music
Protomartyr Serve Up New Album Ultimate Success Today: Stream
After a brief pandemic-related delay, post-punk greats Protomartyr are back with their fifth studio album, Ultimate Success Today. Stream it in full below via Apple Music or Spotify. For a high-definition listening experience, you can sign up for a 60-day free trial of TIDAL HiFi. The Domino-released collection follows 2017’s Relatives in Descent and was co-produced by Protomartyr themselves alongside David Tolomei (Dirty Projectors, Beach House). Sessions took place at Dreamland Recording Studios, situated in a 19th century church in upstate New York, and featured guest contributors in legendary jazz alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc and vocalist Nandi Rose, aka Half Waif. Izaak Mills (bass clarinet, sax, flute) and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm also joined the band in the studio. In a sta...
10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell Rocks Audioslave’s “Cochise” with Guitar Tom Morello Gifted Her: Watch
Ten-year-old musician Nandi Bushell has made great use out of a guitar that was just gifted to her by Tom Morello, performing the Audioslave hit “Cochise” in her latest YouTube video. Not to mention, she also rocks the drums and bass in the impressive clip. Nandi previously wowed Morello with a performance of Rage Against the Machine’s “Guerrilla Radio”, in which she also played all three instruments. The RATM guitarist was so impressed that he shipped her one of his new Fender Soul Power Stratocaster signature guitars, along with delivering her a personal video message. Instead of putting the guitar in a display case, Nandi did what every good young rocker should do, and jammed Audioslave’s “Cochise” with the Stratocaster. A fitting choice considering that the Soul Power is modeled a...
The Chicks Perform “March March”, Talk Dropping “Dixie” on Colbert: Watch
When the pandemic hit and lockdown was initiated, Stephen Colbert was forced to abandon the iconic Ed Sullivan Theater. His last guests scheduled to appear at the New York City landmark were the then-named Dixie Chicks, but they were understandably bumped in favor of CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta. On Thursday night, the group now called just The Chicks were finally able to make up that missed appearance on The Late Show with a remote performance of “March March” and a discussion about their new moniker. Asked why they’d chosen now to drop “Dixie” from their name, lead singer Natalie Maines said a change was always in the works. “Well, it’s because of everything that’s going on in the world. It was about time; we’ve wanted to change it for a long time, actually,” she explaine...
Yo La Tengo Release Instrumental EP We Have Amnesia Sometimes: Stream
At the start of the week, Yo La Tengo popped up on Bandcamp with an instrumental track called “James and Ira demonstrate mysticism and some confusion holds”. A new jam appeared each following day, and it’s all culminated today with the reveal of a full five-song EP called We Have Amnesia Sometimes. Stream it below. The collection stems from a series of sessions that saw the trio “playing formlessly” in late April and early May. Yo La Tengo had escaped to their Hoboken, New Jersey rehearsal space to “push away the outside world” while safely social distancing. As Ira Kaplan explains in a press release, “In late April, with the outside world weighing on everybody, we determined that the three of us could assemble in Hoboken without disobeying the rules laid out by Governor Murphy, and resume...
Ozzy Osbourne Begins Work on Another New Album
Ozzy Osbourne released his first solo LP in a decade earlier this year, but the metal godfather is already hard at work on the follow-up album. Moreover, he continues to recover from his various health setbacks, with his wife Sharon reporting that he’s “getting stronger every day.” The legendary singer revealed earlier this year that he’s been battling Parkinson’s disease, admitting he was first diagnosed in 2003. Additionally, he suffered a nasty fall at his home in 2019, forcing him to postpone all of his touring last year. He was supposed to make up the dates this year, but canceled the tour prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to continue to recover from his injuries and seek treatment for his Parkinson’s battle. In the midst of his health issues, Ozzy was able to record and release...
Billy Joel Stops to Play Random Piano on Sidewalk: Watch
In a new viral video, Billy Joel can be seen playing a random piano on the sidewalk in Huntington, New York. This means one of two things: he’s either extremely bored during quarantine, or he takes his title as “Piano Man” way too seriously. In the video, which was filmed last month, the 71-year-old musician seemingly takes a pit stop from a motorcycle ride to play Shelton Brooks’ 1917 ragtime hit “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” on an old piano (via Billboard). After playing around with the instrument, he tests out the pedals, looks at the finish on the keys, and asks a person off-camera — presumably the former owner — why they’re getting rid of an otherwise functional piano. “Not bad! The action is good! Just needs tuning, and the finish is beat. It’s a perfectly good piano! It’s a shame ...
UNICEF, Patoranking re-release Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with Patoranking, a popular Nigerian musician and some other artistes, on Friday re-released the late Bob Marley’s iconic song, “One Love.” This is contained in a statement signed by UNICEF Abuja, Communication, Advocacy and Partnerships officer, Oluwatosin Akingbulu. Mr Akingbulu said that proceeds from the song and related activities would be used to support “Reimagine”, UNICEF’s new global campaign. He said the campaign was organised to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from becoming a lasting crisis for children and to ensure the post-pandemic world was fairer and more equal for every child. “The release is to support UNICEF’s work to reimagine a fairer, more just world for children whose lives had been upended by the COVID-19 pa...
Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine to Release Rust in Peace Book with Foreword by Slash
Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has set a September 8th release date for his upcoming book, Rust in Peace: The Inside Story of the Megadeth Masterpiece. The 208-page tome features a foreword by Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash. This isn’t Mustaine’s first foray into the world of literature. He released his excellent autobiography, Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir, back in 2010. For his new book, Mustaine centers on the classic 1990 LP, which many consider Megadeth’s finest artistic achievement. Based on the publisher’s synopsis, the book gives thorough first-hand insight into the making of the album, including “the process of hiring the band and supporting cast, of trying to handle the ensuing success, and ultimately the pressure of fame and fortune-which caused the band to finally break-u...
Drake Is A ‘Popstar,’ Not A Doctor, On Flexing New Khaled Collab
“I’m a pop star, but this shit ain’t bubblegum / You would probably think my manager is Scooter Braun.” That’s what Drake raps a minute into “Popstar,” an airy new collab with DJ Khaled that dropped on Friday (July 17). It was just one of Aubrey’s several references to, you guessed it, pop stars — “Look, Ariana, Selena, my Visa / It can take as many charges as it needs to” and “Shit don’t even usually get this big without a Bieber face” — as well as one of two songs the pair released simultaneously. The more melodic “Greece,” meanwhile, finds Drake accessing a much higher vocal register than he’s been showcasing lately. It’s a breezy piece of escapist trap&B that finds the, ahem, pop s...
Beabadoobee’s Dreamy Statement, Monsta X’s Three-Minute Escape, And More Songs We Love
From burning down houses to cheating on dishonest lovers, country singer Miranda Lambert has never strayed away from exploring the darker spectrum of emotions in her music, as opposed to the idyllic, beer-battered, truck-loving fare that usually takes up space in the genre. It’s significant, then, that her latest single “Bluebird” is inherently hopeful, while still combatting themes that ring universal. Partially inspired by a Charles Bukowski poem, it’s a self-love anthem wrapped in self-assured zingers like “If the house just keeps on winning / I got a wildcard up my sleeve” and “If love keeps giving me lemons / I’ll just mix ’em in my drink.” The idea of feeling caged but taking the good with the bad feels especially timely, as we all struggle to find ways to channel the bluebird in our...
The End Of Oliver Tree As We Know Him
In late 1999, the pro wrestler Dustin Runnels was fed up with his employer, World Championship Wrestling. The ratings for its flagship program, WCW Monday Nitro, consistently sagged behind that of its competition, WWE, and in under two years, WWE would acquire the failing enterprise and absorb many of its superstars. But before then, WCW pulled out nearly every ploy in an attempt to reinvigorate itself to viewers — like letting Runnels trash the company on live television. Clad in a long, leather trench coat and white face paint, Runnels entered the ring on Nitro to debut a new persona named “Seven,” but he quickly broke character to skewer his bosses. “They’ve dressed me up like Uncle Fester to play trick or treat all year long,” he said, seething. He bemoane...
Ihsahn Announces Pharos EP, Shares New Song “Spectre at the Feast”: Stream
Black metal legend Ihsahn has set a September release for Pharos, the second of two companion EPs. In advance of the EP, he has shared the music video for lead single “Spectre at the Feast”. Pharos, due September 11th, concludes the two-part EP concept dedicated to Ihsahn’s home country of Norway. Following the February’s five-song Telemark EP, Pharos is billed as a “reverse image” of its counterpart. The EPs see Ihsahn drawing inspiration from the black metal he helped proliferate in his influential band Emperor, as well as other styles and genres. According to Ihsahn, this second EP is the “aesthetic and musical counterpart, wherein I can distill all those more progressive, experimental and mellow elements of my music.” The press release refers to it as “the light to Telemark‘s dark.” Th...
