Music News- In a mere seven days, Bob Mould returns with an entirely new catalogue of music on his full-length album Sunshine Rock, available February 8 via Merge Records. The record features the recently released tracks "What Do You Want Me To Do" and title-track "Sunshine Rock". Today, Mould shares his latest single "Lost Faith"; a socially conscious song that sheds light on the mental friction caused from a mixture of facts, fiction, and biased opinions dispersed in the media. "Lost Faith" premiered yesterday. The visual for the new music plots a tale of such confusion with Mould as the centerpiece in a high-end music video for what ends up as an ultimately catchy, uplifting pop song.
Mould explains of the "Lost Faith" concept: "The video follows the protagonist who is trying to find solace and anonymity in an increasingly corrupt world filled with paranoia and misinformation. We see him being questioned about his real intent, apprehended by a fictitious yet familiar looking border security, then interrogated about the life he left behind.
Shot in Berlin, the video switches into dream sequences filled with chases, captures, and escapes. There's a mosh pit of half-naked dancers, an accordionist in a church square, and the climax being a wild pursuit through the surrealistic ruins of a decommissioned CIA listening station."
While the Sunshine Rock album has been hailed thus far as Mould's most radiant and optimistic to date, "Lost Faith" adds a dose of commentary on a worldwide crisis. However, with a bit of Euro-inspired flavor, viewers will find a comedic twist in the video's series of events. In fact, many European pop music videos of the same style use authoritarian figures, chase scenes, and dancing during the chorus of the song as storytelling devices. Audiences are likely to notice a correlation in "Lost Faith" between the use of ice cream in the video and the fact that "EIS" is German for "ice."
Music News- Today, Cage The Elephant announce the release of their fifth studio album, Social Cues , out April 19th via RCA Records. Produced by John Hill (Santigold, Florence + The Machine, Portugal. The Man, tUnE-yArDs), the album was recorded at Battle Tapes Recording, Blackbird Studio and Sound Emporium in Nashville and The Village Recording Studio in Los Angeles, mixed by Tom Elmhirst and mastered by Randy Merrill in photo credit: Neil Krug
New York City. Social Cues is the follow up to their GRAMMY-winning studio album Tell Me I’m Pretty. The album is available for pre-order now. And today the band also share the first single from the forthcoming record, the deceptively upbeat “Ready To Let Go” with a video directed by lead singer Matt Shultz. Cage The Elephant have had 7 Billboard #1 singles with 11 singles landing in the Billboard Top 10 and digitally have a combined 1.5 billion streams worldwide.
Music News- Five years since their last album, Mexican acoustic rock guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela are ready to embark on the next chapter of their remarkable story, with the release of the most ambitious music of their 20-year career together. Entitled Mettavolution, the band's new LP will be released April 26 via ATO Records and is available to preorder here. Tune in to a Facebook Live event from Rod and Gab's studio in Mexico today (1/31/19) at 12 noon ET.
Three years in the making, Mettavolution brings together Rod and Gab's passionate interest in Buddhism, the history of human evolution and the liberation of the potential we have as a species; all expressed through the medium of two acoustic guitars. Conceived and composed in their studio in Ixtapa on the Mexican Pacific Coast, then road-tested in South America and the USA in 2017, before more fine tuning and further tweaks on their Australian tour of 2018, a long list of new material has been distilled down to six new Rodrigo y Gabriela compositions and one audacious, jaw-dropping cover song.
Rodrigo y Gabriela have shared a first taste of the album in the form of "Echoes", a cover of the Pink Floyd track, which takes up the whole of the second half of Mettavolution. Long-time Floyd fans, Rod and Gab lovingly pay homage to the prog-classic song off of the band's 1971 opus Meddle, while at the same time weaving their own golden threads into its timeless textures, to create something exciting, contemporary and unforgettable.
LISTEN TO "Echoes" below-
Deep-rooted fans who discovered Rod and Gab through their 2006 self-titled breakout album have long recognized the Mexicans' mastery of their instruments. And while Rodrigo's shimmering, hummingbird flourishes hovering over Gabriela's extraordinary engine-room rhythm section are ever-present on Mettavolution, what sets this new record apart is the laser-guided focus on melody, energy and beat. There is not an ounce of excess baggage on the fresh, dynamic tunes that Rod and Gab present here, first on a white-hot side one that acknowledges the duo's thrash-metal roots back in Mexico City and then gives way to the aforementioned incredible new arrangement of "Echoes," inspiringly reimagined for two acoustic guitars.
Rodrigo and Gabriela: "We are big Pink Floyd fans. That track, specially the live in Pompeii version means a lot to us, we even made a huge visual reference in our video for "Hanuman." Besides that, the lyrics are even more relevant now than they were 45 years ago, the search for knowledge about ourselves, it's becoming a key element for survival these days, that's what evolution is all about at the end of the day."
On working with noted producer Dave Sardy, the guitarists add: "Everything was ready for it, all the circumstances around the idea of agreeing to work with a producer came together right at the time we talked to Sardy. And our intuition was right. We talked to a lot of great producers before him but the conditions just weren't there. When we talked to Dave it just felt we had arrived." Recorded in Los Angeles, Sardy, -- best-known for his work with Oasis, LCD Soundsystem, A Perfect Circle and Band of Horses -- has helped Rod and Gab to a new recording career pinnacle.
Music News- Better Oblivion Community Center,Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst's new band, recently surprise-released their self-titled debut album. The record is currently available digitally and is due for a physical release on February 22nd via Dead Oceans.
And today, the band is sharing the video for the album's lead single, "Dylan Thomas," directed by Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner. Speaking about the origins of the clip, Zauner stated: "Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst are two of my favorite songwriters and lyricists of our time, so it was an honor to get to work with them on the visuals for their new project together. As always I worked with Adam Kolodny, my DP and creative collaborator to bring this cross between an Eyes Wide Shut LA mansion party and the Great Northern Hotel to life." Last week, the band performed the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbertand CBS' This Morning, where they also performed "Didn't Know What I Was In For" and "My City."
In addition to the video, the band are sharing details of a spring tour of the United States and Europe. The North American leg of the tour begins on March 8th in Tucson, before making stops in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago and many more cities before culminating in a performance in Phoenix on April 13th. See all tour dates below.
Music News- THE VEGABONDS are bringing viewers on the road with them in the video for their single “Best I Can” from newly released album V (via Blue Élan Records, 1/18/19). View the video below that premiered Friday (1/25).
For the urgent and fiery song, the Nashville-based alternative southern rock band – fronted by lead vocalist and songwriterDaniel Allen, with Richard Forehand(lead guitar/vocals), Paul Bruens(bass), Beau Cooper(keys/vocals), and Bryan Harris(drums) rounding out the quintet–joined forces with director Adam Porter, whose credits include Jimmy Eat World’s video for “I Will Steal You Back.” He engagingly captures the band-now celebrating a decade of making music together with over 1,000 live shows–onstage and behind the scenes in Charlotte, Augusta, Birmingham, Atlanta, Nashville, Richmond, DC, and New York.
“We wanted to give you an all access, behind the scenes look at our fast paced life on the road,” says frontman Daniel Allen. “The travel, the food, the downtime, our badass fans, and most importantly the Rock n Roll! This video, that our very talented buddy Adam Porter captured, has it all. We hope to see you on Vegabonds tour very soon.”
The song “Best I Can,” says Daniel, is “about self-realization and being okay with who you are. It’s about pushing limits, loving hard, and never backing down when the odds are against you. Everyone I know lives this song every day.”
He further explains that “Best I Can” was “written in a hustle mindset. It’s about making goals and pushing through until you achieve them. We started our journey as a band in the midst of a national recession in 2009 and work was sometimes hard to find. That’s where the line ‘I ain’t scared of the work, I’m scared when the work ain’t there’ came from. We’ve always had big aspirations for the evolution of our band and where we want to go. We also know it takes some serious work ethic to get there. Everyone wants a purpose in life and something that makes us feel whole, and this song embodies the struggle we sometimes face on that road to fulfillment.”
Music News- Toto have released a brand new lyric video for their new tune, "Devil's Tower." The track is off of the California classic rockers' recent box set "All In".
Steve Lukather recently shared the some background details on the new single, which has be released at most streaming services and digitally released as a single. He said; "We originally recorded this track with Mike and Jeff Porcaro back in 1981 during the sessions for TOTO IV. "We never recorded a lead vocal or had lyrics for this one, so Joseph finished it up for us recently."
Music News- NJ's Gerard Way releases new track today via Reprise Records. You likely recognize it simply from the title, “Hazy Shade of Winter.” Gerard covered the track in honor of the new upcoming Netflix show, “The Umbrella Academy,” which is being used in the show’s new trailer which just came out today. It features fan favorite guitarist, Ray Toro.
The Umbrella Academy is based on the popular, Eisner award-winning comics and graphic novels created and written by Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance), illustrated by Gabriel Bá, and published by Dark Horse Comics. The live-action series stars Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, David Castañeda, Aidan Gallagher, Cameron Britton, and Mary J. Blige, and is produced by Universal Cable Productions for Netflix. Steve Blackman (Fargo, Altered Carbon) will serve as executive producer and showrunner, with additional executive producers Jeff F. King (Hand of God), Bluegrass Television, and Mike Richardson and Keith Goldberg from Dark Horse Entertainment. Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá will serve as co-executive producers. The show will premiere February 15, 2019.
Music News- Gin Blossoms; Robin Wilson(lead vocals & guitar), Jesse Valenzuela(vocals & guitar), Scott Johnson (guitar) and Bill Leen(bass), have unveiled a striking video for “Mega Pawn King,” one of the highlights from their 2018 critically acclaimed album album, MIXED REALITY (produced and mixed by Don Dixon and recorded by Mitch Easter). View the video here.
The beautifully panoramic video–premiered by Guitar Player Magazine and was filmed in Arizona and Utah by lead singer Robin Wilson using GoPro cameras attached to his guitar. These action shots–for which Robin literally did hundreds of takes–show the rugged landscape of the GIN BLOSSOMS’ home state of Arizona from the point-of-view of Robin’s guitar. “It was filmed,” explains Robin, “on location in three U.S. National Parks–Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Parks, while participating in a charity event, Rock The Canyons 2018 with the Love Hope Strength Foundation, a charity that supports people battling cancer. I have been a supporter of LHS since 2009, and with LHS have been twice to the summit of Kilimanjaro and to Everest base camp.” Love Hope Strength Foundation
“Mega Pawn King” was written by Gin Blossoms bassist Bill Leen. “This is one of Bill’s finest ever songs,” says Robin. “In my mind it is a mashup of R.E.M. and The Rolling Stones. While recording, it became clear this was one of the strongest and most meaningful songs on our album.
While the song has lyrics like “Your declining neighborhood looks beautiful the way it should/Wouldn’t change you at all, wouldn’t make you brand new,” it was filmed in wide open spaces to give the song a different dimension. Says Robin: “I felt lyrics like ‘There are places that are fine without me around’ lent themselves perfectly to the scenery. On the outro,” Robin elaborates, “Bill originally had me singing NA NA NA NA, but I told him that I felt it was boring and lazy to sing NA NA’s and FA LA LA’S. I suggested we write some lyrics together for the outro, and Bill said something to the effect of “I got this.” The lyrics he wrote for the outro–“DON’T RESIST IT. DON’T RESENT IT. DON’T REMEMBER. DON’T FORGET IT”–are among his finest ever and is a great example of bandmates working together and pushing each other to make something great.” Robin adds: I was moved to include a photograph of Bill’s handwritten lyrics on the interior of our album cover, and now have them tattooed on my forearm. “
GIN BLOSSOMS recently announced a new leg of U.S. tour dates in 2019, running from February8 through March9. Billed as “NewMiserable Experience Live” and presented by the SiriusXMLithium channel, the tour follows a successful run of dates in 2018 when the band celebrated the 25th anniversary of their multi-platinum album breakthrough album NEW MISERABLE EXPERIENCE by performing it in its entirety, along with other GIN BLOSSOMS classics and more.
The 2019 dates, bringing the band to such cities as New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin and Houston, will again raise a glass to the 1992 album that spawned such classic hits as “Hey Jealousy,” “Found About You” and “Allison Road.” Tickets for the shows are on sale now, and the band has VIP packages available that include a ticket, early entry into the venue, and a private acoustic performance by the band. Details for the VIP packages are available where tickets are sold.
Music News- Billy Bragg‘s 2019 USA tour, named “One Step Forward. Two Steps Back,” has already begun to sell out with tickets for his three-night stand in Seattle completely gone. Limited quantities remain for the rest of the tour.
At each stop, Bragg will perform three unique shows over as many nights. The first performance will feature Bragg’s current set, which ranges across his 35 year career. The second performance will see Bragg perform songs from his first three albums: his punk-charged debut Life’s a Riot with Spy Vs Spy(1983), its similarly utilitarian follow-up Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984) and Talking with the Taxman about Poetry (1986). The third performance will see Bragg perform songs from his second three albums: the positively jangled Workers Playtime (1988), pop classic Don’t Try This at Home (1991) and the back-to-basics William Bloke (1996). Prior to the launch of the tour Bragg will perform along with Jason Isbell, Emmylou Harris, Dawes and others as part of the February, 2019 Cayamo Cruise.
"After 35 years of travelling around America in a van, or spending day after day flying vast distances to play a gig, I’m looking forward to having some time to explore cities that I usually only get to see between the soundcheck and the show. And this three night stand format is a way of keeping things interesting, both for me and the audience. I tried it out in Toronto last year and had a lot of fun revisiting my back pages." said Billy of the tour.
Billy Bragg has been a fearless recording artist, tireless live performer and peerless political campaigner for over 35 years. Politicized by a Tory government operating without love or justice, this previously adrift young man from Barking, England, whose failure at national exams had reduced his career opportunities to two, eventually bought himself out of the British Army in 1981 (‘the best £175 I ever spent’), determined to make a living out of song.
Governments rise and fall, fashions come and go, pop stars are built up and knocked down by a fickle media, and Billy Bragg adapts to survive: the one-time Luddite and failed handyman has embraced New Media and engages with fans directly via Facebook and Twitter, uploading songs when a headline strikes. His enemies remain essentially the same: craven politicians, inhumane corporations, plus assorted racists, fascists, bullies, reactionaries and people with floppy fringes.
Don’t miss the orator, entertainer, rabble-rouser, negotiator, pamphleteer, the fabled ‘Bard of Barking,’ Billy Bragg, across three extraordinary evenings.
Music News- On April 12, Yep Roc Records will be releasing Eli “Paperboy” Reed’s 99 Cent Dreams, the self-penned, twelve-song follow-up to his “inspired, raw and powerful” (NPR) 2016 release My Way Home. Recorded in Memphis at the iconic Sam Phillips Recording studio with acclaimed young producer Matt Ross-Spang (Margo Price, Jason Isbell) and background vocals from legendary Memphis vocal group The Masqueraders, 99 Cent Dreams goes deeper than any previous Eli release, while maintaining a freewheeling ease that also makes it the most rewarding listen in his catalog. As he deploys his pulse-pounding, rafter-raising voice and keen observational sense to reflect on new fatherhood, and his first decade cutting records, the Brooklyn singer delivers an uplifting, exuberant, and horn-drenched testament to life’s winding road.
Photo Credit: Roberto Chamorro
And, Eli teamed with one of his heroes Big Daddy Kane last year for an alternate version of the title track and an accompanying instant-classic video. Check it out below-
Music News - Since forming in 2013, New York City’s Future Punx have earned a reputation as one of the city’s most explosively exciting bands. Synergizing the most infectious sounds of post-punk, new wave and mutant disco, the quartet coined a new genre with the title of their 2015 debut LP This Is Post-Wave. While drawing on the timeless influences of DEVO, Talking Heads, and Orange Juice, the sensory overload experience of their live performances ushered in a new musical dawn. Combining mesmerizing visuals with propulsive electronic beats, scorching instrumentation, and never repeating set lists, they imagine a utopia where ravers, punks, and hippies can all peacefully co-exist.
Three years after their last release, Future Punx return with The World Is A Mess EP, recorded with Andrew Chugg (Pop. 1280, Pill, Crinkles) and set for release via Modern Sky USA with a special edition through their own imprint, Dull Tools. Starkly juxtaposed with the sci-fi fantasies of their earlier output, these songs are grounded firmly in the present political moment. While they still believe in the uniting power of getting down on the dance floor or ripping out a Robert Fripp style guitar solo, their lyrics now focus on acknowledging and battling white supremacy (“Society Implies”) or toxic masculinity (“F Boys”), before closing with a perfectly fitting cover of X’s “The World’s A Mess, It’s In My Kiss.” “These songs were written in response to the state of the world and our current political reality,” explains singer/bassist Chris Pickering. “It’s very current events oriented whereas everything we’ve done before was futurist sci-fi. Shit got so real and fucked up in the last couple of years that we can’t even imagine a utopian future any more.”
Music News- Rock guitarist (Genesis) Steve Hackett has released a video for his new single Beasts In Our Time.
You can view it below as well as hear the tune on his upcoming studio album At The Edge Of Light, which releases next Friday (January 25) on CD, 2LP/CD, on digital platforms, as well as on Mediabook CD/DVD, which will contain 5.1 surround sound mix and a behind-the-scenes documentary.
Hackett said recently: “Beasts In Our Time is the main thrust of this album, exposing fear, greed and intolerance. The eagle in the video symbolizes the hatred and violence which nationalism breeds… and the clown, deceptive, destructive forces which masquerade as fun and innocuous." “We live in dangerous times where we stand on the edge of an abyss, but there is still the hope that the light of compassion can still win through.”
Music News- Multi-platinum singer songwriter Hozier has announced his much-anticipated new album Wasteland, Baby!, set for release on March 1 via Rubyworks/Island.
The album also follows Hozier’s recent Nina Cried Power EP. The EP, which features multi-Grammy award winning artist and performer Mavis Staples and instrumentation by renowned Grammy Life Time Achievement Award recipient Booker T. Jones, has been streamed over 26 million times since its release in September 2018.
The title track of the EP also opens Wasteland, Baby! and has already proved incredibly successful for Hozier. President Barack Obama included the song in his favorite songs of 2018 playlist and the track was the subject of the Song Exploder podcast’s first episode of 2019. And, now we have a new song from the soulful Irish singer called "Almost (Sweet Music)", listen below-
Speaking about the release of Wasteland, Baby! Hozier said recently: “I’m thrilled to announce my new album Wasteland, Baby! The album has been over a year in the making and it’s a pleasure to finally turn out my pockets and share the work. I want to sincerely thank fans and listeners for their continued support in between the records. See you out on the road soon.”
Current single Movement is another key track on Wasteland, Baby! In only two months the track has been streamed over 20.8 million times and has fast become a firm fan favorite at Hozier’s live shows.
Following the success of his most recent UK tour, Hozier is set to announce the European leg of the upcoming global Wasteland, Baby! tour with dates scheduled throughout the rest of 2019. Pre-order the new album Wasteland, Baby! Full tour dates and cities will be announced in February via https://store.hozier.com
Hozier first rose to prominence following the release of his globally successful, triple platinum single Take Me To Church. The track was nominated for ‘Song Of The Year’ at the 2015 Grammy Awards, won ‘Song Of The Year’ at the 2015 Ivor Novello Awards, won ‘Song Of The Year’ at the 2015 BBC Music Awards and won ‘Top Rock Song’ at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, where Hozier also won ‘Top Rock Artist’. Take Me To Church has sold 2.23 million copies in the UK to date. Hozier also saw great success with Someone New, which went gold and Cherry Wine and From Eden both being certified silver.
Wasteland, Baby! is the follow up to Hozier’s critically acclaimed self–titled debut album, which has now amassed over 2.1 billion streams on Spotify alone, while his total, global Spotify Playlist reach currently sits at over 71 million. The album has sold over 850 thousand copies in the UK, going platinum in the process, while the record has sold 4 million copies worldwide. Hozier received a nomination for ‘Best International Male’ at the 2015 Brit Awards.
Wasteland, Baby! is released on March 1 on Rubyworks/Island.
Full Wasteland, Baby! tracklisting- 1 - Nina Cried Power (featuring Mavis Staples) 2 - Almost (Sweet Music) 3 - Movement 4 - No Plan 5 - Nobody 6 - To Noise Making (Sing) 7 - As It Was 8 - Shrike 9 - Talk Refined 10 - Be 11 - Dinner & Diatribes 12 - Would That I 13 - Sunlight 14 - Wasteland, Baby!
Music News- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Ann and Nancy Wilson first showed the world that women can rock when their band, Heart, stormed the charts in the '70's with hits like "Crazy On You,""Magic Man,""Barracuda,""Straight On,"and so many more.
A night no one would ever forget was the night Heart performed on VH1's "Decades Rock Live" back in 2006. It was an evening that brought together various stars around the two brightest shining stars of Heart. This show has been living on in the memory of music fans ever since and will now finally see its release on LP/CD/DVD/Blu-ray. "Live In Atlantic City" pays tribute to and celebrates the band's legacy with the help of an incredible range of artists and friends, to keep this magical night of celebrating music and friendship alive for all eternity.
And what a night it was! The guest list of performers formed a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for itself, including country music star Carrie Underwood, Jane's Addiction founding member and former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro, country singer-songwriter Gretchen Wilson and Canadian-American singer-songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright. An exceptional highlight of the show furthermore entails the return of renowned grunge rockers Alice In Chains with Duff McKagan joining his friends on stage!
Each guest artist had the chance to perform up to three songs together with the band. The track list includes gems like Heart's "Crazy On You", performed together with Dave Navarro and Alice In Chain's "Rooster" . A joined performance featuring all of the guest artists of "Barracuda" rounded up this monumental show, which will now finally be released on audio as well as visual formats for the world to enjoy.
Music News- On March 22nd, Strand of Oaks (Timothy Showalter) will return with his 6th album, Eraserland to be released via Dead Oceans . The album features the lead single, “ Weird Ways ” out today. Listen HERE, or below.
On Eraserland , Showalter is backed by My Morning Jacket members Carl Broemel , Bo Koster , Patrick Hallahan and Tom Blankenship , who played a crucial role in the making of the album. The album also features Jason Isbell . It was produced by Kevin Ratterman and recorded at La La Land Studios in Louisville, KY. Eraserland is available for pre-order today and the die cut, double LP will be available on limited cloudy white vinyl.
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