Mavis Staples is sitting in the lounge of her tour bus outside the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, telling a story about her current tourmate, Bob Dylan. The other day, Dylan asked Staples to rehearse a duet of “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking,” a funky gospel rocker from Slow Train Coming that the pair re-recorded in 2002, earning a Grammy nomination in the process. But the rehearsal hit some roadblocks. First, they couldn’t settle on who has to sing the...
Barbara Ann Alston, co-founder and lead singer of the hit-making Sixties girl group the Crystals, died February 16th in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was 74. The singer’s family told the Charlotte Observer that Alston died at a Charlotte hospital following a two-week battle with the flu. Alston’s daughter Donielle Prophete told the BBC, “She loved the Crystals. She always talked about singing with them, the work they created together. She loved the sisterhood part of it, the traveling.” Alston sang...
Prince‘s Paisley Park have announced the details for Celebration 2018, the second annual four-day gathering at the music icon’s Chanhassen, Minnesota complex. Taking place April 19th to 22nd, Celebration 2018 “will welcome fans from around the world into an inspired environment of live music, panel discussions and special presentations highlighting Prince’s tremendous talent, influence and importance as a composer, musician, producer, live performer and filmmaker,” organizers said. Among the musical acts scheduled...
Neil Young has detailed his upcoming archival live album Roxy – Tonight’s the Night Live, a collection of the rocker’s performances at the Los Angeles venue in 1973. Recorded between September 20th and 22nd, 1973 alongside Young’s backing band the Santa Monica Flyers, the album boasts the live debuts of nine of the songs that would feature on Young’s classic 1975 album Tonight’s the Night, one of Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, as well as On the...
A couple of years ago, Lucy Dacus was a 19-year-old indie-rock songwriter with a day job working in a Richmond, Virginia photo lab – the kind of person who was happy to kill a Friday night by tucking into a Russian novel. So she needed to do some adjusting when her debut LP, 2016’s No Burden, touched off a 20-plus-label bidding war and two years of constant touring. “My sense of community was crippled,” Dacus says on a recent afternoon,...
Various Artists, Concert for GeorgeTo honor what would have been the late Beatle’s 75th birthday, the 2002 concert saluting his memory makes its debut on streaming services. (It’s also being reissued on LP and in a limited-edition boxed set with a double-disc DVD/Blu-Ray of the show.) The show, which took place at the Royal Albert Hall and was shepherded by Eric Clapton, featured performances of Harrison’s songs by fellow Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, fellow Traveling Wilburys Tom Petty...
Grammy-nominated rapper Logic released his first new song of the year, “44 More.” You in the club throwing dollars/ But I’m savin’ mine so my kids go to college,” he raps over an 808 beat laced with skittering hi-hats and synths. The rapper released his breakthrough album, Everybody, in 2017. It debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200 on the strength of suicide prevention anthem “1-800-273-8255,” featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid. The trio performed the emotionally raw hit with...
Indie rock outfit Parquet Courts unveiled a two-part garage rock song, “Almost Had to Start a Fight/In And Out of Patience.” It comes from their upcoming Danger Mouse-produced album, Wide Awake!, out May 18th via Rough Trade. Over fast drums and guitars, singer Andrew Savage and the rest of Parquet Courts begin a call-and-response interrogation of everything from mass transit to existential nightmares: “The MTA/ Took the first of it/ Twenty minute delay/ Wasn’t the worst of it/ Saw it...
With 24 tracks, clocking in at one hour and 46 minutes, Migos’ Culture II lasts long enough to listen to all of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and still make it more than halfway through The Dark Side of the Moon. Its Number One debut on the Billboard album chart is the latest twist in streaming’s reshaping of music consumption: the rise of mega albums. On Spotify, the duration of the top five streamed albums rose almost 10 minutes over the...
Brooklyn rap trio Flatbush Zombies unveiled a vicious new single, “Headstone,” from their upcoming album, Vacation in Hell, out April 6th. It also released a black-and-white video for the track directed by Luke Monaghan and filmed in the group’s native Flatbush, Brooklyn neighborhood. One of the group’s three MCs, Erick “Arc” Elliott, produced “Headstone,” crafting a meaning beat from piano and drums. Meechy Darko opens the track with a limber hook setting the dismal tone: “Been thugging...
Janelle Monáe unveiled two new songs “Make Me Feel” and “Django Jane,” set to appear on her upcoming album, Dirty Computer, out April 27th. Both tracks arrived with music videos. Alan Ferguson directed the “Make Me Feel” clip and Andrew Donoho, Chuck Lighting and Lacey Duke co-directed “Django Jane.” With “Make Me Feel,” Monáe unleashes another electric dance floor gem, blending snappy percussion, rumbling bass synths and a euphoric, Prince-inspired guitar line. The...
The Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny, who has scored numerous hits as part of the rising Latin trap movement, will be Apple’s latest Up Next artist. The singer-rapper debuted his new single, “Dime Si Te Acuerdas,” via Apple Music on Thursday. “Bad Bunny is one of the most exciting artists in the world,” Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe told Rolling Stone. “Bad Bunny is connecting with fans like no other artist we’ve ever seen,” added Jerry Pulles, Apple Music’s head...
The Breeders unveiled a bristling new song, “Nervous Mary,” set to appear on the alt-rock outfit’s upcoming album, All Nerve, out March 2nd. Kim Deal sings with a low, candid edge, that’s balanced with the occasional harmony, making lines like “Run for your life, they’re coming up on us,” sound sweet and ominous simultaneously. “Nervous Mary” follows the band’s previously released All Nerve songs, “Wait In the Car,” and the album’s title track. All Nerve marks...
Omnivore Recordings will reissue Sandy Bull’s final album, Steel Tears, along with four previously unreleased tracks on April 13th. Bull, an influential psych-folk musician who influenced Patti Smith, Bob Dylan and more, recorded several albums that attracted a cult following in the 1960s. His work incorporated folk, blues, psychedelia and classical influences next to music from India, Brazil and the Middle East. But after 1972’s Demolition Derby, Bull recorded only three albums before his death in 2001. Steel Tears was...
In a chilly basement room at Carnegie Mellon University sits a giant dome that looks like part physics experiment, part that chamber Darth Vader kicks back in. Wires and electronic boxes stud the walls, which curve nearly 14 feet in the air. But this space wasn’t built for subatomic particles, and it wasn’t built for space villains. It was built for the betterment of robots. This is the so-called Panoptic Studio. The wires and electronics are actually an elaborate system...
Liam Gallagher had an air of casual charisma during his performance of “I’ve All I Need” on The Late Late Show on Wednesday. The song originally appeared last October as part of As You Were, the former Oasis singer’s solo debut. On The Late Late Show, Gallagher’s drummer beat out a square, imposing rhythm over the lead guitarist’s melody. Gallagher barreled through short, rhyming verses with his hands at his pockets. He frequently stepped away from the microphone and stared...
Foo Fighters, who have won five BRIT awards over the course of their career, performed at the ceremony for the first time on Wednesday. They also took home the International Group award for the fourth time, having won the category previously in 2008, 2012 and 2015. The band was also the recipient of 2008’s Brit award for International Album. For their performance, Foo Fighters appeared on the top of a roof of a makeshift house, mirroring the official video for...
Dua Lipa performed an empowering “New Rules” during Wednesday’s Brit Awards in London. The singer, who was nominated for five Brits, won the British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Artist awards. Performing between her two wins, Lipa took the stage flanked by a large flamingo statue and a bevy of all-female dancers in a summery-styled setting. She and her dancers strutted around palm trees, beach chairs and a side stage resembling a pool while she sang her hit about...
Liam Gallagher performed an intimate version of Oasis‘ 1994 single “Live Forever” at the 2018 Brit Awards on Wednesday. The performance served as a tribute to the victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing. The singer stood in his trademark stance: stationary, leaning to the side, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, as he belted over an acoustic guitar and cello. Gallagher made a surprise guest spot during Coldplay’s set at last year’s “One Love Manchester” benefit, where he sang...
Nicole Atkins will embark on a tour of the eastern United States this spring in support of her latest LP, Goodnight Rhonda Lee. Following a pair of March dates, the trek kicks off in proper with an April 18th gig at Birmingham, Alabama’s Saturn and concludes May 5th at Woodstock, New York’s Bearsville. In addition to the tour dates, Atkins also shared her new video for the Dap-Kings-assisted track “Brokedown Luck,” starring the now-sober singer navigating her way through a zany...
