Indie Rock
Phoebe Bridgers and beabadoobee: Artist and Rookie of the Year in Conversation
Our Annual Report continues today with the announcement of Phoebe Bridgers as our Artist of the Year and beabadoobee as our Rookie of the Year. Stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of the year as 2020 winds down. If you’ve missed any part of our Annual Report, you can check out all the coverage here. There wasn’t a single person whose life wasn’t hit by the hard curve of 2020. Countless studies have been conducted and essays written about how this year impacted the music industry in particular, from delayed releases to canceled tours to financial distress. Artists planned, and the pandemic laughed. Yet, even in these darkest of times, there were those who found ways to not just keep the flame lit, but ignite a blaze. In an amazing testamen...
Slaughter Beach, Dog Surprise Releases New Album At the Moonbase: Stream
Merry Christmas Eve! Slaughter Beach, Dog, the side-project of Modern Baseball’s Jake Ewald, has surprise released a new album. It’s called At the Moonbase and it’s available to stream below via Apple Music and Spotify. This is Ewald’s fourth full-length under the Slaughter Beach, Dog moniker. Technically it follows his 2019 album Safe and Also No Fear, but musically this new record is more akin to his 2016 debut Welcome and 2017’s Motorcycle.JPG. Written and recorded alone at home and at The Metal Shop, Ewald’s recording studio in East Kensington, At the Moonbase is an exercise in solitary production and solo songwriting, no doubt in part due to the coronavirus pandemic. Across its 11-song tracklist, Ewald dips into slacker rock, expanded arrangements, and melancholic piano. It’...
Darkside Reunite for New Album Spiral, Share “Liberty Bell”: Stream
After six long years, the wait is finally over: Darkside have returned. The electronic music duo of Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington has announced a new album, Spiral, due out Spring 2021 via Matador Records, as well as shared a lead single called “Liberty Bell”. Formed nearly a decade ago, Darkside found critical acclaim thanks to their 2013 full-length debut, Psychic. Their time in the spotlight was very short-lived, however, as Jaar and Harrington announced their “indefinite hiatus” less than a year later. According to a statement, Spiral was completed in December 2019. It was then mastered by Heba Kadry (Beach House, Slowdive) and mixed by Rashad Becker. Today’s release of “Liberty Bell” provides a first look at what to expect from the forthcoming sophomore album. And it appears to be ...
Mac DeMarco Shares Mellow Cover of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”: Stream
Christmas is just four days away, which means Mac DeMarco is back to fulfill his annual tradition of covering holiday songs. This year, the Canadian jizz jazzer has shared his take on Judy Garland’s classic “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, which you can stream below. The original version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is a wistful, tender track about holding on to hope despite being stuck in a tragic place. It always hits home, but this year it feels especially relevant during the pandemic. In DeMarco’s hands, though, the song takes a more laid-back approach, stretching Garland’s original words into a hazy, mellow rumination over a stringy trip-hop-like trance. DeMarco shared his cover alongside a lo-fi music video. In the clip, the Here Comes the Cowboy singer c...
The Bird and the Bee Cover “Little Drummer Boy” with Medium Drummer Man Dave Grohl: Stream
Over eight crazy nights, Dave Grohl and his pal Greg Kurstin performed eight covers of Jewish musicians in celebration of Hanukkah. With the Festival of Lights concluding on Thursday, Grohl and Kurstin turned their attention to Christmas and linked up with Kurstin’s The Bird and the Bee bandmate Inara George for a cover of “Little Drummer Boy” on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “The Little Drummer Boy” was composed by the music teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. Apart from the melody, the song is instantly recognizable for the rat-a-tat-tat rhythm played by the titular little drummer boy. But medium-sized drummer man Dave Grohl had other ideas. He kicked off the song with a flourish before settling into a driving rock and roll groove, riding the cymbals and keeping the bass drum thumping. Kurst...
Fiona Apple Considers Boycotting the Grammys Over Dr. Luke Nomination
Fiona Apple singlehandedly delivered the best album of the year when she dropped Fetch the Bolt Cutters, and she was acknowledged for doing such with a handful of Grammy nominations last month. Now, in a new interview, Apple has shared her thoughts about what it means to be honored at the Grammys, her frustrations with producer Dr. Luke, and much more. The Guardian interview with Apple goes deep into a handful of subjects, spanning everything from the impact of her iconic 1997 MTV Awards speech to the very real person who inspired “Shameika”. However, the most topical segment arrived when Apple inadvertently brought up the Recording Academy, their suspended President and CEO Deborah Dugan, and their decision to nominate Dr. Luke (under the pseudonym Tyson Trax) despite Kesha’s allegations ...
Toro y Moi Remixes HAIM’s “3AM”: Stream
Earlier this month, Toro y Moi remixed Caroline Polachek’s “Hit Me Where It Hurts” with help from Deftones frontman Chino Moreno. The chillwave artist also known as Chaz Bundick has returned today with another reworking — this time for the three sisters of HAIM. Toro y Moi reimagined HAIM’s “3AM”, which appears on their Grammy-nominated album Women in Music Pt. III. While the original version saw the HAIM siblings play around with space and sparseness, this new remix is all about the layers and textures. Toro y Moi folds in echoes of electric guitar and fills voids with heavier bass. The whole thing reverberates with the kind of energy associated with a 6 a.m. wake-up call rather than a low-key, middle-of-the-night hang. Hear it for yourself below. Editors’ Picks Women in Music Pt. I...
HAIM Rework “Christmas Wrapping” Into a 2020 Hanukkah Song: Watch
Tonight is the eighth and final night of Hanukkah, so HAIM are stepping up to the plate to serenade its end with “Christmas Wrapping 2020”, a new song they released this afternoon. It’s a rework of The Waitresses’s 1981 holiday classic to be about Hanukkah, COVID-19, and all the chaos that ensued this year. The Grammy-nominated sisters unveiled the track on social media alongside a message for their fans. “HAPPY HANUKKAH!!” they tweeted. “Presenting our FIRST EVER holiday song: Christmas Wrapping 2020 (All I Want for Christmas is a Vaccine) 🔯🎄We hope this song helps you get through the holiday season.” As expected, “Christmas Wrapping 2020” is a clever spin on the holiday radio staple. Over a slinky bass line by Thundercat and production courtesy of Ariel Rechtshaid, HAIM g...
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Soundtrack Receives 10th Anniversary Box Set
Brie Larson in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Edgar Wright’s geeky action-comedy romance Scott Pilgrim vs. the World turned 10 this year, and part of the anniversary celebrations include a reissue of the movie’s soundtrack and the first-ever physical release of Nigel Godrich’s score. ABKCO has now set a release date of March 26th, 2021 for the anniversary release. Say hello to the official Seven Evil Exes Edition, an expanded, limited-edition, 4xLP picture disc box set featuring the soundtrack and score to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The OST, which is literally one of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time, will include 24-minutes’ worth of unreleased music from Beck, Sex Bob-Omb, and the movie-only version of Metric’s “Black Sheep” as sung by Brie Larson — a fan-favorite that’s never be...
Kyle Meredith’s Best of 2020 Pt. 1: Stephen Malkmus, Ed O’Brien, Paul Banks, and More
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS For all of December, Kyle Meredith is looking back on his favorite moments in 2020. This week, we revisit talking with Stephen Malkmus as he geeks out about Led Zeppelin, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien balancing the darkness of the world with an optimistic light that he carries, Interpol’s Paul Banks finding his own new light within the band Muzz, King Krule discovering The Beatles, Sparks being masters at cussing, and Buzz Osborne who gets playful about the importance of music. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Meredith digs deep into the artis...
Julia Jacklin Drops Cracked Christmas Song “baby jesus is nobody’s baby now”: Stream
Julia Jacklin is marking the holidays with the cracked new Christmas song “baby jesus is nobody’s baby now”. 2020 has been long and tumultuous, and for the residents of six continents it might be easy to forget that Australia began the year on fire. But down in Oz, where the holiday season overlaps with the dead of summer, it’s impossible to forget the bushfires that caused over $100 billion in damage alongside unfathomable ecological harm. Jacklin’s latest single imagines how a certain infant of legend might have fared in the Land Down Under. “She lost the baby,” Jacklin begins, “The house nearly burned down/ Baby Jesus is nobody’s baby now.” But her ambitions are larger — and more humorous — than just reliving a nationwide trauma. After all, ’tis the season for awkward family dinners and...
Kim Gordon, J. Mascis, and Fred Armisen Perform New Song “Abstract Blues”: Watch
Kim Gordon and J. Mascis during SMooCH 2020 The SMooCH livestream benefit for Seattle Children’s Hospital boasted an absolutely stacked lineup. In addition to Ben Gibbard, Duff McKagan, Isaac Brock, and Mark Lanegan teaming up to cover the Jimmy Webb classic “The Highwayman”, the hour-long event featured Kim Gordon, J. Mascis, and Fred Armisen debuting a new original song called “Abstract Blues”. Technically, these three played together before during Fred Armisen’s 2013 SNL farewell segment, but here the Sonic Youth frontperson, Dinosaur Jr. mastermind, and actor-musician operated as a fully-fledged band. The song features gnarled vocals from Gordon, flaming hot licks from Mascis, and a tight bassline from Armisen. It’s unclear whether this track was just a one-off creation for this event,...
