Though rather barebones by design, the strings that produce the foundational melody in Captain Dane-O’s single “A Long Time Ago” are strangely hypnotic right out of the box, and despite their jagged arrangement, they arguably serve as a more entrancing element than any other in the whole of the song. In a “A Long Time
Music
Guided by Voices’ classic 1995 album Alien Lanes is getting a 25th anniversary reissue this year, courtesy of Matador Records’ new Revisionist History series. It’s being pressed on blue, green, and red vinyl and limited pre-orders come with a GBV keyring/bottle opener modeled on an original 1995 design. The reissue is out August 21. Matador
Ellis Marsalis, the New Orleans jazz pianist and patriarch of an accomplished family of musicians, has died. The Ellis Marsalis Center for Music confirmed his death to NBC News. Branford Marsalis said his father died of COVID-19 complications. He was 85. Marsalis was the father of renowned musicians Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo, and Jason Marsalis; his
A piano’s keys issue a painful melody that Mike Rickard picks up and turns into a pointed harmony with little more than his soft, entrancing voice as we listen in on the opening bars of “Surrender,” the closing track of his album Out Loud, but despite the heady dose of emotionality that we receive in
Rolling Loud has postponed its 2020 Miami festival, set to take place May 8-10 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL, due to COVID-19 concerns. The festival has been rescheduled for February 12-14, 2021 (President’s Day weekend) with the original 2020 lineup, including headliners Travis Scott, Post Malone, and ASAP Rocky, as well as
Amber Mark has released a new cover of Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box.” She self-produced and recorded the cover at her New York home. Watch her self-made video below. “For me, making music in the COVID-19 quarantine has probably been the only positive to come out of a tragedy like this,” Amber Mark said in a press
The public feud between Flavor Flav and Chuck D reached a boiling point in early March when Public Enemy announced that Flav was fired from the group. As it turns out, the whole dust-up appears to have been an elaborate ruse to help promote a forthcoming Public Enemy Radio album—due in April—featuring both Chuck and
Kings of Leon have shared a new song titled “Going Nowhere.” The track arrives with a black-and-white video featuring the group’s Caleb Followill, directed Casey McGrath and filmed live in Nashville. “Stay safe. Stay home. We will see you as soon as we can,” says the caption. Watch the moody clip below. In February, the
Sam Smith at the KIIS FM’s iHeartRadio Jingle Ball on December 6, 2019. (JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP/Getty) Sam Smith was as gracious as you’d expect when a TV presenter messed up their pronouns in a recent interview. The non-binary pop star goes by they/them pronouns, but was entirely forgiving when the Australian talkshow host Carrie Bickmore accidentally
Adam Schlesinger, the singer-songwriter behind Fountains of Wayne and various film and TV soundtracks, has been in the hospital for more than a week with COVID-19, Variety and Rolling Stone report. The 52-year-old’s girlfriend, Alexis Morley, confirmed the news via Schlesinger’s agent in a statement to Pitchfork. “He is on a ventilator and has been
Tame Impala have released a full-length reimagining of their latest album The Slow Rush. The hour-long clip includes every track on the new record, but the mix sounds muddied—like you’re hearing it from the bathroom at a party (similar to a remix trend that cropped up a couple of years ago). Check it out below.
Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker has shared a cover of John Prine’s “Summer’s End,” a track off the musician’s 2018 record The Tree of Forgiveness. Prine was recently hospitalized for COVID-19 symptoms and his family described his condition as “critical.” In the caption of her video, Lenker wrote, “I’m beyond grateful for the gift of his
Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig and co-host Jake Longstreth have started running weekly episodes of their Beats 1 show Time Crisis via FaceTime. During this week’s episode, regular TC guest Cazzie David called in to the show. During her call, her father Larry David—the icon behind Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld—barged into his daughter’s room, told
The Weeknd has shared three new songs on the deluxe edition of After Hours. “Nothing Compares,” “Missed You,” and “Final Lullaby” have been added to the LP as bonus tracks. Hear them below. After Hours arrived March 20, marking the Weeknd’s follow-up to My Dear Melancholy, and Starboy. The Weeknd has released multiple music videos
Michael Stipe has shared a first-take demo of a new song called “No Time for Love Like Now.” The track is a collaboration with the National’s Aaron Dessner. Watch the video below. “Michael Stipe has been a great hero and friend to me (and the National),” Dessner wrote, “and I never in my wildest dreams
Tierra Whack has shared a new song dedicated to those stuck inside during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s called “Stuck,” and Whack puts a stay-at-home spin on Lisa Loeb’s 1994 hit “Stay (I Missed You).” Watch her in a Loeb-inspired look below. Tierra Whack released her debut album Whack World in 2018. Since then, the Philadelphia
The music video for Pop Smoke and Quavo’s “Shake the Room” has arrived. Directed by designer and DJ Virgil Abloh, the first posthumous video to be released since Pop’s death sees the rappers driving around Paris during Fashion Week. The song originally appeared on the late Brooklyn rapper’s final album Meet the Woo 2. Pop
Nils Frahm has released an eight-track album called Empty for Piano Day 2020. Listen to it below via Erased Tapes. Empty was conceived before Frahm broke his thumb a few years back (the injury resulted in his 2012 record Screws). The new album is comprised of eight solo piano pieces, originally recorded for a short