Rock
‘The Sparks Brothers’ Documentary Gets a Release Date
The film, out June 18, chronicles the decades-long career and influence of the cult pop duo and features archival footage as well as interviews with fans. Focus Features is set to release Edgar Wright’s documentary directorial debut The Sparks Brothers on June 18, 2021. The dating follows Wright’s film about the cult pop duo Sparks debuting at Sundance and screening at SXSW in Austin on March 19. The documentary chronicles the decades-long career and influence of the Sparks and features archival footage as well as interviews with fans that include Beck, Flea, Neil Gaiman and Mike Myers. MRC Non-Fiction is behind the documentary, which Wright produced with Nira Park under their company Complete Fiction Pictures, along with Laura Richardson and George Hencken. You Deserve to ...
Matt ‘Money’ Miller, Titus Andronicus Founding Keyboardist, Dies at 34
Matt “Money” Miller, the founding keyboardist of Titus Andronicus, has died, according to his cousin and the band’s frontman Patrick Stickles. He was 34. Stickles announced Miller’s “sudden and untimely” death on the band’s Twitter account Wednesday. No cause of death has been revealed yet. “It is with a heavy heart that I announce to you the sudden and untimely death of Matt ‘Money’ Miller, founding keyboardist of Titus Andronicus, cover model of ‘A Productive Cough,’ lead vocalist of ‘Home Alone (On Halloween),’ my beloved cousin and the dearest friend I ever had,” Stickles wrote on the official Titus Andronicus Twitter account along their pictures. “It’s hard to know what to say, but I ...
‘Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché’ Doc Explores Punk Trailblazer In All Her Contradictions
Born Marion Elliott to a white mother and Black father (he was Somali born) in what she described as a tough neighborhood, Styrene felt like an outsider from both the white and Black communities; some of the most revelatory parts of the documentary are Zoë Howe’s reading of poems (“Half-Caste,” “I Wanna Go Back to Africa”) that Styrene wrote about her racial identity. Considering the banshee warrior wail that characterized Styrene’s vocals, it’s unfortunately easy to miss the depth of her lyrics, but hearing her poems read aloud is a testament to the succinct strength of her pen. Forming X-Ray Spex as a teenager by taking out an ad in Melody Maker, Styrene was famous (in the U.K., at least, by punk scene standards) by 19, with songs like the female...
10 Riot Grrrl Albums Every Music Fan Should Own
Editor’s Note: Crate Digging is a recurring feature in which we take a deep dive into a genre and turn up several albums all music fans should know about. This time, we celebrate Women’s History Month with a deep dig into the riot grrrl genre. Emerging from the deep forests of The Pacific Northwest, riot grrrl was a rasping rallying cry at a time when gender norms weighed heavily on the mosh pits and politics imposed itself dangerously on ovaries and queerness. With punk legends like Patti Smith and The Slits preceding them, the emerging DIY feminist punk movement of the ’90s brought with it grievances of the third wavers. Faced with no space in the existing punk-rock scene, attention was turned to tackling sexism and carving out a new underground alternative. A movement of rioting gi...
Rock Rules Top 3 on Billboard’s Album Sales Chart
Kings of Leon’s latest release, When You See Yourself, debuts at No. 2 with 22,000 sold — scoring the band its fifth top 10 as well. A Day to Remember logs its second top 10, as its new studio effort You’re Welcome bows at No. 3 with 16,000 sold. The last time Nos. 1-3 on Top Album Sales were all rock albums was on the July 11, 2020-dated chart. That week, Haim’s Women in Music, Pt. III debuted at No. 1, Khruangbin’s Mordechai started at No. 2 and Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways fell 1-3 in its second week. (Rock albums are defined as those that have charted on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart.) Back on the new Top Album Sales chart, Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? rises 11-4 with 6,100 sold (up 3%), Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album bounces 10-5 ...
Grateful Dead Are Keeping Fans Comfy With New Sock Collection
Stance is also offering a reversible face mask which supports Stance for Scrubs, an initiative that donates a pair of socks to healthcare workers for every mask sold. The adjustable mask features a blue tie-dye and a sleek black design to choose from. The entire Grateful Dead collection ranges from $16.99 to $29.99, with the unisex socks available in men’s sizes 3-13 and women’s sizes 5-14. See them all here. If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, we may receive an affiliate commission. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, s...
Livestreams & Virtual Concerts to Watch: Week of March 15
For more virtual shows and livestreams to tune into this week, check out the roundup below. We’ll update this list as more events are announced. March 16-20: SXSW is taking place virtually this year, and will feature its film festival and music showcases online. Demi Lovato’s documentary Dancing With the Devil — a harrowing look at the singer’s near-fatal overdose — is among the films opening the event. An online pass is $399. March 17: U2 is marking St. Patrick’s Day by streaming their 2001 September concert at Ireland’s Slane Castle for the first time. The show is the first of the band’s four-show streaming series titled “U2: The Virtual Road.” Dermot Kennedy opens the livestream with a new set filmed outside of Los Angeles...
Ben Howard on Weaving Dark Humor Into His Art
Kyle Meredith With… Ben Howard Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Ben Howard catches up with Kyle Meredith to tell us about Collections From the Whiteout. The new album finds him teaming up with The National’s Aaron Dessner and getting more experimental. To that end, Howard discusses writing about real-life characters such as Donald Crowhurst and Richard Russell, weaving dark humor into his art, and being influenced by the cities he tours through. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Meredith digs deep into the artist’s work to find out how the music is made and where ...
Mumford & Sons’ Banjoist ‘Taking Time Away From the Band’ After Controversial Post
The controversy started when Marshall, in a now-deleted tweet, congratulated Ngo on the publication of his book Unmasked, which promises to take the reader “inside ANTIFA’s radical plan to destroy democracy.” “Finally had the time to read your important book. You’re a brave man,” Marshall tweeted, before deleting the message following a backlash and intense mockery of the band. Ngo, a conservative journalist who rose to prominence filming left-wing protests in Portland, has become notorious for his associations with the neo-fascist white nationalist groups the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer. The Ngo incident is not the first time Marshall, who also goes by the aliases Country Winston and WN5TN, and Mumford & Sons have courted controversy for associating with noto...
Courtney Barnett Launches Online Archive For Concerts, Rare Recordings & More
The project was initially visualized as a nod to the online archives of Neil Young and The Grateful Dead, a portal to experience Barnett’s gigs at a time when touring was called off. But as the pandemic dragged on, the initiative developed into much more. Barnett spread her wings with her debut 2015 album LP Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, which cracked the Top 20 on both sides of the Atlantic, won the Australian Music Prize and Triple J’s prestigious J award for album of the year, and snagged a slew of APRA, ARIA and AIR Awards. The indie star was also nominated for the best new artist at the Grammy Awards, losing out to Meghan Trainor. A collaborative album with Kurt Vile, 2017s Lotta Sea Lice, was a critical and commercial success. Barnett’s solo sophomore alb...
Imagine Dragons Celebrate Over a Decade as a Band & Tease What’s to Come
The band’s official Twitter account shared four supernatural teaser videos with hints of their upcoming music. According to the account’s bio, Imagine Dragons will release “Follow You” and “Cutthroat” on Friday. This marks their first release since 2018’s Origins, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and marked their fourth No. 1 album on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts. Over their 13-year tenure, Imagine Dragons has won a Grammy Award for best rock performance for “Radioactive” in 2014, three American Music Awards and nine Billboard Music Awards. Spotify named the act as the most-streamed musical group in 2018. In the week leading up to the 2015 Grammy Awards, Reynolds...
Lake Street Dive on the Challenge of Writing Songs With Important Messages
Kyle Meredith With… Lake Street Dive Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS Lake Street Dive frontwoman Rachael Price talks with Kyle Meredith about the band’s new album, Obviously. Price discusses working with producer Mike Elizando due to his work with huge hip-hop artists, writing in pairs for the first time, and digging into her teenage diaries for inspiration. The soul-pop vocalist also takes us through the heavier topics on the album, how the songs change depending on what’s happening in the world, and the challenge of putting an important message in a song. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Mo...
