music
Dorian Electra, Memelord And Gender Destroyer, Will Fuck The World
By Eli Enis Where to begin? There’s the unexpected collaborations: My Agenda, the second album from experimental pop maximalist Dorian Electra, features disco legends the Village People owning the hook of a song describing gay frogs. They share space with the viral superstar Rebecca Black, who croons about converting fuckboys into simps. Then there’s the sound: a dizzying hodge-podge of dubstep thumps, black metal shrieks, and baroque keys, with surprisingly radio-ready lyrics satirizing far-right ideologies culled from the web’s darkest corners with an enigmatic blend of earnestness and absurdist humor. And, of course, there’s the artist themself. The 28-year-old musician grew up in Houston and ran with a crew that practiced martial arts on the playground and played Dungeons & Dragons...
Marika Hackman Covers Elliott Smith’s “Between the Bars”, Beyoncé’s “All Night”: Stream
Next month, English indie rocker Marika Hackman will release a new covers album featuring takes on Radiohead, Grimes, Sharon Van Etten, and more. As a preview of the simply titled Covers, Hackman is now sharing her version of the 1997 Elliott Smith song “Between the Bars” and Beyoncé highlight “All Night”. “When it comes to covers, I like to pick songs which I have been listening to obsessively for a while,” the 28-year-old Londoner noted in a statement. “It gives me a natural understanding of the music, and lets me be more innovative with how I transform it.” Hackman just might be underselling herself with the word “innovative”, as her reworks of Smith and Queen Bey are quite remarkable. And not just for their unique arrangements, but also the fact that such contrasting covers somehow exi...
Ministry Unveil New “Git Up, Get Out ‘N Vote” Video, Promote “Soundtrack to Your Election” Playlist: Stream
Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen has been an outspoken critic of the status quo in U.S. politics, as evidenced by the band’s politically charged 2018 album AmeriKKKant. Now, the band is encouraging its fans to vote in this upcoming election with a new lyric video for the 2012 song, “Git Up, Get Out ‘N Vote”. The track first appeared on Ministry’s 2012’s album, Relapse, gaining some notoriety for its outright direct message of encouraging people to vote. Atypical subject matter for most metal bands, but right in the wheelhouse for Jourgensen and company. Ministry first started its 2020 voting campaign back in July, enabling fans register to vote through the band’s website and other means. The band also created a 30-song “Soundtrack to Your Election” Spotify playlist to raise voter awareness ...
Kanye West’s Poll Numbers, Much Like His Grammy, Are in the Toilet
The American public has been hoodwinked into electing some absolutely terrible human beings to the highest levels of office. But credit where credit is due: at least we’re not dumb enough to vote for Kanye West for president. Despite pouring in millions of dollars of his own money, Kanye West’s 2020 presidential campaign remains remarkably unpopular. A poll released by Reuters/IPSOS on October 17th has Kanye receiving just 2% of the vote nationally — which, in his defense, is 2% more than he was polling at two weeks prior. On a statewide level, Kanye isn’t doing much better. The Trump campaign had hoped Kanye would siphon off votes from Joe Biden in crucial swing states, but the rapper is polling at 1% in both Wisconsin and Michigan, and 0% (!) in North Carolina. And in a further sign...
R.I.P. Tony Lewis, Singer of The Outfield’s “Your Love”, Dies at 62
Tony Lewis, the lead singer and bassist of UK pop rock band The Outfield, has died at the age of 62. According to a statement from his publicist, Lewis died “suddenly and unexpectedly” on Monday (Oct. 19th) near London. A cause of death was not immediately made available. The Outfield’s origins date back to the early 1980s, when Lewis and guitarist John Spinks formed a prog rock band called Sirius B. The duo later recruited drummer Alan Jackman and reinvented themselves as a power-pop group under the moniker of The Outfield. The band experienced almost immediate success with the release of their debut, 1985’s Play Deep, which climbed to No. 9 on the album charts and was certified three-times platinum in the US. Much of the album’s success is owed to its massive single, “Your Love”, wh...
Nilüfer Yanya Announces New EP Feeling Lucky?, Drops “Crash”: Stream
Nilüfer Yanya has announced the Feeling Lucky? EP. It drops December 11th, and the British artist is celebrating with the new single “Crash”. This is the follow-up to Miss Universe, her debut album and one of our favorite records of 2019. Unsurprisingly for a young songwriter whose first full-length effort blew up, Yanya has been thinking about luck — both consciously and subconsciously. As she noted in a statement, it wasn’t until she’d been working on the EP for a while that she realized the connecting theme. She said, “One of the songs had the theme of luck in it as a concept but then I realized they all do. That got me thinking about luck in general; good and bad. Things out of our control and things in control of us, how often we put acts and happenings down to the fortune o...
Ariana Grande Buys Hundreds of Pizzas for Florida Voters Waiting in Poll Lines
There’s two weeks left until Election Day and celebrities are doing their part to raise awareness about early voting. On Monday, Ariana Grande lent a hand by ordering “hundreds of pizzas” for Florida voters who were waiting in line to cast their ballots, notes iHeartRadio. The “Stuck With U” singer and native of Boca Raton, Florida partnered with Pizza to the Polls, a non-partisan non-profit that delivers free food to polling places with long lines, to ensure people who have spent a long time queuing to reach the polls don’t have to give up their spot just to grab a bite to eat. “Thank you @arianagrande for sending hundreds of pizzas today to people waiting in line in Florida! Keep showing up! 🙌” tweeted Pizza to the Polls. Included in the social media post was a sped-up video that...
Tegan and Sara’s High School Memoir Being Developed into TV Series
Last fall, indie pop duo Tegan and Sara released their first-ever memoir, High School. That book is now being adapted into a TV series by filmmaker and actress Clea DuVall. High School traced the origins of the Calgary-born Quin sisters, from their days spent raving in the’90s to their current status as both pop music and LGBTQ icons. The forthcoming coming-of-age comedy, also dubbed High School, follows suit. A longer synopsis from Deadline reads: “Through a backdrop of ’90s grunge and rave culture, the series tangles itself in the parallel and discordant memories of two sisters growing up down the hall from one another. This is a story about finding your own identity — a journey made even more complicated when you have a twin whose own struggle and self-discovery so closely mim...
Members of Refused, Mastodon, Korn, Run-DMC, Anthrax, and More Cover Faith No More’s “We Care a Lot”: Watch
There has been a plethora of impressive all-star quarantine performances during the pandemic, but this latest one is especially ambitious. Thirteen musicians from bands such as Refused, Mastodon, Korn, Run-DMC, Anthrax, Filter, and more have joined forces to cover the Faith No More song “We Care a Lot”. The collaboration was organized by Slaves on Dope members Jason Rockman and Kevin Jardine, who contribute vocals and guitar to the performance, respectively. Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzén handles the first verse, while other vocalists include Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run-DMC; Richard Patrick of Filter; Walter Schreifels of Quicksand; Kevin Sharp of Brutal Truth; rapper Escoteric of Czarface; and Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace. In addition to Jardine, the core instrumental band is made up o...
The Wire’s Wendell Pierce to Play B.B. King in New Biopic
Wendell Pierce (photo by Daniel Hambury) and B.B. King (photo courtesy of artist’s website) It must be three o’clock, because Wendell Pierce has the blues. The actor has announced he’ll be playing the late, great B.B. King in a new biopic about the legendary musician. Pierce is known for his roles as Detective Bunk Moreland in The Wire and, more recently, James Greer in Amazon’s Jack Ryan. He announced his casting as King himself, tweeting, “We are official. Preparation has begun on a film where I will be honored to play the great, BB King. Humbled.” In a separate tweet, he added, “I promised BB King before he died, I will honor him and his creative genius. An American Icon.” The project is entitled The Thrill Is On, playing off the name of King’s beloved cover of Roy Hawkins’ “The T...
Bruce Springsteen Interviewed Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl, And Of Course You’re Going to Listen
In the run-up to his new album Letter to You, Bruce Springsteen is hosting a five-episode radio series for Apple Music called Letter to You Radio. Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl joined The Boss on the most recent episode, and together the rock veterans discussed key moments in their respective careers, what those first few breaks felt like, and the brotherhood of bands. Springsteen spoke to the Pearl Jam frontman first. He wanted to know about the Seattle grunge scene, because “we didn’t come out of a scene with a lot of peers. We were a one-shot out of Asbury Park.” To Springsteen, his own success seemed utterly unexpected, whereas Pearl Jam always felt inevitable. Springsteen said, “You had the kind of band that simply was a big, powerful band with a reach that want...
Little Mix Return From ‘Holiday’ To Host The 2020 MTV EMA
Consider the “Holiday” over, because Little Mix are back in business as your hostesses for the 2020 MTV European Music Awards. They will also bring a special performance of “Sweet Melody” off their forthcoming album, Confetti. The British pop group — Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, and Leigh-Anne Peacock — shared the news on Tuesday (October 20) with an animated superhero-style clip on their Instagram. “The world needs joy and music,” a thematic jingle sings, as a rendering of Peacock grasps a magical microphone, which lets off a pink blast into an electrified EMA logo. “Who’s gonna bring the fun? Little Mix!” The foursome joins an already stacked show with performances from fellow Brit Sam Smith and the...
