music
BTS Perform “Home” as Tonight Show Takeover Continues: Watch
BTS launched their weeklong takeover of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday, and did so with a “Dynamite” bang. On Tuesday, our favorite Bangtan Boys made sure to keep the late-night party going by performing “Home” from their 2019 EP, Map of the Soul: Persona. Whereas yesterday’s performance of “Dynamite” saw BTS deliver a rousing choreographed routine in front of the Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea, the group kept things much more chill on Tuesday night. They stayed inside, threw on their pajamas, and had themselves a good ol’ fashioned sleepover. Catch the replay below. “BTS Week” continues tomorrow, September 30th, with the K-pop boyband serving as the episode’s lead guest. This residency comes on the heels of BTS becoming the first all-South Kore...
R.I.P. Mac Davis, Songwriter and Elvis Collaborator Dies at 78
Veteran singer-songwriter Mac Davis has died at the age of 78 due to complications following heart surgery. Davis’ passing was announced by his longtime manager, Jim Morey. “Mac Davis has been my client for over 40 years, and more importantly, my best friend,” Morey said in a statement. “He was a music legend, but his most important work was that as a loving husband, father, grandfather and friend. I will miss laughing about our many adventures on the road and his insightful sense of humor.” A native of Lubbock, Texas, Davis caught his break after relocating to Atlanta and getting a job at Nancy Sinatra’s company, Boots Enterprises, Inc. Through Sinatra, Davis became connected with Elvis Presley, who recorded several of Davis’ songs, including “Memories”, “In the Ghetto”, “Don’t Cry D...
Matt Berninger Finds Stripped-Down Solace on Debut LP Serpentine Prison: Review
The Lowdown: As the founding singer of Ohio alt rock troupe The National, Matt Berninger has already proven himself to be a captivating vocalist and — alongside wife Carin Besser — an insightful lyricist. For instance, we praised last year’s I Am Easy to Find for its “conversational” approach regarding “the intricacies of modern romance.” Thus, his monotone yet elegantly arid voice and observational storybook songwriting rarely fail to charm and connect with us, especially when they’re placed on top of such vibrantly picturesque and subtly exploratory arrangements. For the most part, that holds true on his first solo record, Serpentine Prison. Produced by Booker T. Jones — a revered artist in his own right who’s also collaborated with Otis Redding, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Elton John, a...
Tame Impala Reschedule North American Tour Dates for 2021
Earlier this year, Tame Impala were forced to postpone their North American summer tour due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, those concerts have been rescheduled for 2021. The new itinerary officially kicks off in late July and extends through mid-October. Kevin Parker & co. are slated to bring The Slow Rush to cities such as Mexico City, Phoenix, Denver, Portland, Vancouver, and Austin, as well as Toronto, Chicago, Washington, DC, Atlanta, and Miami. Tame Impala are also confirmed to play two festivals: Outside Lands in San Francisco and Sin City’s Life is Beautiful. Find the full schedule below. According to a statement, “all tickets for the original shows will be honored at the rescheduled dates. If you are unable to attend, you can begin the refund process at your point of pu...
Zendaya to Star as Ronnie Spector in New Biopic
Zendaya has signed on to star in a new biopic about Ronnie Spector. Deadline reports that A24 has secured the rights to Spector’s memoir, Be My Baby, and is circling Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury to write the film’s script. Originally published in 1990, Be My Baby recounts Spector’s roller-coaster career as lead singer of the Ronettes, her emotionally abusive marriage to the Phil Spector, and her resurgence as a solo singer. Zendaya was apparently handpicked by Spector herself, and A24 leveraged its existing relationship with the actress through Euphoria to close the deal. Both Zendaya and Spector will also serve as producers on the project. Earlier this month, Zendaya made history by becoming the youngest woman to ever win the Emmy for Best Actress – Drama. ...
Westside Gunn Details New Album Who Made the Sunshine
Griselda mastermind Westside Gunn has provided details for his next album, Who Made the Sunshine. His major-label debut arrives this Friday, October 2nd through Shady Records. Westside is surely one of the few people on this blessed Earth who can call 2020 his best year yet. April’s Pray for Paris was an early contender for rap album of the year, and he followed that up in July with the solid, though occasionally uneven mixtape FLYGOD Is An Awesome God II. Even beyond that, his labelmate and real-life brother Conway the Machine put out the excellent Griselda effort From King to a God, while recent signee Armani Caesar made waves with her new tape The Liz. Now Mr. Gunn is ready to put a bow on 2020 with his debut on Shady Records. Who Made t...
Jeff Rosenstock Made His Late-Night TV Debut Look Like ‘Chaos Hell’
On Monday night (September 28), punk icon Jeff Rosenstock made his late-night TV debut by roaring through “Scram!” on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Like his indefatigably sweaty live shows, it was an energetic affair. Backed by his masked-up band, Death Rosenstock, the kinetic front-person shouted, clapped, and perspired through the three-minute rager, with Black Lives Matter written on his face covering. Bassist John DeDomenici was green-screened in, giving the rendition presence a trippy and occasionally unsettling punch. There was even a lightly subliminal message to buy his new album, No Dream. To hear Rosenstock describe it, the three-minute remote performance perfectly fit the hellish year 2020 has been. “We live in fucking chaos hell. I want to be honest about us li...
Trivium’s Matt Heafy Presents Guitar to Hero UPS Driver on Drew Barrymore Show: Watch
Just a couple weeks after its premiere, Drew Barrymore’s new talk show has already earned some major metal cred. Trivium frontman Matt Heafy recently made an appearance on the daytime television program to gift a Gibson guitar to a hero UPS driver. On a recent episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress spotlighted a UPS driver named Hector as part of her “Drew Gooders” segment. Hector recently went viral for a super-cool gesture that made a young boy’s day. As the parents of four-year-old Langston explained, the youngster has been lonely and cooped up inside during the COVID-19 pandemic, and gets excited anytime a delivery person comes by. One day Langston asked Hector if he had a package for him, but Hector had to tell him he didn’t have anything. Cut to the next day, when Hector cam...
Nothing Unleash Bloody Music Video for New Song “Bernie Sanders”: Stream
Democratic nominee Joe Biden might be taking on Donald Trump in the presidential election, but Philadelphia shoegazers Nothing are still reminiscing about Senator Bernie Sanders. They’ve gone so far as to name a track after the progressive politician and release it as the new single from their upcoming album, The Great Dismal, out October 30th. Seeing Sanders’ name might bring a pang of melancholy to those who supported his presidential campaigns, which is probably what Nothing were going for. The song, like much of the band’s music, carries an unrequited sadness that’s become a staple of Nothing’s take on atmospheric heavy music. A driving drum beat and grungy chords push the track along as director Jordan Hemingway’s video provides some disturbing and gory visuals (discretion advised). “...
Mark Lanegan Announces New Christmas Album Under the Name Dark Mark
Sure, Dolly Parton and Andrew Bird have holiday albums coming down the chimney this year, but 2020 deserves a darker sort of seasonal sing-a-long. Thankfully, Mark Lanegan is here to abide with his new Christmas album, Dark Mark Does Christmas 2020. Due out exclusively via Rough Trade record stores, the album is actually the ex-Screaming Trees frontman’s second holiday release under the Dark Mark moniker. The first, Dark Mark Does Christmas 2012, was a tour-only 12-inch EP featuring six tracks: “The Cherry Tree Carol”, “Down in Yon Forest”, “O Holy Night”, “We Three Kings”, “Coventry Carol”, and a cover of “Burn the Flames” by Roky Erickson. Five of those, including the Erickson cover, will make it onto the new LP, along with five freshly recorded songs. The new material comprises covers, ...
Bartees Strange Gives In To Lawless Creation
By Danielle Chelosky Over a span of five years, friends and bandmates pulled musician Bartees Cox Jr. aside to tell him, You need to quit those bands you’re in and start your own. “I had multiple friends who were like, dude, what are you doing? You’ve got to focus on your own stuff,” Bartees recalls as we talk on the phone early in September. “I was like, no, it’s not good enough.” He had put himself in a box. His main gig was as guitarist and vocalist in a New York-based emo quartet called Stay Inside, founded in 2016 when future bandmate Chris Johns answered Bartees’s Craigslist ad, and they discovered they had the same birthday. “I was like, oh, wow, super cosmic, we’re both Aquariuses,” Bartees says. Along with Vishnu Anantha and Bryn Nieboer, who worked with Bartees at a 3-D printing ...
Testament’s Alex Skolnick Unveils New Rap Song “Trump Sucks”: Watch
Testament’s Alex Skolnick (photo by Antonio Marino Jr.), President Trump (via YouTube) Testament’s Alex Skolnick has long been regarded as one of thrash metal’s finest guitarists, but now he’s showing off his rap skills. The metal musician spits verses on his new original track “Trump Sucks”. The veteran rocker is not exactly Snoop Dogg when it comes to his flow, but he’s got some clever rhymes that spotlight his gripes with Donald Trump and the current administration in the White House. Skolnick was inspired to write and record the song by certain responses to his recent Instagram post condemning the president. “This song just poured out of me yesterday,” wrote Skolnick about the song. “It was completed in a matter of hours. To all the # Trump2020 and # Maga folks who’ve been floodi...
