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6 Highlights From Primavera Sound 2023 Thursday, June 1

The 2023 Primavera Sound Festival began its first weekend yesterday at the Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, and things got off to a great start. Excitement was high, the weather was ideal, and overcrowding – which caused some problems on the first festival day last year – did not seem like it was going to be an issue. I caught very brief glimpses of sets by Pusha T, NxWorries, the Comet Is Coming, and a mesmerizing performance from the Spanish artist Júlia Colom, but for the most part, I made a point of catching the full sets of every act I was planning to see on Thursday. In chronological order, here are six highlights from the first day of the festival.


BC, NR, Still on the Stage

Credit: Clara Orozco

Black Country, New Road are the only band I was planning to see this week that I also caught at Primavera last year, and it’s worth noting that their setlist is still essentially the same – they’ve been playing all-new material since the departure of singer Isaac Wood, showcased in the Live at Bush Hall album that came out earlier this year. But the show they delivered early in the evening on Thursday was on another level. For one thing, the move to one of the main stages, the Estrella Damm, felt like a considerable upgrade, one they’d earned. And while they sounded comfortable with the songs a year ago, by now they’ve grown in both muscle and subtlety, entangling in cunning and surprising ways throughout their set.

The giddy curiosity with which fans had previously received the material had turned into excitement and familiarity, which extended beyond the music – before the band had announced it was drummer Charlie Wayne’s birthday, a group from the crowd had already sung happy birthday. There were hauntingly somber and intense moments in ‘I Won’t Always Love You’ and ‘Turbine/Pigs’, which started out as solo showcases for Tyler Hyde and May Kershaw, respectively, but soared back up when the rest of the band joined in. (Wayne had his moment in the spotlight, too, smashing out an incredible drum solo.) Even when they stood still on the stage, the camaraderie between them was a beauty to behold, and – against the odds, given the emotional content of some of the songs – it all felt like a big celebration.

Alex G Brings Out Caroline Polachek

Credit: Clara Orozco

The presentation of Alex G’s set at the Santander stage started out cool and straightforward, letting the heartfelt simplicity of the songwriting speak for itself. A casual fan might have worried the show would end up feeling flat, but it was full of eerie tension, lingering on the edge of catharsis but never making it obvious or giving too much away. And there was at least one big surprise – Alex G brought out his “friends Caroline and Maya” to sing backup vocals on ‘Mission’, and the crowd roared when they realized it’s Caroline Polacheck, who’s set to perform at the festival on Saturday. (Maya Laner plays in Polachek’s band.) Even with the persistent air of mystery hanging around them, the songs got the crowd moving, and through it all, there was a clear and earnest sense of gratitude. (Alex G did not say much, but he did have a lot of thanks to give.) “I see great waves coming our way/ Beautiful sunsets on lost and lonely days,” he sang on ‘Miracles’, which felt especially resonant. The ocean was right there in the distance, and all Alex G had to do was point out how beautiful it looked.

You Gotta See Turnstile Live

Credit: Christian Bertrand

The crowd at the Turnstile show really only stood still for one moment: Daniel Frang’s drum solo, which, beyond being technically astounding, felt like a feat of human endurance – one of the best I’ve ever seen. I can’t imagine anyone being let down by the energy the group radiated during their set, which was as joyous and riveting as you’d expect; but their performance was also a masterclass in tension and release and a lesson in breaking the barrier between performer and audience. You didn’t need to know anything about Turnstile to recognize those were pros up there on the stage, but frontman Brendan Yates knew exactly how to shake up the crowd and make sure everyone having as much fun as humanly possible. When he led a chorus of “Can’t be the only one,” it served as a poignant reminder of why all these people wanted to get in the pit in the first place. You really don’t need to see it live to “get it” – but trust me, you gotta.

New Order Deliver a Robust, Crowd-Pleasing Set

Credit: Christian Bertrand

Just one look at this year’s Primavera poster is enough to gauge just how wide-reaching New Order’s influence is on the modern pop landscape; Halsey, of all people, made that much clear in the performance that followed right after. The group could have easily phoned it in – they’ve not much left to prove – but they delivered a robust, crowd-pleasing set filled with hit after hit. While every note played by keyboard Gillian Lesley Gilbert seemed to be struck down from heaven, and the whole band’s rhythm was so locked-in it almost sounded alien, there was something resoundingly human about Bernard Sumner’s vocal delivery, which was sometimes impassioned and often wearily wistful. There were a few flashes of theatricality but not a hint of overindulgence, and Sumner did his part to keep the crowd engaged. But the classics naturally invited an ecstatic response, and the Joy Division encore was both a fitting and poignant conclusion.

Halsey (Kinda) Wants to Make Her Old Songs Better

Halsey seemed to approach her headling set at the Santander stage with a somewhat conflicted sense of perspective, acknowledging the fact that there were people who were perplexed, even pissed, upon seeing her name on the poster. Feigned or not, she turned her antagonism into fuel for a performance that, at different points, will have taken both fans and skeptics by surprise. Kicking off with a fiery rendition of ‘nightmare’, from her Nine Inch Nails-produced album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, immediately sent a message to anyone about to head out that this is what Halsey sounds like now. “Should we just make all of my old songs better?” she even said at one point, before launching into a hard rock version of ‘Closer’.

On the other hand, she took pride in debuting a set that featured a number of older hits she hadn’t played for years without giving them much of a fresh treatment, which was great for those old fans but probably not the ones won over by her new sound. She herself seemed to be having the most fun when playing new songs like ‘Girl Is a Gun’, so it’s a shame there weren’t more of them. “Does it make more sense now?” she asked at one point, addressing those still questioning her place at Primavera. Even as it generally adhered to the conventions of a pop show, it was a little all over the place and genuinely did rock hard. She gave everyone something to remember, and you couldn’t accuse her of faking any of it. So… maybe?

Blur, Reunited, Shine the Lights and Make It Happen

Credit: Christian Bertrand

Arriving at a crucial point between a string of warm-up UK gigs and the band’s comeback tour – including two shows at Wembley Stadium this summer – the stakes were high for Blur’s headlining Primavera set. When Gorillaz delivered a crowd-pleasing set at the festival last year, I wondered if Damon Albarn’s cartoon side project had come to overshadow the success of Blur, or if their kind of music was more suited to the summer festival circuit. But while Gorillaz relied on a stream of collaborators, genre shifts, and elaborate visuals to get the party going, Blur can elicit the same euphoric, unifying response just by being Blur. The band kept things tight and uncomplicated throughout the performance, playing enough of the classics (including the tour debut of ‘Country House’) to justify giving time to deep cuts like ‘Luminous’ and a couple of new songs (beginning with an unreleased track called ‘St. Charles Square’). There was nothing really flashy about the whole thing, except when Albarn requested all the lights be momentarily turned on. Beyond remarking on the ludicrousness of the megayacht spotted from his hotel (“It’s not okay”), the frontman did not need to say much, yet seemed positively giddy just to be there playing with the band, which gave certain songs a heightened sentimentality. “It’s so lovely to be with my old friends again,” he sang half-drunkenly at one point, taking pleasure in stating the obvious. That night, they really, really, really made it happen.


Follow along with our Primavera Sound 2023 coverage here.

Becca Mancari Announces New Album, Enlists Julien Baker for New Song ‘Over and Over’

Becca Mancari has announced a new LP called Left Hand. The follow-up to 2020’s The Greatest Part is out August 25 via Captured Tracks, and it’s led by the single ‘Over And Over’, which features Julien Baker on backing vocals. “I wanted to write a queer pop song that has meat on its bones,” Mancari said of the track, which is accompanied by a Min Soo Park-directed video. Check it out and find the album cover and tracklist below.

Left Hand was largely co-produced with Juan Solorzano and mixed by Carlos de la Garza. In addition to Baker, it featurescontributions from Daniel Tashian, Brittany Howard, and Paramore’s Zac Farro.

Left Hand Cover Artwork:

Left Hand Tracklist:

1. Don’t Even Worry [feat. Brittany Howard]
2. Homesick Honeybee
3. Over And Over
4. Don’t Close Your Eyes
5. Mexican Queen
6. Left Hand
7. It’s Too Late
8. Eternity
9. I Had A Dream
10. I Needed You
11. You Don’t Scare Me
12. To Love The Earth

Grian Chatten Shares New Single ‘Last Time Every Time Forever’

Fontaines D.C. vocalist Grian Chatten has shared a new track, ‘Last Time Every Time Forever’, taken from his debut solo album Chaos for the Fly. He’s already shared the singles ‘The Score’ and ‘Fairlies’. Check out the new song below.

“’Last Time Every Time Forever’ is a weak knee’d 99th lap around a hellscape town of your own making,” Chatten explained in a statement. “It’s haunted by seagulls and hoarse-throated slot machines from the 1980s and it breaks its own promise on every listen.”

Chaos for the Fly will be released on June 30 via Partisan Records.

Bloc Party Share New Single ‘Keep It Rolling’ With KennyHoopla

Bloc Party have recruited KennyHoopla for ‘Keep It Rolling’, which marks the band’s first-ever collaborative single. It follows their recent outing ‘High Life’. Check it out below.

“I’ve been a fan of Kenny’s for a while now, so when he came to London I jumped at the chance of getting in the studio together,” Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke said in a statement. “We wrote a bunch of songs in one afternoon and ‘Keep It Rolling’ was one of those ideas. I always felt quite attached to that idea so I decided I would like to bring it to Bloc Party, so we turned it into a song. It was all very organic.”

KennyHoopla added: “I’ve always been a huge Bloc Party fan so this was a bucket list collab for me. I hardly do any features, so if I do one, it’s always for family. I’m happy to call Kele a friend and it was amazing to get to do a song together.”

Bloc Party’s latest LP, Alpha Games, came out last year.

Latto and Cardi B Team Up for New Song ‘Put It on da Floor Again’

Latto has enlisted Cardi B for a new remix of her latest single, ‘Put It on da Floor’, which the rapper debuted at this year’s Coachella. Marking Cardi B’s first guest appearance of 2023, the track arrives with an accompanying video featuring cameos from her husband Offset, BabyDrill, and LSU Women’s Basketball star Angel Reese. Check it out below.

As Cardi B continues to dominate the charts with her collaborations, her influence extends beyond the music scene. Notably, she has made waves in the sexual wellness industry by endorsing magic wand vibrator, such as the Majesty 2 from Vush. However, as consumers, it’s important to take note of expert reviews and consider the wide range of magic wand massagers available in the market. For example, Bedbible.com provides detailed reviews and rankings of the best wand massagers, offering insights into what makes a product stand out in this magic wand vibrator category.

Albums Out Today: Foo Fighters, Bully, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Beach Fossils, and More

In this segment, we showcase the most notable albums out each week. Here are the albums out on June 2, 2023:


Foo Fighters, But Here We Are

Foo Fighters are back with a new album, But Here We Are, their first since Taylor Hawkins passed away suddenly last year. Ahead of its release, the band previewed the follow-up to 2021’s Medicine at Midnight with the singles ‘Rescued’, ‘Under You’, and ‘Show Me How’, which features guest vocals from Dave Grohl’s daughter Violet. According to press materials, the record is “the first chapter of the band’s new life,” channeling “the naiveté of Foo Fighters’ 1995 debut, informed by decades of maturity and depth.”


Bully, Lucky for You

Bully, the project led by singer-songwriter Alicia Bognanno, has released a new album, Lucky for You, via Sub Pop. Following 2020’s Sugaregg, the record was preceded by the Soccer Mommy collaboration ‘Lose You’, as well as the singles ‘Change Your Mind’, ‘Days Move Slow’‘Hard to Love’. It was recorded over a seven-month period at MMK Studios and Bognanno’s Nashville home, with help from producer JT Daly and mastering by Joe LaPorta at Sterling Sound. “With every record, I feel more and more secure in terms of doing what I want,” Bognanno said in press materials. “For this one, I wanted to be as creative as possible with these songs.”


Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Council Skies

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have returned with their fourth LP, Council Skies, out now via Sour Mash Record. Gallagher recorded the follow-up to 2017’s Who Built the Moon? at his Lone Star Sound Recording Studios in London, co-producing it with longtime collaborator Paul ‘Strangeboy’ Stacey. “It’s going back to the beginning. Daydreaming, looking up at the sky and wondering about what life could be … that’s as true to me now as it was in the early ‘90s,” he said in a statement. “When I was growing up in poverty and unemployment, music took me out of that. Top of the Pops on TV transformed your Thursday night into this fantasy world, and that’s what I think music should be. I want my music to be elevating and transforming in some way.”


Beach Fossils, Bunny

Beach Fossils have put out Bunny, their first studio album in six years. The follow-up to 2017’s Somersault includes the previously released singles ‘Don’t Fade Away’‘Dare Me’, and ‘Run to the Moon’, and ‘Seconds’. “When I wrote the first record, there were no choruses; it was instrumental guitar parts in between verses,” frontman Dustin Payseur said in a statement. “This is the first record where I’ve consciously thought about writing a chorus. Read our interview with Payseur about some of the inspirations behind the record, including Los Angeles, parenthood, and the combination of coffee and Ativan.


Protomartyr, Formal Growth in the Desert

Protomartyr have dropped their latest LP, Formal Growth in the Desert, through Domino. The follow-up to 2020’s Ultimate Success Today includes the advance tracks ‘Elimination Dances’ and ‘Make Way’. Guitarist Greg Ahee co-produced the album alongside Jake Aron. “The desert is more of a metaphor or symbol, of emotional deserts, or a place or time that seems to lack life,” frontman Joe Casey said of the album’s title. The last three years have been a period of significant transition for Casey, a time in which he lost his mother and moved out of the Detroit home his family had owned since before his birth. “The band still being viable was very important to me,” Casey added, “and it definitely lifted my spirits.”


Body Type, Expired Candy

Australian garage-rockers Body Type have followed up last year’s Everything Is Dangerous But Nothing’s Surprising with their sophomore LP, Expired Candy. Out now via Poison City Records, the record was previewed with the singles ‘Miss the World’ and ‘Holding On’. “Expired Candy is filled with hope, love, and danger, dancing with delicious uncertainty. In pursuit of joy we dreamed up songs about mothers, sisters, dogs, nans; family tantrums, forward motion, falling in love, platonic or romantic, with someone or self,” the band reflected in a statement. “Heart breaks, tooth will shatter, but she’ll be there when it really matters. Flirty, feral and defiant, just how we like it. From our wild heart to yours, Body Type.”


McKinley Dixon, Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?

McKinley Dixon has unveiled his new album first for City Slang, Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?. Ahead of its release, the Chicago-based rapper shared the singles ‘Sun, I Rise’ (featuring Angélica Garcia), ‘Tyler, Forever’, ‘Run, Run, Run’, and the title track. The album follows Dixon’s 2021 debut For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her. “I was making these really dense and chaotic songs, stuffing whatever thought I had into five and a half minutes,” Dixon said in press materials. “With this one, I thought, ‘What if I tried to keep that intensity and same denseness with shorter, catchier songs?'”


Speakers Corner Quartet, Further Out Than the Edge

Speakers Corner Quartet, the London collective that takes its name from the Brixton spoken word and hip-hop session at which they were the house band, have issued their debut LP. Further Out Than the Edge features contributions from Tirzah, Kelsey Lu, Shabaka Hutchings, Coby Sey, Sampha, Kae Tempest, Mica Levi, LEILAH, Joe Armon-Jones, Lawfawndah, Léa Sen, and more. “We’re all one living, breathing organism when it comes to playing,” flute player Biscuit said. “This is the refined, final and definitive version of this project.”


Other albums out today:

Rancid, Tomorrow Never Comes; Louise Post, Sleepwalker; Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Wicca Phase Springs Eternal; Rufus Wainwright, Folkocracy; Ben Folds, What Matters Most; Knower, Knower Forever; Lost Under Heaven, Something Is Announced By Your Life!; Juan Wauters, Wandering Rebel; Laraaji & Kramer, Baptismal; RVG, Brain Worms; Ben Harper, Wide Open Light; Woo, Into The Heart Of Love; Spy, Satisfaction; Avenged Sevenfold, Life Is But a Dream…; lovelytheband, if we’re being honest; David Toop & Lawrence English, The Shell That Speaks the Sea.

Blake Mills Announces New Album ‘Jelly Road’, Releases New Song

Blake Mills has announced a new album, Jelly Road, which arrives July 14 via New Deal/Verve. The LP was co-written was co-written with Chris Weisman, a prolific jazz musician from Brattleboro, Vermont, and was recorded by Joseph Lorge. Mills and Weisman previously worked together on original music for the show Daisy Jones & the Six and its accompanying album, Aurora. Listen to the new single ‘Skeleton Is Walking’ below.

Jelly Road Tracklist:

1. Suchlike Horses
2. Highway Bright
3. Jelly Road
4. Skeleton Is Walking
5. Unsingable
6. Wendy Melvoin
7. The Light Is Long
8. Breakthrough Moon
9. There Is No Now
10. Press My Luck
11. A Fez
12. Without an Ending

The Weeknd Enlists Madonna and Playboi Carti for New Song ‘Popular’

The Weeknd has linked up with Madonna and Playboi Carti for ‘Popular’, the second track from the soundtrack to his HBO show The Idol. It follows last month’s ‘Double Fantasy’, which was produced by Mike Dean and featured Future. Listen to ‘Popular’ below.

Speaking about the collaboration in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, the Weeknd said:

I’m proud of it. I’m definitely proud of it. Me and Carti had this… I mean, we’ve jammed out before. We’ve had a different version of this song prior. So I’ve had these vocals for a while and I’ve kind of just worked around it, and then kind of kept it in the tuck. But now it felt like it was time. It was time. And it felt right and it felt cohesive with this album that I’m working on right now. Or that I just actually finished. The Idol soundtrack, yeah. And so I’ve been producing the song for a while. And then Madonna, Madge. She’s the ultimate co-sign for this song, for this album, and for this TV show. And you’ll hear more of her in the show as well too. She is the ultimate pop star.

Of working with Madonna, he added: “I mean, the thing is, I’ve always wanted to work with her. I’ve always wanted to write and produce a Madonna album… well, co-produce with her, of course … because she’s a visionary and she has such a singular vision, and I just want to come into her world and create a classic Madonna album. That was always my dream. So this can be… Hopefully this is the appetizer for that.”

The Idol Vol. 1 is available for pre-order today.

Speedy Ortiz Announce New Album ‘Rabbit Rabbit’, Release New Single ‘You S02’

Speedy Ortiz have announced that their new LP, Rabbit Rabbit, will be released on September 1 via Sadie Dupuis’ own label, Wax Nine. Along with the announcement, they’ve shared the new single ‘You S02’, which follows the recently unveiled ‘Scabs’. The track arrives with an accompanying Elle Schneider-directed video that pays homage to John Carpenter’s They Live. Check it out below.

Speaking about the new track, Dupuis said in a statement: “Mostly when I’ve met my musical heroes, they’re kind and principled people. But occasionally someone whose work I love(d) reveals themselves to be anti-union, or anti-’woke,’ or some other gear-grinding ugliness. That’s who I wrote ‘You S02’ about, the song’s frenzied guitar and synth solos mirroring the crazymaking intensity wafting off people who act like thatI. n the TV show You’s second season, the main character moves from New York to LA in hopes of a fresh start, but (spoiler) remains a murdering psychopath. Changing cities won’t make you a hero if you still treat others badly.”

Of the video, she added: “It was freezing out—Southern California was experiencing unseasonal snow—but the low temps fit the bill for a video about how revenge is best served cold (in a non-heated swimming pool).”

Speedy Ortiz co-produced the follow-up to 2018’s Twerp Verse with Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin, who also mixed the album. It was recorded between Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree and Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas, while Emily Lazar and Chris Allgood handled the mastering at the Lodge in New York. It’s also the first Speedy Ortiz LP to feature longtime touring bassist Audrey Zee Whitesides and drummer Joey Doubek.

Rabbit Rabbit Cover Artwork:

Rabbit Rabbit Tracklist:

1. Kim Cattrall
2. You S02
3. Scabs
4. Plus One
5. Cry Cry Cry
6. Ballad of Y & S
7. Kitty
8. Who’s Afraid of the Bath
9. Ranch vs. Ranch
10. Emergency & Me
11. The Sunday
12. Brace Thee
13. Ghostwriter

An Introduction to Seiko’s Caliber NH35A Movement

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Seiko’s NH35A, known as the unbranded version of the Seiko caliber 4R35 movement, has become a well-used movement amongst micro brands such as Vostok, Lum-Tec, Spinnaker, and D1 Milano. Nevertheless, why is this movement so readily used in robust dive watches, vintage-inspired pieces, and numerous Seiko-enthusiast-modified pieces? Let’s dive in and find out.

Origins

The movement started hitting the market in late 2011 and early 2012. It’s one of the finest microbrand-beloved movements that is an upgrade on the NH25 that came out in 2008. The caliber has become a fan-favourite amongst Seiko fans, especially those who modify watches or create their own creations from scratch. This love for the movement primarily came due to its compatibility, affordability, and dependability.

Technical

NH35 has an accuracy range of -20~+40 seconds per day under normal conditions, according to a test done by Time Module. The movement has a diashock system, a 41-hour power reserve, and 24 jewels. It also has a vibration frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour.

The movement is 29.36mm in casing diameter and has a lift angle of 53 degrees. The NH35A is a hand-windable movement.

Watches Carrying the Movement

  • D1 Milano Subacqueo Lido Diver
  • Spinnaker Spence “Batman” Diver”
  • Vostok Europe Lunokhod-2 (NH35A-620A634)

Buying a NH35A Movement

NH35A is widely available for around £25 to £50, depending on the platform you are buying it from. eBay, Namoki, and other watch-enthusiast shops will stock this item due to its significant popularity. However, before buying, read up the reviews and try to find a reputable buyer, as knock-off movements are commonly advertised as the NH35A (Yes, even though it’s relatively cheap to acquire).