music
Smut Announce Power Fantasy EP, Share “Fan Age”: Stream
Rising rockers Smut have announced the new Power Fantasy EP. In anticipation of the November 20th release date, the band has shared the new single “Fan Age”. Smut is a quartet made up of Bell Cenower, Andrew Min, Sam Ruschman, and vocalist Tay Roebuck. They got their start in Cincinnati but are now based out of Chicago, and they first gained buzz with the 2017 shoegaze EP End of Sam-Soon. The new three-track Power Fantasy finds Smut branching out into a slightly poppier sound, taking influences from hip-hop and trip-hop along the way. According to a statement, the title track deals with the euphoria and disappointment of trying to change the world by yourself, while “Perfect Dark” is inspired by the beloved Nintendo 64 first-person shooter. As for the lead single, “Fan ...
Damon Albarn: Artists “Should Be Allowed” to Perform During Pandemic
Over the weekend, Damon Albarn shared his thoughts on the importance of concerts during the ongoing pandemic. In an interview with Sky News, the Gorillaz mastermind said that live music is a remedy-like “prescription” for the mental stress of COVID-19, and expressed his opinion that artists shouldn’t be legally barred from performing if they wish to play to live crowds. “If people are willing to perform, they should be allowed to,” the 52-year-old said. “No one should be forced to do anything, but if people are willing then somehow we can make it work so everyone can feel comfortable and participate.” The idea of adapting live performances to fit pandemic-era restrictions isn’t a bad idea in and of itself, and artists like The Flaming Lips and The Chainsmokers have already attempted s...
Maynard James Keenan on “Arrogant” Pandemic Behavior: “There’s Logic Attached to Just Looking Out for Each Other”
Maynard James Keenan recently revealed that he battled COVID-19 earlier this year and is still feeling the residual effects months later. Unfortunately, the singer of Tool, Puscifer, and A Perfect Circle fears any serious warning that he or others give about coronavirus is “just going to fall on deaf ears.” In interviews with Arizona Republic and The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Keenan disclosed that he contracted COVID when Tool were on tour in Australia and New Zealand in late February. Eight months later, he still has lung damage, leading to daily coughing fits. Tragically, the United States is currently experiencing its worst single-day infection numbers yet, with roughly 100,000 people testing positive for COVID-19 every 24 hours. To this day, there’s a large contingent of the popula...
Puscifer Unveil New Album Existential Reckoning: Stream
Puscifer are back with their fourth album, Existential Reckoning, which comes five years to the day that their previous LP, Money Shot, was released. The new album is available to stream via Apple Music or Spotify below. The experimental rockers are led by singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle), along with fellow core members Carina Round and Mat Mitchell. The first taste of Existential Reckoning came in form of lead single “Apocalyptical”, which was accompanied by a music video featuring a dancing Keenan. Elsewhere on Existential Reckoning, leadoff track “Bread and Circus” serves as a grand and atmospheric opener, while “Fake Affront” features Keenan at his angriest on the album. Throughout the LP, Keenan and Round share vocal duties, leading to some gorgeous harmonies. Musi...
Joni Mitchell Shares Archival Release Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967): Stream
Legendary songwriter Joni Mitchell has cracked open the vault to reveal Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967), an archival project featuring unreleased music. Stream it in full below via Apple Music and Spotify. Vol. 1 is the first entry in the folk artist’s recently launched Joni Mitchell Archives series. Consisting of five CDs, the inaugural release includes Mitchell’s earliest-known recording, a 1963 in-studio radio performance for CFQC AM in her hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and her first-ever demo, “Day After Day”. There are also early versions of songs like “Michael From Mountains” and “I Had a King”, a 1965 mini set for Let’s Sing Out on CBC TV, and her rare Neil Young cover of “Sugar Mountain”, as well as 1967 New York City home demos of “Free Darling”, “Mr. Junk”, “...
Milwaukee Official Apologizes for Promoting Weatherization Assistance Program with “WAP”
From 1976 until just quite recently, there was nothing funny about the Weatherization Assistance Program. But for this year’s National Weatherization Day on October 30th, those initials “WAP” got Ryan Clancy’s juices flowing. The Milwaukee County Supervisor promoted the program on his personal Facebook page with an image of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. The image contained the words “Weatherization Assistance Program” and the parodic lyrics, “There’s some holes in this house!” That meme, along with a press release describing W.A.P.’s benefits, caused a public backlash. Now, at the bequest of the weatherization staff, Clancy has issued an apology. The news was first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. With all the grace of Old Media, it described “WAP” as “a song so vivid an...
Tom Morello Releases Comandante EP Featuring Eddie Van Halen Tribute and Slash Collaboration: Stream
Tom Morello has just dropped a new EP dubbed Comandante. The five-song effort features a tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen, a collaboration with Slash, and a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child”. The Rage Against the Machine guitarist calls the song “Secretariat” an Eddie Van Halen tribute, and it’s easy to hear why. The guitar track features some intricate scaling reminiscent of Van Halen’s instrumental classic “Eruption”. Morello does battle with Slash on the song “Interstate 80”, and even promoted the track on Twitter with a side-by-side video of the two guitar greats performing the song next to their Guitar Hero avatars. The EP leads off with Morello’s take on the Hendrix classic “Voodoo Child”, while the tracks “Suburban Guerrilla” and “Cato Stedman & Neptune Frost” close out ...
Paris Jackson Releases Debut Solo Single “Let Down”: Stream
Paris Jackson, the only daughter of Michael Jackson, has unveiled her debut solo single. What’s more, Jackson will release her first full-length album, Wilted, on November 13th through Republic Records. Entitled “Let Down”, the single was written by Paris herself and produced by Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull. The accompanying visuals were produced by Eli Roth and directed by Meredith Alloway, and are said to be a nod to legendary fashion designer Alexander McQueen. “I feel so many emotions. I’m excited, I’m nervous, mostly grateful and happy,” Paris says in a statement discussing the song’s release. “The freedom to create, not being told what to sing and how to sing it, what to write; it’s awesome. It’s a gift, it’s a blessing.” Earlier this year, Jackson and former partner, Gabrie...
Vin Diesel Still Doing the Music Thing on Second Dance Single “Days Are Gone”: Stream
Last month, Vin Diesel made his music debut with a single called “Feel Like I Do”. The tropical house track saw the Fast & Furious star trade in his tough guy exterior for something a little more relaxed and vacation-ready. Proving the song wasn’t just a one-time fluke, Diesel is back now with a second offering, “Days Are Gone”. Not to be confused with that very good HAIM album, today’s single continues to scream “DJ Dom Toretto in a Hawaiian shirt”. Like its predecessor, “Days Are Gone” is out through Palm Tree Records, the label co-founded by Kygo, who has all but mastered the tropical house genre for island-hopping millennials. It was also co-written by Diesel, Kygo collaborator Petey Martin, and Noah McBeth (a.k.a. NoMBe). Stream it down below. “Something about 2020 led me to this ...
Feist Covers Cat Stevens’ “Trouble” for Justin Vernon’s For Wisconsin GOTV Campaign: Watch
Leslie Feist has returned with a new live cover of Cat Stevens’ “Trouble”. The performance supports Justin Vernon’s For Wisconsin GOTV initiative. Feist takes a lot of time between projects and has never seemed entirely comfortable in the spotlight. But America’s election is alarming even to reclusive Canadians, and her choice of “Trouble” almost speaks for itself. The track first appeared on Cat Stevens’ third album Mona Bona Jakone (1970), after Stevens had recovered from tuberculosis and a collapsed lung. Lyrics like, “Trouble/ Oh trouble move away/ I have seen your face/ And it’s too much for me today,” speak to that feeling when the slings and arrows of life become overwhelming. It’s a natural fit for the ongoing hell-year of 2020. Feist’s celestial voice is welcom...
Superchunk Share Halloween Single “There’s a Ghost”, Cover Sisters of Mercy: Stream
Superchunk have returned with “There’s a Ghost”, their first new music in two years. As an extra Halloween treat, the single is paired with a cover of The Sisters of Mercy’s “Alice”. The band’s first original song since 2018’s “Our Work Is Done” and that same year’s What a Time to Be Alive, “There’s a Ghost” is a bopping punk track built on mirrored acoustic and crunchy electric guitar riffs. It taps into the paranoia of 2020 perfectly, as frontman Mac McCaughan wrestles with being trapped inside alone for far too long. “Now its the end of the season and the last of our supplies/So check your fingernails/ Burning through the calendars and E strings/ Oh yeah, we’re breaking all the scales,” he sings. “I didn’t write a song for probably the first six months of the lockdown,” said McCaughan i...
Concert Review: Mr. Bungle’s Streaming Show Masterfully Blends Comedy and Thrash
Setting the Stage: The reunion of Mr. Bungle has been a journey for both the band and its fans. In what feels like another lifetime, founding members Mike Patton, Trey Spruance, and Trevor Dunn revived Mr. Bungle for a reunion tour in early 2020… with a catch: The band would only be playing material from its 1986 thrash metal demo The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny and hardcore cover songs from the era. Furthermore, they tabbed ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian to help execute the demo’s blazing tempos and thrash theatrics. The quasi-supergroup went on a brief tour and then entered the studio to record a new version of the demo. As we remarked in our review of the album, the re-recorded Easter Bunny is a modern thrash classic from an unexpected source. ...
