The Sonder Bombs have returned with a new single called ‘The Star’, marking the Cleveland band’s first new music since 2021’s Clothbound. Give it a listen below.
Discussing the new song, the band’s Willow Hawks said:
I wrote this song almost in a panic. It sprang from me. The past year, I’ve been struggling pretty severely with my mental health and so it came from being completely submerged in that pain for long periods at a time. I was getting to a point where I wasn’t sure I wanted to be here or if it would ever get better. In the past, I’ve used music and art to move through these moments. More recently my relationship with music has been pretty complicated. On one hand, its an incredibly beautiful and rewarding and comforting way to process my emotions. I get to travel with my friends and play shows. I have community. It is a gift. On the other hand, I have severe mental illness working against me & there’s so much self doubt that goes into everything I make. After our second record, I felt like such an abject failure & I definitely didn’t feel like I deserved to pursue the dream anymore. Like I had wasted my opportunity & potential. For me, “The Star” represents a guiding sense of hope that pulled me out of the darkest and deepest parts of myself. It took making this song to realize that for me, the guiding force is music.
The Flaming Lips have announced a 20th anniversary reissue of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. A 6xCD box set will be released on November 25, featuring 50 previously unreleased tracks and “dozens of rare tracks,” among them B-sides, demos, remixes, radio sessions, two concerts, and other rarities. A 56-track, 5xLP set will follow on April 14, 2023, which will include “40 tracks never released on vinyl and over 30 previously unreleased tracks,” according to a press release. There will also be a limited edition pressed on Baby Pink vinyl. Check out the reissue details and listen to a live rendition of ‘Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell’ from XFM below.
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots: 20th Anniversary Edition will be available on all streaming services through Warner, and all tracks in the CD set that aren’t part of the initial vinyl reissue will be released on vinyl separately next year. In addition, the Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell and Fight Test EPs will come out on vinyl for the first time in the spring of 2023. Flaming Lips will also play two anniversary shows, one in London on April 28 and another in Washington, DC on May 25.
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots: 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Tracklist:
6 CD Box Set
CD 1: Original Album, plus demos
1. Fight Test
2. One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21
3. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 1
4. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 2
5. In The Morning Of The Magicians
6. Ego Tripping At The Gates of Hell
7. Are You A Hypnotist
8. It’s Summertime
9. Do You Realize??
10. All We Have Is Now
11. Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon
12. All My Life – Morning Of The Magicians (Demo)
13. Ego Tripping Part 2 or 3 (Demo)
14. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Demo)
15. Hypnotist: Early Version (Demo)
16. Epic Systems Delirium (Demo)
17. In The Morning Of The Magicians (Demo)
18. Do You Realize?? (1st Chords Wayne) (Demo)
19. Do You Realize?? (Steven New Part) (Demo)
CD 2 – Fight Test and Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell EPs
Fight Test EP:
1. Fight Test
2. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (Live on KEXP)
3. The Golden Age (Live on CD 101)
4. Knives Out (Live on KCRW)
5. Do You Realize?? (Scott Hardkiss Remix)
6. The Strange Design of Conscience
7. Thank You Jack White (For The Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me)
Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell EP:
8. Assassination Of The Sun
9. I’m a Fly in a Sunbeam (Following the Funeral Procession of a Stranger)
10. Sunship Balloons
11. Do You Realize?? (T.P.S. Remix)
12. Ego Tripping (Ego in Acceleration) (Jason Bentley Remix)
13. Ego Tripping (Self Admiration with Blow-up Mix)
14. A Change at Christmas (Say It Isn’t So)
15. Ego Tripping at The Gates of Hell (Utah Saints Remix)
CD 3 – Non-LP+
1. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Japanese Language Version From The Japanese Edition of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots)
2. SpongeBob & Patrick Confront The Psychic Wall Of Energy (From The Spongebob SquarePants Movie)
3. Seven Nation Army (from LateNightTales: The Flaming Lips)
4. Go (Sparklehorse with The Flaming Lips) (Alternate Version From The Flaming Lips Archives)
5. Do You Realize?? (Live on CD 101)
6. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (AOL Session)
7. Waitin’ For A Superman (Live on WXPN)
8. In The Morning Of The Magicians (Live on KCRW)
9. White Christmas (Live on WXPN)
10. The Golden Path (The Chemical Brothers, feat. The Flaming Lips)
11. If I Go Mad/Funeral In My Head (B-Side of Do You Realize?? UK CD 1)
12. Syrtis Major (B-Side of Do You Realize?? UK CD 1)
13. Up Above The Daily Hum (B-Side of Do You Realize?? UK CD 2)
14. Xanthe Terra (B-Side of Do You Realize?? UK CD 2)
15. The Deterioration Of The Fight Or Flight Response (B-Side of Fight Test UK CD 1)
16. Fight Test (Live on WXRT, May 2nd, 2003)
17. Duck Dodgers Theme (Duck Dodgers Demo: With Wayne Scratch Vocal)
18. I Know I’ve Got To Make That Dream The Real Thing (demo)
19. Do You Realize?? (Instrumental)
20. Fight Test: Primitive Demo With Helium Voice (B-Side of Fight Test UK CD 2)
CD 4 – Radio Sessions
1. Suspicious Minds (Live on Cover-ed)
2. Assassination Of The Sun (Live on BBC Radio 1) (Maida Vale Session July 2002)
3. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (Live on BBC Radio 1) (Maida Vale Session July 2002)
4. Do You Realize?? (Live on BBC Radio 1) (Maida Vale Session July 2002)
5. One More Robot (Live on BBC Radio 1) (Maida Vale Session July 2002)
6. Do You Realize?? (Live on KEXP) (August 5, 2002)
7. One More Robot (Live on KEXP) (August 5, 2002)
8. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Live on KEXP) (August 5, 2002)
9. Do You Realize?? (Live on XFM) (July 11, 2002)
10. One More Robot (Live on XFM) (July 11, 2002)
11. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (Live on XFM) (July 11, 2002)
12. Fight Test (Live on XFM) (June 26, 2003)
13. Thank You Jack White (Live on XFM) (June 26, 2003)
14. Breathe (Live on XFM) (June 26, 2003)
15. Ego Tripping At The Gates of Hell (Live on XFM, November 11th, 2003)
16. Sunship Balloons (Live on XFM, November 11th, 2003)
17. Ego Tripping At The Gates of Hell (Live on BBC Radio 1) (Oct 31, 2003 Janice Long Show)
18. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Live on BBC Radio 1) (Oct 31, 2003 Janice Long Show)
19. Sunship Balloons (Live on BBC Radio 1) (Oct 31, 2003 Janice Long Show)
CD 5 – Live 2002+: Radio Broadcast WBOS (Live at the Paradise Lounge, Boston, October 27 2002), plus Yoshimi Demo
1. Introduction
2. The Golden Age
3. Wayne Intro 1
4. Lucifer Sam
5. Wayne Intro 2
6. Do You Realize??
7. Wayne Intro 3
8. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
9. Wayne Intro 4
10. Fight Test Intro
11. Fight Test
12. Psychedelic Hypnotist Daydream (Demo)
CD 6 – Live 2003: Radio Broadcast BBC (Live at The Forum, London, UK, January 22, 2003)
1. Introduction
2. Race For The Prize
3. Fight Test
4. Lucifer Sam
5. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
6. Lightning Strikes The Postman
7. In The Morning Of The Magicians
8. Happy Birthday
9. She Don’t Use Jelly
10. All We Have Is Now
11. Do You Realize??
12. Waitin’ For A Superman
13. A Spoonful Weighs A Ton
14. What Is The Light?
15. The Observer (Fade Out)
5 LP Vinyl Box Set
LP 1 – Original Album
Side 1
1. Fight Test
2. One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21
3. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 1
4. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 2
5. In The Morning Of The Magicians
Side 2
Ego Tripping At The Gates of Hell
Are You A Hypnotist
It’s Summertime
Do You Realize??
All We Have Is Now
Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon
LP 2 – Demos+
Side 3
All My Life – Morning Of The Magicians (Demo)
Ego Tripping Part 2 or 3 (Demo)
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Demo)
Hypnotist: Early Version (Demo)
Epic Systems Delirium (Demo)
In The Morning Of The Magicians (Demo)
Side 4
Do You Realize?? 1st Chords Wayne (Demo)
Do You Realize?? Steven New Part (Demo)
Fight Test: Primitive Demo With Helium Voice
If I Go Mad/Funeral In My Head (B-Side of Do You Realize?? UK CD 1)
Syrtis Major (B-Side of Do You Realize?? UK CD 1)
LP 3 – Non-LP+
Side 5
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Japanese Version)
SpongeBob & Patrick Confront The Psychic Wall Of Energy (From The Spongebob SquarePants Movie)
Seven Nation Army (From LateNightTales: The Flaming Lips)
Go (Sparklehorse with The Flaming Lips) (Alternate Version From the Flaming Lips Archives)
The Deterioration Of The Fight Or Flight Response (B-Side of Fight Test UK CD 1)
Fight Test (Live on WXRT)
Side 6
Do You Realize?? (Live on CD 101)
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (AOL Session)
Waitin’ For A Superman (Live on WXPN)
In The Morning Of The Magicians (Live on KCRW)
White Christmas (Live on WXPN)
The Golden Path (The Chemical Brothers, feat. The Flaming Lips)
LP 4 – Radio Sessions
Side 7
Suspicious Minds (Live on Cover-ed)
Assassination Of The Sun (Live on BBC Radio 1) Maida Vale Session July 2002
Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (Live on BBC Radio 1) Maida Vale Session July 2002
Do You Realize?? (Live on BBC Radio 1) Maida Vale Session July 2002
One More Robot (Live on BBC Radio 1) Maida Vale Session July 2002
Side 8
Do You Realize?? (Live on KEXP) Aug 5, 2002
One More Robot (Live on KEXP) Aug 5, 2002
Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (Live on KEXP) Aug 5, 2002
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Live on KEXP) Aug 5, 2002
Breathe (Live on XFM) June 26 2003
Ego Tripping At The Gates of Hell (Live on XFM) Nov 11, 2003
Sunship Balloons (Live on XFM) Nov 11, 2003
LP 5 – Radio Sessions+
Side 9
Fight Test (Live on XFM) June 26 2003
Thank You Jack White (Live on XFM) June 26 2003
Do You Realize?? (Live on XFM) July 11, 2002
One More Robot (Live on XFM) July 11, 2002
Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (Live on XFM) July 11, 2002
Side 10
1. Ego Tripping At The Gates of Hell (Live on BBC Radio 1) Oct 31, 2003 BBC Janice Long Show
2. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (Live on BBC Radio 1) Oct 31, 2003 BBC Janice Long Show
3. Sunship Balloons (Live on BBC Radio 1) Oct 31, 2003 BBC Janice Long Show
Up Above The Daily Hum (B-Side of Do You Realize?? UK CD 2)
Xanthe Terra (B-Side of Do You Realize?? UK CD 2)
Bruce Springsteen has announced a new covers album: Only the Strong Survive will be out November 11 via Columbia Records. The album is a celebration of soul music and sees the Boss taking on tracks from the catalogues of Motown, Gamble and Huff, Stax, and more. It also features guest vocals by Sam Moore, contributions from The E Street Horns, string arrangements by Rob Mathes, and backing vocals by Soozie Tyrell, Lisa Lowell, Michelle Moore, Curtis King Jr., Dennis Collins, and Fonzi Thornton. Check out Springsteen’s rendition of Frank Wilson’s ‘Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)’, along with a video directed by Thom Zimny, below.
“I wanted to make an album where I just sang,” Springsteen commented in a press release. “And what better music to work with than the great American songbook of the Sixties and Seventies? I’ve taken my inspiration from Levi Stubbs, David Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin, the Iceman Jerry Butler, Diana Ross, Dobie Gray and Scott Walker, among many others. I’ve tried to do justice to them all—and to the fabulous writers of this glorious music. My goal is for the modern audience to experience its beauty and joy, just as I have since I first heard it. I hope you love listening to it as much as I loved making it.”
Only the Strong Survive, which follows 2020’s Letter to You, was recorded at Thrill Hill Recording in New Jersey with producer Ron Aniello. It was engineered by Rob Lebret and executive produced by Jon Landau.
Only the Strong Survive Cover Artwork:
Only the Strong Survive Tracklist:
1. Only the Strong Survive
2. Soul Days feat. Sam Moore
3. Nightshift
4. Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
5. The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore
6. Turn Back the Hands of Time
7. When She Was My Girl
8. Hey, Western Union Man
9. I Wish It Would Rain
10. Don’t Play That Song
11. Any Other Way
12. I Forgot to Be Your Lover [feat. Sam Moore]
13. 7 Rooms of Gloom
14. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
15. Someday We’ll Be Together
Ahead of the release of their new album The Will to Live tomorrow (September 30), Titus Andronicus have shared one final single off the LP. ‘Baby Crazy’ follows earlier offerings ‘We’re Coming Back’, ‘(I’m) Screwed’, ‘Give Me Grief’, and ‘An Anomaly’, and it comes paired with a lyric video. Check it out below.
“As inscrutable as some of my artistic choices may sometimes appear, I do wish to be understood, as communication is the purpose of all art,” Stickles said of ‘Baby Crazy’ in a statement. ““This led me to approach this song as something of a user’s guide for the album, wherein I explicate as clearly as I can the meaning behind the recurring symbology I utilise throughout – the mother, the father, the baby, etc. It is my hope that this will lead the listener to a richer listening experience… or they can just tap their foot to it, whatever works.”
Mac Wetha, of the NiNE8 Collective, has enlisted spill tab for the new track ‘Play Pretend’. Check it out via the accompanying visual below.
“‘Play Pretend is about refusing to put on an act to please people and accepting yourself for who you are, regardless of what others think,” Wetha explained in a statement. “The tune was written with spill tab and my friend Kurisu on the first day we all hung out, it all came together very organically and naturally, and just felt special from the jump.”
Mac Wetha put out his latest EP, Cloud Paint, earlier this year. Following her late 2021 EP Bonnie, spill tab has shared the singles ‘Sunburn’ and ‘Splinter’.
“This one was written ages ago and it’s taken this long to make its way onto an album because I had a serious case of ‘demo-itis’ with it—the first shitty phone recording I ever made of it was perfect in a way I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to get back to,” Warren said of the new track in a statement. “I feel proud of this song in a way I usually don’t. Maybe because I mostly play in alternate tunings and sort of stumble into things and have never understood music theory or been able to ‘jam’ or do crazy solos or anything, I’ve always felt like sort of a fake musician. With this song, though, I feel like anybody could have written it and if I heard it I’d think, hey that’s a pretty good song.”
Eight months after the release of CAPRISONGS, FKA twigs has dropped another visual from the mixtape, this time for the track ‘pamplemousse’. Check out the clip, directed by Aidan Zamiri and Yuma Burgess, below.
Ciara and Summer Walker have joined forces for the new song ‘Better Thangs’. It follows ‘Jump’, Ciara’s first new single in two years, which dropped in July. Check it out below.
Ciara described ‘Better Thangs’ as “a feel-good R&B anthem for elevating every aspect of your life,” adding, “It’s meant to bring joy while inspiring the continuous evolution of one’s self.”
Of collaborating with Summer Walker, Ciara said: “I have so much respect for my girl Summer and it’s fitting to have her on the record because we connect on so many levels, from where we come from, to our journeys and our mission to inspire other people to go after what they deserve in life… better thangs!”
Ciara released her latest album, Beauty Marks, in 2019.
Coolio, the rapper best known for hits like ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ and ‘Fantastic Voyage’, has died at the age of 59. According to TMZ, the rapper passed away unexpectedly while at a friend’s house on Wednesday night and was later found by his manager, Jarez Posey. Jarez told TMZ the paramedics suspect the rapper suffered cardiac arrest, but an official cause of death has not been determined.
Coolio was born Artis Leon Ivey Jr. on August 1, 1963. After moving from his hometown of Monessen, Pennsylvania to Compton, California, where he attended Compton Community College, Coolio released his first single, ‘Whatcha Gonna Do?’, in 1987. ‘What Makes You Dance (Force Groove)’, recorded with Nu-Skool, came out the following year. As he started making waves in the Los Angeles rap scene, he joined the group WC and the Maad Circle, contributing to their 1991 debut album, Ain’t a Damn Thang Changed.
In 1994, Coolio signed to Tommy Boy Records and put out his solo debut album, It Takes A Thief. Its lead single, ‘Fantastic Voyage’ hit No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album reached Platinum status. The following year, he teamed up with gospel singer L.V. for ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’, which appeared in the movie Dangerous Minds. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and earned him the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance. “Weird Al” Yankovic famously parodied the track, reimagining it as ‘Amish Paradise’. Coolio’s sophomore album, Gangsta’s Paradise, was also nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1997 Grammys, while the single ‘1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin’ New)’ won Best Rap Solo Performance.
Coolio went on to release six more studio albums, his last one being 2009’s From the Bottom 2 the Top. In 1996, he wrote ‘Aw, Here It Goes!’, the theme song for Nickelodeon’s Kenan & Kel, and made several TV appearances throughout his career, including in shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The Nanny, and Gravity Falls.
“We are honored to be a part of Coolio’s musical family,” his label casual wrote in a statement. “Coolio is a legend who has inspired a generation of artists to unapologetically share their visions with the world. We are beyond grateful Coolio shared his talents with us, and at the same time, we are extremely saddened to be a bookend on his amazing musical journey.”
Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn have previewed their forthcoming collaborative album with its second movement, which includes four tracks: ‘Sienna’, ‘Cerulean’, ‘Opal’, and ‘Saffron’. ‘Saffron’ also comes with a video directed by Richard and featuring dancers from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). Check it out below.
“What would your last dance be? In all my struggles and pain, beauty, ugliness, and everything in between, all I’ve ever known is to dance through it all,” Richard said in a statement. “And if I had one hope in all the chaos of life, I’d ask God if he could save me one more dance before I go.”
Pigments is set for release on October 21 via Merge Records. It features the previously shared tracks ‘Coral’, ‘Sandstone’, ‘Indigo’, and ‘Vantablack’.
