For old Smiths fan like us, anything new from one Stephen Patrick Morrissey is always cause for interest, if not necessarily celebration – we’re resigned to the fact that nothing he makes now is going to rival the glory days of The Smiths, but nevertheless, his solo material is still worth hearing. As such, we were excited to hear that he performed three new songs on BBC Radio 2 today, and that these songs are now available online to stream for your listening pleasure. See what we made of them after the jump. (And also click through for new stuff from Brian Eno and Flying Lotus.)
Yesterday the good folks over at Stereogum posted their 20 favorite covers performed by Radiohead. It’s a fine compilation, and well worth downloading – among other things, it reveals that the ‘Head love Neil Young, as there are five different Young songs included, along with covers of songs by Can, Björk, Magazine, Portishead, and various others (including Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy,” curiously). Anyway, it got us thinking about the natural corollary to this – covers and reinterpretations of Radiohead songs performed by other people. Here are ten of our favorites from over the years (note: this list does not include Amanda Palmer and her ukulele).
Yes, it’s 4/20, which means that stoners the world over are rejoicing over having a vaguely legitimate reason to get colossally baked this afternoon. There are plenty of songs out there about weed (we’re looking at you, Snoop), but they don’t necessarily make the best soundtrack for celebrating the herb -– so we’ve thoughtfully composed a psychedelic stoner mixtape that moves through a range of genres in the hope of providing a fine old soundtrack to some extracurricular pursuits this afternoon. (We’ve tried to go for selections that aren’t blindingly obvious –- with one exception -– so no Bob Marley, or Grateful Dead.)
This weekend marks the return of the Electric Zoo festival to New York’s Randall’s Island. Last year’s inaugural edition proved the viability of a full-scale two-day dance-music event on the East Coast, and after the overwhelming response, the organizers are bringing it back twice as strong. Whether you’re in the area and planning to attend, or just want to get your dance on this Labor Day weekend, we’ve compiled a mixtape of recent tracks by many of the performing artists to get you in the right groove. You’re probably familiar enough with marquee names the Chemical Brothers and Armin van Buuren already, so we’re presenting some of our other faves, from Major Lazer and A-Trak to the Glitch Mob and Flying Lotus. Listen to the full mix after the jump and tell us who rings your bell the loudest.
It’s Yom Kippur, and many of us have the day off from work. You could spend the day atoning. Or you could check out some of best and least-MTV friendly music videos to come out over the last couple years.
Just over a week ago, German shock-industrialists Rammstein — remember their US hit “Du Hast”? — premiered their most recent video, “Pussy,” online. The clip, directed Jonas Åkerlund, plays with typical music video stuff (strippers, S&M), before ending with several graphic sex scenes. MTV-friendly? Absolutely not. But it doesn’t matter.
Earlier Åkerlund videos, like Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up,” were relegated to one or two plays on MTV after midnight. But thanks to streaming online video, bands don’t have to worry about finding an audience for their more adventurous visuals. Check out some of our favorite, wildly not safe for work, music videos after the jump, and link us to what we missed in the comments. Read More »
Say what you will about the glitch-hop gang, but SoCal’s experimental beatmakers are riding a wave the likes of which hasn’t been seen since trip-hop’s mid-’90s ascent. And while lines can easily be traced between Flying Lotus and producers like Ras G, Samiyam, and Take, there are just as many less-easily categorized MIDI warriors bashing the android rhythms out.
Chief among them is Jason Chung, who continues to sling bangers and mash under the name Nosaj Thing. While plenty of folks assume he’s yet another Fly Lo disciple, you’d be better off filing his music alongside Burial, Plaid, Black Dog, or even good ol’ J.S. Bach. On Chung’s Alpha Pup release, Drift, impressionist classical nuances share space with brittle percussion and drum rhythms. The Danny Elfman fan and former music-store employee chatted up our sister publication Earplug, explaining how he was inspired by The Smell, what it’s like to roll with Flying Lotus, and what the chat room beatmaking scene is all about.
