Alternative Music
HIM’s VILLE VALO Says It Took Him Two And A Half Years To Get Solo Album Done
HIM mastermind Ville Valo spoke to Spotify about his new single, “Loveletting”, which he released under the VV banner. “Loveletting” is taken from VV‘s forthcoming debut album, “Neon Noir”. “These are weird and exciting times as I’m releasing my first debut solo album, plus the first single called ‘Loveletting’,” Ville said. “The album is gonna be released early 2023 and it’s called ‘Neon Noir’. “Since the pandemic hit, I started working on the album,” he explained. “I actually learned how to record — I learned how to record drums and bass and guitar because I wasn’t able to get any musicians; I had to do it solo — literally solo. So I’m really sorry but it did take...
JOURNEY’s DEEN CASTRONOVO Says Soundman Change Resolved ARNEL PINEDA’s Long-Running Vocal Issues: He’s ‘Singing Better Than Ever’
JOURNEY drummer Deen Castronovo, who rejoined the band i 2021 after a six-year break, has told Dave Spuria of The Real Music Observer that JOURNEY frontman Arnel Pineda is “singing better than ever” on the group’s current U.S. tour. “We had to change our front-of-house guy,” he explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “Arnel was having a hard time hearing; he’s been fighting this for years. And we finally figured out, after years and years, that the soundman, our front-of-house guy, has been just pushing the mixes that Arnel was turning up his in-ears — turn ’em up, turn ’em up — and his ears would close up. And he was having a hard time; he was struggling to hear himself. Now that we got this new soundman, who used to work with ...
Rock Band SANTA CRUZ Blasted For Allegedly Using Pre-Recorded Tracks During Los Angeles Concert (Video)
SiriusXM radio personality Eddie Trunk has blasted the rock band SANTA CRUZ for allegedly using pre-recorded tracks during a recent concert, saying it’s “unreal” how fans and promoters are seemingly okay with the practice. This past Wednesday (April 6), SANTA CRUZ — whose current lineup consists of longtime frontman Archie Cruz along with new recruits Jerry Jade (guitar), Tommy Bradley (bass) and Randy McDemian (drums) — played a show at the legendary Whisky A Go Go venue in West Hollywood, California. The following day, a fan-filmed video of SANTA CRUZ performing the song “Under The Gun” was posted on the “concertsrock” YouTube channel, showing Cruz at one point walking away from the microphone while the singing continued to be heard through the P...
Yung Lean and FKA twigs Team Up on “Bliss”: Stream
Blissed out. Yung Lean and FKA twigs have released their new collaboration, “Bliss,” as well as its accompanying music video. Stream the track below. In the quirky, nostalgic clip, the rapper picks the avant garde pop singer up for a chauffeured joy ride through a suburban town, complete with a white horse, bicycle gang, and a nod to Kelly Rowland’s famous texting via Excel spreadsheet in the music video for “Dilemma,” her 2002 smash hit with Nelly. “Oh, yeah, but I pray to God you’re good for me/ I want your bliss on bliss, a little company,” FKA twigs sings on the chorus before ceding the floor to Yung Lean, who raps, “You don’t know me or the shit I’m in/ Like The Exorcist, I’m making heads spin again/ Flash, flash, flash, flash, flash, flash/ Leandoer in the club, yeah, you find him in...
Orville Peck Unleashes New Album Bronco: Stream
After sharing its first two chapters earlier this year, Orville Peck has dropped his new album Bronco in its entirety. The alt-country musician’s sophomore LP is out now via Colombia. Building upon the themes of heartache and loneliness from Peck’s 2019 debut Pony and 2020 EP Show Pony, Bronco sees him “breaking free from that which binds us and all that is wild and untamed.” Its 15 tracks pull from elements of classic outlaw country, though all polished off with a 2022 twist. “This is my most impassioned and authentic album to date,” Peck explained in a press release. “I was inspired by country rock, ’60s and ’70s psychedelic, California and bluegrass with everything being anchored in country. Bronco is all about being unrestrained and the culmination of a year of touring, writi...
Song of the Week: Jack White Lets Loose on “What’s the Trick?”
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 Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Jack White lets loose on “What’s the Trick?” Jack White is nothing if not ambitious. The former frontman of The White Stripes has a penchant for the odd, the atonal, and the avant-garde — the man just likes to get weird with his music, at the end of the day. His new album, Fear of the Dawn, inhabits that same risky space that keeps listeners coming back to see what he’s trying next. While not every big swing leads to a payoff on the album, it’s hard to deny the raw energy of “What’s the Trick?” The track is anc...
GRAMMY AWARDS Producer Apologizes For ‘In Memoriam’ Snubs
A producer of this year’s Grammy Awards has apologized for the exclusion of a number of notable names from the televised portion of the ceremony’s “In Memoriam” segment. After the 2022 Grammy Awards were broadcast on Sunday, April 3 live on CBS from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, many hard rock and heavy metal fans took to Twitter to air out their frustrations with the event’s organizers who failed to recognize SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison, CINDERELLA guitarist Jeff LaBar, Megaforce Records co-founders Jon and Marsha Zazula, and THE MOODY BLUES co-founder Graeme Edge in the televised portion of “In Memoriam”. However, the Recording Academy didn’t completely forget about Jordison, the Zazulas, LaBar and Edge as they were listed — a...
THE HALO EFFECT Feat. Former IN FLAMES Members: Third Single ‘Days Of The Lost’ To Arrive Next Week
THE HALO EFFECT, the new project featuring five former members of the Swedish metal band IN FLAMES — Jesper Strömblad (guitar), Daniel Svensson (drums), Peter Iwers (bass), Niclas Engelin (guitar) and Mikael Stanne (vocals) — will release its third single, “Days Of The Lost”, on Wednesday, April 13. A short teaser is available below. “Days Of The Lost”, along with previously released singles “Feel What I Believe” and “Shadowminds”, will appear on THE HALO EFFECT‘s first album, due later in the year via Nuclear Blast. Regarding how THE HALO EFFECT came together, Stanne told the “Heavy Hops” podcast (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “This is basically all my old friends from the area. Gothenburg is small, and it̵...
Watch: LACUNA COIL Plays First Show In Front Of An Audience In More Than Two Years
Italian heavy rockers LACUNA COIL played their first show in front of an audience in more than two years last night (Thursday, April 7) as the support act for APOCALYPTICA at the Masquerade in Atlanta, Georgia. Fan-filmed video is available below. Prior to last night’s concert, the last time LACUNA COIL played together was at the group’s special September 2020 livestream event where the bandmembers performed their latest album, “Black Anima”, in its entirety with no audience in attendance at the Alcatraz Club in Milan, Italy. That show was released as a live album, “Live From The Apocalypse”, via Century Media. LACUNA COIL hadn’t played in front of a crowd since the completion of the band’s South American tour in February 2020. Less than two ...
JOE SATRIANI Recalls Giving Guitar Lessons To METALLICA’s KIRK HAMMETT: ‘He Was Such A Motivated Young Student’
In a new interview with Kylie Olsson‘s YouTube show “Life In Six Strings”, Joe Satriani, who was a guitar teacher before he found fame with his 1987 album “Surfing With The Alien”, spoke about what it was like giving lessons to one of his more famous students, METALLICA‘s Kirk Hammett. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “What a great outcome. [Kirk] was such a motivated young student. I mean, he could play pretty well before I first met him. He was already playing lead guitar in the band EXODUS when he started taking lessons. And then during that time, he got the gig with METALLICA, and he started taking two lessons a week. He was so motivated; he was such a good student. He knew exactly what he wanted and he was really hungry. So, it wa...
The Simpsons Casts Its First-Ever Deaf Voice Actor for Episode Featuring ASL
The Simpsons has been on the air for over 30 years, but there are still common forms of storytelling it hasn’t explored. As Variety first reported, the upcoming April 10th episode will be its first to include American Sign Language (ASL), and in casting John Autry II, it will also be the first time the show has used a deaf voice actor. The episode is titled “The Sound of Bleeding Gums,” and it finds Lisa Simpson meeting Monk, the deaf child of the late jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy. Murphy first appeared in the Season 6 episode “Moaning Lisa,” and died that same season in “‘Round Springfield.” In “The Sound of Bleeding Gums,” his son Monk hopes to get a cochlear implant, and Lisa’s enthusiasm to help may not turn out to be very helpful. The teleplay comes from Loni Stee...
Will Smith Banned From Attending Oscars for 10 Years
The Academy has banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars and associated events for a period of 10 years. The punishment was announced by the Academy Board of Governors following a meeting on Friday morning. The meeting had originally been scheduled for April 18th, but was pushed up after Smith announced his resignation from the Academy and said he would not contest any additional punishments. “This action we are taking today in response to Will Smith’s behavior is a step toward a larger goal of protecting the safety of our performers and guests, and restoring trust in the Academy,” the Academy’s president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement. “We also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted.” Advertisement Related Video In a bri...
