music
Dua Lipa Performs Future Nostalgia Songs on Saturday Night Live: Watch
Dua Lipa served as the musical guest for Saturday Night Live’s Christmas episode. The UK pop singer supported her brilliant sophomore album, Future Nostalgia, with choreographed performances of “Levitating” and “Don’t Start Now”. Additionally, she appeared in a sketch alongside host Kristen Wiig about U.S.O. performers during World War 2. Watch it all below. Future Nostalgia was our fifth favorite album and “Don’t Start Now” was our ninth favorite song of 2020. Earlier this month, Dua Lipa further supported the album’s release with her first-ever NPR Tiny Desk concert. She also recently appeared on The Tonight Show and joined Jimmy Fallon for a duet of “Christmas Is All Around Me”. [embedded content] [embedded content] [embedded content] Related You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are ...
Barack Obama Shares His 30 Favorite Songs of 2020
After revealing the films and TV shows he binged throughout 2020, former president Barack Obama has now revealed what he’s been listening to. As has become tradition, Obama, with the help of his youngest daughter Sasha, has put together a list of his favorite songs from the last 12 months. Included among Obama’s 30-song playlist are Phoebe Bridgers’ “Kyoto” and Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé’s “Savage” remix — both of which made our own list. Also present are Waxahatchee’s “Can’t Do Much”, Dua Lipa’s ‘Levitating” featuring DaBaby, Bruce Springsteen’s “Ghosts”, Bob Dylan’s ‘Goodbye Jimmy Reed”, Jeff Tweedy’s “Love is the King”, and J. Cole’s “The Climb Back”. Other selections include Travis Scott’s “Franchise” featuring M.I.A. and Young Thug, Lido Pimienta’s “Nada”, Bad Bunny’s “La Difícil...
Lil Wayne Drops Off No Ceilings 3 Deluxe Edition: Stream
Hip-hop fans have received an early Christmas present courtesy of good ol’ St. Nick Lil Wayne. Less than a month after dropping his No Ceilings 3 mixtape, the rapper has unboxed a deluxe edition “B Side” version featuring 14 new songs. Stream it below via YouTube or DatPiff. As with its predecessor, this effort is “hosted” by DJ Khaled and comes with multiple star-studded collaborations. Big Sean appears on the opening track “Tyler Herro”, named after the Miami Heat’s impressive young guard. Meanwhile, Rich the Kid pops in on “Throat Baby”, and 2 Chainz lends a few verses to “Hit Different”. Euro and Lil Twist also appear on the effort. If each track sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because they all incorporate, sample, or remix other songs in some way. “Tyler Herro”, for insta...
Andrea Bocelli Delivers Stunning Christmas Performance from Inside Italy’s Frasassi Caves: Watch
Andrea Bocelli is truly the gift that keeps on giving. The famed singer has already delivered two inspiring performances in 2020 — first an Easter Sunday concert in Milan titled “Music For Hope”, followed by “Believe in Christmas”, a holiday show done in collaboration with his own young daughter Virginia. But it turns out Bocelli has been saving the best for last. To close out the year, the Grammy-nominated opera legend performed a magical Christmas set from inside Italy’s famed Frasassi Caves. Surrounded by stunning and surreal limestone formations, Bocelli sung timeless classics like “White Christmas” and “Silent Night”. He also did “Caro Gesù Bambino”, “Pianissimo”, and “Fratello Sole Sorella Luna (Dolce è sentire)”. What’s more, Bocelli also gave a special poetry reading. His piece cau...
G Herbo Responds to Fraud Charges on New Song “Statement”: Stream
Earlier this month, G Herbo was arrested and charged with $1.5 million in fraud and accused of stealing identities to pay for chartered flights, a vacation in Jamaica, and designer puppies. Having entered a “not guilty” plea in a Massachusetts court, the Chicago MC is now making his case in the court of public opinion on the new song “Statement”. Herbo begins the verse by exploring the familiar landscapes of his hit song “PTSD”. “Same spot they shot my brother, next day I’m chillin at,” he raps. But after a tour through the mean streets of Chicago, he turns his attention to his recent arrest. “But anyway, said enough of that let’s talk about this paper/ Let’s talk about them jets, yeah let’s talk about Jamaica/ Ask about me I ain’t never been a fraud (ever)/ I went hard from the start (sta...
Bob Dylan to Release Archival 1970 Set Featuring Nine Songs with George Harrison
On the heels of selling his entire songwriting catalog, Bob Dylan has announced a special new archival set is on the way. It’s called 1970 and it features 74 previously unreleased tracks, demos, and outtakes, including nine songs that feature George Harrison. It’s due out on February 26th, 2021 via Columbia/Legacy. As the title suggests, 1970 focuses on the music Dylan released during that era. The three-disc set boasts outtakes from the sessions that birthed both Self Portrait and New Morning, the two albums he released that year, as well as alternate versions of select songs, such as “Alligator Man”, and instrumentals. Of course, the most alluring part of this special release is Dylan’s collaborations with the late Beatles guitarist. On May 1st, 1970, the two holed up in a studio to...
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 ...
David Bowie Musical Lazarus Starring Michael C. Hall to Stream on Bowie’s Birthday
A filmed recording of the David Bowie musical Lazarus will be streamed next month to coincide with the late musician’s 74th birthday as well as the fifth anniversary of his death. One of the final works created by Bowie prior to his passing, Lazarus premiered off-Broadway in late 2015. It was then staged at London’s King’s Cross Theatre the following year. The story is inspired by the Bowie-starring film The Man Who Fell to Earth, which itself was based on a 1961 novel by Walter Tevis (The Hustler, The Color of Money, The Queen’s Gambit). The musical was directed by Ivo van Hove, and featured Michael C. Hall (Dexter) as alien Thomas Newton and Broadway ingenue Sophia Anne Caruso as his muse. The corresponding soundtracks spans Bowie’s entire discogra...
Eric Clapton and Van Morrison Share Awful Anti-Lockdown Song “Stand and Deliver”: Stream
Van Morrison has officially fallen down the black hole of COVID-19 conspiracy theories, and Eric Clapton is willfully joining him for the ride. This afternoon, the two veteran musicians teamed up to release a new anti-lockdown song called “Stand and Deliver”. Spoiler alert: it’s truly awful. “Stand and Deliver” is an original song written by Morrison and sung by Clapton. The mild blues rock track is all about how the government is preventing people from living their daily lives, and how it’s up to those people to stand up for their rights before they become brainwashed. “I just wanna do my job/ Playing the blues for my friends/ Magna Carta, Bill of Rights/ The Constitution, what’s it worth?” sings Clapton. “Do you wanna be a free man/ Or do you wanna be a slave?” There’s a generic gui...
12-Year-Old DJ Has Equipment Confiscated After School Bathroom Rave
Cael Bell, 12-year-old DJ and all-ages legend, had his equipment confiscated after hosting a rave in the school bathroom. As his mother Louise Bell related on Facebook, the saga began about two weeks ago, when the budding turntablist sent out a Snapchat announcement inviting “all the boys from year 8” at St. Antony’s Catholic College in Manchester, UK. Together, they held an impromptu dance fest in the boys lavatory during lunch period on December 11th. The set included complimentary soft drinks and Cadbury Twirls, and while a school bathroom is a below-average setting for such a lunch, it is certainly cleaner than your typical rave. The set lasted 30 minutes before anti-fun authorities broke it up. Bell’s mother said that the boy’s speaker and lights have been impounded, although she...
Bop Shop Holiday Edition: Songs From Big Freedia, Girl In Red, Black Pumas, And More
Taylor Swift, you think you were the first witch to traverse through a snowy forest bathed in moonlight? Tori Amos’s music was made to be played on the winter solstice, a fact she cemented with her 2009 holiday album, Midwinter Graces. Now the piano siren has gifted us another present, Christmastide, a new four-track EP that says “’tis the season” with Tori’s signature emotional piano playing. The title track is the perfect Tori song: powerful and dramatic, yet soothing, reassuring us with lyrics like, “We all need to shine, and wake this Christmastide, side by side.” After a year like this, I would gladly sail away on a calm Christmastide. Tori, take the wheel! —Chris Rudolph You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It...
