After surprising fans with the announcement of a massive collaborative EP and fiery lead single earlier this month, The Bloody Beetroots and Tom Morello have unveiled The Catastrophists. The duo blew the doors off with their lead single “Radium Girls,” which set speakers ablaze with frenetic guitar riffs and hard-hitting electro synths. With that attention-grabbing single, the rock smiths set the tone for what many hoped would be a long-form project of a similarly explosive caliber. Those hopes are validated from the outset as the value proposition behind The Catastrophists becomes instantly clear in “The Devils Infantry.” With the lyrics “there will be no dancing tonight,” Morello and The Bloody Beetroots show they’re not here ...
In April, Martin Garrix and Maejor announced that they would be dropping a full album under their collaborative AREA21 alias. Since announcing the LP, we’ve received a taste of what’s to come with “La La La” and “POGO.” Today they’ve dropped the latest single from their forthcoming project, “Mona Lisa.” In a similar fashion to their previous two singles, “Mona Lisa” embraces a pop-leaning sound while incorporating various electronic elements. It’s reminiscent of a feel-good summer night, as a plucky electric bass is accompanied by upbeat percussion and Maejor’s signature vocals. “Mona Lisa” is the third single from AREA21’s forthcoming album, which currently has no title or relea...
Excision and Dion Timmer have unveiled their latest collaborative masterstroke, a soaring new single called “Salvation” with Alexis Donn. Longtime friends and collaborators, the two bass music superstars eschewed their penchant for heavy-hitting dubstep this time around, instead opting for an intoxicating melodic bass arrangement. Pitched vocal chops quiver through the booming saws and powerful chords of the song’s drops, which rumble with the same ferocity as a signature Subsidia release. Donn’s vocal performance here is not to be ignored. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter delivers a stentorian topline that ebbs and flows along with the dynamic production of Timmer and Excision, who have long been championed for their ability to produce vocal-driven banger...
Iconic electronic music group Rudimental have announced a new two-side album called Ground Control, which will span a staggering 16 tracks. The band also dropped the record’s lead single “Straight From The Heart,” a sun-kissed dance bop featuring Nørskov that references Doolally’s 1998 classic of the same name. “We grew up raving to this classic garage record by Doolally, who used to mentor Amir,” Rudimental explained in a joint press statement, “and inspired by the original release on Locked On Records, we wanted to give it a modern twist.” The use of horns is a cornerstone of Rudimental’s music, and brass is—well—at the heart of “Straight From The Heart.” The group also employs a foot-tapping bassline and breezy house rhythm...
Serj Tankian has released a 24-minute modern classical composition titled Disarming Time: A Modern Piano Concerto on his own label, Serjical Strike Records. The piece comes accompanied by a self-produced video the System of a Down frontman made utilizing his own pictures and videos. Tankian said that this project came from him “itching for a musical challenge” during the height of the pandemic. He added that “one night sitting in bed looking through different voice memos on the iPhone I realized I have this huge trove of short, special, unrealized musical ideas. Right then the thought of creating an epic piece utilizing them all made me smile. So I recorded them all and started arranging the instrumentation to create this incredibly unique musical experience. I mean, who the fuck listens t...
Most artists would agree that it’s difficult to remix their own music into something better—but Martin Garrix isn’t most artists. After releasing “We Are The People” alongside legendary U2 members Bono and The Edge one month ago, Garrix has now breathed new life into his official UEFA EURO 2020 song with a soaring rework. The Dutch EDM superstar tapped into his progressive house arsenal for a festival-ready anthem, à la 2018’s global dance hit “High On Life.” A press release issued to announce the remix’s release notes that Garrix “can’t wait to start playing festivals again,” so fans are safe to expect to hear it in his DJ sets moving forward. The trio also released an accompanying music video, which features...
Rivers Cuomo scored the newly released coming of age film, The Space Between, starring Frasier actor and Golden Globe winner Kelsey Grammer. The album soundtrack, which features both Cuomo’s and Grammer’s vocals, is out now. Set in the mid-’90s, The Space Between follows Grammer playing a washed-up former rock star struggling to reconnect with his record label as he loses his grip on reality. The 11-track album begins with a Cuomo tune featuring AWOLNATION, followed by six performances by Grammer, a piano instrumental from Volker Bertelmann, then ending with three demos from the Weezer frontman. Listen to The Space Between soundtrack below. This film score has been one of many large projects for Cuomo this year. Since the beginning of 2021, his band Weezer has released two full LPs, V...
Modest Mouse’s new album is out next week. So far we’ve heard “We Are Between” and “Leave a Light On” from The Golden Casket and today, they unveiled what should be the last song before the album’s released with “The Sun Hasn’t Left.” “The Sun Hasn’t Left” makes creative use of new wave beats, similarly to the other two singles. It sounds as if this tune even utilizes a xylophone. The bouncy instrument is fitting to the hopeful message this single offers with lyrics like: “You’re not wrong, things are a mess but there’s still something left.” Listen to “The Sun Hasn’t Left” below. [embedded content] In conjunction with Modest Mouse’s last single announcement, they released dates for a pretty lengthy US tour, joined by special guests Future Islands for a handful of...
Last week, Rostam released his new album, Changephobia, and just like that, he’s gone ahead and dropped a deluxe version of the record. And it’s a doozy. The ex-Vampire Weekend member unveiled covers of Lucinda Williams’ World Without Tears song “Fruits of My Labor” and The Clash’s “Train in Vain” from London Calling. Check them out below. [embedded content] The songs feature sax player Henry Solomon, who serves as the perfect counterbalance to Rostam’s vocals. Prior to the album’s release, Rostam shared several singles, including “4Runner” and “From the Back of a Cab.” The video from the latter song featured appearances from HAIM, Charli XCX, Kaia Gerber, Seth Bogart, Remi Wolf, Bryce Willard Smithe, Samantha Urbani, Wallows, Ariel Rechtshaid and Nick Robinso...
Long Beach has a rich but underrated and underappreciated history for great hip-hop, at least compared to its neighbors to the immediate north. Now that that’s out of the way, one of the great voices to emerge from this cradle of creativity in the past decade is Vince Staples. The rapper will be releasing his self-titled studio album on July 9 on Blacksmith Records/Motown Records. Staples’ previous album, FM!, was released in 2018. From it, Staples has released its first single, “Law of Averages,” which he teased on his social media platforms earlier this week. You can now see the video for Staples’ new song, which was filmed in Long Beach, below. [embedded content] Of the album, which was produced by Kenny Beats, Staples said “it really gives much more information about me that wasn’...
In 2016, Kah-Lo released her debut single “Rinse & Repeat” in collaboration with British dance music producer Riton. The global anthem opened doors—in the form of millions of streams and a Grammy nomination—for the New York-based singer-songwriter, who at the time was just getting started in the music industry. Since then, she has made the world dance many more times through singles like “Ginger,” “Fake I.D.,” “Exit Sign,” and “Fasta.” Primarily, Kah-Lo’s music is characterized by Nigerian themes, monotone rap sounds, and simple yet absorbing lyricism. These elements—in combination with dance beats—form what she calls “fun time music.” After five year Kah-Lo has finally released her long-anticipated solo project, The Arrival, a short yet energetic record featuring five kinetic EDM reco...
Two years ago, the yoga and meditation community was gifted with an ambient collection of introspective soundscapes by none other than legendary trance purveyors Above & Beyond. Titled Flow State, the ambient album stripped the U.K. trio from their usual trance leads and soaring progressive beats, opting instead to submerge their audience into a state of reflection and zen with a song-cycle of ambient and piano-based arrangements. As the world continues to endure the consequences of a global pandemic, Above & Beyond’s Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljamäki aim to bring a sense of peace and serenity after months of lockdowns and isolation with their follow-up, Flow State: Healing With Nature. Flyer for Above & Beyond’s “Flow State: Healing With ...