He continued, "It’s early days, but I would say it’s a more mature sound for the Mary Chain. But let’s just wait and see." Read the full interview here.
After Australian garage rock greats Eddy Current Suppression Ring released Rush to Relax in 2010, they quietly went on hiatus. Aside from the 2011 compilation So Many Things, the band's members have kept busy with other bands and projects. It's been announced that Eddy Current Suppression Ring will return next year for a special one-off performance.
The band will headline Golden Plains on March 13 in Meredith, Australia for their first show in six years. It happens 10 years (to the day) after they played the first Golden Plains. The festival's website reports that the band are calling the show a one-off, but they also clarify that the band's members "prefer to avoid bold declarations on their future."
In the five years since they released their last album, Mikey Young (aka Eddy Current) has done a lot of work as an engineer. He's also a member of Total Control. Brendan Huntley (aka Brendan Suppression) is a member of Boomgates.
Moog Music is discontinuing the production of the Minimoog Voyager, which was launched in 2002 as a continuation of the original Minimoog synthesizer. Moog will produce 600 more units before the line comes to an end. They've now enlisted Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor for a video in which he discusses his relationship with the synthesizer. The video was scored by the Haxan Cloak. Watch it below.
Recalling how the Moog Prodigy was the first synthesizer he ever owned, Reznor calls purchasing it "the greatest day of my life." He also told the story of meeting Bob Moog, who invented the Moog synthesizer, at an early Nine Inch Nails show.
In making his score, the Haxan Cloak used a Minimoog Voyager and a prototype of the Mother-32, Moog's newest analog synth.
Sunn O))) have announced Kannon, a new studio album due December 4 through Southern Lord. It was produced by Randall Dunn, who also did 2006's Altar and 2009's Monoliths and Demolitions, and features contributions from Attila Csihar (Void), Oren Ambarchi, Rex Ritter, and Steve Moore.
The LP's title is drawn from Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The album includes liner notes written by critical theorist Aliza Shvarts, which explore the band's relationship to Kannon's namesake.
Additionally, a limited edition clear vinyl of Kannon will be released on Record Store Day's Black Friday, which takes place November 27.
Sunn O))) have also curated a stage at Le Guess Who? Festival, which takes place November 19-22 in Utrecht, Netherlands. Chelsea Wolfe, Marissa Nadler, Julia Holter, Magma, and Circuit des Yeux are some of the artists who will play, as will Sunn themselves.
In the mid-1980s, Neneh Cherry recorded "Dead Come Alive", a one-off track with On-U Sound founder Adrian Sherwood's group the Circuit. It didn't see the light of day, but Sherwood has unearthed the track for Science Fiction Dancehall Classics, a new On-U Sound compilation curated by Trevor Jackson. Listen to the track above. Below, watch a video mix for the compilation created by Jackson.
In a statement to Pitchfork, Sherwood talked about the song:
This is one of the first tunes I did with a drum machine, working with Steve Beresford. I think it was a LinnDrum, which they'd just got in at Berry Street studios in 83, they were really expensive at the time.
I met Neneh in 1979 because the band I was working with, Creation Rebel, got invited on this 'Simply What's Happening' tour, which was pretty groundbreaking in the way it mixed up different styles of music. It was Don Cherry, Happy House (Lou Reed's backing band at the time), The Slits, and Prince Hammer. After that me and Neneh ended up squatting a place together in Battersea in 1980, and we're still friends to this day.
The liner notes give some background on "Dead Come Alive":
In some ways predicting the electro-fied sound of Neneh’s worldwide pop success with the Raw Like Sushi album, “Dead Come Alive” stems from a mid-80s period when Adrian took a production hiatus from his beloved reggae, deeply upset by the murder of his friend Prince Far I (he would later rekindle the dub flame when the opportunity arose in 1986 to work with hero Lee “Scratch” Perry). Instead he explored the possibilities of new studio technology. Early samplers and drum machines were put through their paces on work for the Tommy Boy label and remixes for the likes of Depeche Mode. Discovered in a dusty corner of the On-U tape archive, this unreleased recording is presented for the first time on this album.
TrevorJackson Presents: Science Fiction Dancehall Classics compiles classics, rarities, and unreleased tracks from On-U Sound. It comes out October 2.
Flying Lotus has shared the trailer for FUCKKKYOUUU, a short film that features a score he wrote. Directed by Eddie Alcazar, FUCKKKYOUUU premiered earlier this year at Sundance's NEXT Fest. Watch the trailer below via Hypetrak.
The film's description reads, "With the ability to travel in time, a lonely girl finds love and comfort by connecting with her past self. Eventually faced with rejection she struggles with her identity and gender, and as time folds onto itself only one of them can remain."
FUCKKKYOUUU isn't Flying Lotus' first experience in film. In January, he said he was writing a movie; he also said WOKE, his new project with Shabazz Palaces and Thundercat, was inspired by a script he wrote a few years ago. In 2014, he scored a short film starring Noomi Rapace as well as Imperial Dreams, a short starring John Boyega (Star Wars: The ForceAwakens) that debuted at Sundance.
Watch Flying Lotus and Thundercat on Pitchfork.tv's "Over/Under":
Today, Tillman has shared a behind-the-scenes clip chronicling the making of the video. We meet Tillman's body double and hear what was actually said during the filming. (Including this awesome pick-up line: "Hey, sulky-buns, you look handsome over here by yourself.")
Offering an explanation as his hand is bandaged, Tillman says, "I was jerking off onto my cat, and it got me pretty good."
John Carpenter will perform his music live for the first time ever at All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Iceland, which takes place July 1-3, 2016 in Keflavík. The performance will comprise selections from this year's Lost ThemesLP, his scores from movies like Halloween, Christine, and They Live, and new music. Carpenter will be joined by by his son Cody Carpenter, his godson Daniel Davies, and a full live band for the show. Below, watch a trailer announcing the performance.
On October 16, Lost Themes Remixed will arrive on vinyl via Sacred Bones. It collects reworks from Zola Jesus, Blanck Mass (Fuck Buttons' Benjamin John Power), Foetus' JG Thirlwell, ohGr, Prurient, and more. Listen to Uniform (the Men's Ben Greenberg and ex-Drunkdriver Michael Berdan)'s remix of "Vortex" below:
Lana Del Rey has shared a new video for "Music To Watch Boys To", off her new album Honeymoon. In the clip, Del Rey lounges in paradise – two gramophones by her side – and joins a host of ethereal women swimming underwater. True to the song's title, there are also shots of some boys playing basketball. Watch it below.
In November and December 1969, between the release of their self-titled LP and the following year's Loaded, the Velvet Underground held a residency at two venues in San Francisco: the Family Dog and the Matrix (a pizza parlor-turned-concert hall opened by Jefferson Airplane's Marty Balin). All in all, the Velvets performed for 18 nights, and a significant portion of the gigs were captured on a four-track recorder.
According to a press release, The Velvet Underground: The Complete Matrix Tapes focuses on two gigs in November 1969: November 26 (the same day that former President Nixon authorized the Vietnam draft lottery) and November 27 (Thanksgiving).
The collection's highlights include previously unreleased versions of "Some Kinda Love", "Sweet Jane", and "After Hours", among others. Find the entire tracklisting below.
Rolling Stone editor David Fricke wrote the liner notes for the new collection.
The Complete Matrix Tapes isn't the only Velvet Underground release coming soon; the 45th anniversary edition of Loadedis due out October 30.
The Velvet Underground: The Complete Matrix Tapes:
Disc One
01 I’m Waiting For The Man (Version 1)
02 What Goes On (Version 1)
03 Some Kinda Love (Version 1)
04 Heroin (Version 1)
05 The Black Angel’s Death Song
06 Venus In Furs (Version 1)
07 There She Goes Again (Version 1)
08 We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together (Version 1)
09 Over You (Version 1)
10 Sweet Jane (Version 1)
11 Pale Blue Eyes (Version 1)
12 After Hours (Version 1)
Disc Two
01 I’m Waiting For The Man (Version 2)
02 Venus In Furs (Version 2)
03 I Can’t Stand It (Version 1)
04 There She Goes Again (Version 2)
05 Some Kinda Love (Version 2)
06 Over You (Version 2)
07 After Hours (Version 2)
08 We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together (Version 2)
09 Sweet Bonnie Brown/Too Much
10 Heroin (Version 2)
11 White Light/White Heat (Version 1)
12 I’m Set Free
Disc Three
01 We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together (Version 3)
02 Some Kinda Love (Version 3)
03 There She Goes Again (Version 3)
04 Heroin (Version 3)
05 Ocean
06 Sister Ray
Disc Four
01 I’m Waiting For The Man (Version 3)
02 What Goes On (Version 2)
03 Some Kinda Love (Version 4)
04 We’re Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together (Version 4)
05 Beginning To See The Light
06 Lisa Says
07 New Age
08 Rock and Roll
09 I Can’t Stand It (Version 2)
10 Heroin (Version 4)
11 White Light/White Heat (Version 2)
12 Sweet Jane (Version 2)
Here's one version of "Heroin" from the band's stint at the Matrix:
Tyler, the Creator has a new venture: an animated series called "The Jellies". Co-written and voiced by Tyler and "Loiter Squad" co-star Lionel Boyce, and animated by Augenblick Studios, the show is about a family of jellyfish. Below, watch a trailer capturing the moment their human son discovers he's adopted.
"The Jellies" is available exclusively through Tyler's Golf Media app.
Watch Odd Future do "Radicals" at Pitchfork Music Festival:
Antony Hegarty has written a Facebook post criticizing Pope Francis for secretly meeting with Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was briefly jailed for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. "Apparently Pope Francis was working behind the scenes to undermine gay rights in America," Antony wrote. "How shameful and pathetic of him."
Find the full text below:
Apparently Pope Francis was working behind the scenes to undermine gay rights in America. How shameful and pathetic of him. I have been so impressed with his approach to climate and his call to end the death penalty. But for him to make insidious comments about how the "traditional family" is under threat (presumably from gay marriage) and then to secretly meet that poor misguided cretin Kim Davis... I am glad that he is mobilizing his flock to care about nature, but i would still prefer that they would all just go to their heaven now and leave the rest of humanity and nature in peace here on earth. Pope Francis seems still to be causing harm and burning witches in the name of Christ, just like his forefathers. Christ himself might weep with shame. Francis attempts to distract us from Catholic sexual predators with a smokescreen of fake moralizing about gay people and their rights to live as equals in society. Pope Francis should line up one hundred gay, lesbian and transgendered people from around the world and wash and kiss their feet. He should issue a formal apology on behalf of the church for centuries of persecuting, torturing and killing us in the name of their god. Or are we not worthy of his humility, unlike criminals, the American indigenous, and the poor? Jesus Wept. - Anohni
The meeting took place during the Pope's visit to Washington D.C. last week, as The New York Timesreports. In refusing to issue the licenses, Davis frequently cited her Christian faith.
The Facebook post was signed "Anohni", the name under which Antony's forthcoming record, Hopelessness, will be released.
Pitchfork's Show No Mercy and Blackened Music are happy to announce the ninth and tenth installments of the Tinnitus series that focuses on composers of extreme sound.
The next installment takes place on October 25 at National Sawdust in Brooklyn (80 N 60th St.). Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley, Reg Bloor, and Andrew Hock will perform. Tickets are $15; it takes place at 9 p.m.
On November 20, the series will host Oneohtrix Point Never at Villain in Brooklyn (50 N 3rd St). Daniel Lopatin's new album Garden of Delete is coming later this year. Tickets to the show are $20; it starts at 9 p.m.
Read "Right Brain", Mike Powell's feature on Oneohtrix Point Never.
Watch Lopatin and Nate Boyce's MoMA PS1 collaboration:
Tidal has announced Tidal X: 10/20, a concert that will be staged at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on October 20. It'll feature performances from Beyoncé, Jay Z, Prince, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Usher, T.I., Alessia Cara, Damian Marley, Fabolous, Flatbush Zombies, and more. The concert, which is being billed as "a tribute to fans and a call to action," will be streamed through Tidal.
Proceeds from tickets presale will be matched by Tidal, and all proceeds from the concert will be donated to the New World Foundation.
My Morning Jacket have shared a video for their track "Compound Fracture", from this year's The Waterfall. Directed by Danny Clinch, it features footage from their tour-closing concert at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre last month, rendered in kaleidoscopic effects. Watch it below.
"The spirit and electricity we felt playing at Red Rocks was one of the most magical experiences we’ve ever had," the band said in a statement. "Having our friend Danny [Clinch] and TourGigs there to capture that moment was something we treasure - now we’re so excited to be able to share that special night with everyone through this video." Clinch described the video as "a modern take on psychedelia, which suits My Morning Jacket perfectly."
GØGGS is Ty Segall's newest project with Ex-Cult's Chris Shaw and Fuzz bandmate Charles Moothart. The band have shared their first single, "She Got Harder". The song will be released in November through In the Red Records. Listen to it above and read Shaw's introductory message below via GØGGS' Tumblr.
CHAPTER ONE: GØGGS IS BORN.Ty and I decided we were going to start a band together when Ex-Cult opened for his band on the Slaughterhouse tour in 2013. A couple years later when the plans were solidified, it only made sense that thrash master Charles Moothart should get in on the experience. The three of us have been friends for years at this point, crashing at each others houses and riffling through each others record collections after a night of performing, partying, or both. This is not a side-project, it is a necessity. GØGGS is three heads, one spine, circling the drain of the wasteland known as mother earth. The A side to the debut single “She Got Harder” (out this November on In The Red Records) is one of the first songs we came up for this project, with an Iggy Pop cover (Featuring Zumi Rosow) thrown on the B-Side for maximum damage.The album dropping next year (featuring guests Cory Hanson of Wand, Denee Petracek of Vial, and Mikal Cronin) will lead us into the second chapter of the GØGGS saga. Smoke the Wurm. A new player enters the game. –Chris Shaw
Segall recently announced another new band, Broken Bats. He will also release a new record with Fuzz, II, in October. His T. Rex cover records Ty-Rex will be reissued in November. Ex-Cult released their EP Cigarette Machine earlier this year.
The noncommercial, listener-supported New York radio station WFUV has announced its latest compilation of live-recorded songs, FUV Live 18. The album contains tracks by Courtney Barnett, Father John Misty, Tweedy, Future Islands, Twin Shadow, and more. Find the full tracklisting below.
FUV Live 18 is available in exchange for a donation to WFUV during the station's fall membership drive, which begins October 5. WFUV DJs will play the album in alphabetical order by artist during the drive.
FUV Live 18:
01 Brandi Carlile: "The Eye"
02 Calexico: "Falling From the Sky"
03 Colin Meloy: "Make You Better"
04 Courtney Barnett: "Pedestrian at Best"
05 Dawes: "All Your Favorite Bands"
06 Elle King: "Ex's and Oh's"
07 Father John Misty: "Strange Encounter"
08 Future Islands: "Back in the Tall Grass"
09 Greg Holden: "Boys in the Street"
10 JD McPherson: "Head Over Heels"
11 Laura Marling: "False Hope"
12 Leon Bridges: "Coming Home"
13 The Lone Bellow: "Watch Over Us"
14 Madisen Ward & The Mama Bear: "Silent Movies"
15 Mumford & Sons: "Broad-Shouldered Beasts"
16 Rhiannon Giddens: "Black Is the Color"
17 The Staves: "Black and White"
18 Tweedy: "Flowering"
19 Twin Shadow: "I'm Ready"
20 Violent Femmes: "Kiss Off"
21 Wolf Alice: "Moaning Lisa Smile"
Watch Father John Misty perform "Strange Encounter" live in Studio A at WFUV:
Former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck has announced his latest solo record, Warzone Earth. It's out October 16 via Little Axe Records. Jeff Tweedy, Krist Novoselic, and Buck's super-Earth bandmates Scott McCaughey, Bill Rieflin, and Kurt Bloch will appear on the record, according to Stereogum. Mingering Mike designed the cover art. See the first alternate cover above and the second alternate cover art below, along with Buck's statement to R.E.M.'s official website.
I've just had an exciting couple of weeks working with Tucker Martine on the new record by The Jayhawks which is a stunning tour de force. I think it will blow a lot of minds. I spent yesterday with my good friend Mike, who came to town to add some Millsian glamour to the proceedings. And I am pleased to announce this morning my new magnum opus Warzone Earth is now available. The record features two alternate covers by the folk art legend Mingering Mike. I never thought I'd look so good in tights! All kidding aside, it's the best solo record I have made, and I'm excited for it to be out in the world. It's available through littleaxerecords.com who distributes the record. It should also be available in all the cool independent record stores in your neighborhood, once again, vinyl only, but feel free to make a cassette for your friends.
~Peter
Robyn and Mount team up as Tony Primo and Nixxie for "The Hardest Thing to Do"; Cocker and Buckle are Spann N the Werx, who contribute "Friday Night"; and Tellier performs "I Eat It at Home" as Albert Mondo. The video for each song features karaoke-style singalong lyrics. Watch all three below.
Partisan is available on DVD and digitally on October 14.
California-based rapper Kyle rapped on "Wanna Be Cool", off Surf, Chance the Rapper's album with his band The Social Experiment. On Friday, he'll release his new album Smyle via Indie-Pop, featuring "Remember Me?", which includes a hook from Chance. Listen to it above via Stereogum.
The map includes influences such as R.E.M., Tom Petty, Caetano Veloso, Al Green, J.G. Ballard, Pablo Neruda, old linen, iced Earl Grey tea, "souless new car smell", the car accident Cox was in last winter, and more. Clicking on most of the phrases will take you to an associated video, Wikipedia page, PDF, and so forth. One entry takes you to a page for Cox's dog, Faulkner (who seems to be really into squirrels.)
In an interview with Vulture, Cox discussed some of the influences. On "the decline of the music industry," he said:
The music industry is a giant shrieking ghost. It means nothing. It never meant much. It’s just an appalling apparition. It has no vitality. How can you expect much from someone who thinks only of profit? They’re simple creatures. I might sound so arrogant. I’m not a socialist in any dogmatic way. I don’t believe that I have the answer. I think John Cassavetes had the best answer for the creation and distribution of art: Pay for it yourself, do it yourself.
Nicki Minaj has always been into acting – she studied theatre at Manhattan's LaGuardia High School and has lent her talents to films like The Other Woman and Ice Age: Continental Drift, not to mention "Saturday Night Live". Now, she's breaking into television, with ABC Family planning a comedy series based on her life growing up in Queens, New York, as Deadline reports. In addition to acting in the as-of-yet-untitled program, Minaj will serve as one of its executive producers. The pilot will be shot this winter in Queens.
Kate Angelo (Sex Tape, The Back-Up Plan) will write the script, which focuses on Minaj's upbringing in an immigrant family (she was born in Trinidad & Tobago and moved Stateside as a child).
“Nicki Minaj is a force to be reckoned with at everything she touches,” ABC Family’s Executive Vice President for Programming and Development Karey Burke told Deadline. “Nicki is an international superstar, yet not everyone knows how inspiring and hilarious her true story is, and we can’t wait to share it with the world.”
In a statement, Minaj stated, “This is one of the more unique adventures I’ve ever embarked on. I couldn’t be more proud and excited to team up with an amazing group of people to give the world something really special.”
Producer SOPHIE's new release, PRODUCT, is out November 27 via Numbers. It collects eight singles, including "Lemonade", "Bipp", "Hard", and "Elle". It's being released on CD (available in pink or black "silicon bubble cases" or jewel cases), vinyl, as WAV files, or as a regular digital download. It can also be purchased as a "silicon product," seen above, which comes with a digital download. (As for the "silicon product"'s intended usage... figure it out.) Find the tracklist below, along with the artwork.
Pitchfork.tv's "Playlist" is a series in which artists pick a list of favorite tracks and discuss what each one means to them. In this episode, Ariel Pink chats about "Throw It Away" by the Germs, "Slice O' Life" by 45 Grave, "The Itchy Glowbo Blow" by Cocteau Twins, and more.
Below, watch the full episode, featuring Pink's commentary, as well as clips of each song. Click on the links contained within the video to hear the full songs.
The Go! Team have announced their first U.S. tour in five years. Joining Go! Team main man Ian Parton on the trek will be original members Ninja and Sam Dook, along with Cheryl Pinero, Maki, and Simone Odaranile. Find the dates below.
10-08 Ebisu, Japan - Ebisu Liquid Room
10-10 Shizuoka, Japan - Asagiri Jam Festival
10-30 Bilbao, Spain - Bime Festival
11-07 Cardiff, Wales - Sŵn Festival
01-16 Chicago, IL - Venue TBA
01-18 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
01-19 Los Angeles, CA - Roxy
01-21 New York, NY - Brooklyn Bowl
01-22 Boston, MA - Sinclair
01-23 Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts
01-24 Washington, DC - Black Cat
Watch the Go! Team's video for "The Scene Between":
Disclosure have dropped a video for "Magnets", their collaboration with Lorde that appears on the recently released Caracal. In the clip, Lorde has an illicit affair with an older man. Eventually, everything ends in violence. Watch it below.
Diagonal label boss Oscar Powell also releases music as Powell via XL. His latest single, "Insomniac", (coming soon on XL), features a vocal sample from Steve Albini that dates to his time fronting Big Black. Ahead of its release, Powell emailed Albini to get sample clearance and explain how much Big Black's music meant to him. However, as the Quietus reports, Albini gave more than his approval—he also included a long rant on how much he hates dance music.
Powell asked if he could use the e-mail to promote the single, and when Albini responded, "still don't care," the text was turned into a billboard by XL. It can be found on London's Commercial Street. Check it out above, and read the e-mail below.
Although he says he hasn't heard "Insomniac", Albini wrote:
I am absolutely the wrong audience for this kind of music. I've always detested mechanized dance music, its stupid simplicity, the clubs where it was played, the people who went to those clubs, the drugs they took, the shit they liked to talk about, the clothes they wore, the battles they fought amongst each other...
Basically all of it: 100 percent hated every scrap.
The electronic music I liked was radical and different, shit like the White Noise, Xenakis, Suicide, Kraftwerk, and the earliest stuff form Cabaret Voltaire, SPK and DAF. When that scene and those people got co-opted by dance/club music I felt like we'd lost a war. I detest club culture as deeply as I detest anything on earth. So I am against what you're into, and an enemy of where you come from but I have no problem with what you're doing...
In other words, you're welcome to do whatever you like with whatever of mine you've gotten your hands on. Don't care. Enjoy yourself.
Inspired by Andy Warhol's "Screen Tests", the video depicts Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine, "The Daily Show", "Ballers", Nate Cordry ("Mom", The Invention of Lying), Matt Jones (Badger from "Breaking Bad"), and Seth Morris ("Childrens Hospital", Step Brothers), all doing their best Pollard impressions.
Yesterday, Flying Lotus, Shabazz Palaces, and Thundercat announced a new collaborative project called WOKE. They also released their first single, "The Lavishments of Light Looking", featuring Parliament-Funkadelic legend George Clinton. Pitchfork hopped on the phone with FlyLo to talk about the project's origins, working with Clinton, their future plans, and more.
Pitchfork: How did the project first come together?
Flying Lotus: TheWOKEproject started about three years ago. I, myself, and some screenwriter friends of mine started writing a script for feature film calledWOKE. It was something that we developed for quite a while. Initially, it was going to star Ishmael [Butler] from Shabazz Palaces and Jeremiah Jae. We worked on it for a while, started workshopping, but there's always the financial issue—I haven't found anyone who is going to invest in the film.
But I wanted to keep the project going somehow. It's about music, it's about musicians, and so I decided, Why don't we just try and build up some momentum through music and maybe do the film after? We started working earlier this year on music. We did a few songs. We have a few things. We're just going to let it build naturally, see what happens. We're not going to rush to finish it. Jeremiah Jae is also part of WOKE too, but maybe more so as a producer. I'm not sure. We haven't really defined anything, really, other than the fact that we're going to keep working on stuff.
Pitchfork: Does that mean you don't have any plans to release an album?
FL: There's nothing set in stone. We have a bunch of ideas. There's about like nine songs kind of floating around. There's more stuff with George [Clinton], too. We've done a lot of recording over this year. I want to make sure that all the stuff that we do is in the same room together. I'm not trying to do e-mail shit; I really want it to be organic and a true collaboration.
Pitchfork: How did you involve George Clinton in the project?
FL: George—he kind of naturally started floating around too, man. He and I had been in touch earlier this year, and he joined me at Glastonbury. When he comes out to Los Angeles, he comes to the studio and we lay out some ideas. He happened to be around when we were working on the song, so it was perfect that it worked out that way. George is amazing. He's so sharp and he's got so many ideas still. It's such a crazy thing witnessing him and his process.
Pitchfork: Where did the name WOKE come from?
FL: The script has a lot to do with dreams and stuff and astral experiences, so the title just kinda fit. I don't know what the spark was that made the name, but then I just decided on WOKE because it was just very simple and very much what the film is about.
Pitchfork: How did "The Lavishments of Light Looking" come together in the studio?
FL: That song is one of the first songs that we came up with, Ishmael and myself. He flew into L.A. and stayed at my house for a few days; we knocked out a bunch of ideas, and this was the one that I just kinda started building out. He came here and I would just make tracks, and he would be writing, and then we would have something recorded. We have a bunch of ideas, not all of them finished, but a lot of good starting points. This was the first one that we just had to follow through on, and Ish works really fast. He gets all of his ideas out really fast and he was pretty much waiting on me to do my verse for a very long time, because it takes me forever to get into the headspace and vocals. For him, it's like nothing.
Hopefully we get to hear him on the production at some point, and just turn it around. I want different production, too. I want Thundercat to produce songs. I want Jeremiah Jae to produce some stuff and I want Ishmael and Shabazz to produce some stuff, and then maybe I'll do the vocals. I want to mix it up a little bit.
Pitchfork: Is WOKE something you can see yourself taking on tour?
FL: To be honest, I hope so. The whole point of doing it this way was we were like, let's just see what happens if we put this one out there, see if people fuck with it, see if people want this to continue. If that's the case, yeah, we've already been talking about how awesome it would be. Before the track happened, we just talked about how cool it would be if we got together in the studio. Now, I'm like, What's going to happen if we actually make this project, or actually make an album, or actually make the film now. You know? So it's cool. I really hope that it just kind of unfolds naturally, as most things tend to in my creative life.
Watch Flying Lotus and Thundercat on Pitchfork.tv's "Over/Under":
Florence and the Machine were today's guests on the BBC Radio 1 "Live Lounge". As well as performing "Ship to Wreck", "Sweet Nothing", "What Kind of Man", "Queen of Peace", and "Delilah", they covered "Where Are Ü Now" (ft. Justin Bieber), a track from Skrillex and Diplo's Jack Ü project. Hear the chat and session below; for the Jack Ü cover, skip to 23:20.
Chvrches' new album Every Open Eye came out last week. For its release, Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker sat down with singer Lauren Mayberry to discuss lyric writing, her favorite books, and sexist abuse online and at concerts. Read it here via Interview magazine, and check out some excerpts below.
When Tucker asks for Mayberry's favorite authors or poets, Mayberry responds:
I've been re-reading the Jessica Valenti book, Full Frontal Feminism. I've been reading Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates; I saw him on The Daily Show talking about it and immediately after that I had to order that book. Then The Daily Show ended, and I was very sad. I felt like I was weeping for a week.
Anne Carson and Angela Carter are folks I hold close to my heart because they have such unique ways of telling stories. I think in reading a few sentences of text you can just tell the tone, and that's something I love in prose writers, but in lyricists as well. That's how I feel about you guys: I always can tell with Sleater-Kinney's melodies or lyrics that it's yours.
Asked about her lyric-writing process, Mayberry says she keeps a notebook, "so when I'm walking around or when we're on tour, I'll write down words or phrases. We tend to write the music first, with a nonsense folk melody. I feel like that would be a funny bonus release at some point—all the nonsense I write down. I have 400 Chvrches songs on my computer with me scat-singing and it's like, "What is this?" It's horrible."
The chat's second half broadly concerns Mayberry's public experiences of misogyny, as well as the significance of online anonymity in troll culture:
MAYBERRY: I did an interview today with a reasonably respected British journalist and he actually asked me in the interview, "Do you think you'd like to take some time out of music in the next few years to focus on your personal life? I don't know if you have a partner but have you considered how you would juggle children with touring?" I had never been asked that question before. I was like, "Well that's not really your business, pal."
TUCKER: Do you think a male musician would ever be asked that question?
MAYBERRY: Well, I didn't want to scream on the phone at him. In my head, I was like, "I'll find a polite way of getting out of it." I figured if I was like, "Dude that's incredibly rude, condescending, and offensive," then I'm going to get tired of [being] that person who does that all the time. It's inevitable that people are going to find out about my natural, god-given feminist rage. People are like, "Why are you angry all the time?" It's like, I'm not angry. I'd like to think I'm a reasonably nice person, but unfortunately when those conversations come up, it does make me angry. It should make people angry. I did wonder in the interview if this guy was real-life trolling me.
TUCKER: I agree. There are so many times that as a woman in the music industry you're asked questions no male musician would ever be asked. For me being a mom and having two kids, I don't think men who are fathers in bands are being asked the responsibility questions, about touring with kids—up until recently. Recently there has been a cultural shift with fathers being parents, and it's totally crucial. I do think we have a long way to go in terms of the culture around women still being career women, and asking a woman about her career and her work, just seeing them as fully validated human beings in the workplace. It's so important that you are speaking up about this because so many women experience it and don't have a way to talk about it. It's incredibly hurtful and really unacceptable. If we don't speak up about it, how do we expect to change it? Do you think that people are more prone to hateful language online, when it is anonymous?
MAYBERRY: We've had a few things at shows, but nothing as extreme and as aggressive as we've had online. I think the anonymity factor really wraps it up. It's a weird protection for people. It's so risky, because how do you ever crack down on that without cracking down on free speech in general, which is incredibly important? A part of me thinks that Twitter and message boards are worse because of the anonymity factor. I have a personal Twitter for band purposes, but I don't use social media a lot. I fall in a weird age gap. I was on band message boards when I was 16, but I was on the early curve of Facebook. I did it for work when I worked in media, and I did it for the band, but I can't relate to the idea that you live your life online. Part of me feels like I don't really get drawn into a negative way of thinking about it. For us, the Internet has been really amazing, and I think it's a place of great passion, creativity, and knowledge. Seeing people communicate about the band online has been amazing, but I think a lot of people spend a lot of time talking about what they hate rather than what they love. I don't want to get trapped in that.
Last month Arca announced that he will release his second LP, the followup to last year's Xen, which is called Mutant. Now, he's shared a single from the release called "Soichiro". Listen to it below via theQuietus.
"Soichiro" is the name of a frequent Arca collaborator Jesse Kanda, according to a tweet from the producer:
Though Mutant doesn't yet have a release date, it will reportedly be out in the late fall. "I CANNOT w8 to share with u all !!" the producer wrote when he initially shared the news on Twitter.
During the performance, Chance gave a shout out to the birth of his daughter, which he recently announced on Instagram. "Used to be Chance The Rapper, now I'm Chance The Daddy," he sang during the song's closing notes.
Earlier today he appeared in Jamie xx' video for "I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)", and now Young Thug has shared a new video for his song "Power", which is featured on his recent Slime Season mixtape, which features Lil Wayne. In it, Young Thug rides a segway and hangs out in a park before making an epic under-the-leg dunk. The video was directed by Be EL Be. Watch it below, via Complex.
Slime Season's song with Wayne, "Take Kare", was first released last October. However, the relationship between Thug and Wayne has been contentious this year. Originally, Thug's Barter 6 was meant to be called Carter 6. Then, Slime Season was due for release on July 4, the same day as Lil Wayne's The Free Weezy Mixtape. Thug and Birdman were also accused of conspiring to kill Wayne after shots were fired at Wayne's tour bus. (Wayne and Birdman have been embroiled in a feud.)
Kendrick Lamar has announced a special, one-off performance at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra. On October 20, Lamar and the NSO will perform cuts from his album To Pimp a Butterfly; it'll be the rapper's first orchestral collaboration, as the Washington Post reports.
"Big City (Everybody I Know Can Be Found Here)", the opening track from 1991's album Recurring, soundtracked a scene in which Homer and new love interest Candace (voiced by Lena Dunham) get high. Watch the entire episode here; "Big City" starts around the 11:46 mark.
Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, founding Spacemen 3 member Peter "Sonic Boom" Kember noted that he turns down lots of requests to license Spacemen 3 songs, but "The Simpsons" was a no-brainer. He said:
When I saw the script I was psyched. I couldn’t imagine a sweeter use of that track in this context, and particularly in context of a “trip” scene. [That is] something that’s usually for me a high point of ‘The Simpsons’ oeuvre. I imagine it is what people in bands secretly, or openly, dream of. Animation is so useful for these sort of stretches of reality.
Clark performed her own "Cheerleader", contributed guitar to Lewis' new track "Girl on Girl" (which Lewis premiered live alongside Haim earlier this year), drums for "Just One of the Guys", and vocals for a cover of Deee-Lite's "Groove Is in the Heart". Check out video of the performances, as well as a rehearsal, below, via CoS and fuckyeahstvincent.
T-Pain is the guest on the latest edition of Pitchfork.tv's "Over/Under" series, where he discussed the poop emoji, Jeb Bush, Helen Mirren ("underrated in bang-ability"), Bugs Bunny, and much more.
"Ghosts are very underrated," he said. "First of all: they exist. Let's get that out of the way right now. I have two in my house, and apparently they are fighting each other."
Directed by CANADA, the video begins with the Parrots performing in a skate park while the members of both bands scale fences, go beer-can bowling, experiment with some pyrotechnics, and much, much more.
Said the bands of the video:
" we are 7 dudes born and raised in madrid and we've been friends since ever; we've lived from our puberty years to currently issues like not having money to pay the rent or [recording] our firsts albums. we did a split 7'' vinyl with BURGER RECORDS with two covers of songs we both usually end our gigs with because we love them. so suddenly the idea of shooting a movie with CANADA (our music-videos-educator) was kind of a dream. plus, this one is the first not-home-made-music-video for both bands. Felt great. But keep the budget low. "
Hinds are also on the road now. Find their tour dates below the album tracklist:
Leave Me Alone
01 Garden
02 Fat Calmed Kiddos
03 Warts
04 Easy
05 Castigadas En El Granero
06 Solar Gap
07 Chili Town
08 Bamboo
09 San Diego
10 And I Will Send Your Flowers Back
11 I'll Be Your Man
12 Walking Home
Hinds:
09-29 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre *
09-30 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre *
10-01 Kansas City, MO - Midland Theatre *
10-02 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom *
10-04 Bloomington, IN - The Bishop
10-05 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note *
10-06 Madison, WI - Orpheum Theatre *
10-07 Chicago, IL - The Riviera *
10-10 Vancouver, British Columbia - The Rickshaw Theatre #
10-11 Seattle, WA - The Vera Project %
10-12 Portland, OR - Holocene %
10-14 San Francisco, CA - Slim's %
10-16 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex %
10-17 San Diego, CA - Irenic %
10-19 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court %
10-20 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge %
10-22 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall %
10-23 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom %
10-24 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace %
10-25 Montreal, Quebec - Bar Le Ritz PDB %
10-27 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg %
10-28 Allston, MA - Great Scott %
10-31 Paris, France - Pitchfork Music Festival Paris
11-04 Reykjavik, Iceland - Iceland Airwaves
02-15 Cambridge, England - Portland Arms
02-16 Norwich, England - Arts Centre
02-17 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms
02-18 London, England - KOKO
02-20 Manchester, England - Gorilla
02-21 Glasgow, England - Stereo
02-22 Leeds, England - Brudenell Social Club
02-23 Birmingham, England - Hare and Hounds
02-24 Bristol, England - The Fleece
02-26 Brighton, England - Patterns
* with Glass Animals
# with the Black Lips and Ariel Pink
% with Public Access T.V.
On October 12, Fiona Apple, Beck, Cat Power, Regina Spektor, Jakob Dylan, and Jade (formerly of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes) will perform at Los Angeles' Orpheum Theatre for a tribute concert called Echo in the Canyon. The concert celebrates the 50th anniversary of the dawn of Southern California folk rock with contemporary artists covering songs by the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Mamas & the Papas, the Turtles, the Association, Buffalo Springfield, and more.
The concert will be followed by a covers album, set to be released in 2016, featuring all of the artists from the tribute performance. Above, listen to Cat Power and Jakob Dylan's cover of the Turtles' "You Showed Me" (written by the Byrds' Gene Clark and Jim McGuinn) from the album.
Flying Lotus, Shabazz Palaces, and Thundercat have announced a new project called WOKE. Their first release is "The Lavishments of Light Looking", which was shared as part of Adult Swim's Singles program. The song also features Parliament-Funkadelic's George Clinton. Listen to it above and download it here.
This year's Adult Swim Singles lineup also includes DOOM and Ghostface Killah's DOOMSTARKS project, Run the Jewels, Flying Lotus, Chromatics, Owen Pallett, Shabazz Palaces, Skrillex, Slayer, D∆WN (formerly Dawn Richard), and Swervedriver, among others.
Watch Flying Lotus and Thundercat on Pitchfork.tv's "Over/Under":
In the process of making his documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, director Brett Morgen sifted through a trove of Kurt Cobain's personal tapes. A collection of songs from those tapes will be released as Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings, via Universal Music Enterprises.
The album will be released on CD, cassette, and digital formats on November 13. It will be released on 2xLP on December 4, the same day the "And I Love Her" b/w "Sappy" (Early Demo) 7" will be released. A 13-track standard edition and 31-track deluxe edition will be available.
According to a press release, Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings contains song snippets, demos, "musical experiments," and material that eventually ended up on Nirvana albums. (Yes, including a comedy routine.) It will be followed on December 4 by the previously rumored "And I Love Her" b/w "Sappy" (Early Demo) 7".
Montage of Heck will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on November 13. A "super deluxe" Blu-ray/DVD package will include the documentary, the 31-track soundtrack on CD and cassette, 48 minutes of ancillary interviews, a 160-page book of interviews and images from the Cobain archives, a movie poster, postcards, bookmark, and a puzzle.
Lush have announced their first live show in 20 years. It'll take place on May 6, 2016 at London Roundhouse. Alongside the reunion, 4AD will reissue Lush's best-of compilation, Ciao!, in November, followed by a limited-edition boxset called Chorus in December. That'll comprise early compilation Gala, their three studio albums, B-sides set Topolino, and a clutch of other rarities. Justine Welch of Elastica will play drums at the Roundhouse show.
"The opportunities and practicalities of reforming Lush meant that for 20 years it was an impossible undertaking," group co-founder Miki Berenyi says in a statement. "But we all loved what we did, and the time is finally right for us to do it again."
