Soul
Sam Smith’s Love Goes Offers Perspective from a Tear-Soaked Dancefloor: Review
The Lowdown: In 2014, London-born Sam Smith broke big into US pop with two singles: “Latch”, a compellingly histrionic soul-EDM track with Disclosure; and “Stay with Me”, a choir- and piano-backed, naked plea for momentary companionship. These hits reflect Smith’s twin signatures as a performer: the spectacular power of their distinctive voice and the effortlessness with which they plumb vulnerability. On their third full-length album, Love Goes, Smith delivers more of these familiar, emotional-pop crescendos designed to soundtrack sentimental feelings on and off the dancefloor. However, in the midst of personal transformations, this collection of tracks reflects a shifted perspective: The singer doesn’t cry out for their love to return, but instead watches, with a kind of acceptance, as i...
Pixar’s Soul to Skip Theaters for Exclusive Disney+ Release This Christmas
Disney has decided to skip a theatrical release for the Pixar film Soul, instead releasing it straight to Disney+ — at no additional cost. Originally scheduled for a June 19th release, the movie was delayed until November 20th due to the pandemic. As of Disney’s last round of schedule shifting, Soul still had that release date. However, since then, Regal Cinemas announced it would re-close all its theaters, and Universal moved its animated sequel The Croods: A New Age up from December 23rd to November. It seems the lack of domestic theater options and the new competition for screens led to Disney’s decision to push Soul to a digital debut on Christmas, December 25th. What’s interesting, however, is that the movie will be free for all Disney+ subscribers. That’s a stark contrast to the othe...
Millie Bobby Brown Wants to Play Amy Winehouse in Biopic: “She Is an Icon”
Millie Bobby Brown (photo via Instagram/@milliebobbybrown) and Amy Winehouse (photo courtesy of the artist’s estate) Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown has revealed that she “would love to play” Amy Winehouse in a biopic. During an interview with Netflix Latinoámerica in support of her new movie Enola Holmes, in which she portrays Sherlock Holmes’ younger sister, Brown was asked which historical figure she would like to bring to life next. Her response was almost immediate: “I wouldn’t say she’s historical, but I would love to play Amy Winehouse.” “I personally think she is like an icon to R&B, blues, and basically the whole culture of music,” Brown continued. “I just love her music and I really was impacted by her whole story. I always say that I would love to play her.” Br...
Bootsy Collins Announces New Album, Shares “The Power of the One”: Stream
Veteran funk bassist Bootsy Collins is gearing up to release a new album called The Power of the One. The guest-filled record is due to drop October 23rd via Bootzilla Records/Sweetwater Studios. For Collins, who rose to prominence working with James Brown and then Parliament-Funkadelic, this forthcoming solo effort marks his 10th solo overall. It was begun prior to the pandemic, but completed during lockdown at his own Boot-Cave Studios in Cincinnati. The entire record was produced, written, and arranged by Collins himself. Although quarantined in his own space, the 68-year-old artist was able to assemble long list of special collaborators, some of whom contributed from afar, including Snoop Dogg, fellow James Brown bandmate Christian McBride, bassists Larry Graham and Victor Wooten,...
Song of the Week: James Blake Comforts Listeners with Frank Ocean’s “Godspeed”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. Cover songs often get a lot of shade thrown at them. That’s nothing new. Don’t we all get at least a little skeptical (and disappointed) when one of our favorite artists announces a covers album or drops a cover instead of an original single? While we may dig the song, it tends to feel like we’re being re-gifted something, and part of us might even suspect that the artist is holding out on us or, worse yet, has nothing else on creative tap. Of course, how quickly we forget that some of the best songs in our collective canon are cover versions and that all musicians (from The Beatles to those assholes who “practice” in your neighbor...
Nina Hagen Teams Up with George Clinton for New Song “Unity”: Stream
George Clinton (photo by Raj Gupta) and Nina Hagen (photo by Christliches Medienmagazin) Nina Hagen, a longtime fixture of Germany’s punk and new wave scenes, has teamed up with funk legend George Clinton for a new song called “Unity”. It’s the first single she’s released in nearly nine years. According to Hagen, “Unity” was written and recorded following the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests that took place worldwide. As such, she intended for the song to serve as an “homage to the Black Lives Matter movement,” reports Pitchfork. Musically, “Unity” is a trippy dub number that sees Hagen and Clinton getting lost in an atmospheric beat. While gentle keys and hi-hat stutters guide the song, Hagen sings about people coming together for the greater good in equal parts rasp and...
Chicano Batman on Challenging Heritage: “American Culture is Very Ahistorical”
Kyle Meredith With… Chicano Batman Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Chicano Batman vocalist Bardo Martinez catches up with Kyle Meredith to discuss their new album, Invisible People. Martinez also digresses on larger topics such as being Latino during the Black Lives Matter era, challenging racial identifiers, immigration, and geographical privilege. Martinez also discusses the importance and impact that Daniel Quinn’s book Ishmael has had not only on his outlook, but also the lyrics for the new record and his love of Black music. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,...
The 25 Most Anticipated Movies of Fall 2020
“New year, new decade, new films, right?” That was January, back when we were still looking ahead at 2020 with blind optimism and ill-fated excitement. Sigh, hindsight is 20/20 they say, right? Who knew. At the time, we had 50 exciting new titles we were anticipating, most of which have since been either postponed, dumped to VOD, or relegated to a limbo state. It’s been an unnerving year for the film industry, to say the least. A year fraught with shutdowns, furloughs, layoffs, bankruptcies, and re-evaluations. All of that change has prompted a seismic shift in how everything’s run across the media landscape, and no one truly has a grip on things just yet. Odds are they won’t for quite some time. Because of this, anticipating anything right now — let alone anything in pop culture — seems l...
Ms. Lauryn Hill Performs Six Songs for Louis Vuitton’s Menswear Show: Watch
Ms. Lauryn Hill Ms. Lauryn Hill has given limited performances during the pandemic, but her latest is a big one. Louis Vuitton called on the hip-hop icon to provide the musical accompaniment for their spring-summer 2021 menswear show in Shanghai, which took place earlier this month. The whole six-song performance was captured on video for an accompanying video presentation, which has now come online for all to behold. The black-and-white video finds Hill delivering half-a-dozen tracks, including her contribution to the Queen & Slim soundtrack, “Guarding the Gates”. With her band in full force around her, she also sings “Everything Is Everything”, “Lost Ones”, “Ex-Factor”, “Black Rage”, and the classic “Doo Wop (That Thing)”. Most of the July 31st shoot took place at New Jersey’s MLH St...
Billy Porter & Steven Stills, Maggie Rogers, Leon Bridges Perform at 2020 Democratic National Convention: Watch
Maggie Rogers, Billy Porter, and Leon Bridges at the 2020 Democratic National Convention Michelle Obama’s powerful speech during the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention undoubtedly stole the show. However, there were also some bright spots from other supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, namely musical performances from Maggie Rogers, Leon Bridges, and Billy Porter with Steven Stills. Bridges came first, delivering a soulful rendition of his summer single “Sweeter”. Joined on a sun-set city rooftop by Terrace Martin, Joshua Crumbly, Paul Cornish, and Trevor Lawrence, the soul artist sang out for racial justice with lines like, “My sisters and my brothers sing, sing over me/ And I wish I had another day.” Next up was Rogers, performing on the Main...
Bootsy Collins on Togetherness, Tragedies, and How We’re Missing the “Hippie Side of Things”
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Bootsy Collins calls Kyle Meredith to talk about “Stars”. The new single finds the legend collaborating with EmiSunshine, Cornel West, Bela Fleck, and a “collage of cultures” from around the world. Together, they discuss how the collaboration was created during quarantine, donating to MusiCares,… Please click the link below to read the full article. Bootsy Collins on Togetherness, Tragedies, and How We’re Missing the “Hippie Side of Things” CoS Staff You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards b...
Lianne La Havas on Why She Covered Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes”
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Lianne La Havas speaks with Kyle Meredith about her self-titled LP. The concept album tells the story of a relationship from beginning to end, and the songwriter discusses how the meaning of those songs changed as they were written over a long period of… Please click the link below to read the full article. Lianne La Havas on Why She Covered Radiohead’s “Weird Fishes” CoS Staff You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share o...
