Going to see Devendra Banhart live tonight! Got a backstage pass, will tell you guys all about it tomorrow. :)
G.O.O.D. Friday, indeed: Kanye West premiered his new single and corresponding video across the world on Friday night. Projected onto 66 different buildings in North America, Europe, and Australia, “New Slaves” marks the first taste of his long-awaited sixth solo album, the follow-up to 2010′s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Update: It appears Frank Ocean, and not Kanye West, is the one singing toward the end of the song. As Frank’s mother Katonya Breaux Riley wrote on Twitter, “What’d you think about the new Kanye video? Recognize voice at the end?…”
Courtesy of Consequence of Sound, they shot this video of the projection at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Check out the projection from Williamsburg, Brookyln here.
Presumably, Kanye will perform “New Slaves” on the season finale of Saturday Night Live tomorrow night, where he scheduled to appear as the musical guest.
West reportedly recorded the as-yet-titled album in Paris alongside a number of guest contributors — everyone from Daft Punk and TNGHT to Chief Keef and Azealia Banks.
(Source: CoS)
Sigur Rós appear on The Simpsons this weekend, as animated characters and the ethereal music serving as the episode’s soundtrack. Up above is a really great promo poster, shared by the band’s label XL Recordings (via Pitchfork).
The band wrote of their participation in the episode:
sigur rós have scored part of an upcoming episode of the simpsons. the episode, which will feature new, original music by sigur rós, as well as their take on the simpsons’ theme song, will air on may 19th. in the episode, entitled “the saga of carl,” homer, moe, lenny, and carl team up to buy a winning lottery ticket, but after carl snags the ticket and flees to his home country of iceland, the guys head there in hot pursuit. the band’s music scores homer’s visit to iceland, marking an unprecedented musical collaboration between the show and a band; with this episode, sigur rós have written and performed more original music for the simpsons than any other outside band in the show’s history.
(Source: CoS)
Estranged New Order co-founder and bassist Peter Hook will return stateside this fall for another dip into the nostalgia well. This time around, he’s graduating from Joy Division and, instead, performing full albums by New Order: their 1981 debut, Movement, and its followup, 1983′s Power, Corruption & Lies.
The tour kicks off on September 10th at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club and wraps later that month at Colorado’s Gothic Theatre. However, those who prefer their subscription to Ian Curtis should head to Chicago’s Riot Fest, where Hook will perform an all Joy Division set — he just couldn’t resist. Consult the full itinerary below.
Peter Hook and The Light 2013 Tour Dates:
09/10 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
09/13 – New York City, NY @ Webster Hall
09/14 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero
09/13-15 – Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest *
09/18 – Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
09/19 – Toronto, ON @ The Hoxton
09/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre
09/23 – Vancouver, BC @ Venue
09/25 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
09/26 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
09/27 – San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine
09/28 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
* = Joy Division set
(Source: CoS)
It’s been a big year for Rush. Last month the prog-rock icons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; now, two of the band’s past labels are reissuing their entire catalog on iTunes. Rush: The Complete Mercury Years and Rush: The Studio Albums 1989-2007, from Universal Music Enterprises and Atlantic Records respectively, have been remastered with “increased audio fidelity, more closely replicating what the artists, recording engineers, and producers intended.”
The Complete Mercury Years features 12 albums released under the Mercury label, from 1974′s self-titled debut to 1989′s live record A Show of Hands. The complete collection includes Fly by Night, Caress of Steel, 2112 (Deluxe Edition), All the World’s a Stage (live), A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Exit… Stage Left (live), Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire.
Meanwhile, Atlantic’s The Studio Albums 1989-2007 collects seven albums: Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts, Test for Echo, Vapor Trails, Feedback, and Snakes & Arrows.
The collections can now be purchased on iTunes as entire packages, individual albums, or single songs. Rush’s most recent record, Clockwork Angels, is also still available from Anthem/Roadrunner.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which also honored Public Enemy, Randy Newman, and Donna Summer, will be presented on HBO tonight at 9:00 PM (EST).
(Source: CoS)
Interlocken is a new four-day music festival, set for September 5th – 8th in Central Virgina, “with an emphasis on world class music, locally sourced food and sustainability.” The inaugural lineup is headlined by Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Grateful Dead offshoot Furthur, and The Black Crowes, who’ll appear alongside Zac Brown Band, The String Cheese Incident, and many more artists still to be announced. According to a press release, many of the artists will be performing over multiple days, and will be featured in unique pairings. There will also be no overlapping sets.
“Most festivals these days are trying to be everything to everyone — very eclectic with an emphasis on a large number of artists in various genres,” says festival founder Peter Shapiro. “With Interlocken, we want to break away from that mold and create something more identifiable and distinct.”
The festival’s website will begin selling “artist pre-sale” tickets on May 22nd and “early bird” tickets on May 23rd.
(Source: CoS)
The Wu-Tang Clan reunion is going strong, with a 20th anniversary album called A Better Tomorrow planned for this year, and a hologram of Ol’ Dirty Bastard joining the Clan on stage for their performances at Rock the Bells. It’s been a while since we’ve heard new material under the Wu-Tang banner, but you can now check an unreleased track titled “Execution in Autumn”.
Taken from “the personal vaults of the RZA,” the track features verses from Inspectah Deck, Raekwon, RZA and U-God in a tag-team, old school feel that brings back all kinds of memories of their first album 36 Chambers.
“Execution in Autumn” is also being released on a physical 7″ (b/w the instrumental) on a pay what you can basis until May 31st. Throw down whatever you think is fair for some Wu-Tang vinyl right here.
Pop the champagne: Italians Do It Better have finally released the follow-up to 2007′s After Dark compilation — ahem, After Dark II. The 16-track compilation features new music from Chromatics, Glass Candy, Desire, and a variety of other Johnny Jewel-related projects.
“The last five years have been a blur of art & parties,” Jewel explained recently. “This record represents the people we’ve connected with along the way…in Moscow, in Mexico, in Barcelona, in London, in Portland, in Montreal, in Melbourne, in Houston, in Berlin, in Beijing, in Los Angeles, in Dublin, in Athens… I am so excited to finally be sharing it with you.”
After Dark II is currently available for download via iTunes. The label also has plans to release the album as a triple LP on gold-glittered vinyl in the near future.
After Dark II Tracklist:
01. Glass Candy – “Warm in the Winter”
02. Mirage – “Let’s Kiss”
03. Desire – “The Nightshift”
04. Appaloosa – “Fill the Blanks”
05. Glass Candy – “Pain Relief Is Fun”
06. Chromatics – “House of Models”
07. Symmetry – “Heart of Darkness”
08. Twisted Wires – “Half Lives”
09. Glass Candy – “The Possessed”
10. Desire – “Tears From Heaven”
11. Chromatics – “Johanna”
12. Farah – “Into Eternity”
13. Mirage – “Lucifer”
14. Glass Candy – “Soft Celebration”
15. Chromatics – “Looking for Love”
16. Glass Candy – “The Price”
(Source: CoS)
Kanye West is the musical guest on the season finale of Saturday Night Live this weekend. For a guy who says he “ain’t doing no motherfucking SNL skits,” he sure as hell has no problem playing along in this promo video with host Ben Affleck and cast member Fred Armisen. If you’re confused by the Band-Aid, click here.
Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd returns tonight with the title track to his new album, Kiss Land. It’s a hyper-sexual seven-and-a-half minute track that’s as sinister as it is psychedelic. Take a listen above.
Earlier this week, Abel released a short snippet of another new song, “John Carpenter”.
Kiss Land marks the proper studio follow-up to his mixtape trilogy of House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. The album is due out later this year.
