Young Thug recently shared a video for his track "Danny Glover", a song from this year's Young Thugga Mane La Flare that was unofficially remixed by Nicki Minaj. The darkly-lit montage features a cameo from Birdman, who (no surprise) is ready to collect his money. Watch the video below.
"Danny Glover":
Alan Palomo, aka Neon Indian, recently gave a Ted Talk titled "Auteurs in the Ether", an exploration of the "myth of the auteur" in the creative process.
During the talk, Palomo explores everything from his passion for Stanley Kubrick ("this guy could and did do it all") to the single-minded focus of authorship ("that's why no one ever sits through the credits-- we only want that one big name when the movie is over"). Watch the talk below.
"Auteurs in the Ether":
Watch Neon Indian perform "Hex Girlfriend" in an episide of Pitchfork.tv's "+1":
Four times a year the visual artists John Herschend and Will Rogan publish The Thing Quarterly, a conceptual publication that issues "objects" to it's subscribers. For each "issue", The Thing invites a different creative talent to create this object. Today, they released Issue 24, a record designed by Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy that features music from No Age and visuals by Todd Cole. 1,500 copies of the record were made, and it's available for purchase here.
The Mulleavys have worked with No Age previously. In 2010 they made a short film called “Aanteni” that the band soundtracked. According to the New York Times, that project was "based on the shredding, burning and sandpapering that [Rodarte] incorporated into their spring/summer 2010 collection". The record's Side A is a live nine-minute No Age track from the film; Side B is a 13-minute "ruined" version of the score. The cover of the record is illustrated with a swirl of colored liquid from the opening and closing credits of the film. Watch the film below.
Laura Mulleavy said in the New York Times: “It became this combination of doing the perfect rendition of something and then having the destroyed version of it. You really see the beauty of what people used to do with album art.”
"Aanteni":
This weekend, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas played host to the iHeartRadio Music Festival, which featured performances from some enormous pop stars. Footage has surfaced of Lorde, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Coldplay, and Usher performing at the festival.
Lorde:
Nicki Minaj:
Ariana Grande:
Coldplay:
Usher:
Neko Case is the latest in a series of artists who have covered the theme song for the Adult Swim cartoon show "Squidbillies". (Previously, it's been covered by Lambchop and Band of Horses, while Will Oldham, Drive-By-Truckers, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Rhett Miller, and more have also worked with the show.) Listen to Case's version below, and watch a behind-the-scenes clip.
On this season of "Squidbillies", each week, the theme song will be done by a different artist. First up is Case, for the season premiere this Sunday, September 21. She'll be followed by King Khan and the Shrines, Centro-Matic, Dwight Yoakam, Todd Rundgren, and Milk Carton Kids.
Listen to Neko's cover and watch the short behind-the-scenes clip below.
Theme song:
Behind the scenes:
Autre Ne Veut, aka Arthur Ashin, has released a 70 minute mix he's calling the "CD-Collection-Circa-2006 Mix: Or, Shopping the Tower Records Liquidation Sale". Below, you can check out the tracklist. It was made for Downtown Festival, which happens in multiple cities; Ashin will perform at the New York edition, which takes place October 2-4. Other artists at the NYC fest include Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks, Atlas Sound, Kiesza, Jungle, Tobacco, Mas Ysa, Iamsu!, Tink, and Zebra Katz.
Ashin also wrote a note about the mix's origins:
At some point in 2004 or 2005 the Tower Records in downtown Manhattan closed its doors following a massive liquidation sale. Could absolutely be wrong by a year or two. It wasn't the best shop in town. Even the Virgin in Union Square tended to carry deeper cuts, Other was around the corner. Kim's still existed, and forgive my memory, but Bleecker Bob's was probably still around at that point. Is it still? Regardless, I stumbled across the Tower sale almost completely accidentally and bought a ton of shit that they were basically giving away. I only remember specifically picking up what turned out to be, essentially, a bargain-bin comp of Canadian Hi NRG throwaways and various alternate versions of disco records. I had been tangentially into Italo disco stuff so it checked some box. This was part of being a CD collector. Purchasing shit in bargain bins and hoping that a track or two would pique your interest.
Anyway, this is too much obvious extrapolation. I'm sounding nostalgic, a thing that I don't particularly like to do. At some point in 2007 or so I was moving apartments and packed all of my CDs away. They'd been culled down many times depending on my current tastes or moods. A lot of my top spinners were lost to scratches and friends or simple foolishness. Only a previous self knows why the CDs that are still around are around, but when a few weeks back, I unboxed them for the first time in 7 years or so, it was a pleasure to try and reconstruct what exactly I was thinking or feeling at the time regarding archiving musical objects.
So I decided to make a mix CD sans the actual CD itself. No mixing, beat matching, DJ magic (well maybe a liiittle), just one song at a time. The rules are: one song per CD only, nothing boringly obvious, things that I'm feeling like listening to right now, played in order of how they were ripped, and that's it. Bonuses include entire mix played at once, and entire mixed played at once, but in reverse.
CD-Collection-Circa-2006 Mix: Or, Shopping the Tower Records Liquidation Sale:
01 Jeffrey Skidmore and Ex Cathedra: "Anonymous: Hanacpachap Cussicuinin - 1. Verses 1-5"
02 Virginia Astley: "Broken"
03 Amanda Ambrose: "(I Ain't Singing) No More Sad Songs"
04 Bryan Ferry: "Where Or When"
05 Vic Ruggiero: "Papa Told Me"
06 Bob Marley & The Wailers: "It Hurts To Be Alone" [Alternate Take]
07 Judee Sill: "There's A Rugged Road"
08 Róisín Murphy: "Sow Into You"
09 Ekkehard Ehlers: "John Cassavetes (2)"
10 Low: "Laser Beam"
11 Derrick Harriott: "The Loser"
12 Chris Bell: "You And Your Sister"
13 Brian Eno & John Cale: "Cordoba"
14 Kate Bush: "Houdini"
15 Autechre: "Vi Scose Poise"
16 Mannie Fresh: "Lady Lady"
17 Lime: "Babe, We're Gonna Love Tonight"
Watch Ashin perform "Counting" at one of the final 285 Kent shows:
Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino and Crazy for You cover star Snacks the cat are promoting animal adoption in PETA2's latest advertisement. In addition to starring in that very adorable print ad pictured above, she was interviewed about her relationship with Snacks and the importance of animal adoption in the video below.
"He really is my son at this point," she says. "That's the thing that is so important about having pets—they really become a part of your family." She also talks about the lasting influence of Bob Barker's famous "Price Is Right"-ending words.
The video also features tons of footage of Snacks, naturally.
Cosentino and her awesome cat follow in the footsteps of Morrissey and Billy Corgan, who both recently advocated for animal rights alongside PETA.
Photo by Ebru Yildiz
Perfect Pussy singer Meredith Graves performed at this past weekend's Basilica Soundscape Festival, presented in association with Pitchfork. She read an essay that discusses Andrew W.K., Lana Del Rey, sexism, and the notion of authenticity as it relates to male and female performers. The piece has been republished in full at The Talkhouse.
Graves talked about the unfair burden of proof placed on women to show that they're authentic fans of culture:
Women are called upon every day to prove our right to participate in music on the basis of our authenticity — or perceived lack thereof. Our credentials are constantly being checked — you say you like a band you’ve only heard a couple of times? Prepare to answer which guitarist played on a specific record and what year he left the band. But don’t admit you haven’t heard them, either, because they’ll accuse you of only saying you like that genre to look cool. Then they’ll ask you if you’ve ever heard of about five more bands, just to prove that you really know nothing. This happens so often that it feels like dudes meet in secret to work on a regimented series of tests they can use to determine whether or not we deserve to be here.
She discussed seeing Andrew W.K. in an airport and being surprised by his unmaintained appearance:
I feel weird about eating these days or leaving the house, or existing in a material form at all, because having a body that talks too much and sweats and makes mistakes is exhausting, and here’s this dude just standing around with dented hair and a Napalm Death shirt over sweatpants shorts and it’s almost as if the whole world isn’t scrutinizing what’s in his cart at the grocery store, what he looks like without makeup on, how his gender affects his authenticity as a performer. I was looking straight at this spaced out, sweet-faced, charming guy, just standing there, calm and existing.
She then contrasted the praise W.K. receives with the criticism Lana Del Rey gets for being "inauthentic":
After a month of thinking about the bizarre truth inherent here — that real women with fake names are somehow considered exponentially less authentic than completely fake men harboring a real, hidden sadness — I’ve come to one conclusion; that the cult of personality surrounding artists exists because of an unfeeling world that loves nothing more than breaking sensitive, talented people. The oppressive systems that surround us have forced us to assume personas like castles have moats — they can’t protect you forever but they might work for a little while to keep the bad guys from coming in. That’s not safe or good for human hearts, regardless of their respective privileges in regard to class or gender.
Read the whole thing here.
Watch Perfect Pussy perform "I" at Pitchfork Music Festival:
On the BBC's Annie Mac show tonight, Grimes stopped by for an interview and played a "Bedtime Mix"-- music to listen to in order to fall asleep. Grimes' seven-song mix starts around 2:25:20, and includes Aphex Twin, Portishead, Patsy Cline, and Majical Cloudz, among others. Said Grimes of the mix: "a lot of it is stuff from my childhood...when I go to bed I like to listen to nostalgic stuff."
Around the 29 minute mark, Grimes talks about her album recording process (she recently scrapped her album and decided to start over,) in addition to discussing how she hates buttons on clothes and how she just discovered the Killers.
Check out the interview here, courtesy of the BBC.
Watch Grimes perform "Genesis" at the 2012 Pitchfork Music Festival:
Odd Future have launched a 24-hour commercial-free radio station in partnership with Dash Radio, FADER reports. The channel will premiere tonight at 9 PM PST, and will run 24 hours, 7 days a week through dashradio.com. Tune in at 9 PM PST for the inaugural programming.
According to what manager Christian Clancy told the FADER via email, it's "basically a 24/7 commercial free station for their shows, their shit, their friends and music they like.. live show on tuesdays. specials.. whatever they come up with. could be absolutely amazing or a complete disaster.. ha...go eagles."
Listen to Odd Future's "Oldie":
Robert Wyatt will release Different Every Time, a new double LP of rarities and collaborations from his career, on November 18 via Domino. The release is intended as a companion to biographer Marcus O’Dair's forthcoming book by the same title (that's out October 30 via Serpent's Tail in the UK). Different Every Time will be available as a 2 x double LP, a double CD, and digitally. Disc 1 is called Ex Machina and Disc 2 is Benign Dictatorships, and you can check out the track list for both of them here. Listen to Wyatt's "Shipbuilding" above.
A limited-edition print of the album is available for pre-order here.
Read our 5-10-15-20 with Robert Wyatt.
Listen to Robert Wyatt's "Sea Song":
Photo by Tonje Thilesen
Over the weekend, Sun Kil Moon's Mark Kozelek called a rowdy Raleigh, North Carolina audience a bunch of "fuckin' hillbillies" for not being quiet during his set, and told the crowd to "shut the fuck up".
Now, you can commemorate the event with a t-shirt that Kozelek's label, Caldo Verde, is selling on their website. It reads "All You Fuckin' Hillbillies Shut The Fuck Up".
Before anyone gets upset, I should mention that the tee in question is $18 and will be pressed—where else?—in Raleigh by Tannis Root. This merch item is right up there with Yeezus in terms of the "I Dare You to Buy This" factor.
Earlier today, BBC Radio One's Zane Lowe broadcast a new version of Sam Smith's "I'm Not the Only One"—a single from his smash debut In the Lonely Hour —featuring A$AP Rocky. It features some Beyoncé references. Hear it above.
Revisit the video for "I'm Not the Only One": Here's A$AP Rocky's appearance on Pitchfork.tv's "Selector" series:
Bespoke musical performances have become a mainstay at New York City Fashion Week, from Thom York soundtracking Rag & Bone's runway to St. Vincent performing on the catwalk at Diane von Fürstenberg. Today, Twin Shadow performed a live original score to Public School's NYC runway show.
Watch his 10-minute performance here, via Public School's website.
Watch Twin Shadow perform "Patient" on Pitchfork.tv:
La Roux has shared a video for her song "Kiss And Not Tell", from her latest album, Trouble in Paradise . In it, she channels an 80's infomercial and debuts an awesome collection of old-school telephones-- including a hamburger phone, a tiny piano phone, and several phones that shoot rainbows from the mouthpiece. Watch the video below.
Chauncey Mahan, a sound engineer who worked with Jay Z on his Dynasty album from 1998 to 2002, is suing Jay Z for joint author credit on 45 songs, including "Big Pimpin", Billboard reports. According to the report, however, Jay Z is arguing that Mahan's lawsuit came too late and has filed a motion to have it dismissed.
Jay Z and Mahan were previously involved in an alleged extortion plot concerning master recordings that Jay Z's camp assumed went missing in 2002.
Mahan allegedly contacted Live Nation, the concert promotion company that is partnered with Jay Z on Roc Nation, and said he would either let the tapes go up for auction or accept $100,00 for them. The LAPD later took Mahan in for questioning and confiscated the tapes in his possession, which are believed to be worth $20 million.
Mahan later denied the extortion charges that were brought against him, claiming he'd repeatedly contacted Jay Z's representatives over the last 10 years to inform them that he was in possession of the recordings.
Ultimately, Mahan wasn't arrested, and Jay Z's representatives dropped the charges.
Still, the legal battle continues with the current allegation that Mahan is owed joint authorship credit on 45 of Jay Z's songs. Jay Z is arguing, essentially, that the lawsuit comes too late to be taken seriously.
According to Billboard, the memorandum in support of dismissing the lawsuit states:
"After 14 years of silence, Petitioner’s claims (and his attempt to use the federal courts as part of his shakedown scheme) are outrageous and wholly without merit. More significantly, for purposes of this Motion, the claims are plainly barred by the three-year statute of limitations contained in the Copyright Act, and have been for more than a decade."
The tapes are being held by the LAPD until a civil judge determines who rightfully owns them.
Beyoncé was one of the standout performers at the recent MTV Video Music Awards, when she ran through a suite of her entire self-titled album. Now, her team has shared a behind-the-scenes video that shows the frantic process of creating the performance, and how close to the wire it came. (As it turns out, it's pretty difficult for one makeup artist to paint a bunch of people white all by herself.) Check it out below. Jay Z and baby Blue Ivy even make a cameo toward the end, further staving off those #divorcerumors.
Watch the VMA performance:
13-year old Willow Smith has shared a cover the King Krule track "Easy Easy", from his 2013 debut 6 Feet Beneath the Moon . Listen to it above.
King Krule, meanwhile, has announced an exhibition of music, visual art and performances by Jack & Archy Marshall, aka Mistr Gone and King Krule. (They are brothers!)
The show is called Inner City Ooz and it will run September 5-27 at Display Gallery in London.
According to the gallery's announcement, Inner City Ooz will be a mixed-media display:
Intersecting memories and moments of lived experience are brought together in an impressively diverse body of work incorporating poetry, music, painting, illustration, silk-screen and linocut – all acts of artistic liberation that address universal themes of the memory, time, and role of the artist in an evolving cityscape. Through an immersive installation of soundscapes and live-performances the show aims to create a secluded, fictional environment where the viewer can find refuge from the outside world and reflect on the endless possibilities that one can discover within oneself.
Listen to the original "Easy Easy", below:
