Taylor Swift is slamming President Donald Trump over his handling of funding for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The 30-year-old pop superstar took to Twitter on Saturday (Aug. 15) to criticize Trump over reports that he is deliberately withholding billions of dollars in funding for the USPS as part of a coronavirus relief package. Many claim Trump is purposely starving the postal service in an attempt to slow down an expected surge of mail-in ballots this November. “Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early,” Swift wrote. “Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS prov...
Cardi B had one word for Lil Nas X‘s “WAP”-inspired portrait. “Goddam,” she wrote Saturday (Aug. 15), retweeting a sultry picture of the rapper posing shirtless by the pool. Lil Nas X had captioned the photo “certified freak,” with a zany face emoji, when he posted it earlier in the day — a reference to Cardi’s first line in her latest single, “WAP”: “I said certified freak, seven days a week.” Before she was fanning herself over Lil Nas X’s post, Cardi kicked off the weekend on a political note, endorsing New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on social media for a future presidential run. The Bronx-born politician was seen jamming out to “Bodak Yellow” to which Cardi responded: “...
Former SCORPIONS drummer Herman Rarebell has announced his latest musical collaboration, THE SEEING TREE, a rock art collective committed to using music as a force for connection, awakening and positive change in an uncertain world. THE SEEING TREE recognizes that the medium is the message, and in a post-truth and divisive world, positive messages and calls for change need to be heard and, most importantly, released by music artists. It’s not enough to watch from the sidelines; it’s important to state the case for unity and empowering change. In addition to Rarebell, THE SEEING TREE features producer and composer Lee Pepper and performance artist, singer and lyricist Eugenie Arrowsmith — three creatives drawn together with the intention to release music that expresses passion a...
RATING: 7.5/10 A mysterious gang of (presumably bearded) riff-welding brutes from London, England, BULL ELEPHANT already sounded like the finished article on their self-titled debut last year. Superficially, there’s nothing drastically original going on here: a wild, nasty hybrid of lumbering doom, eerie post-metal and scabrous black metal, with a hit of arcane weirdness and a persistent stench of cheap alcohol. It’s well-trodden territory, but this band charge across it with total disregard for niceties or norms. The opening title track neatly encapsulates the BULL ELEPHANT approach: woozy slow-motions riffs, regularly ambushed by bursts of jaw-wrenching, crusty grind, and a thick streak of CROWBAR-like red-eyed melancholy thrown in for bad measure. “Oneiromantic Rites...
BLUE ÖYSTER CULT will return with a mammoth new studio album, “The Symbol Remains”, on October 9 via Frontiers Music Srl. Coming nearly two decades after the release of the band’s last studio LP, “Curse Of The Hidden Mirror”, the effort showcases a band which hasn’t been slowed by the time passed but is simply unfazed by it. “The Symbol Remains” is said to be one of BLUE ÖYSTER CULT‘s most spirited, diverse and inspired releases to date. “The Symbol Remains” track listing: 01. That Was Me 02. Box In My Head 03. Tainted Blood 04. Nightmare Epiphany 05. Edge Of The World 06. The Machine 07. Train True (Lennie’s Song) 08. The Return Of St. Cecilia 09. Stand And Fight 10. Florida Man 11. The Alchemist 12. Secret Road 13. T...
NONPOINT frontman Elias Soriano recently spoke to the “Aftershocks” podcast about the importance of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, which recently gained momentum in the wake of protests over the heinous killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other unarmed black people. He said (see video below): “Anybody that knows us knows our message. I am a person of color. My guitar player is a person of color. My drummer is a person of color. We all have seen the ups and downs of inequality. I’ve dealt with it more than you could possibly imagine. I’ve had death threats, I’ve had people call me the N-word more times than I can count on both hands. And, as you can tell, I’m a relatively light-hearted person. “There is an importance t...
One of the greatest horror films of all time is returning from the grave. As Bloody Disgusting reports, Grindhouse Releasing and Janus Films are bringing George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead back to drive-ins across America. Better yet, it’s a beautiful new restoration by Janus Films, which this writer has seen and can attest to its majesty. What’s more, each screening will feature an introduction on the legacy of the film by best-selling author Daniel Kraus, who recently co-wrote Romero’s final statement on the zombie genre with the epic novel, The Living Dead. So far, only three screenings have been announced: — August 22nd – Prides Corner Drive-In, Westbrook, Maine — August 28-29th – Riverside Drive-In, Vandergrift, PA — September 19th – Midway Drive-In, Sterling, IL Sadly, the o...
Anderson .Paak’s prolific summer continues today with “Cut Em In”, a new collaborative single with Rick Ross. Produced by veteran beatmaker Hit-Boy, the track is about paying back the buddies who supported you when you were at your lowest. “Sometimes you need a friend/ Not the ones that just show up and don’t put nothin’ in/ You know the ones that lend a hand and wanna see you win/ When you come up on a lick, make sure you cut ’em in,” .Paak advises while at the mic. The R&B artist also later drops a shout-out to mentor Dr. Dre, who helped launch his some career years ago. A number of bars throughout “Cut Em In” also emphasize the importance of knowing your own worth, such as this one from Ricky Rozay: “Distinctive destinations, all I wanna see/ Oceans from residences, it’s three ...
Tomorrow, August 15th, would have been Nipsey Hussle‘s 35th birthday. In honor of that day, Snoop Dogg has released a moving tribute song to the fallen rapper, “Nipsey Blue”. Before he was killed on March 31st, 2019, Nipsey built his reputation off of scorching g-funk mixtapes, community activism, a sharp entrepreneurial spirit, and one excellent album: 2018’s Victory Lap. Throughout his career, Snoop didn’t just co-sign Nipsey, he took the younger rapper under his wing. In a 2010 interview with Complex, Nipsey spoke about the profound influence of the Doggfather. “Snoop didn’t ask me to sign to him, ask for no percentage, ask for no cut, and he more or less just took his visibility and his celebrity and co-signed and spoke real highly of me as opposed to being like “Oh, fuck this you...
HBO Max created a stir when it pulled Gone with the Wind from its platform in order to add a historical disclaimer. Still, the burgeoning service expressed commitment to contextualizing such potentially problematic films rather than completely removing them, and it looks like they’re following through. The streamer has now added another disclaimer ahead of Mel Brooks’ comedy classic Blazing Saddles. The 1974 Western satire centers on a Black man (Cleavon Little) who is made sheriff of a small town in a political ploy to sow chaos. With the help of an alcoholic but affable gunslinger (Gene Wilder), he ends up winning the townspeople’s respect and thwarting the crooked politicians’ plans. In a three-minute, 12-second introductory video, TCM host and University of Chicago cinema and medi...
Iconic rockers THE CULT have entered the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales to begin recording their new album. The band’s follow-up to 2016’s “Hidden City” is being helmed by producer Tom Dalgety, who has previously worked with GHOST and ROYAL BLOOD, among others. Earlier today (Saturday, August 15), THE CULT guitarist Billy Duffy posted an Instagram photo of him in the studio, and he included the following message: “In the studio with producer @tomdalgety working on the new CULT songs… it’s great to be back at the legendary Rockfield Studios where we recorded ‘Dreamtime’ way back in the day…” This past June, Duffy told “The Big Night In” that THE CULT was in the process of making a new LP. “The ideas either come or...
On Friday (August 14), DISTURBED singer David Draiman took part in a live interview with “Offstage With DWP”, the new online content series from Danny Wimmer Presents, one of the largest independent promoters in the United States. You can now watch the chat below. Speaking about DISTURBED‘s plans to return to the road post-pandemic, Draiman said: “We can’t wait to get back out there. Look, this is a necessary evil, everyone. Everybody needs to stay safe. Everybody needs to just take care of themselves, and we need to do what we need to do as a society and as a planet to just minimize the damage from this thing. And if that means that we need to wait to get together and celebrate, then that’s what it means. And we’ll be there, and it’ll happen...