music
Big Red Machine’s How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? Brings Late Summer Melancholy
On their sophomore outing as Big Red Machine, Aaron Dessner (The National) and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) take their time. The end of August is here — much like last year’s folklore, an album with writing and production contributions from both artists, this period has arrived with an album that revels in the dog days of summer. Bon Iver and The National are two acts that followed similar timelines during their respective ascents within the indie rock world. (Perhaps the best way to contextualize their initial connection is with the reminder that Dessner and Vernon first became friends over MySpace.) There’s a gentleness associated with their music, both from their individual endeavors and from work together, and How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? fits that same bill, bobbing steadily ove...
Jason Isbell Covers The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” as Tribute to Charlie Watts: Watch
Charlie Watts may have passed away but legends never die. On August 26th in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jason Isbell, his band The 400 Unit, and his tour mate Brittney Spencer all joined forces to pay tribute to one of rock’s greatest drummers with a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.” Isbell took lead, singing and laying down a couple of muscular guitar solos. Spencer sang backup vocals — no small feat, considering she has the kind of gale-force instrument that could shake the leaves off a green tree — and provided soaring accents between verses. Check out the cover of “Gimme Shelter” below. Others who have paid tribute to Watts since his death include Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Brian Wilson, as well as The Rolling Stones themselves. The band has announced plans to continue the...
Afghanistan Music School for Girls Appeals for Help Escaping the Taliban
Afghanistan’s only music school for girls is sending out a cry for help to get its students safely out of the country following the takeover of the Taliban. “Today our lives are in great danger as the success we achieved in becoming part of Afghanistan’s cultural scene has now marked us for persecution and even death by the Taliban,” The Miraculous Love Kids, led by American guitarist and teacher Lanny Cordola, shared in a heartbreaking statement. “Now, with the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Kabul, we are literally in hiding, with our most senior students in particular danger. Our school is closed, and many of the people who were supposed to protect us now see us as a bargaining chip to gain favor or even a bounty from the Taliban. As girls playing Western music…we could not be at greater ri...
Aaron Dessner on Big Red Machine, The National’s Future, and Working with Taylor Swift
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS On this week’s Kyle Meredith With, Aaron Dessner calls in to discuss How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last, the sophomore record from his Big Red Machine project with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon. The prolific producer/songwriter takes us through the process of bringing in more friends for this album, including Sharon Van Etten and Taylor Swift, and how the set came to focus on themes of mental health, depression, and family dynamics. That was particularly true on “Hutch,” a song written for the late Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchinson, a close friend of Dessner’s. Advertisement Related Video On working wit...
Neil Young on COVID-Era Concerts: “These Are Super-Spreader Events”
Neil Young has taken a strong stance against concerts being held during the COVID-19 era. In a blog post on the Neil Young Archives, he called upon big concert promoters to stop putting on shows, calling them “super-spreader events.” “The big promoters, if they had the awareness, could stop these shows,” Young wrote, after praising Garth Brooks for canceling his 2021 tour dates. “Live Nation, AEG, and the other big promoters could shut this down if they could just forget about making money for a while… They control much of the entertainment business. They hold the power to stop shows where thousands congregate and spread. It’s money that keeps it going. Money that motivates the spreading. The big promoters are responsible for super spreaders.” Whether or not you agree with Young, the veter...
Rap Song of the Week: Kendrick Lamar Issues a Warning Shot on Baby Keem’s “Family Ties”
Rap Song of the Week breaks down the rap and hip-hop tracks you need to hear each week. Check out the full playlist here. For our latest installment, Kendrick Lamar makes a roaring comeback on Baby Keem’s “Family Ties.” It’s no surprise that Kendrick Lamar’s first guest appearance since announcing his final album on TDE is on Baby Keem’s new single. Not only are the two rappers cousins, but Keem is the flagship artist on Kendrick’s company, pgLang, which will logically be the Compton rapper’s focus after leaving his label of 17 years. Besides that, 2021 is shaping up to be Keem’s mainstream breakout year. After teaming up with Travis Scott on “durag activity,” the 20-year-old rapper was featured on a track played at one of Kanye West’s early DONDA listening parties. Advertisement Rela...
Flee Lord and Roc Marciano Unveil New Album Delgado: Stream
The god of hustle Flee Lord has linked up with underground king Roc Marciano for the new album Delgado. Stream it below on Apple Music or Spotify. Flee Lord lives in the damn booth. In 2020 alone he released [checks notes… counts… runs out of fingers] 12(!) separate projects, and 2021 is shaping up to be another doozy. The former protégé of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy has already teamed up with Lordmobb for Lordmobb Complilation, Vol. 1 and DJ Muggs for Rammelize. But despite the deluge, Delgado feels like an event because of who lined up behind the board. Marciano is a low-key legend: a former member of Busta Rhymes’ Flipmode Squad who remains beloved by nigh all hip-hop heads while largely skirting mainstream success. In addition to his skills as an MC, his dar...
GRIP Drops Debut Album I Died for This!? on Eminem’s Label: Stream
Atlanta rapper GRIP has just released I Died for This!?, his guest-heavy new album and official debut on Eminem’s label Shady Records. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. I Died for This!? is the third studio album GRIP has dropped over the years, following 2019’s Snubnose and 2017’s Porch. This time around, though, he’s leveling up in terms of his lyrical prowess and the guests he surrounds himself with — and clearly Slim Shady himself took notice. In fact, Eminem felt so strongly about GRIP’s future that he even hopped on “Walkthrough!,” undoubtedly the record’s biggest single. There are other big names across the LP’s 15 tracks, too, like Kenny Mason, Big Rube, and Royce da 5’9″. Plus, GRIP is also joined later on by Wiley from Atlanta, Dead Cassettes, Tate228, A...
Song of the Week: Halsey Delivers an Explosive Pop-Punk Jam in “Easier than Lying”
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, Halsey refuses to hold back with pop-punk jam “Easier than Lying.” Halsey lets loose in a multitude of ways on their new album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, but nowhere more so than on “Easier than Lying.” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross co-wrote every song on the album, and “Easier than Lying” offers the perfect spot for their industrial sensibilities to reach full throttle. It’s wildly energetic and cathartic — and Halsey, who has proven to be adept at bouncing from genre to genre, truly shines in the pop-punk chaos of it al...
William Shatner Enlists Joe Jonas and Brad Paisley for Spoken Word Collabs: Stream
Boldly going where no man has gone before, William Shatner has dropped a pair of spoken word singles featuring none other than Joe Jonas and Brad Paisley. Stream them below. On “Clouds of Guilt,” the famed actor waxes poetic about the various ways guilt has impacted his life as the JoBro provides the song’s melodic hook. “Feel guilty when I leave/ Feel guilty when I stay/ Feel guilty when I’m down and out and when I’m overpaid/ Feel guilty when I’m right/ Feel guilty when I’m wrong/ I even feel a pinch of guilt just singing you this song,” he laments over Jonas’ peppy, doo-wop-style backing vocals. Meanwhile, his collab with Paisley, titled “So Far From the Moon,” finds the legendary thespian reflecting the 1969 cancelation of Star Trek and his divorce from first wife Gloria Rand over honk...
Bop Shop: Songs By Kim Petras, Kacey Musgraves, Jay B, And More
Here’s the deal: R.E.M.‘s 1996 album New Adventures in Hi-Fi is widely considered a late-era masterpiece, but I’ve never heard it that way. Even in an age of streaming-aided interminable album lengths, 65 minutes is simply too much; the bloat often obscures great melodies in overdone affectations. That’s why this alternate version of “Leave” rules. By centering Michael Stipe’s voice, stripping away the car-alarm guitar and drawn-out prologue, and cutting more than two minutes off the runtime, a real song emerges. It’s wounded and dark, very moody, and highly replayable. The 25th anniversary edition of New Adventures, out October 29, promises more gems to unearth. I can’t wait to (possibly) finally dust off the masterpiece lying in wait....
Kacey Musgraves’s Feelings Are ‘Justified’ In New Heartbreak Anthem
Kacey Musgraves dropped a new heartbreak anthem called “Justified” on Friday (August 27), along with a music video in which she tries to heal from the loss of a relationship. The video begins with a Musgraves driving solemnly through a desert while listening to a commercial on love counseling from the car radio. As she cruises down the road, she passes through several different environments and weather: a green-lit tunnel, a snowy forest, rain, an urban city, and an autumn highway. Her outfits also switch to represent the climate and landscape. In the desert and tunnel, she wears a white dress. During the winter, she wears a denim jacket or a flannel. In the city, her face is covered by large shades. “If I cry just a little and then laugh in the middle / If I hate you and I love you, then ...
