Last week, Rihanna shared her new single "FourFiveSeconds", which features Paul McCartney and Kanye West. Tonight, she's shared a behind-the-scenes look at its music video. In it, Rihanna discusses the inspiration for the all-denim look of the single and its video: "Kanye came up with the idea of doing just some real street denim, all-American type look," she reveals. Check it out below.
Last week, Rihanna shared her new single "FourFiveSeconds", which features Paul McCartney and Kanye West. Tonight, she's shared a behind-the-scenes look at its music video. In it, Rihanna offers insights into the inspiration for the all-denim look of the single and its video: "Kanye came up with the idea of doing just some real street denim, all-American type look," she reveals. Check it out below.
Kanye West has shared the full version of his "Only One" video, a portion of which he teased on "The Ellen Degeneres Show" earlier today. Directed by Spike Jonze, the clip features West and his daughter North taking a walk together. Check it out here.
Below, watch the teaser from "Ellen":
Photo by Richard Dumas
Due to the record-setting blizzard scheduled to hit the East Coast on Monday night, several concerts set to take place on Monday (1/26) and Tuesday (1/27) have been canceled. Artists such as Savages, Louis C.K., Action Bronson, and more have been affected. Below, we've started a running tally of the canceled shows and venues.
New York City:
Action Bronson - B.B. King's (1/26)
Savages - Baby's Alright (1/26)
Marilyn Manson - Terminal 5 (1/26)
Nels Cline - Iridium (1/26)
Bully - Pianos (1/26)
Broncho - Rough Trade (1/26)
Louis C.K. - Madison Square Garden (1/27)
Ne-Yo - Studio 48 (1/27)
Union Hall
Mercury Lounge
Joe's Pub
Atlantic City, New Jersey:
A-Trak - Borgata (1/26)
Boston:
Hiss Golden Messenger - House of Blues (1/27)
Death Cab for Cutie have shared the lyric video for "Black Sun" from their forthcoming record Kintsugi , the band's first since the departure of founding member Chris Walla. You can check it out below. The record is out March 31 via Atlantic.
Additionally, they've also announced a tour in support of the record, where they'll be joined by the Antlers. Check out the dates below.
Death Cab for Cutie:
04-10 Mesa, AZ - FestivALTAZ
04-23 Kansas City, MO - Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
04-27 Atlanta, GA - The Fox Theatre *
04-29 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium *
04-30 Chicago, IL - The Chicago Theatre *
05-02 Minneapolis, MN - Northrop *
05-04 Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater *
05-07 Toronto, Ontario - Sony Centre *
05-08 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis *
05-09 Portland, ME - State Theatre *
05-12 Louisville, KY - Iroquois Amphitheater *
05-13 St Louis, MO - The Pageant *
06-08 London, England - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
06-09 London, England - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
06-13 Oslo, Norway - Rockerfeller
06-14 Bergen, Norway - Bergen Festival
06-15 Stockholm, Sweden - Müchenbryggeriet
06-23 Zagreb, Croatia - INmusic Fest
06-25 Paris, France - Bataclan
06-27 Dusseldorf, Germany - Open Source Festival
07-12 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
10-03 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
* with the Antlers
Several days ago, Kanye West made an appearance at the iHeartMedia Music Summit in California, where he played a snippet of an acoustic song featuring Rihanna. That song has now been released, and it's called "FourFiveSeconds". The singer uploaded the track, which features West and Paul McCartney, to her website on Saturday evening along with the artwork shown above. Click here to listen.
Rihanna's last album, Unapologetic , was released in 2012.
Mount Eerie, aka Phil Elverum, will release his new double LP Sauna on February 3 via his own P.W. Elverum & Sun label. Above, listen to the album version of "Dragon", a track which he performed live back in September.
In addition, Elverum has shared a visual for an abbreviated version of the album's title track. Directed by Allyson Foster with Elverum's help, the somber clip combines footage of factories and industrial landscapes with scenes of revelry in cowgirl costumes, all subtitled by the song's lyrics. The YouTube description says, "There was no craft services. The rain was totally crazy."
Watch it below.
Ex Hex, the power pop trio fronted by Mary Timony (Helium, Wild Flag, Autoclave), released its excellent debut last year on Merge. Today they've shared a video for "Don't Wanna Lose" (a track we named as one of the best songs of 2015). Directed by Laura Jean Gallagher, the clip plays tribute to Ladies and Gentlemen: The Fabulous Stains, Lou Adler's 1982 cult film about three teenagers who start a punk band. Watch below.
Read our "5-10-15-20" interview with Timony.
Photo via Negativland's Facebook
Negativland member Ian Allen, who was active in the multi-media group between 1981 and 1987, has died. He was 56. He died on January 17 following complications from heart valve surgery at California's Stanford Hospital, the band wrote in a Facebook post, as Boing Boing points out. "We are extremely shocked and saddened by this news," they write.
The Facebook post continues, "His impact, inspiration, and influence on the group is impossible to overestimate. There would be no group as we know it today, no Over The Edge radio show, no 'culture jamming' and no A Big 10-8 Place LP without him."
In the early '80s, Allen introduced the technique of tape splicing to the band, and pushed their albums in a more conceptual direction. He left the band because of recurring health problems, but remained a supporter over the years. Recently, the band incorporated "Like Cattle Act", an unfinished loop made by Allen in the '80s, into their current live set.
"For those who knew him, he was a visionary, magical, impish, playful and eccentric thinker, a true genius who was light years ahead of all of us with his ideas about art, sound, society, and technology," the band writes. "He will be dearly missed."
Read the full note here.
Ava Luna have announced a new album called Infinite House , the followup to 2014's Electric Balloon . The record is out April 14 via Western Vinyl. Listen to a new track, "Billz", above. Check out the track list below. Dave Fridmann mixed the album.
The band will play record release shows in Brooklyn on April 17 at Baby's All Right and April 18 at Silnt Barn.
Infinite House:
01 Company
02 Tenderize
03 Steve Polyester
04 Roses and Cherries
05 Coat of Shellac
06 Infinite House
07 Black Dog
08 Best Hexagon
09 Billz
10 Victoria
11 Carbon
It was recently reported that Disclosure and AlunaGeorge are being sued by a songwriter who claims they used her lyrics for "Latch", "White Noise", "You And Me" and "Attracting Flies". According to the claim by Katie Farrah Sopher, the lyrics were taken from a songbook of hers that was "stolen by a 'violent' ex-boyfriend" and passed to music industry contacts without her consent.
Today, Disclosure have responded to those claims, writing on their Facebook page:
Hi all,
Just wanted to post a little something for our fans who may have read the blogs in the last couple of days and help clear up some speculation that has been circulating, to do with whether or not we wrote the lyrics to some of our songs.
Firstly we want to make it very clear that every Disclosure song we have put our names to has been written by us. We sometimes write lyrics and melodies along-side whoever the featured singer may be (i.e. Sam, Eliza etc) and the great Mr. Jimmy Napes, but that is it. When we do, we always make sure everyone gets proper credit. We take great pride in our self sufficiency, our work and the way we work, and it's incredibly frustrating when someone tries to take that away from us, by claiming we stole even one word or one note of our music from anyone.
We’d much rather be working on more music than commenting on these type of things, but it felt like we had no choice…
So, just to be clear, all allegations made against us to do with this subject are completely false, as anyone we have ever worked with will back up. We didn't get into this industry to steal other people's ideas and we haven’t - we are musicians, artists and producers.
In better news… Album 2 is niiiiicely underway!
Watch Disclosure's full set at Pitchfork Music Festival Paris:
It was recently reported that Disclosure and AlunaGeorge are being sued by a songwriter who claims they used her lyrics for "Latch", "White Noise", "You And Me" and "Attracting Flies". According to the claim by Katie Farrah Sopher, the lyrics were taken from a songbook of hers that was "stolen by a 'violent' ex-boyfriend" and passed to music industry contacts without her consent.
Today, Disclosure have responded to those claims, writing on their Facebook page:
Hi all,
Just wanted to post a little something for our fans who may have read the blogs in the last couple of days and help clear up some speculation that has been circulating, to do with whether or not we wrote the lyrics to some of our songs.
Firstly we want to make it very clear that every Disclosure song we have put our names to has been written by us. We sometimes write lyrics and melodies along-side whoever the featured singer may be (i.e. Sam, Eliza etc) and the great Mr. Jimmy Napes, but that is it. When we do, we always make sure everyone gets proper credit. We take great pride in our self sufficiency, our work and the way we work, and it's incredibly frustrating when someone tries to take that away from us, by claiming we stole even one word or one note of our music from anyone.
We’d much rather be working on more music than commenting on these type of things, but it felt like we had no choice…
So, just to be clear, all allegations made against us to do with this subject are completely false, as anyone we have ever worked with will back up. We didn't get into this industry to steal other people's ideas and we haven’t - we are musicians, artists and producers.
In better news… Album 2 is niiiiicely underway!
Watch Disclosure's full set at Pitchfork Music Festival Paris:
The Go! Team have shared a trippy video for the title track of their forthcoming album, The Scene Between . Directed by James Slater, the clip stars a flashy neon choir. Watch it below via Pitchfork.tv.
In a press release, Go! Team main man Ian Parton said, "I was imagining things like aerial fly-bys, bad chromakey, Waco cable access, country versus the city, a choir in the wilderness. The key thing was I was definitely imagining looking down on landscapes, rivers and forests, but I could hear a slightly menacing, kind of pagan, thing going on too and a definite schizo thing between the verse and the chorus."
The Scene Between is out March 24 via Memphis Industries.
Photo by Tom Spray
Disclosure and AlunaGeorge are being sued by songwriter Katie Farrah Sopher, who claims she wrote words for "Latch", "White Noise", "You And Me" and "Attracting Flies", NME reports.
According to the report, Sopher is seeking £200,000, alleging that three songs from Disclosure's debut album Settle -- "Latch", "White Noise" and "You And Me"-- use lyrics taken from a songbook of hers that was "stolen by a 'violent' ex-boyfriend, Sean Sawyers, in 2009". According to Sopher, Sawyers passed the songbook on to music industry contacts without her consent.
Sopher's testimony also alleges that she wrote the lyrics to AlunaGeorge's "Attracting Flies", off of 2013's Body Music , with Sopher claiming that the four songs were inspired by the abuse she endured during her five-year relationship with Sawyers.
Sawyers denied these claims, stating:
"I am denying all the allegations... There is zero truth to the claims made against me. I never saw the book the claimant mentions... [so] I could not have committed the alleged damages, theft, (and) copyright infringement."
Photo by Ebru Yildiz
Lil B's apartment building caught fire early in the morning on Thursday after an electrical fire spread through the building, The Fader reports. According to the report, Lil B and six other people were saved by 15-year-old Mateo Ysmael, who ran through the building to wake everyone up.
"I'm grateful to be alive," Lil B told the Contra Costa Times . "If that kid didn't come knocking on my door..." The fire reportedly destroyed "many of his costumes and some of his music". Fortunately, Lil B was not injured, noting that "It could've been so much worse than it was."
Later, Lil B tweeted the following, including a photo from the incident and an email address that fans can send donations to directly via PayPal:
Lil B studio almost just burnt down pray and send him love, his paypal diorpaint@gmail.com support lil b directly! Firefighter love - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 15, 2015
After this happening to me i really understand whats most important that is life, support Lil B directly from now on pain is real - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 15, 2015
Thank you to the contra costa county fire department! For helping and loving me, thanks to the battalion chief and red cross thank u - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 16, 2015
Photo: The fire….. Earth loves me so does the way - Lil B http://t.co/xCwbdG8aMc
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 16, 2015
Still in shock about the fire that was not my fault this is a game changer and wake up everyone who does not care about me thank you - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 16, 2015
I want to say god bless all the family's and single people who are homeless in the cold right now i love you and pray for your peace - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 17, 2015
Nothing is better then support and love thank you all for the respect i appreciate you, the fire will not stop me, not even the fire - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 17, 2015
Photo by Ebru Yildiz
Lil B's apartment building caught fire early in the morning on Thursday after an electrical fire spread through the building, The Fader reports. According to the report, Lil B and six other people were saved by 15-year-old Mateo Ysmael, who ran through the building to wake everyone up. (He has since been awarded a task force purple heart.)
"I'm grateful to be alive," Lil B told the Contra Costa Times . "If that kid didn't come knocking on my door..." The fire reportedly destroyed "many of his costumes and some of his music". Fortunately, Lil B was not injured, noting that "It could've been so much worse than it was."
Later, Lil B tweeted the following, including a photo from the incident and an email address that fans can send donations to directly via PayPal:
Lil B studio almost just burnt down pray and send him love, his paypal diorpaint@gmail.com support lil b directly! Firefighter love - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 15, 2015
After this happening to me i really understand whats most important that is life, support Lil B directly from now on pain is real - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 15, 2015
Thank you to the contra costa county fire department! For helping and loving me, thanks to the battalion chief and red cross thank u - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 16, 2015
Photo: The fire….. Earth loves me so does the way - Lil B http://t.co/xCwbdG8aMc
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 16, 2015
Still in shock about the fire that was not my fault this is a game changer and wake up everyone who does not care about me thank you - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 16, 2015
I want to say god bless all the family's and single people who are homeless in the cold right now i love you and pray for your peace - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 17, 2015
Nothing is better then support and love thank you all for the respect i appreciate you, the fire will not stop me, not even the fire - Lil B
— Lil B From The Pack (@LILBTHEBASEDGOD) January 17, 2015
Photo by Thomas Neukum
Caribou recently shared a 1000-Song mixtape that he said was "a musical history of my life". Today, he was a guest host of the BBC Radio 6 Mix, playing a mix of soul tracks, international music, and contemporary house tracks from Floating Points, Daphni, Saâda Bonaire, and others . Listen to it now on the BBC.
"I kicked off the show with a track that I can't tell you the details about. I'm sworn to secrecy about it," he said in the show's opening moments, "but you're welcome to take a guess, and then maybe take another guess..."
He also played a track that he called "a work in progress" that "might turn into a Daphni song one day" called "Tin". "The tracks that I make for Daphni kind of happen as and when I get DJ sets booked. I often sit around for a while and I'll try them out and see how they work," he said.
Read our 5-10-15-20 with Caribou.
Watch Caribou's full set at Pitchfork Music Festival Paris:
Flying Lotus has shared a video for his You're Dead! track "Coronus, the Terminator". In the video, Flying Lotus plays a ghostly witness to an ailing man's demise. Watch it below.
"Coronus, the Terminator":
Watch the video for "Ready Err Not":
This year's Bonnaroo takes place June 11-14 in Manchester, Tennessee. The festival is currently announcing its lineup through an odd process, in which fans call 1-844-ROO-2015 to learn the name of one artist on the bill and subsequently share it on social media with the hashtag #bonnaroo. A feed at Bonnaroo's website is collecting all of the announcements—watch the lineup announcement video live below. We'll update here as the lineup is revealed.
Lauryn Hill has announced the Small Axe Acoustic Performance Series, a six-date tour that will take place in Washington D.C. and New York from February 13-25. Each venue on the tour is mostly seated to create a more intimate environment, with two shows in D.C. and the rest in New York. Check out the dates below.
Lauryn Hill:
02-13 Washington, D.C. - Howard Theatre
02-14 Washington, D.C. - Howard Theatre
02-17 Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade
02-20 New York, NY - Highline
02-23 New York, NY - Highline
02-25 New York, NY - Blue Note (early and late show)
Watch Lauryn Hill perform the Fugees' "Ready or Not" in Brooklyn, as part of her pay-per-view film Live from the Brooklyn Bowl :
Shabazz Palaces have shared an animated video for their Lese Majesty track "Forerunner Foray". The video features drawings from Chad VanGaalen that transform continuously throughout the clip. At one point, a multicolor Magic Johnson surfs through space on a giant slice of pizza. Watch the video below.
"Forerunner Foray":
Watch Shabazz Palaces in an episode of Pitchfork.tv's "+1":
Nick Cave has covered Leonard Cohen's "Avalanche" for season two of the Michael Bay-produced pirate drama "Black Sails", Entertainment Weekly reports. The cover will appear on in trailers for "Black Sails" and at the end of this season’s last episode.
Listen to it now over at Entertainment Weekly.
Listen to Leonard Cohen's "Avalanche":
Foxygen were musical guests on last night's Late Show with David Letterman. The band performed their ...And Star Power track, "How Can You Really". Watch it below.
Watch Foxygen's full set at Pitchfork Music Festival Paris:
Nicki Minaj has announced an MTV documentary called My Time Again , a sequel to her 2013 documentary My Time Now . It will premiere on Sunday, January 18 at 10 PM on MTV.
The trailer includes behind-the-scenes looks at everything from dress rehersals to family visits-- there is even brief footage of a bloody arm belonging to the backup dancer that got bit by a snake before her MTV VMA's performance last year. Check out the trailer below.
I can finally share this! Here's the trailer for my new @MTV doc #MyTimeAGAIN! Premieres Sunday, 1/18 @10 pm on @MTV http://t.co/vS4kkBTET5
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) January 9, 2015 My Time Again trailer:
Check out My Time Now:
Governors Ball takes place from June 5 to 7 on Randall's Island in New York City. Today, the Festival has revealed its full 2015 lineup.
In addition to Drake, The Black Keys, Deadmau5, and Lana Del Rey, the festival will also feature Björk, My Morning Jacket, Florence + The Machine, Chromeo, Tame Impala, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, The Decemberists, The War on Drugs, St. Vincent, Hot Chip, Death From Above 1979, SBTRKT, Charli XCX, Flying Lotus, Conor Oberst, Little Dragon, A-TRAK, Future Islands, Sharon Van Etten, Twin Shadow, MØ, DIIV, Rustie, White Lung, and others.
Photo by Janette Valentine
Torche have released a new track called "Annihilation Affair", from their forthcoming record Restarter, which is out February 24 via Relapse. It follows 2012's Harmonicraft . Listen to the new track above.
Restarter is the frst album with Relapse. It was mixed by Converge's Kurt Ballou. Check out the track list below.
Restarter:
01 Annihilation Affair
02 Bishop in Arms
03 Minions
04 Loose Men
05 Undone
06 Blasted
07 No Servants
08 Believe It
09 Barrier Hammer
10 Restarter
The Black Keys' Patrick Carney has been hospitalized for a dislocated shoulder after getting hit but a huge wave.
According to a TMZ report, Carney was rushed to the ER yesterday in St. Barths after a wave slammed him onto the ocean floor. The drummer was then treated for a dislocated shoulder, which doctors had to reset. According to the report, he is out of the hospital and recovering.
Carney confirmed the injury on his Instagram, posting: "Tune into my new lifetime movie. 'Dislocated shoulder' airing right now. "
Watch the Black Keys' video for "Fever":
Photo by Inez and Vinoodh
Happy new year: Kanye West has released a new song called "Only One", a collaboration with Paul McCartney. Stream it at his website or download it at the iTunes store. The lyrics can also be found at Kanye's site.
"Only One" is the first single from Kanye's as-yet-untitled new album. It's being billed as the first of "several" collaborations with McCartney. (Maybe one is "Piss on Your Grave"?)
From a press release:
In early 2014, Paul McCartney and Kanye West first began working together in a small bungalow in Los Angeles. The process that would result in "Only One" began with a simple brainstorming session between the two: With McCartney improvising on the keyboards and Kanye vocally sketching and shaping ideas in a stream-of-consciousness riff.
When they played back the recording afterward, something remarkable happened. Kanye sat there with his family, holding his daughter North on his lap, and listened to his vocals, singing, "Hello, my only one . . . " And in that moment, not only could he not recall having sung those words, but he realized that perhaps the words had never really come from him.
The process of artistic creation is one that does not involve thinking, but often channeling. And he understood in that moment that his late mother, Dr. Donda West, who was also his mentor, confidante, and best friend, had spoken through him that day.
"My mom was singing to me, and through me to my daughter," he said, astonished.
The small group in the room kept listening: “Hello my Only One…just like the morning sun…you’ll keep on rising till the sky knows your name.”
To some, Kanye's insight didn't immediately register. But then he explained: The name Kanye, which his mother had chosen, means "only one."
And then it dawned on everyone there: Something powerful and undeniable had occurred through the power of music and of letting go. A message had been passed down through generations.
Here's the single cover: