Taylor Week continues: The “Welcome to New York” singer unveiled the track list for 1989 Wednesday on Twitter.
The album includes already-released songs like “Shake It Off” and “Out of the Woods,” along with some unheard tracks with simplistic titles including “Style,” a song that couldn’t possibly be about her ex-beau Harry Styles, and “This Love,” which may or may not be a Maroon 5 cover. (Hey, she is appearing on The Voice this season.) READ FULL STORY
With reports that Jennifer Lopez may be signing a two-year deal to perform at Planet Hollywood’s The Axis—at a whopping $310,000 per show, no less—the buzz has begun about what to expect from a potential residency. Though Lopez’s publicist could not confirm the booking at time of press, the rumored residency would land Lopez in the theater currently occupied by Britney Spears. And, after nearly 10 months at her sit-down, Britney could teach J.Lo a few things about how to put on a great show.
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In the two years since his single “MLLN DLLR” put him on the map Brooklyn beat maker Antonio Cuna, a.k.a. Sweater Beats, has accumulated an enviable list of co-signs from important figures in EDM and hip-hop, the two genres that he blends in his music to giddy, effervescent effect. He’s been big-upped by Diplo, performed for Boiler Room, and toured with Chet Faker, Flume, and Chicago star-in-the-making Chance the Rapper, who he’s on the road with right now.
Next Tuesday, Oct. 28, the Huh What & Where label will release a free-to-download EP entitled Cloud City that whips together club rap, trap music, a little electropop, and a touch of ambient atmosphere into four frothy tracks that bang hard but stay airy and light. Until then, you can stream it here.
Stars, co-led by Torquil Campbell and Broken Social Scene’s Amy Millan, are most known for their earnest, indie rock that’s been featured on shows built for that exact type of music: “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead,” their sad and dreamy 2007 single, has been featured on The O.C., One Tree Hill, and Degrassi: The Next Generation.
But their latest album, No One Is Lost, is a departure from those pretty tunes and a step toward ’70s disco.
Unlike the album, though, which came out Oct. 14, Campbell’s EW playlist doesn’t quite have a theme: Instead, it’s a collection of the singer’s favorite songs, ranging from a ’90s Michael Jackson track to a minutes-long spoken word piece by Prefab Sprout member Paddy McAloon.
There’s nothing like unrequited Coachella love that really sets off that button of teenage angst.
Jaden Smith compiled all that wisdom seen in his amusing Twitter feed and put it together in the lyrics for his angsty music video for “Blue Ocean,” which borrows the melody from Justin Timberlake’s “Blue Ocean Floor.” The video, directed by friend Moises Arias, features Smith hanging with his rat pack of L.A. cohorts, including rumored on-again, off-again girlfriend, fling, whatever, Kylie Jenner, as Smith emotes heavily on a girl who he met at Coachella.
Jessica Dobson has spent the past few years as a guitarist for hire, with a résumé that includes stints playing with Beck, The Shins, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon, and The Divine Fits. Deep Sea Diver is her outlet for her own music, which trades the jangly guitars of the bands she’s been playing with for a more electronics-based sound and a songwriting style that combines quirky indie-pop with more dance floor-oriented stuff.
The video for the band’s new single “One by One” from their recent EP Always Waiting was directed by its drummer (and Dobson’s husband) Peter Mansen. It’s Mansen’s first attempt at shooting a music video but it has an interesting concept: Those large fields of color throughout it were chosen by fans of the band who have a type of synesthesia that lets them experience different sounds as specific colors. The dancer is Mansen’s younger brother, who combines a 6’10” frame with a very unique dance style.
In the three decades since Oklahoma psych-rock icons the Flaming Lips formed, they’ve made no secret of their love for twee, trippy antics. They’re particularly infamous for their over-the-top live shows, in which they perform in Martian or animal costumes and shower the audience with confetti while singer Wayne Coyne rolls over the crowd in a giant plastic bubble.
The Lips are fond of experimentation offstage as well, recording not just 13 studio albums but a slew of limited-edition releases and collaborations, including 2010’s song-for-song cover of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and a 2011 EP that was stored on a flash drive inside a gummy human skull. They’ve also dabbled in film, with projects like the bonkers 2008 holiday film Christmas on Mars and an inscrutable, NSFW five-minute short film, released earlier this year, called “Blonde SuperFreak Steals the Magic Brain.” In it, Miley Cyrus smokes a joint, a nude woman is sprayed with glitter, and Coyne sings from within a massive cardboard rainbow.
There’s plenty of kid-friendly Halloween-themed music out there, but sometimes you’re in the mood for songs that’ll actually give you the chills. (No offense intended, “Monster Mash” and “A Nightmare on My Street.”)
When you’re ready to take your party from turnt-up to terrifying, try this playlist of creepy tunes. They range from songs about serial killers (Neko Case’s “Deep Red Bells” concerns the Green River Killer, while “John Wayne Gacy” memorializes America’s preeminent nightmare-inducing clown) to traditional Appalachian murder ballads (“Down in the Willow Garden,” a folk song that dates back to the 19th century, is covered here by Green Day’s frontman and the eternally mellow Norah Jones). This is the perfect soundtrack for a goth gathering or a Halloween night at home alone, while you check—and double-check—to make sure your doors are locked. READ FULL STORY
In recent years, garage rock has enjoyed a renaissance. Criminal Hygiene is just the latest group to shred in a totally old-school, totally awesome way. Now they’ve put out a new single and—no surprises—it rocks.
While Ty Segall bathes his melodies in distortion and groups like WAND go for lo-fi psychedelia, Criminal Hygiene opts for clarity on “Turpentine.” The track’s first section is a slow groove, completely with strummed acoustic guitar and thumping bass—more or less a Mikal Cronin song, except with a punkier vocal snarl. “Turpentine” then explodes into the garage-style freakout fans of the genre have come to know and love; some of this riffs here sound like Jimmy Page ditched the studio and grabbed a surfboard.
Next month, Criminal Hygiene will embark on a brief West Coast tour with garage comrades Twin Peaks and Meatbodies. Check out “Turpentine” and tour dates below:
Tour Dates:
11/11 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room
11/12 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
11/13 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
11/15 – San Francisco, OR – Bottom of the Hill
11/17 – Portland, OR – Slabtown
11/18 – Vancouver, BC – Electric Owl
11/19 – Seattle, WA – Vera Project
11/20 – Spokane, WA – The Bartlett
11/21 – Boise, ID – The Crux
11/25 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
The lead-up to Taylor Swift’s 1989 keeps moving along, now with a preview of another new song lodged in a Target commercial for the deluxe edition of the album.
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