NEWS
10 Years Ago, DJ Fresh’s “Louder” Became the First Dubstep Song to Reach #1
The explosion of UK dubstep dates back to the mid 2000s, when iconic artists such as Skream, Benga, Rusko, and Caspa began making waves in the underground music scene. However, a dubstep track reaching the heights of mainstream popularity was rare, even after DJ Fresh charted with his drum & bass classic “Gold Dust” in 2010. Shortly after, Fresh’s dubstep track “Louder,” featuring Sian Evans, made history by being the first dubstep song to reach the #1 spot on the UK singles charts. “Louder” vocalist Sian Evans performs at Vienna’s Regenbogenparade in 2008. Manfred Werner/Tsui The iconic “Louder” actually debuted at the top of the charts in its first week, moving an impressive 149,000 copies afte...
Grimes is Judging a New Singing Competition Show—For Digital Avatars
Fox is set to debut a new “avatar singing competition” show this fall, and electronic-pop music star Grimes will be among its various judges. Alter Ego will pit hopeful vocalists against five panelists as they compete to become the next big singing star. The new show will utilize motion capture technology to make each vocalist appear as their “dream avatar,” rendering Alter Ego somewhat of a companion show to Fox’s wildly popular The Masked Singer. Grimes will join will.i.am, Alanis Morissette, and more on the “Alter Ego” judging panel this fall. Eli Russell Linnetz Grimes will join Alanis Morissette, will.i.am, Nick Lachey, and Rosci Diaz on the judging panel as she prepares her next album release, a follow-up to 2020̵...
Faces’ Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, and Kenney Jones Working on New Music
One of the great what-ifs in rock history may get a belated answer, as Faces, the British outfit that launched the careers of Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, and Kenney Jones, are reuniting to make new music. Faces formed out of the wreckage of Small Faces in 1969, when frontman Steve Marriot departed to form Humble Pie. The remaining members recruited Stewart and Wood from the Jeff Beck Group, dropping the ‘Small’ in the process without realizing how big they’d become. One of the most reliable touring draws of the early 1970s, Faces eventually buckled under the weight of their own success, especially Stewart’s skyrocketing solo career. In the aftermath of their breakup, guitarist Wood joined The Rolling Stones, drummer Jones linked up with The Who, and the more they all achieved separately, the...
Longtime Cro-Mags Singer John Joseph Slams Dave Grohl and “Flu Pfizers” for “Vaccinated-Only Shows”
John Joseph, the longtime singer of hardcore legends Cro-Mags, has blasted Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters for playing “vaccinated-only shows” as the concert industry starts to open back up again. Joseph, who now fronts the offshoot band Cro-Mags JM, has even gone so far as dub Grohl’s band “Flu Pfizers.” The hardcore veteran was asked about the viability of vaccine passports on the interview series The Void with Christina, and it is abundantly clear that he’s not in favor of them. “I forget what the dude’s name is — he’s in some big f**king band — he’s, like, ‘I’m not playing any vaccinated-only shows.’ He was in a big English band; I forget what the name of ’em is,” began Joseph, likely referring to Stone Roses singer Ian Brown, who recently refused to play a UK festival because of its vacci...
Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament Isn’t Comfortable Playing Indoor Shows and “Checking Vaccination Cards”
In a new interview with Consequence and Kyle Meredith With…, Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament spoke about his desire to tour again as well as the obstacles that remain. He expressed discomfort with performing indoors, saying, “I just don’t know if I wanna go out and do 30 shows where you’re checking vaccination cards.” Ament was promoting his new album, I Should Be Outside, which is his second solo release of the pandemic. He also went into Pearl Jam’s plans for a big tour. “We actually had a little bit of a play, like three weeks, four weeks ago in Seattle. We just got in a room. We weren’t playing any songs. We just jammed, and it was so beautiful. I just missed that so much. And we talked a little bit just about how everybody was feeling.” He continue...
Nick Cannon Shares Touching Family Photos With All Seven of His Children
Nick Cannon is a proud dad in new photos of his blended family, featuring him with all seven of his children. Abby De La Rosa posted a series of professional shots of her and Cannon’s 1-month-old twin boys, Zion and Zillon, who look like they already know their way around a DJ board as they posed in matching black and white headphones. The next set of family photos show Cannon and De La Rosa cuddling their boys from either side and giving them sweet kisses on their cheeks. Meanwhile, Cannon took to his Instagram Story to share a special behind-the-scenes video of him placing the headphones on his sons’ ears, which he soundtracked with “Hey DJ” by The World’s Famous Supreme Team (a key sample in ex-wife’s Mariah Carey‘s 1997 No. ...
Matt Bomer Says ‘Everything Is Pretty Tame’ Compared to His Bloody ‘AHS’ Orgy Scene With Lady Gaga
“Honestly, I feel that ever since the blood orgy I did with Lady Gaga, everything is pretty tame after that,” Bomer said in the interview. “I was head to toe Carrie prom scene-esque levels of blood. They basically wrapped us up like sardines in a tarp in between takes of that [scene]. It was Gaga and I, and these two wonderful actors who we’d just met 10 minutes before, lying on a tarp next to each other sandwiched in. And they’d peel the tarp off and we’d do the next take. It was very strange. So after that, any amount of corn syrup [for fake blood] is pretty tame. That was a wild experience. It was certainly memorable.” Bomer told The Hollywood Reporter when the 2016 episode first aired that he felt uneasy filming the racy scene, but that Gaga (real name ...
Songs From Isao Tomita’s Last Five Years Set for Release on Streaming Platforms
During the last five years of his life, Tomita devoted himself to the DENON: Isao Tomita Project, in an effort to completely remake his masterpieces from the 1970s in a form that he’d envisioned at the time but couldn’t realize, as well as add new creations to them. Rising Planet – Tomita’s Greatest Works of Space Music is a collection of 11 selected tracks from the seven albums he released as part of this major undertaking. The main melody of “Rising of the Planet 9,” which was the last melody Tomita left behind, was first heard on the track “Itokawa and Hayabusa” in Planet Ultimate Edition, the first release of the DENON: Isao Tomita Project. This melody also appeared in important parts on subsequent albums, so it could be said to be the trademark phrase of the innovati...
The War on Drugs Announce New Album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore and Share 2022 Tour Dates
American rockers, The War on Drugs, are back with their first studio album in four years. I Don’t Live Here Anymore is due out on Oct. 29 through Atlantic Records. Today, the band shared the first of 10 songs in “Living Proof,” alongside news of a 2022 North American/European tour. In a release, I Don’t Live Here Anymore is billed to be an uncommon rock album about resilience in the face of despair. “Living Proof” sets the tone for the album as The War on Drugs transform pain through a very soft rock tune. They don’t try to lure listeners with a danceable hook or flashy video, just Adam Granduciel with his guitar, walking Stinson Beach in California and singing about his struggles and ability to overcome. Plain, simple, and effective. Watch the “Living Proof” music video below. [embedded c...
Dutch Music Festival Verknipt Leads to Over 1,000 COVID-19 Infections
During the first weekend of July, roughly 20,000 electronic dance music fans gathered in the Dutch city of Utrecht to attend the Verknipt Festival. Despite being billed as a COVID-19 safe event, preventing entry of anyone who is neither fully vaccinated nor can provide a negative test, now over 1,000 people who attended the festival have contracted the virus. “We cannot say that all these people were infected at the festival itself,” said Lennart van Trigt, a spokesman for the Utrecht health board. “It could also be possible that they’ve been infected while traveling to the festival or in the evening before going to the festival or having an after-party.” However, CNBC reports that the event is at the center of the outbreak, as confirmed by Utrecht’s regional health board. It is also ...
The Killers Announce New Album Pressure Machine
Well, that was fast. Almost a year to the day after releasing their sixth studio album, Imploding the Mirage, The Killers announced that their seventh LP is on the way. Brandon Flowers and company will be releasing the collection, Pressure Machine, on Aug. 13 via Island Records. The album, which has been teased for a bit and in the works for a while, was produced by Shawn Everett and Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado. “And it was the first time in a long time for me that I was faced with silence. And out of that silence this record began to bloom, full of songs that would have otherwise been too quiet and drowned out by the noise of typical Killers records,” Flowers said in a statement. The album’s concept is billed as a contemplative character study and takes place in Nephi, Utah — a loo...
Kanye West and Tyler, the Creator Spotted in the Studio, Possibly Working Together on Donda
Are Kanye West and Tyler, the Creator collaborating on the former’s long-awaited album Donda? That’s what some fans think after the pair were caught working together in the studio over the weekend. The rumors caught fire after the rapper Consequence posted a video of the two rappers seemingly listening to a beat on West’s computer. While the Yeezus rapper’s face is obscured by a hooded mask in the sound-free clip, Tyler flashes a huge smile while looking over his shoulder. Fans also took note of the whiteboard behind them with the word “Donda” written above what appears to be a potential tracklist for the LP. Named after West’s late mother, who passed away in November 2007 of heart disease following a cosmetic surgery procedure, the album was originally intended to be released on July 24th...
