Alternative Music
Clairo Brings the Intimacy of Sling to Radio City Music Hall: Review, Setlist + Photos
Clairo’s 2021 sophomore album Sling is an album of closeness, immediacy, and contemplation; it is turned inward, but the moments that burst out do so like snowfall, and even the warmest, brightest choices are dripped in a haze, like you just woke up and the sun is shining through the corner of your window. So, hearing it performed live in the 6,000-capacity Radio City Music Hall on Thursday night (February 24th) is a little strange. The whimsy and intimacy of Sling almost suggests it should be performed in a cozy cabin somewhere in the woods, but Clairo’s remarkable rise to stardom has proven that the upgrade in venue size is deserved. Considering that Clairo’s debut album Immunity came out only six months before the pandemic began, as well as the fact that her biggest single to date, “Sof...
Eurovision Organizers Change Mind, Ban Russia from 2022 Competition
One day after insisting that the Eurovision Song Contest is a “non-political cultural event,” the European Broadcast Union has banned Russia from the 2022 competition following the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Via Variety, the EBU issued a statement saying that “no Russian act will participate in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.” It continued, “The Executive Board of the EBU made the decision following a recommendation earlier today by the Eurovision Song Contest’s governing body, the Reference Group, based on the rules of the event and the values of the EBU. The Reference Group recommendation was also supported by the EBU’s Television Committee. The decision reflects concern that, in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this ye...
John Mayer Tests Positive for COVID-19 Again
The actions of many government officials may suggest otherwise, but the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. John Mayer can certainly attest to this, as he has tested positive for COVID less than two months after pulling out of a Dead & Company festival appearance due to a positive test. “Whelp. More members of the band tested positive for Covid today, and I was one of them,” Mayer wrote in a statement posted on social media. “This means we have to reschedule the next four shows, which we’ve already rescheduled and posted above. I’m so sorry to make you change your plans.” The rescheduled concerts, which have been pushed to May, include a show in Pittsburgh and a two-night stand in Boston. See the updated itinerary for Mayer’s arena tour below and grab your tickets via Ticketmaster. Adv...
Song of the Week: All Hail Florence + The Machine’s “King,” a Complicated Coronation Anthem
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, Florence + the Machine assume their rightful place on the throne. Florence Welch has assumed a wide range of identities over the past 15 years. Since she first formed Florence + The Machine in 2007, Welch has been a punchy indie rocker; an empowerment anthem siren; a beguiling chanteuse; a dancefloor diva; a witchy woman; a poet. Like David Bowie before her and contemporaries like St. Vincent, Welch isn’t only writing and recording music with Florence + The Machine — she’s developing personae complete with richly-imagined aestheti...
Code Orange Share Full “Back Inside the Glass” Concert for Free: Watch
Code Orange have shared the full performance from their “Back Inside the Glass” Halloween 2020 livestream concert for free. “Back Inside the Glass” was Code Orange’s third livestream of the pandemic. The band was forced to perform virtual shows after releasing its 2020 album Underneath right as the live music industry shut down. This particular livestream was notable for its VR environments. Digitally augmenting reality has been a recurring concept for Code Orange, and it was no better exemplified than with “Back Inside the Glass.” Advertisement Related Video The release of the full performance for fans who may have missed it the first time comes a week before Code Orange kick off their 2022 touring itinerary. The band will be supporting Korn starting March 4th in Springfield, Missouri, be...
Amanda Bynes Files to End Conservatorship
After nine years, former child star Amanda Bynes has filed to end her conservatorship, People and Page Six report. Her mother is currently serving as her conservator. The onetime Nickelodeon standout lost full control of her personal, medical, and financial affairs in 2013 after she set a neighbor’s driveway on fire, in the process accidentally soaking her own dog in gasoline (the dog survived). She has also struggled with drugs, saying she began abusing Adderall after hearing it described as a “skinny pill,” as well as receiving treatment for bipolar disorder. In 2020, a judge ordered her into a psychiatric facility. Bynes had became engaged to a man named Paul Michael, whom she had met while in recovery, and after her parents refused to allow her to marry, Bynes ...
Ex-MÖTLEY CRÜE Singer JOHN CORABI: ‘People Have Lost All Sense Of Reasoning’
Former MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman John Corabi has weighed in on Neil Young‘s recent demand that his catalog be removed from Spotify in response to “fake information about vaccines” being “spread” on the platform via Joe Rogan‘s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience”. Young delivered an ultimatum, adding, “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.” Spotify announced a few days later that it would pull Young‘s music catalog from its platform. Corabi, who joined MÖTLEY CRÜE in 1992 as the replacement for original singer Vince Neil, was asked for his views on the Neil Young–Joe Rogan saga in a recent interview with Adika Live! He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I kind of understand both sides of the fence. And ...
SAXON Releases Documentary About Making Of ‘Carpe Diem’ Album
British heavy metal legends SAXON have released a 14-minute documentary about the making of the band’s latest album, “Carpe Diem”, and “the struggle and the strife that went into it.” Check it out below. Produced by Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, EXODUS, ACCEPT) at Backstage Recording Studios in Derbyshire with singer Biff Byford and Sneap mixing and mastering, “Carpe Diem” strikes the ear as one of the most essential British metal statements of the last few years and not lacking in pace or bite, an album which will ignite the joy in stalwart supporters and attract a whole new legion to the SAXON fold. Sneap, himself a guitarist and producer of some metal repute, ensures that “Carpe Diem” does not lack one ounce of grit or sharpness. “...
LZZY HALE: How HALESTORM’s New Album, ‘Back From The Dead’, Got Its Title
HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale spoke to Andy Hall of the Des Moines, Iowa radio station Lazer 103.3 about the inspiration for the title of the band’s upcoming fifth studio album album, “Back From The Dead”. Due out May 6 via Atlantic, the follow-up to 2018’s “Vicious” was produced by Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, MASTODON, ALICE IN CHAINS) with co-production by Scott Stevens (SHINEDOWN, DAUGHTRY, NEW YEARS DAY). “When we first wrote [the] ‘Back From The Dead’ [title track], we were just, like, ‘Oh my God. This is exactly how we wanna come back out. This is exactly what I wanna say on a stage,'” she said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “When we were writing it, it was, like, ‘If we ever get on a stage agai...
Watch: BRUCE DICKINSON Explains Why IRON MAIDEN Uses UFO’s ‘Doctor Doctor’ As Its Entrance Music At Every Concert
During the question-and-answer portion of his February 11 spoken-word show at The Vic Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, Bruce Dickinson was asked why IRON MAIDEN always uses UFO‘s “Doctor Doctor” as its “entrance music” at is concerts. He responded: “It has the added advantage that everybody knows we play ‘Doctor Doctor’ before we go on stage. So, before the intro tape, there’s five minutes of ‘Doctor Doctor’. It’s brilliant, so people go, ‘Oh, quick.’ Stop having a piss, drink the last pint, get to your seats. ‘Doctor Doctor’ is playing. They’ll be on in a minute. And for the road crew, it’s also brilliant. It’s, like, ‘Stop masturbating in the toilet. Wipe your ass.'”...
Pussy Riot’s Nadya Launches NFT to Raise Money for Ukraine
Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova has launched a cryptocurrency organization to raise funds for Ukrainian civilian aid groups amid the Russian invasion. Ukraine DAO, a collaboration between Tolokonnikova, digital artist Trippy Labs, and artist collective PleasrDAO, will sell 10,000 NFTs of the Ukrainian flag minted on Ethereum, as well as a separate unique NFT of the flag. Proceeds from the sale will benefit humanitarian groups NGO Proliska and the Return Alive Foundation. Tolokonnikova told Decrypt that the group decided to depict the Ukrainian flag “because it’s not about any specific artists or aesthetics — it’s about something much bigger than all of us, it’s a pure gesture of solidarity.” “Activism is the only reason I joined Web3,” Tolokonnikova added. “Now, when I’m so deeply as...
Robert Glasper Unveils Black Radio III: Stream
Ten years since he kicked off his award-winning Black Radio series, Robert Glasper has returned with Black Radio III. Listen to the album below. With a star-studded list of guest contributors including Killer Mike, Ty Dolla $ign, H.E.R., D Smoke, Q-Tip, Esperanza Spalding, Jennifer Hudson, Common, and more, Black Radio III continues in Glasper’s tradition of celebrating Black talent with sophisticated, genre-bending music. H.E.R and Meshell Ndgeocello guest in the Grammy-winning single “Better Than I Imagined,” while Q-Tip and Esperanza Spalding contribute vocals to “Why We Speak.” Beyond slinky hip-hop beats and Glasper’s jazz piano, the album even nods to new wave, when Lalah Hathaway and Common offer a soulful rendition of the Tears for Fears classic “Everybody Wants to Rule t...
