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Makaya McCraven Announces New Album Universal Beings E&F Sides, Shares “Mak Attack”: Stream
Makaya McCraven released one of the 2018’s most acclaimed jazz albums in Universal Beings. Now, the Chicago-based drummer and producer is prepping to drop a companion piece called Universal Beings E&F Sides, in addition to a documentary series about the record. E&F Sides promises 14 “new pieces of organic beat music” that were cut from the original sessions for Universal Beings proper. One of those “Mak Attack”, which finds McCraven fiercely “attacking” his kit like the percussion beast that he is. As for the corresponding documentary, the visual will be soundtracked by the music found on E&F Sides. Its footage chronicles the making of breakthrough album Universal Beings, following McCraven in the studio and on the road as he traveled to California, New York, and...
Fender Launches New Player Offset Electric Guitar Models
Fender has announced new additions to its Player line of entry-level electric guitars. The Offset models are designed especially for aspiring guitarists playing “styles that thrive on nonconformity.” The Offset collection features some of Fender’s most bold and eccentric body styles, featuring the Mustang, Mustang 90, Mustang Bass PJ, and Duo-Sonic. Fender fans will recognize these shapes from the guitar company’s stable of iconic designs, but the Offset series brings a new level of accessibility. With their budget price point and smaller, lightweight bodies, the guitars are targeted toward beginner-to-intermediate level guitarists and female players, according to a Fender representative. “Each model delivers the signature Fender sound that has dominated the guitar scene for more than 70 y...
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Return with Sweet New Single “Honey”: Stream
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have returned with “Honey”, their first new material since last summer’s Infest the Rats’ Nest. Nearly five minutes in length, the single leans on the more gentle, twangier side of psychedelia, as frontman Stu Mackenzie praises a special someone (“the magic potion”) that’s kept him afloat during these uncertain times. “You taste like honey/ All warm and runny/ Kinder than candy/ Effervescent shandy/ Days are ever sweeter when I wake up near ya,” he sings on the track, which isn’t to be confused with The Jesus and Mary Chain’s similarly titled saccharine alt-rock hit. Accompanying the song is a video directed and edited by John Angus Stewart. “Shot at sunset during the apocalypse with a reeeeeeal long lens,” Mackenzie noted on Twitter. “I wrote this s...
Alice Cooper Calls for U.S. Police Departments to ‘Weed Out the Bad Guys’
While Alice Cooper has been channeling his energies toward his Solid Rock non-profit during COVID-19, he recently shared his thoughts surrounding racism and police brutality. Staring his music career around the same time as the civil rights movement was gaining more momentum, Cooper talked about how the same problems in the ’60s are still issues today. “You would have thought that that solved the problem,” he said during an interview with Hawaii Public Radio’s All Things Considered. “But there’s always that five percent of people that are racist.” Cooper admitted that he knows “a lot of cops” but said, “I don’t know one racist cop. But I guarantee you that five percent of the police force in every city have got a racial problem. And those are the guys that get all the headlines because the...
Margo Price Dives Into Poolside Performance of ‘Letting Me Down’ on Kimmel
A zoom rendition just wasn’t going to cut it for Margo Price. On her latest Jimmy Kimmel Live! performance, Price instead opted for a full band and — like any summertime get-down — a floatie-filled pool, while sharing her track “Letting Me Down.” The song comes from Price’s latest album, That’s How Rumors Get Started, and last night’s performance was a testament to how talented you have to be to not only arrange a whole set-up around your pool but also to not fall in. Throughout the performance, Price can be seen hanging out on a glider swing and bouncing around the pool as her backing band holds their own. Price’s album was supposed to drop back in May, but she pushed the release to last week after COVID-19 hit. Still, after last week’s drop, the music video for “Letti...
NIGHTWISH’s FLOOR JANSEN: ‘After 20 Years Of Rock And Metal, I Think I Would Like To Do Something Else’
In a new interview with Metal Hammer magazine, NIGHTWISH singer Floor Jansen was asked if she had any plans to make another album with the NORTHWARD project, in which she was joined by Jørn Viggo Lofstad, the guitarist of Norwegian band PAGAN’S MIND. “I’m not sure I will,” she said. “That project was written in 2008. Because we had a year off from NIGHTWISH, I was able to finalize it, to see if the songs are still up to date, whether we could record it or not. I was just happy to have a moment to release it, 10 years after we wrote it. But after 20 years of rock and metal, I think I would like to do something else. I don’t mean stop with NIGHTWISH, but something alongside it. “I was recently involved in a TV show in my home country in the Netherlan...
WOLFGANG VAN HALEN On Upcoming Solo Album: ‘I’m Not Trying To Be My Father; I’m Trying To Be Me’
Wolfgang Van Halen says that he has no intention of copying VAN HALEN with his upcoming solo album. The 29-year-old VAN HALEN bassist has spent the last few years working on his debut solo LP, which he has repeatedly said will not feature any contributions from his father, VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Wolfgang recently took to his Instagram to share a question he received from a fan about how much he sees his father’s reputation as a blessing or a curse. He responded: “That’s a great question. It’s really equally both. Being who I am, I think people at the least will be interested in what my work will sound like, which is very nice. But on the other hand, if it’s not exactly what they want to hear or if I don’t try to sound ‘VAN HALEN-yR...
ICED EARTH’s JON SCHAFFER On Coronavirus Pandemic: ‘I Disagree Completely With The Way The Governments Have Handled The Whole Thing’
In a new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, ICED EARTH leader Jon Schaffer discussed how the coronavirus pandemic has turned a lot of people’s lives upside down and how it has affected him personally. He said (hear audio below): “This was planned to be a year of some time off and studio work, which I have not achieved any time off, actually. But I’m planning on that in September. We didn’t have any booked shows anyway, and neither did DEMONS & WIZARDS [Jon‘s project with BLIND GUARDIAN‘s Hansi Kürsch]. So Hansi and I, we’re very fortunate, because neither ICED EARTH nor BLIND GUARDIAN nor DEMONS & WIZARDS had any commitments to do any shows in 2020, but, unfortunately for many, many of my colleagues, they’re suffering bi...
SLIPKNOT Bassist ALESSANDRO ‘VMAN’ VENTURELLA Ties The Knot
SLIPKNOT bassist Alessandro “VMan” Venturella has married his longtime girlfriend Lisa Graham. The British musician took to his Instagram to share the news of the nuptials, which apparently took place in the couple’s hometown of London. “We finally did it. Me and @lisagraham138 got married.” Alessandro wrote in a photo caption. Venturella began working with SLIPKNOT during the recording of 2014’s “.5: The Gray Chapter” album, contributing bass tracks along with guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson and former touring bassist Donnie Steele. He made his live debut with the band in 2014 at the first annual Knotfest. Last year, Alessandro told Bass Guitar Magazine that he landed in SLIPKNOT after getting a phone call from Root while working with M...
Semisonic Follow a Little Boy’s Adventure in ‘You’re Not Alone’ Video
After dropping their first song in two decades last month, Semisonic have just released the video for “You’re Not Alone.” “For the new Semisonic video, ‘You’re Not Alone,’ we began with memories of childhood in the woods,” frontman and songwriter Dan Wilson said in a statement. “Filmmaker Phil Harder creates a fable of the woods, the city, a distant beach, and a young boy who places a message in a bottle and sends it on a long journey.” Wilson explained that the visual was partially inspired by Richard Powers’ 2019 novel, The Overstory as well as painter Tomas Sanchez’s work. One of Sanchez’s paintings has been chosen as the art for the sleeve of the single. He also added that the video is also partly inspired by “profound isolation” that the global pandemic has brought everyone. “…the vid...
Back Together Again?: Princess Love Gets Ray J Divorce Order Dismissed
Source: David Crotty / Getty Ray J and Princess Love‘s four-year marriage hit the rocks earlier this year after Love filed for the divorce back in May amid some troubles on the homefront. Last week, Love filed to dismiss the filing and it also appears that the couple is reconciling if chatter around a recent photo is true. The Blast exclusively reports that Love filed to dismiss the divorce on July 8 with the judge signing off on the order days later. The couple had been living apart for some time, this after Love accused her husband of leaving her high and dry in Las Vegas after an argument. More from The Blast: But, after filing for divorce, Ray J posted a video of him and their son inside of the singer’s Los Angeles home — where it appears a woman is walking behind the camera as h...
Yo La Tengo Share Another New Song on Bandcamp
A day after not only unveiling a Bandcamp page but sharing new material recorded while in quarantine, Yo La Tengo has released another new song. Just like “James and Ira demonstrate mysticism and some confusion holds (Monday),” “Georgia thinks it’s probably okay (Tuesday)” was recorded in at the band’s rehearsal space in Hoboken, New Jersey. Judging by the song titles, it seems likely that the band has a few more tunes on tap in the coming days. Earlier this year, it was announced that the group’s Electr-o-Pura would be reissued this year in honor of its 25th anniversary, and Lacey Dacus shared a cover of “Tom Courtenay” from it. The band’s previous album, There’s A Riot Going On, was released in 2018. Listen to “Georgia thinks it’s probably okay (Tuesday)” be...
