IDLES performed at the legendary Abbey Road Studios this past weekend for a three-part set that included originals songs from their upcoming album, Ultra Mono, as well as a series of covers. The British punk outfit offered their own take on The Beatles’ ‘Helter Skelter’, The Ramones’ ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’, as well as The Strokes’ ‘Reptilia’. Check out each of their covers below. You can also watch the entire livestream here.
JPEGMAFIA has been quietly dropping one new single after another for the past few months, and now he’s shared what he says is the “final one”. Fittingly titled ‘LAST DANCE!’, it arrives with an accompanying music video directed by Peggy himself and shot by carlo. Check it out below.
Girlpool have released a new EP via Anti- featuring three remixes of ‘Like I’m Winning It’, a one-off single they put out earlier this year. Dev Hynes, Porches, and Lydia Ainsworth all provided their own versions of the track. Listen to all three remixes below.
“It’s really cool to hear our song realized differently by artists we admire,” the band wrote in a statement. “Each remix is so unique and unexpected.”
“‘Like I’m Winning it’ is about power and lust: how can the weight of someone’s attention feel so heavy just because of its scarcity?” Girlpool’s Avery Tucker explained upon the single’s release. “This is a song about playing with that line- the line between the electricity in receiving attention and what’s unattainable.”
Girlpool’s last full-length album, What Chaos Is Imaginary, was released in 2019.
BTS have officially become the first all–South Korean group to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, Billboard reports. ‘Dynamite’, the K-pop superstars’ first English language single, debuted at the top of the chart with 33.9 million U.S. streams and 300,000 sales in its first week, according to data from Nielsen Music/MRC Data. It’s also the biggest digital sales week since Taylor Swift sold 353,000 units for ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ in September of 2017.
‘Dynamite’ is far from the group’s first top-10 hit, however. BTS also scored hits with 2018’s ‘Fake Love’ (#10), 2019’s ‘Boy With Luv’ feat. Halsey (#8), and this year’s ‘On’ (#4). It marks the 43rd song to debut at #1 in the history of the Hot 100, replacing of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘WAP’, which also debuted at No. 1 two weeks ago. The video for ‘Dynamite’ also broke YouTube’s 24-hour streaming record with 101.1 million views during the first day.
YG has announced a new album titled MY LIFE 4HUNNID. It comes out October 2 via Def Jam. The Compton-based rapper has also shared a (very NSFW) video for a new song called ‘Equinox’ featuring fellow L.A. rapper Day Sulan. Check it out below.
MY LIFE4HUNNID will mark the rapper’s fifth studio outing and the follow-up to 2019’s 4REAL 4REAL. Earlier this year, YG unveiled the tracks ‘Konclusions’, ‘Laugh Now Kry Later!’, ‘FTP’, and ‘Swag’.
Martin Scorsese isn’t the first director one might think of for a children’s movie, but Hugo offers a story that transcends easy categorisation. Starring Asa Butterfield as Hugo Cabret, Chloë Grace Moretz as Isabelle, and Ben Kingsley as Georges Méliès, the film takes place mostly in the 1930s Paris setting of the Gare Montparnasse train station. Hugo is an orphan who lives there and operates the clocks. His father (Jude Law) was an inventor before his mysterious death, and he left behind an automaton that requires a special key for activation.
Hugo and Isabelle eventually bring the automaton to life, and the message it passes on leads them on an adventure of discovery about the history of filmmaking, and how Hugo’s father and Georges Méliès are connected to it. Hugo itself is as magical and immersive as the movies it references, and the film won five Academy Awards in 2012. The story is based on Brian Selznick’s 2007 novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret.
Like many DIY artists, it wasn’t long before Bartees Strange started trying to recreate the magic he heard in other people’s music. Inspired by the flourishing emo and hardcore scenes of the Midwest and the Deep South, he began producing songs for friends in a small studio equipped with a Tascam 388, his family’s computer, and a pirated copy of FL Studio. It was after reconnecting with old friends in the UK – he was born in Ipwich, England, but eventually relocated to Mustang, Oklahoma – that he started getting into indie artists like Bon Iver, James Blake, Mitski, and The National. It’s the latter group whose songs Bartees has spent much of 2020 immersing himself in, going back to what got him into music-making in the first place – wanting to recreate that magic, though this time infused with more of his own personal touch. He reimagined a selection of The National songs in this March’s Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy EP, then dropped twomore National covers last month. Yet there’s no doubt that Bartees has slowly been building his own musical identity, because the first two singles he’s unleashed from his upcoming record, Live Forever, are not only wonderfully dynamic and layered but also filled with a chock full of personality – ‘Boomer’ is a driving and anthemic indie rock banger, and ‘Mustang’ bursts with energy while also managing to sneak in an unexpected nod to The Antlers. When it’s anchored by such great lead singles, it’s hard not to be excited about what the rest of Bartees Strange’s debut LP will have to offer.
We caught up with Bartees Strange for this edition of our Artist Spotlight series, where we showcase up-and-coming artists and give them a chance to talk about their music.
Do you remember your first musical memory?
My dad collects all sorts of interesting things, cars being the thing I was most involved in. He has a old 70s Datsun 260Z. A random, but fun car you don’t see very much. I grew up in churches, and my mom is a bible thumper through and through – so I didn’t have access to what was happening on the radio for most of my younger years. But when Dad would take us out in the car to cruise, we’d listen to Erykah Badu and Parliament. That was it. Me, my little brother and sister – whipping down country roads screaming “you betta call tyrone, CALL HIM!” – I think that’s the earliest memory of me just falling in love with music and how it can bring people together. It really holds my family together.
You grew up immersed in the hardcore emo scenes of the Midwest and the Deep South – what do you think it is about that kind of music that resonated with you, and how has it influenced your songwriting?
I think I love hardcore music because being a black kid there was no more radical than being a goth, or being gay, or wearing nails in your lips. It was a place I could blend in easier, and just enjoy a moment without feeling like I was being looked at – or like I had to “be something.” I could truly just be one of the people at those shows. Also – I love tension and pacing in musical arrangements. And great hardcore songs have this mastered. Think about At The Drive In, Glassjaw, Blood Brothers – they mastered tension and release. I think there’s a lot to learn from the genre there.
Also, even though I can get around on a bunch of instruments, I have pretty weird music theory chops – they’re not perfect. And in hardcore spaces, not knowing what the hell you’re playing can be a great way to start a song or a riff. I’ve built a lot of songs off of weird sounds that came from bending something too much, or not enough – it’s like the most enjoyable form of playing guitar IMO. Just making a mess, and seeing what sticks. There’s something very nice and comfy in that for me.
Could you talk about the inspiration for ‘Boomer’ and ‘Mustang’?
Sure – ‘Boomer’ was written a while after I’d been living in Brooklyn and I felt like I was experiencing like a renaissance or something personally. I’d never lived in an artistic, thriving, black, queer community. I was truly in a safe space. And I was about to really grow there. I was “booming” there.
‘Mustang’ looks back on me struggling to shed some expectations I had on myself that just weren’t realistic. I’m from a pretty solid middle class, hard working black family. Even with musicians around me – I’m the oldest – I sort of felt like I needed to get a real job and hold it down for my siblings. And I did that, nearly for ten years. And over the course of that time I’ve had many moments where I had to snap myself out of what people wanted me to be versus what I wanted for myself. And that’s sort of what ‘Mustang’ is addressing – struggling with this path I’m still currently on.
How do those songs fit into your upcoming debut album as a whole?
I think that if people like these songs they’ll love the album – it provides a good representation of my influences and the direction the record takes. I’m excited to see what people think. It’s wild. Truly.
How was the process of writing and recording Live Forever?
So much fun. My buddy runs an nonprofit called Think Olio in Wassaic NY. They opened up their doors for me and the band to camp in their barn and cut the album. I recorded maybe 17 tracks – and just chose the best ones. Really awesome and rewarding sessions with my friends. We engineered and mixed everything within the team.
Aside from the release of the album, what are some other things you’re looking forward to?
Getting back on the road and seeing how people really react to the music. So much of these songs were written to have fun to. And a handful of them are perfect for live shows – ‘Mustang’ and ‘Boomer’ especially. I’d love to do that again, and I’d really love to get back to Europe and play. They’re much safer over there with the COVID stuff, so as soon as borders lift, I wanna get over there.
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, we saw experimental hip-hop trio clipping. bring back the horror movie vibes of their last LP with a new nightmarishly abrasive single, ‘Say the Name’, while Black Thought enlisted a star-studded line up of Pusha T, Swizz Beatz, Killer Mike (to the latter of which we owe an apology) for a fiery track that sees each rapper go as hard as you’d expect. Nao teamed up with Lianne La Havas for an empowering and groovy new single, while Leikeli37 returned with the infectiously playful ‘Zoom’. Fenne Lily delivered another dynamic single from her soon-to-be-unveiled album, while Mourn previewed their forthcoming LP with an intensely relatable single about the uncertainty of coming-of-age. Laura Fell sounds both reassured and keenly self-aware on her debut single, the slow-burning, richly layered ‘Bone of Contention’, while Ela Minus’ latest cut from her debut record is just as intoxicating and intriguing as her previous singles. If you’re looking for one last summer banger before the season’s officially over, though, BLACKPINK and Selena Gomez have got you covered.
The Weeknd opened the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards last night (August 30) with a performance his hit single ‘Blinding Lights’. He sang atop a New York City rooftop while wearing his signature red suit, black gloves and the bloodied face featured on the After Hourscover. Like BTS’ performance, Abel Tesfay’s set ended with a huge fireworks display. Check it out below.
The Weeknd was nominated for a total of six awards last night: Video of the Year, Best R&B, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing (all for ‘Blinding Lights’), as well as Artist of the Year. He ended up winning in the Best R&B and Video of the Year categories.
DaBaby was one of the performers at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards. His 4-minute set featured a medley of tracks: ‘PEEPHOLE’, ‘Blind’, and ‘Rockstar’. The North Carolina rapper was accompanied by the dance crew Jabbawockeez, and the performance took place largely in a CGI-animated world that included a virtual car ride and a burning city. Check it out below.
Though DaBaby didn’t walk home with any awards last night, he was nominated for four: Artist of the Year, Best Hip-Hop, Best Cinematography, and Best Choreography. He released Blame it On Babyback in April, followed by a recently unveiled deluxe edition. Last week, he hopped on the remix for Saweetie’s ‘Tap In’.
