NEWS
Billie Joe Armstrong Shares Throwback Clip of ‘Johnny B. Goode’ Performance
Billie Joe Armstrong has been a regular fixture on the livestream circuit right now with his series of covers and virtual late-night show performances. But he upped his contribution to “fun things to view while in quarantine” by sharing a throwback video of him playing “Johnny B. Goode” on his signature “Blue” guitar. And even though we don’t know how old he was when this was filmed, the clip clearly shows that his guitar-playing skills have been honed from a young age. “Dear blue. You’ve always been trueThat’s my brother Dave playin drums. My family everywhere else.. song- “johnny b Goode,” he captioned the family home video. As previously mentioned, Armstrong has done a number of covers including Tommy James & The Shondells’ “I Think We’re Alone Now,” “Manic Monday” with Bangles sing...
Bingo Players, Laidback Luke, Sophie Francis, and More to Perform at 1001Tracklists Virtual Festival
1001Tracklists today announced its forthcoming 1001Tracklists Virtual Festival, which will kick off this Friday, May 8th, and conclude on Sunday, May 10th. Along with the announcement came the unveiling of the fest’s massive lineup, which features electro house kingpin Bingo Players, iconic producer and Mixmash boss Laidback Luke, Hexagon wunderkind RetroVision, Dutch young gun Sophie Francis, and Norwegian trance heavyweight Ørjan Nilsen, among many others. Each day of 1001Tracklists Virtual Festival will also curate its own dedicated sound, starting with “Mainstage” on Friday, followed by “House Party” on Saturday and “Trance & Progressive” on Sunday. You can tune into the livestream event via 1001Trac...
Axl Rose Just Took a Shot at Steve Mnuchin, and The Treasury Secretary Fired Back
Axl Rose is the most enigmatic of rock stars. The Guns N’ Roses front man doesn’t release music nearly often enough, and he’s not prolific on social media. When he does unleash, oh boy, folks pay attention. The Hall of Famer let fly with a tweet Wednesday night, taking full aim at Steve Mnuchin, the polarizing Secretary of the Treasury. “It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an asshole,” Rose tweeted. It’s official! Whatever anyone may have previously thought of Steve Mnuchin he’s officially an asshole. — Axl Rose (@axlrose) May 6, 2020 Mnuchin, who looks like a guy who’s great at counting money but not big on beefs, actually shot back. “What have you done for the country lately?,” reads his tweet, which he completed with an emoji...
Hillard ‘Sweet Pea’ Atkinson, Legendary Vocalist With Was (Not Was), Dies at 74
When Chris Blackwell signed Hillard “Sweet Pea” Atkinson to Island Records, he wanted to do more than just make a solo album for the Was (Not Was) singer. “He wanted to make a comic book where Sweet Pea was the main character,” Don Was tells Billboard, “because he was a larger than life guy — which is how I still think of him. I don’t think of him as a regular human.” Atkinson’s large life came to an end May 5, when he suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 74 in Los Angeles, where he lived. While Was (Not Was) became Atkinson’s claim to fame, it was also the stepping stone into a career that included two solo albums — Don’t Walk Away in 1982 and 2017’s Get What You Deserve — and membership i...
Ingrooves Expands In Australia and NZ
Ingrooves Music Group, the music marketing services and distribution division of Universal Music Group, is expanding its presence Down Under. Nina Rabe-Cairns is recruited to lead its activities in the region, in the role as Country Manager of Ingrooves Australia and New Zealand, based in Sydney. A former reporter and presenter, Rabe-Cairns joins from Spotify, where she served as market strategy & operations manager for Australia and New Zealand and, earlier, as senior editor/playlist curator. Previously, Rabe-Cairns served in executive roles with Viacom in Berlin, rising to senior brand marketing manager for Nickelodeon. And before that, she was head of content for Viacom’s digital editorial team, working on MTV and Comedy Central. “Nina brings with her a wealth of expertise and deep ...
Falls Festival Sets All-Local Lineup as Australian Biz Glimpses COVID-19 Recovery Phase
With no let-up in sight on Australia’s strict social distancing rules and tough quarantine measures expected to hold firm for months, festival organizers are playing the long game and returning to a vintage formula: all-local lineups. Falls Festival, one of Australia’s biggest annual touring fests, this week announced its next event will feature a limited edition, all Australian lineup. It’s a glimpse at a “bright side” coming out of these “strange times,” reads an open letter from Falls Festival producers Jess Ducrou and Paul Piticco. As Australia inches towards “the recovery phase of COVID-19,” the statement reads, “we have decided to move forward with optimism, and work towards presenting our Dec. 2020-Jan. 2021 event in a way that will best bolster Australia’s live music industry.” The...
Flume Paints Face Blue, Teases Unreleased Remix of Infamous 1998 Hit “Blue (Da Ba Dee)”
Flume took to Instagram today to share a clip of him working on a new remix of Eiffel 65‘s infamous 1998 Grammy Award-winning hit “Blue (Da Ba Dee).” He treats fan to the comedic side of Flume with the video, which shows the prolific Australian producer working on his “Blue” remix with blue paint smeared all over his face and hands as if he were a Smurf. Flume has the distinct ability to take any song he wants, wave a magic production wand, and turn it into a beautiful electronic effort oozing with a sound all his own. Such is the case with this remix, as he takes “Blue,” which is not an easy song to remix by any means, and infuses his signature future bass sound with thick 808s and expertly pitched vocal chops. Flume’s puppy, on the oth...
Grimes & Elon Musk’s Unusual Baby Name Isn’t Valid in California
Elon Musk and Grimes‘ new bundle of joy sent the Internet into a spiral of confusion when the couple announced that their baby boy’s name is X Æ A-12. It remains unclear whether or not they’re trolling, or if the name is a code for another, more pronounceable one, but if they are being serious, the moniker won’t be valid in the state of California where the baby was presumably born. “In California, you can only use the ’26 characters’ of the English language in your baby name,” family law attorney David Glass told People. “Thus, you can’t have numbers, Roman numerals, accents, umlauts or other symbols or emojis. Although an apostrophe, for a name like ‘O’Connor,’ is acceptable.” Furtherm...
Kitty Talks Getting Scratched From ‘Masked Singer’ After Proving She’s ‘Not Just a Little Girl With a Big Voice’
[Spoiler alert: This story contains the identity of the eliminated contestant on Wednesday night’s (May 6) The Masked Singer.] It’s getting down to the wire on The Masked Singer. Wednesday night’s show had the top five facing off after the previous week’s bouncing of Astronaut Hunter Hayes. You would imagine that, at this point, we’re dealing with some serious pipes on the remaining contenders for the crown: Kitty, Rhino, Frog, Night Angel and Turtle. So let’s focus on Kitty, shall we? She’s been one of the most consistent contestants all season, nailing the sultry take on Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend,” crushing Sia’s “Unstoppable” and Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” putting on a pop clinic with Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman,” as we...
HHW Gaming: Ellie Goes Full Savage Mode In New “The Last of Us Part II’ Trailer
Source: Naughty Dog / The Last of Us Part II We’ve been avoiding The Last of Us Part II leak like Future avoids paying his baby mamas. Today (May.6) Naughty Dog rewarded those who didn’t dare look at any of those leaked cutscenes with an intense, dramatic trailer that hints at painful journey for Ellie full of loss and despair for the still highly-anticipated sequel to 2013’s The Last of Us. Players will take control of Ellie, who is now an adult and is on a quest for revenge. The official synopsis for the game posted under the trailer states: “After a vicious and violent event disrupts the relative peace that Ellie has found in Jackson, she sets out to bring justice to those responsible. As she hunts them down one by one, she is confronted with the devastating physical and emotional reper...
The RZA Launches 36 Cinema With ‘Shaolin Vs. Wu Tang’ Screening & Live Commentary
Source: NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 03: RZA and Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan perform during 2017 Governors Ball Music Festival – Day 2 at Randall’s Island on June 3, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/WireImage) The Coronavirus quarantine has given many people lots of time to contemplate and plan on their next moves in life and it looks like the RZA is taking advantage of his down time and giving his fans something to get excited about. Yesterday (May 5) the king Ruler Zig Zag Zig Allah took to IG to announce the launch of 36 Cinema, which will be streaming movies with live commentary from respected film experts, and informed fans that this Friday they’ll be kicking off the festivities with the screening of Shaolin Vs. Wu Tang. Showcasing the film that inspired the name of the ico...
Kaskade Announces Twitch Stream of His Historic 2015 Coachella Set
Back in 2015, Kaskade was the only electronic dance music artist to perform on Coachella‘s main stage. In astonishing fashion, he went on to attract two of the largest crowds in Coachella’s illustrious history, thrusting an EDM flagpole in the peak of mainstream music and marking the genre’s territory in music’s most ubiquitous live arena. Kaskade is now turning back the clock to that monumental moment, as he took to Twitter today to announce a livestream event chronicling the milestone on Twitch. “This is certainly electronic music’s time,” Kaskade told Mashable at the time. “When I saw the aerial shots, my eyeballs popped out and my jaw dropped,” he continued. “It was insane to see it stretched so far ba...
