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Viagra Boys Churn Out More Scuzzy Salvos on Sophomore Welfare Jazz: Review
The Lowdown: If you find a political message in the music of Sweden’s Viagra Boys, it wasn’t necessarily put there on purpose. At least, that’s the party line from singer and lyricist Sebastian Murphy, whose deadpan baritone and satirical send-up of hyper-macho posturing made the post-punk band’s debut, Street Worms, essential listening in 2018. In a 2019 interview with Australia’s Happy Mag, Murphy laid out his thoughts in full: “In a way, making music in itself is a political statement,” the singer said. “If the right-wing had their way, we wouldn’t be making music at all. They hate all this stuff, and they hate this kind of culture. We’re being political just by being ourselves – and in my opinion, that’s enough. You don’t need to dive any deeper than that.” Of course, plenty of people ...
Neil Young Sells 50% of Rights to His Entire Song Catalog
Neil Young is the latest prominent artist to sign away publishing rights, adding to an ongoing trend in the music industry. The deal sees publishing house Hipgnosis acquire half the worldwide copyright of and any resulting income from Young’s over 1,180 original songs. Exactly how much cash the sale netted the folk rock icon isn’t known, but it’s almost undoubtedly a nine-figure sum. It’s the latest major deal made just this week by Hipgnosis, founded in 2018 by artist manager Merck Mercuriadis (Elton John, Beyoncé). Earlier, the company closed on 100% of Fleetwood Mac member Lindsay Buckingham’s catalog, as well as for producer royalties for 259 songs by Beats founder Jimmy Iovine. Young’s catalog now joins those and others owned by Hipgnosis, including Timbaland, The-Dream, Mark Ronson, ...
Roblox Raises $520M From Warner Music Group and Others
Warner Music Group has been focused on growing its footprint in gaming for some time. “Ultimately, everything is going toward gaming, and we want to make sure we’re capturing value within it. It’s the future of entertainment,” Oana Ruxandra, Warner Music Group’s chief digital officer, told Billboard last September. The music industry has certainly been flocking toward gaming platforms over the past year, with Travis Scott pulling in 27.7 million participants during his Fortnite in-game performance last April, kicking off a wave of artists looking to set up virtual concerts on similar platforms. Roblox launched its first virtual concert in November, with a virtual concert by Lil Nas X that racked up 33 million views. “COVID has supercharged the demand for 2D and 3D live streaming even...
Selena Gomez Says Social Media CEOs ‘Failed the American People’ After U.S. Capitol Breach
In a note shared to Twitter following the chaos in Washington D.C., Gomez specifically called out Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google as entities, plus YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and CEO of Alphabet Inc. and Google Sundar Pichai. “Today is the result of allowing people with hate in their hearts to use platforms that should be used to bring people together and allow people to build community,” she wrote, before naming the aforementioned list of tech leaders. “You have all failed the American people today, and I hope you’re going to fix things moving forward.” Gomez has openly shared her condemnation of Facebook’s misinformation before. In December, she called out inaccu...
Jamiroquai Is Trending For Reasons You Just Couldn’t Make Up
Everyone needs a laugh right now, and the striking Trumpite became the butt of many jokes as Twitter users compared him to late-90s and 2000s-era Jay Kay, known to millions as the “cat in the hat” and singer for Jamiroquai. The real Jamiroquai returned in 2017 with Automaton, the dance act’s first album in seven years. Over their career, the band has snagged nine Top 10 singles in the U.K., with a No. 1 for 1998’s “Deeper Underground.” Four of their albums have hit the U.K. chart summit, and five titles have impacted the Billboard 200 chart. There’s been no confirmed sighting of Jamiroquai for some time. The other guy in D.C., well, he shouldn’t prove difficult to find. Check out some of the memes below. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates ...
Demi Lovato Weighs In on Washington Siege: ‘I’m Angry, Embarrassed and Ashamed’
Like millions of Americans watching on at home, Demi Lovato was horrified by images of the siege on the Capitol. And like many others who vented their frustrations on social media, the pop star wants the nightmare to end, now. Turning to Twitter, Lovato joined the chorus of calls for president Trump’s impeachment, and vowed to convert her misery into new music. “My heart is broken,” she writes on Twitter. “It makes me to sad to believe how naive I was to think this couldn’t possibly happen, and yet it did. Here we are. For everyone in my comments saying “where’s d7” or wanting me to sing instead of speaking up about what needs to change in this country…” You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins wit...
Ex-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Frontman GREG PUCIATO Releases ‘Don’t Wanna Deal’ Music Video
Greg Puciato, whose recent streaming event “Fuck Content” merged the worlds of recording and performance, has released a video for “Don’t Wanna Deal”, a song whose creation was chronicled in the film. Puciato said of the new track: “I ‘Don’t Wanna Deal’ with having to come up with something to say about this song or video clip so I’m not gonna.” The 16-track “Fuck Content” album features five new songs not available on Puciato‘s critically acclaimed solo debut, “Child Soldier: Creator Of God”, as well as live versions of ten of the album tracks. While all vinyl variants have now sold out, a collectible Blu-ray is currently available, as are limited-edition, Jesse Draxler-designed merch items. Bo...
AC/DC’s ‘Power Up’ Was Among U.K.’s Best-Selling Vinyl Albums Of 2020
According to Official Charts, AC/DC‘s “Power Up”, along with classic titles from QUEEN, PINK FLOYD and THE BEATLES, were among the U.K.’s top selling vinyl releases of 2020. Topping the overall end-of-year vinyl album chart is FLEETWOOD MAC‘s 1997 effort “Rumours”, which sold 32,500 copies on vinyl in the U.K. in 2020. Elsewhere, “Power Up” landed at No. 8, QUEEN‘s “Greatest Hits” took the No. 7 spot, and PINK FLOYD‘s “Dark Side Of The Moon” came in at No. 13. The chart also includes two titles from THE BEATLES, “Abbey Road” and “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. “Power Up” hit the No. 1 spot in 18 countries, including in the U.S., where it sold over 117,...
GIBSON Announces Acquisition Of MESA/BOOGIE
Gibson, the iconic American instrument brand, has announced the acquisition of Mesa/Boogie, one of the most respected and prestigious brands in sound and guitar amplification. Mesa/Boogie — the original “boutique” amplifier company — was founded 51 years ago by Randy Smith, who is responsible for creating the groundbreaking circuits that drive some of the most influential sounds of our time. Randy will join Gibson as Master Designer and Pioneer of Mesa/Boogie and beyond. In his new role, Randy will continue his passion for tube technology and his vision for building hand-crafted, high-performance amplifiers, that continue to redefine how we experience sound across Mesa/Boogie and Gibson. Beginning in a converted dog kennel under the redwoods of Northern California, Randy Smith ...
Rockers React To Pro-TRUMP Protesters Storming Capitol Hill: ‘This Is Next-Level Insanity’
Paul Stanley (KISS), Tommy Lee (MÖTLEY CRÜE), Tom Morello (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE), Alex Skolnick (TESTAMENT), Dino Cazares (FEAR FACTORY), Andy Biersack (BLACK VEIL BRIDES), Mark Morton (LAMB OF GOD), Robb Flynn (MACHINE HEAD), Phil Rind (SACRED REICH), Otep Shamaya (OTEP), Doc Coyle (BAD WOLVES) and Danko Jones are among the musicians who have reacted on social media to reports that supporters of President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers count the Electoral College votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden‘s win. Hundreds of pro-Trump protesters broke through barricades and swarmed the building, forcing the Senate to evacuate and Vice President Mike Pence to be moved to a secure location. Earlier in the day, Trump — who has refused to accept the results of th...
Busta Rhymes Memorializes MF DOOM In Heartfelt Letter
Source: PYMCA / Getty Busta Rhymes is mourning over the loss of his longtime friend, and collaborator MF DOOM after the recent news of his death created a shockwave of grief throughout the culture. After a few days of silence, Vibe spotted Busta’s heartfelt letter penned on Instagram memorializing DOOM’s life and contribution to Hip-Hop. “It has taken me days to come to terms with this enough to type about it and I still can’t believe it or come to terms with it,” Busta wrote on Sunday (Jan. 3). “I’m completely f*cked up by the loss of this GOD MC & incredible human being!!! Over 30 years of friendship and brotherhood almighty!! I wanted to believe this was another elaborate scheme by the great Whodunit MF Doom himself but this time I have [received] the confirmations that ...
The Twitterverse Thanks Stacey Abrams For Turning Georgia Into A Blue State
Source: Jessica McGowan / Getty Last night Georgia held what many consider the most important senate runoff vote in U.S. history and now that it looks like democrats will retake control of the Senate, Americans took to Twitter to give Stacey Abrams her flowers for making the impossible happen. According to Raw Story, the Twitterverse erupted with joy and gratitude for Abrams after it began to seem clear that democratic senate candidates Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were Washington bound as they took the leads over their republican opponents, Sen. Kelly Loeffler amd Sen. David Purdue. Long thought to be a deep red state, Stacy Abrams spent the last few years convincing people to register to vote and got them to the poles after she herself was robbed of the Governorship in Atlant...
