. Many of the group’s young members had never been out of Bolivia before. But as their plane landed, the orchestra learned that the Berlin region of Germany had announced bans on large gatherings of people. One member, identified as Carlos, recalled an ominous omen. “Our bus broke down on the motorway. I remember joking that this was bad luck and perhaps our concert...
R.I.P. Jimmy Cobb, Veteran Jazz Drummer Dies at 91
Jimmy Cobb, the veteran jazz drummer best known for his work alongside Miles Davis on 1959’s Kind of Blue, has died at the age of 91. According to NPR, Cobb passed away Sunday, May 24th, at his home in Manhattan. The cause of death was lung cancer. Cobb was the last surviving member of Miles Davis’ First Great Sextet, which also included saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, pianist Bill Evans, and bassist Paul Chambers. The sextet appeared on Davis’ landmark Kind of Blue, widely considered the best-selling jazz record of all time. Cobb also drummed for Davis on several other albums, including Porgy and Bess, 1958 Miles, Sketches of Spain, and In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk. Additionally, he appeared on Coltrane’s Giant Steps and Coltrane Jazz,...
