music
Hans Zimmer Covered Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse” with a 32-Person Choir Over FaceTime
We’re one week past D-Day (that’s Dune-trailer day, of course) and everyone is still buzzing about Hans Zimmer’s epic arrangement of Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse”. Now Variety has the lowdown on how it all came together, with FaceTime, a socially-distanced 32-person choir, pandemic recording pods, and more. This behind-the-scenes tale began at Zimmer’s Remote Control studio in Santa Monica, CA. The 32-person ensemble was led by Edie Lehmann Boddicker, who had previously assisted Zimmer on The Lion King. At 63 years old, the legendary composer himself opted to minimize his human interaction, instead FaceTming in from his home studio, giving direction and offering suggestions. Boddicker described the quarantine choir as a “who’s-who” of Los Angeles session musicians, a...
Action Bronson Reveals Funky New Single “Mongolia”: Stream
In just a little over a week, Action Bronson will serve up his marine-friendly new album, Only for Dolphins. Already we’ve heard two early offerings in “Golden Eye” and “Latin Grammys”. Now, the Queens-born rapper is unboxing a third preview with “Mongolia”. A collaboration with fellow hip-hop acts Meyhem Lauren and hologram, the track stands apart from its predecessors thanks to its rubbery funk riff and Bam Bam’s revolving door of unexpected references. In seemingly one breath, Bronson slips in mentions of The Mets, yogurt chain 16 Handles, and actor David Caruso — and that’s all after a quick-fire sample from The Wire. The MC also name-checks his own Lamb Over Rice EP from 2019. For their parts, Meyhem Lauren flaunts his glossy medallions, and hologram proudly eats African mushroom...
People Club Share New Song “Lay Down Your Weapons”: Stream
German indie outfit People Club have shared the stunning new song “Lay Down Your Weapons”. The Berlin quintet first began to attract international attention last year with the soul-inflected EP Kil Scott. But “Lay Down Your Weapons” finds the band exploring a more muscular rock and roll sound. That may have to do with the subject matter; as People Club explained in a statement, the new track is inspired by police brutality towards marginalized groups. They wrote, ”Lay Down Your Weapons’ is about issues that weigh heavy on our hearts. It was originally written in 2017 about issues of police brutality and the police militarization that black and brown folks have disproportionately faced, and unfortunately we are still fighting these issues today. We are so proud of all the people on the...
Jeff Rosenstock Releases New Demos EP 2020 DUMP: Stream
Jeff Rosenstock made the first leg of quarantine a lot more bearable by surprise releasing NO DREAM, his fifth solo full-length and one of the best albums of 2020 so far. Now, he’s back to lift our spirits once more with a new EP of demos called 2020 DUMP. Stream it below via Bandcamp. 2020 DUMP follows the aforementioned NO DREAM, the 2019 collaborative Neil Young covers EPStill Young, and his stellar 2018 record POST-. In total, this new demos collection includes four songs: “DEPT OF FINANCE”, “COLLAPSE!”, “ACAB”, and “DONE DONE DONE”. Rosenstock recorded the whole thing at home during the pandemic, but that didn’t stop him from tapping a few longtime friends to contribute as well; Jeremy Hunter plays on “COLLAPSE!” and “ACAB”, and Laura Stevenson sings on every track except “ACAB”. The ...
Thou Unleash Crushing Cover of Alice in Chains’ “Them Bones”: Stream
Alice in Chains classic 1992 album Dirt is the latest entry in Magnetic Eye Records’ ongoing Redux series, which re-imagines classic heavy album with cover versions by underground bands. With the September 18th release of Dirt [Redux] approaching, Louisiana doom outfit Thou have shared their cover of the iconic opening track, “Them Bones”. The original song’s verses are built around Jerry Cantrell’s chugging riff — one of his best. That central riff is well suited for Thou, whose southern sludge transforms the song into a crushing piece of extreme doom. “It seemed inevitable that we’d do another Alice in Chains song since their music was such a big part of [guitarist] Matthew [Thudium]’s and my formative years,” singer Bryan Funck said in a press release. “We had covered ‘No Exc...
Angel Olsen and Composer Emile Mosseri Share Cover of “Mr. Lonely”: Stream
Back in July, Focus Features shared the trailer for writer/director Miranda July’s new film, Kajillionaire. The preview promised some quirky cons — and a new cover of the Bobby Vinton classic “Mr. Lonely” from Angel Olsen and composer Emile Mosseri. Today, a standalone stream of the pair’s rendition has been revealed. It’s a soft and haunting version, sounding like it could have come from Olsen’s Whole New Mess sessions. Add in the distant organ, and there are definitely some David Lynch vibes. In a press statement, Olsen recalled receiving the first text message from July asking her to work on the song with Mosseri. “So I met with them both, and we talked about cadence and we talked about life and we talked about the film,” Olsen said. “And Miranda directed me to sing the cover in the way...
Faye Webster Shares New Song “Better Distractions”: Stream
Faye Webster has returned with a new song called “Better Distractions”. Additionally, our former Artist of the Month has announced her first full-band livestream performance of 2020. “Better Distractions” follows the excellent one-off single “In A Good Way” from April, and marks the second offering since her 2019 LP Atlanta Millionaires Club. As with its predecessor, today’s track continues to push Webster’s sound in a gorgeously singular direction. It finds harmony between smooth R&B and minimalist indie rock, with the added bonus of a weepy slide guitar lead and a meandering jam in the vein of Kurt Vile or Courtney Barnett. In a statement, Webster revealed that the song flowed out of her with very little intention or purpose. “It’s a kind of free association, just thoughts running st...
Marilyn Manson on Ozzy Osbourne: “He Had This Strange Mystique That He’s Never Really Escaped From”
Marilyn Manson was set to support Ozzy Osbourne on tour this year, but those dates were canceled as Ozzy sought treatment for various health issues. Just as fans were excited to see the Antichrist Superstar and the Prince of Darkness on tour together, Manson himself was looking forward to hitting the road with Ozzy again. This past Friday (September 11th), Manson unleashed his 11th album, WE ARE CHAOS, but it was originally set to be released in time for his planned spring/summer tour with Ozzy. As Manson told us, not only was he concerned for Ozzy’s health, he had to rethink his own plans for 2020. “It was very upsetting when I found out that Ozzy couldn’t do the tour and that he [had health issues], and that was before the pandemic hit,” Manson remarked. “At the time for me, it complicat...
The Notorious B.I.G.’s Plastic Crown Sells at Auction for $594,000
Photographer Barron Claiborne paid $6 for the plastic crown that The Notorious B.I.G. wore in his iconic “King of New York” magazine shoot. Now, that same circlet has fetched $594,750 at Sotheby’s first ever hip-hop auction. The bidding took place Tuesday, September 15th, and other notable items up for grabs included a one-of-a-kind Def Jam jacket and a triptych of paintings by Fab Five Freddy. But the plastic coronet was always going to be the star of the auction. Now 57, Claiborne photographed Biggie wearing the crown in 1997, three days before his death. The stunning images later appeared in Rap Pages magazine, but as Claiborne recalled, the shoot almost didn’t happen. At the time, Bad Boy Records owner Sean “Puffy” Combs was against the whole concept. Claiborne expl...
Apple Announces Bundle Package for Music, TV, and Gaming Services
Apple will offer a bundle package of its streaming music, TV, gaming, and iCloud services. Under the banner of Apple One, the bundle brings together Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 50GB of iCloud storage for the monthly price of $14.95. Two other tiers of Apple One will also be available: a “Family” plan priced at $19.95 per month, and a “Premier” tier which also includes subscriptions to Apple News+ and Fitness+ in addition to 2GB of iCloud storage for $24.95 per month. Apple plans to roll out their bundle packages this “fall” with a 30-day free trial for new users. The announcement of Apple One was made during Apple’s “Times Flies” presentation on Tuesday afternoon. The media company also revealed that Apple iOS 14 would launch tomorrow (Sept. 16th), and detailed new iterations...
slowthai Unveils New Song “Feel Away” Featuring James Blake and Mount Kimboe: Stream
slowthai (photo by Edwardx via WikiCommons) and James Blake (photo via Instagram) British rapper slowthai has unveiled the new song “Feel Away” to mark the anniversary of his little brother’s passing. The emotional track features James Blake and Mount Kimbie. The artist born Tyron Frampton has spoken many times about the impact of losing Michael Frampton at the age of one due to muscular dystrophy. slowthai was 8 at the time, and during an interview with The Guardian last year, he spoke about going into a tailspin of rage, seeking help in anger management classes, and finding solace in an old VHS copy of Eminem’s 8 Mile. In an Instagram post yesterday, slowthai announced “Feel Away” and wrote a tribute to his brother. He said, “today is the anniversary of my baby brothers p...
Billie Eilish Guests on Kevin Malone’s Oral History of The Office Podcast: Stream
Earlier this summer, Brian Baumgartner, a.k.a. Kevin Malone, marked the 15th anniversary of The Office by launching a podcast on Spotify. Titled An Oral History of The Office, the 12-episode series is coming to a close today, and its finale features an appropriate send-off from one of the TV show’s biggest fans: Billie Eilish. Our 2019 Artist of the Year has spoken extensively about her love for all things The Office, and was even “quizzed” on Office trivia by Mr. Beets, Bears, and Battlestar Galactica himself, Rainn Wilson. It’s no surprise, then, how giddy Eilish was to appear on An Oral History. “This is crazy!” gushed the pop megastar, who joined Baumgartner and Steve Carell (Michael Scott) via FaceTime mere days after sweeping the Grammys. In a discussion about it...
