Viberate, a music research and analytics platform co-founded by techno veteran UMEK, have just published their annual “State of Music” address. A large chunk of it covers Beatport, examining massive amounts of data to complement the platform’s chart positions with insights into the popularity of artists, tracks, labels and genres. The data shows that Tech House remains the most popular genre on Beatport for the third year in a row. It represented 44% of the top 100 Beatport tracks in 2021 and four out of five top tracks on Beatport in 2021. The winning track was “Set U Free (Extended Mix)” by Guz. c/o Viberate Melodic House & Techno, House, Techno (Peak Time / Driving) and Drum & Bass are also among the top five most popular genres. As far as best-performing artists go, the r...
The People of Tomorrow family is growing. The creators of Tomorrowland, one of the world’s biggest and most popular electronic dance music festivals, have announced a new fest in the Belgian capital of Brussels. Dubbed CORE Festival, the event is being produced in collaboration with the organizers of Rock Werchter, Belgium’s largest music festival. CORE Festival will feature four different stages and over 30 artists at the sprawling Osseghem Park in Brussels, from noon to 1AM. According to a press release issued to announce the two-day boutique festival, attendees can expect an eclectic blend of indie, hip-hop, electronica, hyperpop and alternative dance music in a unique marriage of Tomorrowland and Rock Werchter’s approaches to curation. They aim to attract 25,000 atten...
Festival season is right around the corner, and the organizers of Governors Ball have thrown their hat into the ring with a stellar 2022 lineup. Scheduled for June 10-12 in Queens, New York, the 2022 edition of Governors Ball features a diverse lineup of electronic music artists. Flume, Louis The Child, Madeon, Kaytranada and more are set for performances at Citi Field this summer. Headlining this year’s fest are Kid Cudi, Halsey and J. Cole, who will perform on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Other major contemporary pop and hip-hop artists joining them on the undercard include Migos, Jack Harlow, Still Woozy, Joji, Glass Animals, Clairo, 100 gecs and Becky G, among many others. Governors Ball 2022 lineup with Flume, Madeon, Kaytranada, Migos...
British rock icons SKUNK ANANSIE roar into 2022 with a ferocious new track titled “Piggy”. A punk-rock blast of distorted riffs, snarling vocals and powerhouse rhythms, it’s as confrontational and uncompromising as anything the band has done over the course of its long and illustrious career. The track is accompanied by a startling lyric video, featuring porcine images and Skin‘s establishment-baiting lyrics, taking aim squarely between the eyes of those corrupt and venal politicians currently in power, both in the U.K. and around the world. Skin comments: “If there’s one thing we’ve all learned over the past couple of years is that we cannot depend upon our governments to look after us. They seem to be unable to learn from the past and incapable o...
RATING: 6/10 So much has been written about the enduring influence of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal over the decades that it’s easy to forget that only a few of its bands achieved any significant success. PRAYING MANTIS were never afforded the fortune or opportunities that came the way of the movement’s big names, and neither were they allowed the retrospective credibility latterly afforded to the more influential likes of ANGEL WITCH and VENOM. Instead, the Londoners took a singular approach, infusing their sound with more melody, harmony and prog-tinged pomp than any of their contemporaries, and casually pre-empting the hook-worshipping AOR and melodic rock movements that followed as the ’80s progressed. If it’s a classic NWOBHM album you want, then 1981R...
GHOST leader Tobias Forge has revealed to Kerrang! magazine that the band’s new song “Grift Wood”, from the upcoming album “Impera”, takes aim at Donald Trump-era U.S. vice president Mike Pence who led Christian evangelicals into becoming apologists for what many believe was the most destructive president of modern times, while at the same time preaching righteousness and goodness. “That song’s about him and anyone like him who’s willing to soil everything they’ve worked for,” Forge explained. “They definitely qualify for a front-row ticket to Hell. Which is so ironic, because that’s what they believe in. [People like that] completely demean themselves, and just eat shit out of someone’s ass in order to achieve w...
Riding the high of a successful comeback to the scene in 2021, Furnace Fest has announced its return to Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama on Friday, September 23 through Sunday, September 25 for a weekend of performances from 90 bands across three stages. The three-day festival will bring rock fans from all over together for performances by THE GHOST INSIDE, ALEXISONFIRE, NEW FOUND GLORY, THE ACACIA STRAIN, ANTI-FLAG, EARTH CRISIS, ELLIOTT, THE JOY FORMIDABLE, KUBLAI KHAN TX, NOTHING, SHADOWS FALL, STRETCH ARMSTRONG, STRIKE ANYWHERE and many more. Sixty additional bands will be announced later in the year. “Furnace Fest took a seventeen-year nap before a group of us banded together with hopes of a one-time reunion,” the Furnace Fest team shares. “After countless diffi...
Briana invited Devoin to the Teen Mom: Family Reunion with the hope they could get on the “right track” (following their latest Teen Mom 2 reunion disagreement). But unfortunately, the dialogue between Nova’s parents — mediated by Coach B — quickly turned heated, and the installment ended with Devoin on the verge of abandoning the chat and Briana letting out an exasperated sigh. The conversation will continue during next week’s episode — but before the pair convened, Briana stated her objective for asking Devoin to come to San Diego was to repair their fractured relationship for the sake of their daughter as well as for Stella (Briana called him a “father figure” to her little girl). Coach B was able to immediately get the two to open u...
Bloom is a weekly column exploring mental health through the eyes of recording artist and mental health advocate, Alex Wagner. To me, well-being is like a garden. The seed was planted when I was young, seeing my mother outside gardening for hours on end. When I’d come outside onto the backdoor steps, she’d turn to me with a smile that touched the edges of her face. It was a joy that resonated within me like a ray of light through a Victorian pane window. She left this Earth a little under five years ago, but everyone that knew her understood that the garden was her place of solace. As my own story progressed past childhood and eventually into a period of madness, I would come to realize the salvation she discovered amongst the flora. “Bloom” is rooted in my own experience. So, that is wher...
Rex Orange County has released a new single, “Keep it Up,” alongside an accompanying video. The song also comes alongside the announcement of his new album WHO CARES?, which is out on March 11 via Sony Music. The album is available for presale and pre-save on the band’s website. The accompanying video to “Keep it Up” uses elements of filtering, grain, and costume, creating an heir of vintage nostalgia. In the video, Rex is accompanied by musician Benny Sings as he dances and performs through an urban, Amsterdam landscape. Rex collaborated with Sings on WHO CARES? in Sings’ Amsterdam studio over a 10-day recording period in the fall of 2020. This collaboration follows the 2017 collaboration between the two artists on Rex’s 2017 breakout single “Loving Is Easy.” “Keep it Up” utilizes a...
Baby Keem has unveiled the official dates for his upcoming North American tour in support of The Melodic Blue, scheduled to kick off this spring. The rapper shared the official tour poster to social media on Wednesday, revealing that The Melodic Blue Tour will commence on March 7 in Cincinatti and conclude at Coachella on April 22, with a total of 28 stops. The Melodic Blue, which Keem released back in September, clocks in at almost one hour and includes features from Kendrick Lamar on “range brothers” and “family ties,” Travis Scott on the track “durag activity” and Don Toliver on “cocoa.” The 16-track record debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, moving 53,000 equivalent album units in its first week. Since The Melodic Blue‘s debut, Keem has rel...
California rapper Baby Keem broke out in a big way last year, and now he’s returning to the road for a Spring 2022 tour spanning the United States. The 28-date trek kicks off on March 7th in Cincinnati, and includes stops in New York City, Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago, and San Francisco. Along the way, Keem will play festivals like BUKU Music + Art Project and Coachella, the latter of which will wrap up his tour on April 22nd. See the full itinerary below. Tickets go on sale Friday, January 28th at 10:00 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster. Advertisement Related Video 2021 marked a banner year for Keem, who released his debut studio album, The Melodic Blue, via Kendrick Lamar’s pgLang label. The 21-year-old rapper has been nominated for this year’s Best New Artist Grammy, while also recei...