Alternative Rock
Nell Smith and The Flaming Lips Cover Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” on Colbert: Watch
14-year-old musician Nell Smith and psych rock veterans The Flaming Lips took their unlikely friendship to television last night, covering Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The track comes from Where the Viaduct Looms, an album of Nick Cave covers that Smith and the band released in November. Smith took center stage with the veteran rockers arrayed behind her, as a projection screen brought the eye into a whirlpool of psychedelia. Lips frontman Wayne Coyne displayed his trademark humility, fading into the background and only stirring to sing the occasional supporting vocal or bang on a single drum. At the end, drummer Matthew Kirksey pulled his blazer aside to reveal a T-shirt that read “Bad Seed,” in tribute to Cave’s longtime band the Bad Seeds...
The War on Drugs Play “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” on Ellen: Watch
In the latest stop on The War on Drugs’ whirlwind press tour in support of their recent album I Don’t Live Here Anymore, the band stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show today (January 4th) to perform its title track — one of Barack Obama’s favorite songs of 2021. Joined by folk duo Lucius on backing vocals, The War on Drugs brought the Springsteen-esque sheen of “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” to daytime TV, making for arguably one of the most captivating performances on the show in recent months. Watch it below. The band will also be one of Ellen’s last musical guests. The show is coming to a close this year after 19 seasons, following an investigation into the reportedly “toxic” work environment behind the scenes. Advertisement Related Video Prior to their Ellen appearance, The War on Drug...
Father John Misty Details New Album Chloë and the Next 20th Century, Shares “Funny Girl”: Stream
Father John Misty tipped us off to his next record last month, but now he’s finally announced all of the details. Today, the artist otherwise known as Josh Tillman shared the artwork and tracklist for Chloë and the Next 20th Century, and shared “Funny Girl,” the album’s first single. Tillman recorded Chloë and the Next 20th Century in 2020 with longtime collaborator Jonathan Wilson. The album features strings, brass, and woodwinds performed by the likes of Dan Higgins and Wayne Bergeron, with arrangements by Drew Erickson. Not surprisingly, then, first single “Funny Girl” hints at the album’s cinematic feel, with lush strings building to a warm piano ballad. With slow bass grooves and Tillman’s delicate croon, the song sounds straight out of an oldies record, but the artist’s classic ...
Jeopardy Contestant Confuses Nickelback with Arcade Fire
At least she got the Canadian part right! Jeopardy contestant Kate Woomer-Deters was quick to pose the question “Who is Arcade Fire?” when given a clue that required the response “Who is Nickelback?” — thus confusing one of the 21st century’s most critically acclaimed bands with one of its most critically maligned acts. The musical faux pas happened within the “Billboard Top 200 Albums in 2021” category on Monday night’s episode of the popular quiz show. Reigning champion Amy Schneider had gotten the first four items correct in the category before the contestants were posed the $1,000 clue, “‘The Best Of’ this Canadian band, ‘Volume 1’ included ‘Rockstar,’ ‘How You Remind Me’ & 17 other songs.” After Woomer-Dieters gave her “Who is Arcade Fire?” response, contestant Harsh Daga rang in ...
Tom Morello Admits He Doesn’t Know How to Use His Home Studio
Like many artists during the pandemic, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello was forced to work remotely and record music from home during lockdowns. The only problem: He doesn’t know how to use his home studio. In a recent interview with Guitar World, Morello said, “For the first four months or so [of the pandemic] I was absolutely adrift. You know, I have a nice studio in my house, but I don’t know how to work it. Like, I don’t know how to move any of the buttons around. So I was like, ‘I’m not going to be able to play shows. I’m not going to be able to record music.’” The lack of expertise with his gear didn’t stopped Morello from being extremely productive during the pandemic. In the past few months, he released two guest-heavy solo albums, The Altas Underground Fire and ...
Josh Klinghoffer Covers Golden Girls Theme Song in Honor of Betty White: Watch
Like most of us, Josh Klinghoffer is currently mourning the loss of Betty White, who died on New Year’s Eve just weeks before her 100th birthday. The former Red Hot Chili Peppers member honored the longtime TV icon by sharing a guitar cover of the theme song to Golden Girls, the sitcom that helped solidify White’s legendary status. “There has been a lot of loss lately, a lot of endings,” Klinghoffer wrote on Instagram. “It’s happening all the time everywhere, but these past few weeks have seen the loss of a few important people in my life. I rarely feel like I have any wisdom to share, but the son of the creator of the show I have included the theme song to said this, and I think it’s just brilliant. He said (something like), ‘We are all experts at being exactly who we were the day be...
Liam Gallagher Reviews Noel’s New Song: “Miserable Arse Cheer Up You Billionaire”
Even in this turbulent world, where seemingly every month brings a new crisis, at least one thing remains consistent: the Gallagher brothers’ sheer contempt for each other. On New Year’s Day, Noel Gallagher released a demo for a new song called “Trying to Find a World That’s Been and Gone: Part 1,” in which he sings longingly, “You give me the will to carry on/ In a place where I belong/ As we try to find a world that’s been and gone.” In response, Liam tweeted directly to his brother by writing, “Miserable arse cheer up you billionaire.” According to Noel, “Trying to Find a Word…” comes from his next album as Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, which “I finished writing/demoing… about 10 days ago.” It will mark the band’s fourth solo album to date and the follow-up to Who Built the Moon? ...
Ezra Koenig Teases Vampire Weekend’s Next Album is “Close” to Completion
Could a new Vampire Weekend album be on the horizon? Frontman Ezra Koenig teased as much in a new interview this week. On Wednesday, the indie rocker stopped by Mark Hoppus’ After School Radio on Apple Music to discuss the progress he and his bandmates are currently making on their follow-up to Father of the Bride. “Yeah, we’ve been working on music and, yeah, we were just recording in England for a while, now back in L.A., working with everybody, and, yeah, I mean, I think we’re… I’m always hesitant to…Sometimes I oversell how close we are with the record because who really knows? But we almost have an album’s worth of songs,” he told the Blink-182 bassist. Advertisement Related Video Koenig continued: “And, as you well know, you could tinker with a song forever; change the arrangement, c...
Paramore’s 10 Best Songs
When Paramore released their first album, 2005’s All We Know is Falling, Hayley Williams was 16. Inspired by ’90s hardcore, the Nashville teenagers wrote earnest, emphatic emo, and quickly rode the wave of pop punk nostalgia that swept the 2000s. Across five albums, however, they went from Warped Tour stages to the Grammys, from a five-piece to a trio, and from pop punk to something undefinable. How did we get here? Paramore have always been more than the genre label thrust upon them. A zippy, energetic band with a fiery, earnest frontwoman drew them initial attention, but a darkness always lurked underneath the band’s singalong, Hot Topic-ready melodies. Advertisement Distrust of authorities and relationship drama colored the band’s early albums, released when its members were still in hi...
Chino Moreno’s ††† (Crosses) Unveil Cover of Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses”: Stream
A couple of days after revealing they signed a worldwide deal with Warner Records, ††† (Crosses) unveiled a new cover of the Q Lazzarus song “Goodbye Horses.” The duo, which consists of singer Chino Moreno (Deftones, Team Sleep) and multi-instrumentalist Shaun Lopez (Far), also revealed that new music will arrive in spring 2022. As previously reported, Lopez took to Instagram to share the news of the new record deal, writing, “Very happy to announce that @crossesmusic recently signed a worldwide deal with @warnerrecords. Looking forward to working with such an amazing crew. Hi fives to the bro @chinowmoreno, we did it.” The cover of “Goodbye Horses” features Moreno delivering clean vocals over an electronic instrumental, staying true to the new wave vibes of the 1988 original. Advertisemen...
Chino Moreno’s ††† (Crosses) Ink Deal With Warner Records Ahead of New Album
††† (Crosses), the electronic project of Deftones singer Chino Moreno and multi-instrumentalist Shaun Lopez (of the post-hardcore band Far), are currently working on new music. They’ve now found a label to release the upcoming album after inking a deal with Warner Records. The signing comes after the duo teased that they were in the studio together recording new material back in November. The last music we heard from the group was a one-off 2020 cover of Cause & Effect’s “The Beginning of the End” following six years of inactivity. Lopez shared the label news on Instagram, giving shoutouts to the project’s inner circle: “Very happy to announce that @crossesmusic recently signed a worldwide deal with @warnerrecords. Looking forward to working with such an amazing crew. Hi fives to the b...
The LCD Soundsystem Holiday Special Aims for Nostalgia to Mixed Effect: Recap
Even after COVID forced LCD Soundsystem to cancel the remaining three shows of their 20-night Brooklyn Steel residency, the band hasn’t given up on trying to keep things jolly. On December 22nd, James Murphy and co. brought the holiday cheer to Amazon Prime Video with their part comedy, part concert film Christmas special, appropriately titled The LCD Soundsystem Holiday Special. Directed by Eric Wareheim (of Tim & Eric fame), the hour-long special aims to capture nostalgia twofold. It opens with a parody of a ’90s sitcom titled “All My Friends,” in which Wareheim stands in as Murphy in a fictionalized version of LCD Soundsystem. With Macaulay Culkin portraying drummer Pat Mahoney, the band fumbles through assembling the perfect setlist for the night’s gig. Spanning their 2005 de...
