Indie Rock
Phoebe Bridgers Stands By SNL Guitar Smash: “It’s Hilarious to Me People Care So Much”
In February, Phoebe Bridgers gave a “controversial” performance on Saturday Night Live in which she smashed her guitar, drawing both praise and melodramatic criticism. The Grammy-nominated indie rocker was asked about the viral moment in a new Variety interview, during which she stood by the bucket list moment and described why she considered it kind of “punk rock.” “I stand by it!” Bridgers said, in response to the backlash. “The fact that it made people so mad is kind of what’s punk rock about it. No thought whatsoever went into what it represented or meant: I’d never done it before, so might as well do it [on SNL], where it’s gonna be immortalized. She continued by referencing a viral video in which hundreds of Gibson Firebird X guitars are crushed by heavy construction equipment. ...
Courtney Barnett Launches Expansive Live Archive
With concerts currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, Courtney Barnett is one of many artists forced to wait to perform live again until it’s safe to do so. Instead of letting that get her down, though, Barnett has just done the next best thing: start an online archive of her touring and performing history. Best of all, it’s completely free to view. Inspired by the legendary digital archives of Neil Young and The Grateful Dead, Barnett decided to organize her past live performances as a way to give back to her fans during the pandemic and immortalize her progress as a live artist. Since playing her first-ever set at The Lark Distillery’s open mic night back in 2007, the Tell Me How You Really Feel singer has gone on to play nearly 800 shows, including solo concerts, gi...
St. Vincent Reveals She Initially Planned on Making Tool-Inspired Album
St. Vincent (photo by David Brendan Hall) and Tool (photo by Kevin RC Wilson) St. Vincent mastermind Annie Clark recently detailed her new album, Daddy’s Home, describing it as inspired by “music made in New York from 1971-76.” As it turns out, the project almost had an entirely different sound. During an appearance on RADIO.COM’s New Arrivals with Bryce Segall, Clark revealed she initially planned on making a “heavy record” inspired by Tool. “The crazy thing about music is, you can plan and plan and think you’re gonna go one way, and then you start writing and the music just takes you wherever the music takes you,” she explained. “That was certainly the experience with this. I was dead set in my mind that after MASSEDUCTION, I was just gonna make this like, heavy record. Like just heavy t...
Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis and Blake Sennett Reunite for First Performance in Six Years: Watch
We’ve officially lived a full decade without the existence of Rilo Kiley. Since the band split, singer Jenny Lewis and lead guitarist Blake Sennett have only reunited once, when the latter joined the former on stage at Coachella in 2015 for “Portions for Foxes”. Nearly six years later, it’s finally happened again, as the pair reunited over the weekend to take part in Linda Perry’s Rock-N-Relief livestream event. Lewis and Sennett delivered what could be their first-ever performance of “Let Me Back In”, a single from the 2013 compilation LP RKives. With a masked Sennett playing his acoustic guitar behind her, and a sweet little floof of a puppy on her lap, Lewis sang to camera, checking an off-camera lyrics sheet every so often. Memorized or not, it was a darling pre-recorded rendition, and...
Julien Baker Performs “Hardline”, “Faith Healer”, and “Heatwave” on CBS This Morning: Watch
Over the weekend, Julien Baker appeared on CBS This Morning to promote her latest album, Little Oblivions, with a three-song set featuring the singles “Hardline”, “Faith Healer”, and “Heatwave”. Backed by a full band, the Tennessee native delivered a typically powerful and stirring performance filmed in Nashville. The Saturday Sessions set follows recent late-night appearances on Seth Meyers and Colbert. During an appearance on Consequence of Sound and Sound Mind Live‘s Going There with Dr. Mike, Baker discussed how music has helped her understand, experience, and express her emotions while coping with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The revealing episode is currently available to stream on all major podcast platforms. Check out all three of Baker’s CBS This Morning perf...
Song of the Week: Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak Play It Smooth as Silk Sonic on “Leave the Door Open”
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, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak dropped their first single as Silk Sonic. Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak have teamed up under the name Silk Sonic, which seems to have been a good name choice. Their first single, “Leave the Door Open”, is nothing if not luxurious, velvety goodness. The full-length project, An Evening with Silk Sonic, reunites the two artists who previously toured together with .Paak as an opening act on Bruno Mars’ 2017 “24K Magic World Tour”. Sonically, “Leave the Door Open” is a return to form for Bruno Mars, who ha...
Fucked Up Share 26-Minute Song “Year of the Horse – Act Two”: Stream
Fucked Up have released “Year of the Horse – Act Two”, the second track of the Toronto punk band’s latest EP celebrating the Chinese Zodiac. Stream it via Bandcamp below. The 26-minute epic is written like a play. It contains seven different scenes starring a cast of more than a dozen characters, which are detailed in the liner notes the band made available on WeTransfer. The song mixes disparate sounds from straightforward punk rock to spaghetti-western to doom metal, and includes guest vocals from singers Tuka Mohammed, Eidolon, and Maegan Brooks Mills. “Act Two” appears on the four-track EP, Year of the Horse. Fucked Up is dedicating the project to Texas hardcore icons Wade Allison of Iron Age and Riley Gale of Power Trip, both of whom were friends with the group prior to their deaths. ...
Mitski Announces Graphic Novel Soundtrack, Shares “The Baddy Man”: Stream
For her first full-length project since 2018’s Be the Cowboy, Mitski wrote and recorded the soundtrack to the graphic novel This Is Where We Fall. It’s out May 5th, and as a taste of things to come, the 30-year-old songwriter has shared the new song “The Baddy Man”. Written by Chris Miskiewicz and illustrated by Vincent Kings, This Is Where We Fall combines science fiction and Western tropes to tell a tale of death and the afterlife. It will be available in both softcover and hardcover editions, though the hardcover has the added bonus of coming with Mitski’s soundtrack on cassette. Besides that, 1,000 copies of a deluxe edition will also be released, and that iteration includes her score on vinyl. In a statement to Rolling Stone, Mitski said, “It was exciting to make a...
IAN SWEET Finds Her Breath on the Revealing Show Me How You Disappear: Review
The Lowdown: How do you turn introspection into propulsive pop? How can deep reflection push a person into new patterns? These questions weave the eclectic tapestry of Show Me How You Disappear, the third album from IAN SWEET, the now-solo indie-rock project from singer-songwriter Jilian Medford. The collection sparked during the time Medford, 27, spent in an outpatient therapy program for anxiety just before the pandemic, and the songs’ inventive, textured pop marks her best release to date. [embedded content] The Good: The album opens with a momentary squall, the first track, “My Favorite Cloud”, expanding into a Flaming Lips-esque garble that sounds like a sentient modem drowning, before it’s pierced by Medford’s high, filtered voice: “My psychic told me I’d die/ ’Cause I’d forget to br...
The Wiggles Cover Tame Impala’s “Elephant”: Watch
Hey there kids, your favorite band The Wiggles are back with a searing takedown of arrogant assholes! The Australian institution has covered Tame Impala, another artist from Down Under, adding a few new lyrics to make the anti-bully anthem “Elephant” more family friendly. The Wiggles performed Tame Impala’s breakout 2012 hit for Triple J’s cover series Like a Version. To entertain any children who happen to come upon it, bandmember Anthony Fields spent the whole song inside an elephant costume, wobbling his trunk to the rhythm of the beat. The band also added an extended riff on “Fruit salad,” which, they said is, “Yummy yummy!” and for which they embarked upon some tummy-rubbing choreography. Even the most drugged-out Tame Impala fans have never imagined an “Elephant” as bizarre as this. ...
10 Artists Worth Bringing Back VH1 Storytellers For
Kendrick Lamar photo by Amy Price; St. Vincent photo by David Brendan Hall; Janelle Monáe photo by Philip Cosores VH1 Storytellers was such a cool show. It borrowed the idea of MTV Unplugged — a hugely popular act performing a stripped-down set in front of an intimate audience — and took it one step further. Audiences could see and hear artists in a more relaxed setting, dishing on their careers and telling stories about creating the songs we know and love. Storytellers first aired 25 years ago in late February 1996; Kinks mastermind Ray Davies was the first performer. It ran for 97 more episodes, the last starring Ed Sheeran in 2015. In between, there was a veritable Who’s Who of talent, from classic rock gods like David Bowie and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to ‘90s stars like Pearl ...
Kings of Leon on the Stories Behind When You See Yourself
Kyle Meredith With… Kings of Leon Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill gives a ring to Kyle Meredith to talk all about the band’s new album, When You See Yourself. It’s a record that finds Followill with his most poetic lyrics to date, and he explains why. The Tennessee-born songwriter also gets into the impact that Western movies and TV shows have had on him, and how they find their way into the album, with nods to Pancho & Lefty and Johnny Guitar. He also talks about recalling the band’s classic sound on this set, creating his own language during their early songs, and raising money for road crews during the pandemic. Kyle Meredith With…&nbs...
