Entertainment News
Meskerem Mees Unveils New Song “Seasons Shift”: Stream
21-year-old songwriter Meskerem Mees drew international attention with her first single “Joe”, and now she’s proving she’s a talent to watch with her new song “Seasons Shift”. Mees enchants from the moment she opens her mouth, with an ethereal voice and cosmopolitan accent (she’s Belgian with Ethiopian roots). Alongside her friend the cellist Febe Lazou, she crafts gentle music out of turbulent emotions. “Seasons Shift” is more about a variable person than the changing weather, with lyrics that track differences over time. She sings of someone who “got serious in December/ Lonely in July, though you wouldn’t tell me why/ It might have been easier just to call me but you preferred to cry.” At first she seems to be sketching out a failed relationship, but as the song progresses, her co...
YouTuber Masterfully Performs Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” as a Motörhead Song: Watch
YouTuber Denis Pauna imagines an alternate universe where hit songs were recorded by different artists. For his latest hypothetical, Pauna pondered, “What if Motörhead wrote ‘Personal Jesus’ by Depeche Mode?’” That’s the title of the Croatian musician’s latest pseudo-mashup cover. As if to discover the answer to his own question, he dressed up in full Motörhead regalia — even donning Lemmy Kilmister’s signature mutton chops — and played Depeche Mode’s classic in the vein of the British heavy metal pioneers. As Pauna proves, if Motörhead had written “Personal Jesus”, it would have still been an awesome song. Over a propulsive riff and the crushing Kilmister bass tone — all played by Pauna himself — hearing the chorus rendered through his spot-on Lemmy bark is truly satisfying. It made us cu...
Steven Wilson Transforms into Brad Pitt, David Bowie, Donald Trump, and More in “Self” Video: Watch
Prog rocker Steven Wilson has unveiled a disturbing deepfake music video for his latest single, “Self”. The track appears on Wilson’s new album, The Future Bites, which was released last week. Following the post-modern dystopia theme of the album, Wilson used deepfake facial mapping technology for the video, transforming himself into a motley crew of notable celebrities, politicians, and musicians. If you’ve ever wanted to see Donald Trump go prog, now’s your chance. The likes of Joe Biden, David Bowie, Hillary Clinton, Brad Pitt, Mark Zuckerberg, Robert Downey Jr., and more appear in Wilson’s influencer choir. The deepfake imaging falls somewhere between convincing and downright terrifying — maybe more toward the latter, since Wilson’s face changes but his hair stays the same, resulting i...
Russell Louder Shares Origins of New Track “Home”: Stream
In our new music feature Origins, artists are asked to give listeners unique insights into their latest track. Today, Russell Louder explains how they found “Home”. For Russell Louder, the most basic definition of ‘home’ would be Prince Edward Island. Though they were raised on the nautical Canadian province, they now split their time between PEI and Montreal. Factor in the journey the singer has gone on as a trans individual, and you can understand how the idea of ‘home’ is a bit fluid for them. But while discovering your place of supreme comfort is often seen as a daunting challenge, Louder finds excitement in the quest on her new single, “Home”. Over a beat buzzing and clanging with retro synth sounds, they sing not just of the terrible uncertainty of “finding home,” but the boundless p...
R.I.P. Ricky Powell, Iconic Hip-Hop Photographer and Honorary Beastie Boy Dead at 59
Ricky Powell, the celebrated hip-hop photographer who was known as the honorary fourth member of the Beastie Boys, has died at age 59. Powell’s manager and business partner Tono Radvany confirmed that his client had passed away on the night of February 1st. No cause of death has yet to be revealed. “I just want to let everyone know he was a very special man, and he will be sorely missed,” Radvany told Complex. A New York City native through and through, the Brooklyn-born Powell entered photography mainly to stick it to an ex-girlfriend. He discovered a camera she’d left behind and determined to use it to make a name for himself. After photographing art galleries in Greenwich Village and hip-hop shows in downtown Manhattan for a year, he was able to quit his job selling lemon ices to head o...
Marilyn Manson Removed From Two TV Series Following Evan Rachel Wood’s Abuse Allegations
The fallout continues for Marilyn Manson following abuse allegations from actress Evan Rachel Wood and four other women. The veteran rocker has now been removed from two TV series as a result of the accusations. Manson had already appeared in the Season 3 premiere of the Starz series American Gods as the frontman of Viking death metal band called Blood Death. In the wake of the allegations, he will be removed from a future episode. “Starz stands unequivocally with all victims and survivors of abuse. Due to the allegations made against Marilyn Manson, we have decided to remove his performance from the remaining episode he is in, scheduled to air later this season,” the network said in a statement. The shock rocker was also set to appear in the upcoming second season of Creepshow on AMC’s st...
Cannibal Corpse Announce New Album Violence Unimagined
Death metal pioneers Cannibal Corpse have announced their 15th studio album, Violence Unimagined — one of our most anticipated heavy albums of 2021. They also premiered the lead single, “Inhuman Harvest”, on Monday (February 1st) via SiriusXM’s “Liquid Metal” program. Needless to say, Cannibal Corpse haven’t let up over their 30-plus year career, and “Inhuman Harvest” is as brutal as ever. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher spews forth his vocals offer a bed of necrotic downtuned death metal. It’s classic Cannibal Corpse, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. That said, it’s uncertain whether troubled guitarist Pat O’Brien is on the recording. All signs indicate that O’Brien — who was involved a bizarre incident involving over 80 firearms and human skulls in 2018 — was not in the studio when C...
Kelsey Grammer in Talks for Frasier Reboot
The executives at ViacomCBS are hankering for toss salad and scrambled eggs, hoping for a revival of the hit sitcom Frasier. As Variety reports, the company is in early talks with star Kelsey Grammer for a reboot that would air on Paramount+, its rebranded streaming service set to replace CBS All Access. Frasier was the Dave Grohl to Cheers’ Nirvana; a spin-off from a beloved cultural institution that went on to outlast the original. Starring Grammar, David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves, Peri Gilpin, and John Mahoney, who died in 2018, Frasier ran from 1993 to 2004, winning a record-breaking 37 Primetime Emmy Awards and taking home five consecutive trophies for Outstanding Comedy Series. At a time when far less successful franchises have been brought back fro...
R.I.P. Dustin Diamond, Saved by the Bell’s “Screech” Dead at 44
Dustin Diamond, the actor who famously played Screech on Saved by the Bell, has died at the age of 44. Last month, Diamond was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. TMZ reports that he passed away early Monday (February 1st). Born January 7th, 1977, Diamond said goodbye to a normal childhood at the age of 11, when he appeared in the first non-pilot episode of the Disney Channel original series Good Morning, Miss Bliss. That show transferred to NBC in 1989, in the process moving from John F. Kennedy Junior High to Bayside High School and acquiring the new name Saved by the Bell. Diamond played the role of Samuel “Screech” Powers throughout the show’s initial run (1989-93), plus the TV movie Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style (1992), the sequel series The College Years (1993-94), the two-h...
Wakanda Series from Black Panther Director Ryan Coogler Coming to Disney+
Though its king is no longer with us, Wakanda lives on. Word has come that Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is developing a dramatic series set in Marvel’s fictional African country for Disney+. Deadline reports that the show is part of a newly signed five-year exclusive deal between Coogler’s Proximity Media and Disney. While the deal will find Proximity developing content beyond the Disney+ streaming service, the Wakanda project is up first. It also may not be the only Marvel Cinematic Universe series the production company will have a hand in, as Coogler said in a statement that “we will be working closely with [Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and their partners at Marvel Studios] on select MCU shows for Disney+. We’re already in the mix on some projects that we can’t ...
Marilyn Manson Calls Abuse Allegations “Horrible Distortions of Reality”
Marilyn Manson has issued his first public comments in response to allegations of abuse levied against him by five women, including actress Evan Rachel Wood. In a statement posted to Instagram on Monday evening, Manson called the allegations “horrible distortions of reality.” “Obviously, my life and my art have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality,” Manson wrote. “My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how — and why — others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth.” Earlier Monday, Wood and four other women accused Manson of sexual assault, psychological abuse, and coercion. “The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to t...
“Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)” Rapper Silento Arrested for Murder
Silento, the Atlanta rapper best known for the viral hit “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)”, has been charged with murdering his cousin. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Silento (born Ricky Lamar Hawk) was arrested by DeKalb police on Monday. Hawk’s cousin, Frederick Rooks, was shot and killed on the morning of January 21st. “After a thorough investigation, DKPD detectives identified Hawk as Rooks’ cousin, and the person responsible for Rooks’ murder,” according police spokeswoman Michaela Vincent. Detectives are still working to establish a motive. The 23-year-old Hawk has had several previous run-ins with the law. In August, he was arrested twice on domestic violence and gun charges. Then in October, he was booked after being clocked speeding at more than 140 mph. Hawk achieved ...
