music
EVH Unveils New 2021 Guitar Models in Eddie Van Halen’s Honor
EVH has unveiled a new series of colorful guitar models for 2021, honoring the company’s founder and namesake, the late Eddie Van Halen. All in all, there are nine new EVH guitars coming in early 2021. New models for the 5150 Series will include the 5150 Series Deluxe Poplar Burl featuring ebony fingerboard ($999.99 MSRP), the 5150 Series Standard with ebony fingerboard ($899.99), and the neon pink finished 5150 Series Standard with maple fingerboard ($899.99). The standard guitar will be available in February while the Poplur Burl arrives in April. The reimagined 5150 series guitars are engineered for “speed” and “comfort” — no surprise given Eddie’s lightning fast playing technique. The guitars’ Stratocaster-style basswood body has a deeper upper body curve, bold-on quarter-sawn maple ne...
Dr. Dre Still in ICU One Week After Brain Aneurysm
Dr. Dre in 2019, celebrating his 54th birthday, photo via social media Dr. Dre still remains in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center one week after suffering a brain aneurysm. According to TMZ, doctors of the Los Angeles area hospital are keeping Dr. Dre in the ICU in order to continue running “a battery of tests to get to the root problem” of his condition. It’s still unclear what caused the aneurysm in the first place. Medical officials also say they want to be within reach “in case” the former N.W.A. rapper has a second aneurysm. The 55-year-old Chronic legend was initially rushed to the ICU last Monday, January 5th. His condition seemed to be under control by later that evening, as Dr. Dre was described as “stable and lucid.” The Aftermath Entertainment label he...
Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ Becomes Most-Certified Song In History
Since its official release in 2019, Lil Nas X‘s breakout hit “Old Town Road” has shattered chart records and industry conventions alike, earning the viral rapper his first Grammy wins for a track that sparked a wider cultural conversation about the hallmarks of country music itself. Galloping to even greater heights in 2021, the collaboration with Billy Ray Cyrus has become the most-certified song in RIAA history. On Friday (January 9), Nas X shared the news that “Old Town Road” had gone 14x Platinum, supplanting John Legend’s “All of Me” and “Despacito” by Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi, and Justin Bieber, both certified 13x Platinum. “LETS GOOO!” Nas X wrote on Twitter, sharing a meme to celebrate ...
Lana Del Rey Explains Chemtrails Over The Country Club Artwork: ‘These Are My Friends, This Is My Life’
Lana Del Rey‘s highly celebrated Norman Fucking Rockwell album dropped in August 2019, and for just about as long, the artist has been teasing its follow-up, Chemtrails Over the Country Club. On January 10, LDR finally gave her most substantive update on the LP yet, sharing its tracklist and cover art in a series of posts on Instagram. The album, her seventh, will feature 11 songs, including a title track and one called “Tulsa Jesus Freak.” According to her posts, it has no listed features. “There’s always turmoil and upheaval and in the midst of it- there’s always beautiful music too,” LDR wrote in the caption accompanying the cover. “Introducing my new album chemtrails over the country club.” In addition to the photo, which finds the ...
Black Country, New Road Unveil New Song “Track X”: Stream
The buzzy Brits of Black Country, New Road have returned with the new song called “Track X”. It’s the latest preview of their debut album For the first time, out February 5th. Like previous releases, “Track X” is understated and eccentric. Frontman Isaac Wood sings in a tone just above spoken word while brass instruments sketch butterflies around his voice. Even as the music looks forward with a heady mix of post-punk and jazz, the lyrics turn fondly backwards, remembering the place “where we fucked as kids,” and the time “I told you I love you in front of black midi.” In a statement, Wood explained how the song came together, saying, “Track X is a song we first worked on in 2018 but one that never made it out into our live performances. We decided to resurrect it during the reco...
Danny Elfman Shares Creepy New Solo Song “Sorry”: Stream
Halloween may be long past, but Danny Elfman has creepy treat for us. The beloved composer has returned with a new solo song called “Sorry” and an accompanying video. The expectedly eerie offering is only the second solo song Elfman has shared in the last 36 years (!), following last fall’s “Happy”. Like that tune, “Sorry” is being released via the indie labels ANTI-/ Epitaph Records, which feels like an interesting home for the guy who made the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. In a statement, Elfman said “Sorry” is “the first song I’ve written for myself in a long time,” and detailed its “alien” beginnings, “It began as an obsessive choral-chant instrumental work, which at the time I called ‘alien orchestral chamber punk’ and evolved slowly into a song. I was surprised by the a...
Blanck Mass Announces New Album In Ferneaux, Shares “Starstuff”: Stream
Blanck Mass is the solo electronic music project of Benjamin John Power, co-founder of drone outfit Fuck Buttons. Today, the British artist has announced a new album dubbed In Ferneaux, due for release next month via Sacred Bones. The follow-up to 2019’s Animated Violence Mild was written and recorded during quarantine, and is very much a product of its time. Blanck Mass created the album using a decade’s worth of field recordings from his various travels — purposely bringing memories and relationships back to life during a period of great separation and isolation. These recordings inform both halves of In Ferneaux, with each section representing a so-called “long-form journey” in the UK musician’s life. “The journeys are haunted with the vestiges of voices, places, and sensations,” descri...
Lana Del Rey Details New Album, Promptly Puts Foot In Mouth
Lana Del Rey is nearing the release of her seventh studio album, Chemtrails over the Country Club. On Sunday, ahead of a new single, Del Rey revealed the album’s cover as well as its 11-song tracklist. Chemtrails includes the previously revealed single, “Let Me Love You Like a Woman”, as well as her cover of Joni Mitchell’s “For Free”. The album’s title track will be released as a new teaser single on Monday. The artwork depicts Del Ray posting with a group of friends. In the comments’ section of her Instagram, the singer said the cover is a reflection of her diverse social circle: “We are all a beautiful mix of everything- some more than others which is visible and celebrated in everything I do.” “In 11 years working I have always been extremely inclusive without even trying to,” Del...
Madlib and Four Tet Detail New Collaborative Album Sound Ancestors
Madlib and Four Tet have shared details of their new collaborative album Sound Ancestors. It arrives Friday, January 29th via Madlib Invazion. The tracklist and artwork are out now. Sound Ancestors is credited to Madlib, with Four Tet handling the editing, arranging, and mastering of the 16-song effort. In a social media statement, Four Tet explained the unusual work arrangement, writing, “He is always making loads of music in all sorts of styles and I was listening to some of his new beats and studio sessions when I had the idea that it would be great to hear some of these ideas made into a Madlib album. Not made into beats for vocalists to use but instead arranged into tracks that could all flow together in an album designed to be listened to start to finish. I put this co...
Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan, Gary Oldman & Others Sing Bowie Songs for 74th Birthday Livestream: Watch
On Saturday night, David Bowie’s friends, collaborators, and some of the many musicians he inspired came together to celebrate his 74th birthday. (The event had originally been scheduled for Friday night, but was postponed due to technical difficulties.) Among the many highlights: Trent Reznor, along with his Nine Inch Nails bandmate Atticus Ross, Reznor’s wife Mariqueen Maandig, and Bowie collaborator Mike Garson, performed covers of “Fantastic Voyage” and “Fashion”. Billy Corgan played “Space Oddity”, Duran Duran covered “Five Years”, and The Cult’s Ian Astbury tackled “Lazarus”. Bowie’s close friend Gary Oldman sang Tin Machine’s “I Can’t Read”, and Michael C. Hall, who starred in Bowie’s musical Lazarus, performed “Where Are We Now?”. Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawki...
10 Times David Bowie Was the Coolest Man Who Fell to Earth
Editor’s Note: As we continue to celebrate the life and art of David Bowie, we take a look at some of our favorite Starman’s coolest moments. If you’ve missed any of the Bowie content we shared or reshared this week, you can experience it all again here. Five years ago, the sudden passing of David Bowie sent shockwaves through the whole landscape of popular culture. Born David Jones on January 8, 1947, Bowie was far more than just one of the most groundbreaking, expansive, and fearless musicians of his era; he was also an accomplished actor, painter, sociopolitical advocate, philanthropist, and much more. In a multitude of ways, then, his loss was so tragic and surreal because his life was so inspiring and matchless. (Hell, Flight of the Concords devoted practically a whole episode to him ...
R.I.P. Marsha Zazula, Megaforce Records Co-Founder Who Helped Launch Metallica’s Career Dies at 68
Marsha Zazula, who co-founded Megaforce Records with her husband Jon Zazula (aka Jonny Z), has sadly passed away at the age of 68. The couple were instrumental in launching the careers of Metallica, Anthrax, and other metal bands. Marsha’s passing was confirmed by her daughter Rikki Zazula, who wrote, “RIP Mom April 21, 1952 – January 10, 2021. Your love, Your strength, Your memory and Your music has changed lives and will continue to FOREVER.” Along with Jonny, Marsha helped open the door for thrash metal on the East Coast. Jonny quit a Wall Street job and the pair began selling records at a flea market under the name Rock N’ Roll Heaven. Eventually, they established a New Jersey store that became an influential metal destination. Upon hearing Metallica’s No Life ‘Til Leather demo, Jonny ...
