Surprise! Cloud Nothings have announced a new album called The Black Hole Understands, and they’re releasing it in full tomorrow via Bandcamp. The Black Hole Understands is a 10-song full-length that was written and recorded remotely while self-isolating during the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, reports Pitchfork. A 25% cut of the proceeds will be donated to Play on Philly in Philadelphia and Rainey Institute in Cleveland, both of which provide music and arts education to communities that don’t have easy access to such in their respective local areas. “It’s a quarantine album, so like… not actually recorded live,” frontperson Dylan Baldi tweeted. “I’m playing instruments and singing, Jayson is playing drums. It’s poppy and also kind of sad, which is more or less my state of mind....
In 2018, boygenius dropped one of the best releases of the year with their self-titled debut EP. Now, the indie supergroup is offering fans a glimpse at the origins of that stellar project by sharing a collection of demos. Early “voice memo” versions of EP tracks “Bite the Hand”, “Me & My Dog”, and “Stay Down” will be made available to stream exclusively on Bandcamp on Friday, July 3rd. According to a statement, these rough recordings were taped in rehearsal on June 5th, 2018 — the day before boygenius would enter the studio to officially work their magic. The three demos will remain on Bandcamp for just 24 hours, to coincide with the streaming platform’s waiver of revenue share. All proceeds will be divided evenly between three local organizations specifically chosen by each band...
After touring the country with Gary Clark Jr. last year, it made sense for soul group Los Coast to enlist the guitar virtuoso for their latest cover of a ’60s classic. The Texas group and producer Jacob Sciba hit up Clark when they decided to cover Sam Cooke’s on “A Change Is Gonna Come” for charity a few months ago. And it wasn’t until Clark shared a story with vocalist Trey Privott that the decision became much more meaningful. “Gary told me a story about this man who called him from prison,” Privott says. “The man said that he listened to ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ everyday to maintain hope as he got through his term. There are people like this all over the United States in our prison system. That’s what the song is about. It’s a cry for equality in the justice system. It’s a plea fo...
PUP have just announced that they will be releasing Live at The Electric Ballroom on Friday (July 3). “We never planned on putting these recordings out, because we expected them to suck,” the band said in a statement. “They were mostly just for ourselves, to mark what we considered to be a pretty big moment in our careers. But turns out, they suck a bit less than we expected. So in typical PUP fashion we made a plan to release them in a self-sabotaging, stupid way. The record will be sold for one day only. After that, it’s gone.” PUP continued, “Everyone we work with told us it’s a terrible idea. And they are definitely right. But one of the reasons we love working with them is because sometimes they agree to let us fuck up on our own terms, and rally behind us in a supportive way. Thanks ...
Ty Dolla $ign has amassed a star-studded lineup for his new single. “Ego Death” boasts Kanye West and FKA twigs, as well as electronic music producer Skrillex and experimental artist serpentwithfeet. Stream the full song below. During his turn on the mic, Ty Dolla $ign speaks about the toxicity of ego and the freedom that comes with its death. “Ego death is where you find happiness,” raps the Los Angeles native. For his part, Kanye raps abouts mass incarceration and Black voter suppression. The Chicago MC also makes references to the NFL’s history of racism and that one time he feuded with Beck over his controversial Grammys win. Editors’ Picks “Ego Death” comes just 24 hours after the release of Kanye’s own God’s Country single “Wash Us in the Blood” featuring Travis ...
Ty Dolla $ign, Skrillex, FKA Twigs and Kanye West walk into a bar… Wait, that’s just a new single. In a collaboration that could best be described as the second coming of West’s single “Fade,” Ty came through today with his latest collaboration-heavy track “Ego Death.” Featuring samples that only West or Skrillex can throw together, the (probably) bouncy instrumental to “Fade,” a West verse referencing Watch the Throne and Twigs’ magic touch, Ty’s latest single is a flex of his connections just as much as it’s a flex of his raspy vocals. The track also features serpentwithfeet, who worked with Ty on last year’s “Receipts.” “‘Ego Death’ is a very special record,” Ty said in a statement. “It’s always an honor working with my brother ‘Ye. He’s a genius and we make incredible records...
Sad13, the indie project led by Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis, has announced a new album. Haunted Painting is officially due for release on September 25th through Wax Nine, a Carpark Records imprint overseen by Dupuis. The long-awaited Slugger follow-up is comprised of 11 songs and boasts guest contributions from Roberto Lange of Helado Negro, Deerhoof member Satomi Matsuzaki, tUnE-yArDs mastermind Merrill Garbus, and Rick Maguire of Pile. It was written at different studios all over the US, including the Elliott Smith-built New Monkey Studio in Van Nuys, California, and was purposefully recorded with only women engineers. “I worked on Haunted Painting throughout 2019, writing, arranging and recording from home, then finishing the songs in studios around the country in be...
Refused have released a new song, “The Ballad of Buck Ravers”, under their video game guise Samurai. The hardcore punks will appear as the fictional band in the upcoming video game Cyberpunk 2077, which is now due out on November 19th. “The Ballad of Buck Ravers” is the third Samurai track we’ve heard following “Chippin’ In” and “Never Fade Away”, both released last year. Fortunately for Refused fans, the band only changed in name for Cyberpunk 2077, which took the idea of The Shape of Punk to Come quite literally, even tabbing Refused to be its in-game band. Musically, this is classic Refused, with frontman Dennis Lyxzén shouting and wailing above aggressively smashed chords: “Lost another day to pointless drudgery / The slow chipping away/ Of my autonomy”. Refused’s vision of 2077 sounds...