The National’s Matt Berninger was the musical guest on last night’s episode of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He performed a cover of the Velvet Underground’s classic ‘I’m Waiting for the Man’, which Fallon mistakenly described as a song from his debut solo album Serpentine Prison. Watch it below.
Back in 2016, Berninger and Andrew Bird offered their own take on Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’. The National frontman also recorded a cover of ‘European Son’, from 1967’s The Velvet Underground and Nico, for his new LP, which was scrapped on producer Booker T.’s advice.
Serpentine Prison arrived in October. Last month, Future Islands shared a remix of the single ‘One More Second’.
Arlo Parks has shared a cover of Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’. The London singer-songwriter’s rendition of the classic track was recorded as part of Apple Music’s holiday singles series. Check it out below.
In addition to Arlo Park’s cover of ‘Last Christmas’, beabadoobee has also shared her rendition of ‘Winter Wonderland’, which you can hear below, while James Blake offered his take on the traditional English Christmas carol ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’.
James Blake has shared a cover of the traditional English Christmas carol ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’. He was approached by Apple Music to record the holiday song as part of the platform’s holiday cover series. Check out James Blake’s rendition of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ below.
“Look man, all the pop Christmas songs have been covered a million times. I’m not going to out-sing Mariah,” Blake told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “I have a huge fondness for choral music, Anglican Church spiritual vibes, even though I’m not particularly religious. There’s something very appealing to me about the feeling I get from classical choral music. And I loved it when Jeff Buckley did that cover of ‘Corpus Christi.’ In the back of my mind, there’s always been a thing where I’ve got to tackle something [like that].”
Ohmme, Sad13, and Johanna Warren are among the artists contributing to a new Christmas benefit album called Simply Having a Wonderful Compilation, out December 4 via Father/Daughter Records and Wax Nine Records. The 13-track LP features covers and originals from artists also including Diet Cig, Pom Pom Squad, Routine (the duo of Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Chastity Belt’s Annie Truscott), illuminati hotties, Melkbelly, KAINA, and more. Check out the album’s tracklist below.
All proceeds from Simply Having a Wonderful Compilation will be directed to Feeding America. Below, watch a funny trailer for the album and listen to Pom Pom Squad’s cover of Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’.
Simply Having a Wonderful Compilation Tracklist:
1. Melkbelly – ‘Hating You for Christmas’
2. Pom Pom Squad – ‘Last Christmas’
3. Routine – ‘Wait’
4. Ohmme – ‘Wonderful Christmastime’
5. Maneka – ‘Santa Is a Neocon’
6. Bacchae – ‘This Will Be Our Year’
7. Sad13 – ‘Shit For Christmas’
8. Illuminati Hotties – ‘xmas wish list (what we all asked for)’
9. Johanna Warren – ‘Coventry Carol’
10. KAINA – ‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas’
11. Diet Cig – ‘Happy Holiday’
12. Pronoun – ‘12.23.95’
13. Tasha – ‘Love Song’
Following their version of ‘Cosmogony’, Björk has once again collaborated with the Icelandic Hamrahlid Choir for a new version of her track ‘Sonnets’. Composed by Björk and set to the words of an e. e. cummings poem, ‘Sonnets’ was originally a choral piece taken from her 2004 vocal album Medúlla. Listen to Björk’s new choral arrangement of the track below.
Björk herself was a member of the choir when she was a teenager, and later collaborated with them on her 2017 LP Utopia as well as her subsequent tour. The Hamrahlíð Choir are releasing a new album this Friday (December 4) called Come and Be Joyful through Björk’s longtime label One Little Independent, which will include ‘Cosmogony’ and ‘Sonnets’.
U.S. Girls have shared a new Christmas song called ‘Santa Stay Home’. In the track, which was co-written by bandleader Meg Remy alongside Rich Morel, Regy advises Santa to stay home due to climate change and the absurdity of consumerism. Check it out below, alongside an accompanying lyric video.
“When one stops to really think about it, Santa is creepy and Christmas makes no damn sense,” Remy explained in a statement.
U.S. Girls released their latest album, Heavy Light, back in March.
Throughout the week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with the new releases that caught our attention the most, be it a single leading up to the release of an album or a newly unveiled deep cut. And each Monday, we round up the best new songs released over the past week (the eligibility period begins on Monday and ends Sunday night) in this segment.
This week, Arlo Parks previewed her upcoming debut album with a heartfelt, breezy new single called ‘Caroline’, which both showcases and refines her trademark songwriting style. Alaska Reid’s latest, the A. G. Cook-produced title track to her debut EP Big Bunny, sounds wild and anthemic, but is also evocative in its dreamy tones and nostalgic imagery. ‘Roundtown’ is a contemplative highlight from FLOHIO’s hotly anticipated debut LP, No Panic No Pain, while bb sway’s ‘habits’ is the kind of bedroom pop tune that’s too wholesome and catchy to ignore. Rosie Carney’s take on Radiohead’s ‘Bullet Proof… I Wish I Was’, the final single from her full-length cover of The Bends, turns the already somber cut into a haunting, piano-led ballad, while the official debut single from Bristol-based folk artist Clara Mann, ‘I Didn’t Know You Were Leaving Today’, is both graceful and wistfully poetic.
Last week, The Weeknd accused the Grammys of being “corrupt” after receiving zero nominations at the 2021 awards. Artists including Drake, Elton John, and Charlie Puth have since spoken out about his snub, and now, Halsey, who released a new album called Manic earlier this year, has called out the Recording Academy for behind-the-scenes “bribes” and favour trading.
In a post on her Instagram story, Halsey wrote: “I’ve been thinking and wanted to choose my words carefully because a lot of people have extended sympathy and apology to me since the Grammy nominations.”
She continued: “The Grammys are an elusive process. It can often be about behind the scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with the right handshakes and ‘bribes’ that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as ‘not bribes.’ And if you get that far, it’s about committing to exclusive TV performances and making sure you help the Academy make their millions in advertising on the night of the show.
“Perhaps sometimes it is (!!!) but it’s not always about the music or quality or culture. Just wanted to get that off my chest,” she concluded. “@theweeknd deserves better, and Manic did too [woman shrugging emoji] perhaps it’s unbecoming of me to say so but I can’t care anymore. While I am THRILLED for my talented friends who were recognized this year, I am hoping for more transparency or reform. But I’m sure this post will blacklist me anyway.”
The 2020 Soul Train Awards took place on Sunday night (November 29). Airing on BET in the US, the show was hosted by Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold and featured performances from a wide range of soul, R&B, and hip-hop artists, including Moses Sumney, who performed his track ‘Bless Me’. Check out his performance below.
‘Bless Me’ is taken from Sumney’s latest album grae, released in two parts earlier this year. Ella Mai, Jazmine Sullivan, CeeLo Green, Babyface, and more were also among the performers last night. Beyoncé , WizKid and SAINt JHN took home the award for Video of The Year for ‘Brown Skin Girl’, while Megan Thee Stallion won Rhythm & Bars for ‘Savage’, and H.E.R., who led this year’s nominations, was awarded Best R&B/Soul Female Artist.
Oh Sees bandleader John Dwyer has revealed a new side project called Witch Egg. Consisting of himself, Nick Murray, Brad Caulkins, Greg Coates, and Tom Dolas, the band has also announced its self-titled debut album, out January 22 via Rock Is Hell Records. Below, hear the lead single ‘Greener Pools’ and check out the LP’s cover artwork and tracklist.
Dwyer has also shared a statement accompanying the announcement:
Transmission incoming… Alien sound waves have been bouncing off the side of our ship. We’ve managed to capture some of them on plastic. They appear suddenly out of the vacuum. Projected by planets Beamed through stars Reflected off debris Hanging in space like dust motes Memories of planetary habitation
Witch egg is a improvised set of songs by John Dwyer, Nick Murray, Brad Caulkins, Greg
Coates & Tom Dolas.
Another fried expedition out in the wilds.
Recorded and mixed at Stu-Stu-Studio by John Dwyer
This one is a burner designed optimally for your eco-pod sound system.
When you’ve left the world behind, you will need a soundtrack while you lay in dream stasis
This is it
Earlier this year, Oh Sees (as Osees) released their latest studio album, Protean Threat.
Witch Egg Cover Artwork:
Witch Egg Tracklist:
1. Greener Pools
2. City Maggot
3. Your Hatless Friend
4. Witch Egg
5. Baphomet
6. Sekhu
7. Arse
8. On Your Own Now
