Alternative Rock
Tori Amos Unboxes New Christmastide EP: Stream
Deck the halls with boughs of holly, and stream the new holiday project from chamber pop extraordinaire Tori Amos. Her Christmastide EP is officially out today and can be found below via Apple Music or Spotify. Out through Decca Records, Christmastide serves as Amos’ first new solo material since the 2017 full-length Native Invader. It features four original tracks, including lead single “Better Angels”. According to Amos, she hopes the EP can be a jubilant “safe space” from these turbulent times. “With Christmastide it was important to be positive and to try and lift people’s spirits,” she commented in a statement. “It’s a time of year that should be joyful with family and friends but also can sadly be a very lonely place for some.” Editors’ Picks “Many families will ...
Pearl Jam to Host Virtual Fundraiser for Georgia Senate Runoff Election
In the lead-up to the 2020 Elections, Pearl Jam launched a get-out-the-vote campaign focused on mail-in voting. (Frontman Eddie Vedder even created an Instagram account just to promote it!) Although Joe Biden has successfully walked away with a presidential win, the rock band’s job isn’t quite done yet. Ahead of Georgia’s senate runoff election next month, Pearl Jam will host a special virtual fundraiser alongside Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda. The event supports organizations that have tirelessly worked to boost voter engagement. According to a press statement, Pearl Jam and Miranda will hold “a conversation about their artistic inspirations and advocacy.” Like Pearl Jam, Miranda has used his massive platform to condemn Trump and stress the importance of voting. “Georgia came through f...
PJ Harvey’s A Dog Called Money Documentary to Premiere Online
PJ Harvey has spent the better part of this year brushing off her catalog with an in-depth reissue series. It looks like the alt-rock icon’s canonizing won’t stop there. Earlier today, she announced the 2019 documentary PJ Harvey – A Dog Called Money will finally receive its North American premiere on December 7th. Watch the official trailer below. PJ Harvey – A Dog Called Money chronicles the making of her 2016 album The Hope Six Demolition Project. For it, Harvey accompanied photojournalist Seamus Murphy on his reporting trips to Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Washington, D.C. Along the way, he wound up capturing a larger story about the experiences that inspired her album and the complicated process she went through to create it, later turning those filmed segments into a proper document...
Chris Cornell’s Daughter Lily Cornell Silver Covers Alice in Chains for First Public Performance: Watch
Lily Cornell Silver, the eldest daughter of late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, made her first public performance during the MoPOP Founders Award ceremony on Tuesday night. She covered Alice in Chains’ “Black Gives Way to Blue” in tribute to the evening’s honorees. The livestream event saw numerous grunge and alt-rock luminaries covering the songs of Alice in Chains. Members of Soundgarden participated in the festivities, and one of the evening’s major highlights came when Lily — whose mom is Alice in Chains’ longtime manager Susan Silver — played a touching piano version of “Black Gives Way to Blue” with musical accompaniment by Queensrÿche’s Chris DeGarmo. Like her father, Lily has a strong singing voice, elevating the emotional content of an already heart-wrenching song. We can onl...
The Hold Steady Announce New Album Open Door Policy, Share “Family Farm”: Stream
The Hold Steady have announced their eighth studio album, Open Door Policy. The follow-up to last year’s Thrashing Thru the Passion is due out on February 19th via the group’s own Positive Jams label and Thirty Tigers. The new full-length was almost entirely written and recorded prior to the pandemic. However, “the songs and stories explore power, wealth, mental health, technology, capitalism, consumerism, and survival – issues which have compounded in 2020,” according to frontman Craig Finn. Recording took place at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, New York with assistance from producer Josh Kaufman and engineer D. James Goodwin. The album is The Hold Steady’s second to feature their current six-piece lineup, which has been described by Finn as the band’s “best” iteration. Editors’ P...
Liam Gallagher Performs Oasis’ “Hello” for the First Time in 18 Years: Stream
This year marks the 25th anniversary of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, the seminal sophomore album from Oasis. Recently, Liam Gallagher performed the LP’s opening track, “Hello”, for the first time in 18 (!) years. The momentous performance took place on BBC Radio 2 late last week. Gallagher, not missing a beat after the last two decades, charged through “Hello” like it was any ordinary in-studio Oasis session circa the ’90s. The British rocker’s voice stretched out in that nasally way fans have come to love, as he sang out, “Nobody ever mentions the weather/ Can make or break your day/ Nobody ever seems to remember/ Life is a game we play.” “It’s never gonna be the same,” continued the 48-year-old Gallagher, a line that seems to have taken on a different meaning considering the break-...
The Smashing Pumpkins’ CYR Treads Water in a Sea of Excess: Review
The Lowdown: Twenty-five years ago this fall, The Smashing Pumpkins released the most essential double album of the 1990s. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness used every second of its 120-plus minutes to redefine the artistic possibilities of Billy Corgan and his band, moving away from the grunge comparisons that always chafed the mercurial frontman and towards something more expansive, stately, and baroque. That was 1995. One break-up, seven albums, and a Diamond certification later, The Smashing Pumpkins are once again presenting a double album for consideration. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Corgan described the new record (named for early Christian child-martyr St. Cyricus) as a reflection of the “spiritual dystopia” that haunts 2020. Sonically, that translates t...
Sheryl Crow Covers Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels” on Fallon: Watch
Tom Petty’s estate released the expanded Wildflowers box set last month, and they’ve been tapping artists to promote it in his place since the beloved late musician cannot. On Wednesday night, Sheryl Crow stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform “You Don’t Know How It Feels” — and she did so with the help of three other Sheryl Crows. “You Don’t Know How It Feels” is one of those classic rock staples that hits you right in the heart. The original version of the classic 1994 single has plenty of swagger courtesy of a bluesy harmonica solo, a great guitar riff, and of course Petty’s empathetic chorus. Wildflowers & All The Rest includes a 2014 remastered version of the song as well as the original 8-track demo and a live version. In her take on the song, Crow essential...
Alanis Morissette Covers John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”: Stream
Thanksgiving was yesterday, which means Christmas season has officially begun. Alanis Morissette is already getting into the holiday spirit by sharing her own cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s classic “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”. “It is an honor to cover this heartwarming song,” said Morissette in a statement. “The lyrics feel more pertinent than ever and this year has been a year of great resilience and adapting and feeling all the feelings. May this song serve as a big hug to you and your sweet families and friends. Everything is going to be okay in the end, and if it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” Not only did Morissette remain faithful to the original version of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” in sound, but also the iconic visuals that accompanied it. In the music video for her cover, Mori...
The Killers’ Christmas Album Don’t Waste Your Wishes Finally Available on Streaming Services
The Killers have finally made their limited-edition Christmas album Don’t Waste Your Wishes available to stream online. Take a listen below through Apple Music or Spotify. From 2006 to 2016, the Las Vegas rockers released a new Christmas single every year, with proceeds benefiting Bono’s (RED) charity. Then in 2016, the band collected those loosies into Don’t Waste Your Wishes, which had a brief run as an iTunes exclusive followed by a limited printing of CDs. This is the first time it’s been widely available. The compilation includes nine original songs, a track based on an 1890 poem by William Lawrence Chittenden called “The Cowboy’s Christmas Ball”, and a cover of the yuletide standard “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” featuring Brandon Flowers’ fourth grade teacher Mr. Hansen. The...
Tori Amos Gifts New Holiday Song “Better Angels”: Stream
Everyone could use an extra bit of hope this strange holiday season, and that includes Tori Amos. The chamber pop artist is gearing up to release a new EP, Christmastide, that’s meant to be a joyful “safe space” from these turbulent times. As a first preview, Amos is sharing closing track “Better Angels” today. According to the eight-time Grammy-nominated songwriter, this offering envisions a brighter future while simultaneously recognizing the harshness of our present circumstances. “With ‘Better Angels’ I wanted to acknowledge the year we have all been through and know that there is hope,” remarked Amos. “We can find that hope within ourselves if we continue to focus our collective minds and souls. We are slowly starting to find a clearer path to transform together for the better of all,...
The Soviet Machines Premiere Jack Endino-Produced Song “Get Your Kicks”: Stream
Minneapolis three piece The Soviet Machines lived out an alt-rock dream when they traveled to Seattle to work with producer Jack Endino (Nirvana’s Bleach). The band is now premiering the music video for “Get Your Kicks”, the lead single from their upcoming debut album, exclusively via Heavy Consequence. The Soviet Machines’ vintage power trio approach is well suited for Endino, who captured many of the Seattle grunge scene’s legendary guitar bands. He’s got major credits on records by Nirvana, Mudhoney, Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, and countless others. Most recently, Endino has produced the acclaimed works of US doom institution Windhand. The veteran recording engineer’s touch is apparent on “Get Your Kicks”, an upbeat rocker with solid tone — mostly recorded live without overdubs. The S...
