The cult 2001 film Super Troopers is getting a sequel, headed by returning director Jay Chandrasekhar. Now, it’s been announced that the score for the new follow-up movie will be recorded by none other than Eagles of Death Metal, as Exclaim! points out. Jesse Hughes and the rest of the band have been on tour for much of this year, performing on the road with Mastodon and recently revealing that they’d recorded a pair of tracks with Kesha. Their last studio album Zipper Downwas released in 2015. Super Troopers 2 is set to arrive later this year.
Ed Droste (of Grizzly Bear) has honored George Michael with a moving essay for Billboardin celebration of Pride Month. Droste begins, “As much as I want to say George Michael was a musical influence on me, his influence was actually much deeper for me as a child just hitting puberty around the time Faith came out.” He recalls his visceral reaction at an early age to the song “I Want Your Sex” and notes, “I had this innate sense of relating to him as a homosexual male, without even realizing my own sexuality nor him being out.” Droste concludes by discussing Michael’s continuing importance to him and how his legacy has guided him as a “teeny tiny gay indie public figure.” Read the full essay here.
XXXTentacion was punched and knocked out on stage during his concert at the Observatory North Park in San Diego last night, leading to a huge brawl that resulted in a stabbing, TMZ reports. Video reveals the attacker emerging from the side of the stage to punch X mid-song. As the stage is swarmed with people, the rapper is carried offstage, unable to stand up by himself. According to San Diego Police Sgt. Jordan Wells, the stabbing victim was taken to the hospital and treated for a non-life-threatening injury, Fox 5 San Diego reports. There were reportedly no arrests made.
Early this morning, XXXTentacion tweeted about the incident. “Security and venue set me up, I got sucker punched and knocked out, it is what it is,” he wrote. “Next time make sure you kill me so I can’t talk shit.” He also retweeted a video of the brawl and another of the chaos that ensued outside the venue, as well as twotweets about the reported stabbing. X also shared a new song called “Off The Wall!” that uses one of those tweets (by Fox 5 San Diego) as its artwork.
He has also discussed the incident on Instagram Live, where he declared, “I ain’t saying nothing. I’m not retaliating and I ain’t doing nothing. Whatever happens to them [the on-stage attacker], I don’t got no involvement.” On his Instagram Story, he wrote (in all-caps), “Message to my enemies, pull up tonight I’ll be ready 😘.” On Snapchat, he addressed an unidentified third party, apparently associated with the on-stage attacker, asking, “But how does it feel knowing your friend might die tonight because of you (not saying I had anything to do with the “stranger stabbing him) but ya homie not lookin too hot [right now] :-)))))”
XXXTentacion has two upcoming court dates in Miami-Dade County, where he is charged with aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, and witness-tampering. The first date, June 15, is a Plea/Sounding hearing. On June 26, X has a trial hearing. This past March, X was released from jail after nearly six months. He pleaded no contest to charges of armed home invasion robbery and aggravated battery with a firearm. He is currently serving six years of probation.
Pitchfork has reached out to XXXTentacion’s label EMPIRE, manager, and defense attorney. The Miami-Dade state attorney’s office told Pitchfork that it does not comment on open cases.
Frank Ocean is in a new film by Tom Sachs (presented by NikeCraft). The 38-minute film is called The Hero’s Journey. Frank, who appears as himself, is credited as “Studio Master, Inspiration.” Watch the whole thing here. (Frank appears at the 35-minute mark.) The Hero’s Journey is set to screen today at Sachs’ Space Camp event in New York City. Frank’s Blonde, of course, begins with the song “Nikes,” which has its own excellent music video. Sachs previously collaborated with Frank on the visual album Endless and the Boys Don’t Crymagazine. Sachs was given a “special thanks” by Frank in Endless.
This year’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival takes place today through Sunday in Manchester, Tennessee. Starting tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern time and continuing through the weekend, Red Bull TV will be live streaming sets from the festival. Tune in here and below. The live stream is set to feature performances from Lorde, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tegan and Sara, Kevin Morby, Flume, Francis and the Lights, Margo Price, BADBADNOTGOOD, Flatbush Zombies, and others. Find the full schedule here.
BEAK> (Geoff Barrow, Billy Fuller, and Will Young) have shared Win Butler from Arcade Fire’s new remix of their song “Sex Music.” It’s called “Win Butler’s ‘Knight Rider’ Remix.” Hear it below. “Sex Music” is out digitally and as a 7” vinyl single tomorrow. Yesterday, BEAK> released the “Sex Music” video. The trio are playing two shows with Arcade Fire on the latter band’s upcoming Infinite Content Tour. Find the rest of BEAK>’s tour itinerary here, and Arcade Fire’s show schedule here.
Watch Win Butler (as DJ Windows 98) perform at SXSW, via Pitchfork.tv:
MTV’s “Wild ‘N Out” returns for a ninth season on Thursday, June 29 at 11 p.m. Eastern. Today, the network has announced that Chance the Rapper will appear on the season premiere, which was filmed on Broadway. In the episode, Chance and host Nick Cannon freestyle together for the show’s “Throwdown Thursdays” segment. Preview their cypher below. Along with Chance’s involvement, MTV has announced additional guests for the new season. Among the artists appearing on “Wild ‘N Out” Season 9 are Run the Jewels, Vic Mensa, Young M.A, Lil Yachty, and Rick Ross. Find the full list of guests here.
Pitchfork named Chance’s third mixtape Coloring Book the No. 6 album of 2016. Find the full list here.
Vic Mensa has released The Manuscript, the follow-up to last year’s There’s Alot Going OnEP. The four-song release, which he is calling a "capsule," features appearances from Pusha T (on “OMG”) and Mr. Hudson (on “Almost There”), as well as production from Pharrell, Malik Yusef, No I.D., and 1500 or Nothin. Stream it below. In an interview with Zane Lowe, Vic said that his new album will be out this summer and will feature Joey Purp, Malik Yusef, and more.
As previously reported, Oneohtrix Point Never has scored Good Time, a new film starring Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Jason Leigh, directed by Josh and Benny Safdie. (The score won the Soundtrack Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.) Warp will release OPN’s Good Time Original Motion Picture Soundtrack August 11. Scroll down to see the tracklist, and listen to “The Pure and the Damned,” a collaboration with Iggy Pop that serves as the film's closing theme. Iggy wrote the lyrics for the song.
01 Good Time
02 Bail Bonds
03 6th Floor
04 Hospital Escape / Access-A-Ride
05 Ray Wakes Up
06 Entry To White Castle
07 Flashback
08 Adventurers
09 Romance Apocalypse
10 The Acid Hits
11 Leaving The Park
12 Connie
13 The Pure and the Damned [ft. Iggy Pop]
Rolling Stone has released the outtakes from Radiohead’s recent interview with the publication. During the original interview, the band revisited OK Computer, and also touched on A Moon Shaped Pool, their personal lives, and more. In the newly-released details, Radiohead share their thoughts on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Bands are eligible for Rock Hall induction 25 years after the release of their debut, which means Radiohead could be inducted for the first time next year, as Pablo Honey came out in 1993. All five members spoke about the Rock Hall and the possibility of induction, but Thom Yorke elected to say as little as possible: “It wouldn’t be the first place... don’t ask me things like that. I always put my foot in my mouth.”
Jonny Greenwood had a little bit more to say: “I don’t care. Maybe it’s a cultural thing that I really don’t understand. I mean, from the outside it looks like... it’s quite a self-regarding profession anyway. And anything that heightens that just makes me feel even more uncomfortable.” Philip Selway and Ed O’Brien were also indifferent to induction. “We’d have to sit down and talk about it, but it’s probably not at the top of my list of things to do,” said Selway. O’Brien added, “I don't want to be rude about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame because for a lot of people it means something, but culturally I don’t understand it.” He continued, “We haven’t even been asked. I don’t want to be rude. But if you ask me what I’d rather be doing that night, I’d rather be sitting at home in front of the fire or going to a gig.”
In contrast to his bandmates, Colin Greenwood declared, “I’d be grateful if we got in. Look at the other people that have been inducted.” He did concede, however, “I don’t know if everyone else will go though. It might be me just doing bass versions of everything like, ‘Come on, you know this one!’ I’d have to play the bass part to ‘Creep’ five times.”
Gorillaz have shared a video for their new song, “Sleeping Powder.” Watch it below. “Sleeping Powder” is the first new Gorillaz track to come out following the release of their new record Humanz. Prior to the album’s release, Damon Albarn estimated that he had 40 or 45 tracks that did not make the final LP. “I’m just sort of slowly going through all tunes that sort of didn’t work out and finishing them,” he told Zane Lowe in an interview. “I can stay in the game for at least another 18 months, I reckon.”
Gorillaz’s new Demon Dayz Festival takes place this weekend. The group heads out on tour in July. Find Gorillaz’s tour dates here.
Radiohead's current tour in support of A Moon Shaped Pool is slated to end on July 19 with a controversialperformance in Tel Aviv, Israel. What the band does after that has been a source of much speculation. But in a new interview with the band in Rolling Stone, the members put to rest any rumors that Radiohead are calling it quits. "I would imagine we’ll keep going. I mean, I don’t know how, or when, but no, we’re not gonna stop. I fucking hope not," Thom Yorke said.
Colin Greenwood said, "I don't know what’s going to happen after July, so I can't say anything beyond that. But I love the people that I work with, and I love what everyone does. So we’ll see. But I'm happy to go play anywhere else."
Phil Selway added, "It's a blank calendar at the moment [after this leg ends], but we all have other stuff that's been on hold for a little while. I feel that come July we will have done as much as we can with what we’ve got at the moment. I’d love the idea that we’d be back out again touring at some point, but I think this feels about right for this record."
When asked by Rolling Stone about the possibility of Radiohead continuing to tour into their '70s, Ed O'Brien said, "You see that joy Leonard Cohen got. You see it with the Dead or Neil Young when he goes off with Crazy Horse. Everybody would like to see Pink Floyd do it. If we were to do it, it would have to be authentic. It might be like the Rolling Stones. It might be like Leonard Cohen or the Grateful Dead."
Yorke also spoke about his own plans separate from Radiohead. "There's also a bunch of things I'm doing on my own that I have to finish," he said. "They've been on hold for ages. Whether they will translate into anything, I'm not quite sure. It's kind of weird. I don't have a plan for the second part of the year at the moment. I mean, I wasn't able to plan things for a long time now and now I can. I'm trying to get my head around that."
Radiohead's current run of shows, which coincide with the 20-year anniversary of OK Computer (set to be reissued on June 23), are unlikely to feature the classic album performed in its entirety, the band told Rolling Stone. Selway said "'Fitter Happier' might have a few issues. We'd also have to play 'Electioneering' then, wouldn't we? So no, I don't think we'll do that." (The band has not performed "Electioneering" live in two decades.)
You might still get to see them play "Creep" though, if you're lucky. "It's a good song," O'Brien told Rolling Stone. "It's nice to play for the right reasons. People like it and want to hear it. We do err towards not playing it because you don't want it feel like show business. But we started throwing it in last year."
Yorke added, "The first time I'm feeling the fakes we'll stop. It can be cool sometimes, but other times I want to stop halfway through and be like, 'Nah, this isn't happening.'"
Pitchfork recently celebrated the 20-year anniversary of OK Computer with a week of features, essays, interviews, and more. Find those here.
Radiohead recently spoke with Rolling Stone for an intimate interview surrounding the 20th anniversary of OK Computer. Rolling Stone has now shared outtakes from their discussions with the band (as Spin points out). Among the revelations is Ed O’Brien’s admission that he wanted Dr. Dre to work on Kid A. “It was sort of like a dream,” he said. “I kept on saying, ‘Oh I’d love to work with Dr. Dre.’ I knew it would likely be shouted down or laughed at. Also, it might have been be a little bit forced. But at the time, in my head, it made perfect sense. The problem would have been finding modus operandi because Dre obviously works in a certain way. Could he have handled a rock band? Who knows? But it came from being a fan of N.W.A. and his productions around that time.” Elsewhere, they discuss “Spectre,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and more. Read all of the Radiohead outtakes here.
Radiohead are celebrating 20 years of OK Computer with a new reissue: OKNOTOK is out June 23. Included on the reissue are three unreleased tracks: “Lift,” “Man of War,” and “I Promise,” which has arrived with a music video. Since unearthing that song, they performed it live for the first time since 1996.
Sam Beam has announced a new Iron & Wine album: Beast Epic arrives August 25 via Sub Pop. It’s Beam’s first Iron & Wine record since his 2015 covers album with Ben Bridwell; it’s also the first Iron & Wine album of new material since 2013’s Ghost on Ghost. Along with announcement, Beam has shared the video for a new track, “Call It Dreaming.” Directed by J. Austin Wilson, the visual features Beam riding in the back of a truck bed, picking up various hitchhikers on the road. Watch the “Call It Dreaming” music video below. Scroll down for the Beast Epic tracklist, Iron & Wine’s upcoming tour dates, and Sam Beam’s artist statement.
Beast Epic:
01 Claim Your Ghost
02 Thomas County Law
03 Bitter Truth
04 Song in Stone
05 Summer Clouds
06 Call It Dreaming
07 About a Bruise
08 Last Night
09 Right for Sky
10 The Truest Stars We Know
11 Our Light Miles
Iron & Wine:
06-28 Portsmouth, NH - Prescott Park Arts Festival 06-29 Canadiagua, NY - CMAC @ 07-22 Austin, TX - Paramount Theater ^ 08-26 Fayetteville, AR - Roots Festival 08-27 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note % 08-28 Chattanooga, TN - Tivoli Theatre % 08-29 Birmingham, AL - Saturn % 08-30 Louisville, KY - WFPK on the Waterfront 10-12-13 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall 10-14 St Paul,MN - Palace Theatre 10-15 Lincoln, NE - Rococo Theatre # 10-17 Missoula, MT - Wilma Theater # 10-18 Seattle, WA - Moore Theater 10-19 Eugene, OR - McDonald Theater # 10-20 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater 10-21 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre 10-26 Los Angeles, CA - The Cathedral Sanctuary at Immanuel Presbyterian 10-27 Pioneertown, CA - Pappy & Harriet’s 10-28 San Diego, CA - - Balboa # 10-29 Phoenix, AZ - Van Buren # 10-30 Albuquerque, NM - El Rey # 11-01 Dallas, TX - The Kessler # 11-02 San Antonio, TX - The Aztec Theater # 11-03 Houston, TX - The Heights # 11-04 New Orleans, LA - Joy Theater # 11-06 Ft Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room# 11-07 Orlando, FL - The Beacham # 11-09 Washington DC - Lincoln Theatre # 11-10 New Haven, CT - College Street Music Hall # 11-11 Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Center # 11-12 Northampton, MA - Calvin Theatre # 11-13 New York, NY - Town Hall # 11-14 Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Steel *
@ with Jason Isbell ^ with Joan Shelley % with Lydia Loveless # with John Moreland * with OHMME
Sam Beam:
I must confess that I’ve always shied away from album introductions citing the usual “dancing to architecture” cop out. Speaking to their own work is uncomfortable for many artists, but I’ve made a new album called Beast Epic which is important to me and I wanted to take a moment to talk about why. I’ve been releasing music for about fifteen years now and I feel very blessed to have put out five other full lengths, many EPs and singles, a few collaborations with people much more talented than myself, and made contributions to numerous movie scores and soundtracks. This is my sixth collection of new Iron & Wine material and I’m happy to say that it’s my fourth for Sub Pop Records.
It’s a warm and serendipitous time to be reuniting with my Seattle friends because I feel there’s a certain kinship between this new collection of songs and my earliest material, which Sub Pop was kind enough to release. In hindsight, both The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002) and Our Endless Numbered Days (2004) epitomize a reflective and confessional songwriting style (although done with my own ferocious commitment to understatement, of course.) I have been and always will be fascinated by the way time asserts itself on our bodies and our hearts. The ferris wheel keeps spinning and we’re constantly approaching, leaving or returning to something totally unexpected or startlingly familiar. The rite of passage is an image I’ve returned to often because I feel we’re all constantly in some stage of transition. Beast Epic is saturated with this idea but in a different way simply because each time I return to the theme I’ve collected new experiences to draw from. Where the older songs painted a picture of youth moving wide-eyed into adulthood’s violent pleasures and disappointments, this collection speaks to the beauty and pain of growing up after you’ve already grown up. For me, that experience has been more generous in its gifts and darker in its tragedies.
The sound of Beast Epic harks back to previous work, in a way, as well. By employing the old discipline of recording everything live and doing minimal overdubbing, I feel like it wears both its achievements and its imperfections on its sleeve. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed experimenting with different genres, sonics and songwriting styles and all that traveled distance is evident in the feel and the arrangements here, but the muscles seemed to have relaxed and been allowed to effortlessly do what they do best.
I’ve been fortunate to get to play with some very talented musicians over the years who are both uniquely intuitive and also expressive in exciting ways. This group was no different. We spent about two weeks recording and mixing but mostly laughing at The Loft in Chicago.
To be honest, I’ve named this record BEAST EPIC mostly because it sounds really fucking cool! However, with that said and perhaps to be completely honest, “a story where animals talk and act like people” sounds like the perfect description for the life of any of us. If not that, then it’s at least perfect for any group of songs I’ve ever tried to make. I hope you enjoy it.
Lorde has announced a 2017 tour. New dates behind her forthcoming album Melodramawill kick off in September and take the singer-songwriter through November, when she has shows in Australia and her native New Zealand. Khalid is joining her at all dates. Check out the Melodrama Tour poster below, and find the full itinerary here. Melodrama is the follow-up to 2013’s PureHeroine.It’s out June 16 via LAVA/Republic. So far, Lorde has shared the album’s “Green Light,” “Liability,” and “Perfect Places.”
Harry Styles has announced the openers for his new series of tour dates. Supporting him at these shows will be Warpaint, Kacey Musgraves, and Leon Bridges. Joining Styles first are Warpaint, who play shows with him in May 2018. Bridges then accompanies Styles for concerts in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Finally, Kacey Musgraves goes on tour with Styles when he plays North American shows in June and July 2018. See the full itinerary below. Styles’ tour is in support of his recently released self-titled debut.
Liam Gallagher has been donating his share of royalties from Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back in Anger” to a Manchester benefit fund, his representative has confirmed. Last month, the song was adopted as a de facto anthem following the suicide bombing at Ariana Grande’s Manchester Arena concert. It emerged this week that Noel, who composed and performed lead vocals and guitar on the track, had been quietly donating royalties after the song began to appear spontaneously at vigils. Liam’s royalties are a result of his credit as a performer on the song.
Following its appearance at vigils, Coldplay covered “Don’t Look Back in Anger” for Ariana Grande at Sunday’s “One Love Manchester” benefit concert. Noel could not attend the concert, but Coldplay’s Christ Martin thanked him “for being there in spirit.”
The “Stranger Things” original soundtrack is getting a cassette release. Both volumes of the Season 1 soundtrack will be released on red cassette, with cases that looks like VHS tapes and cardboard sleeves with “Stranger Things” artwork. In honor of the Netflix series’ one year anniversary, they’ll be available July 14 via Lakeshore, and you can only buy them at Urban Outfitters. The tapes feature the show’s memorable music score from Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein of S U R V I V E. Check out the cassettes and the label artwork below. Earlier this year, the “Stranger Things” OST received a vinyl box set release, complete with character cards. S U R V I V E recently played the Pitchfork stage at Primavera Sound.
Radiohead’s Thom Yorke discusses his forthcoming score for the Suspiria remake in a new BBC 6 Music interview. The horror classic’s remake, which stars Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson, and Chloë Grace Moretz, will mark Yorke’s first ever movie score. “It’s absolutely terrifying,” Yorke says of the experience. “It’s hard because I’m way out of my comfort zone, and I can’t read music so it’s not like I’m writing for orchestra. I’m building it all myself. In fact, I watched Blade Runner twice at the weekend. ‘Oh, that sound, I could do something like that, that’s quite easy,’” he jokes. “‘I’ll rip that bit off there and that bit there and I’ll be fine.’” In another pair of clips, Yorke discusses his early musical memories and narrowly averting disaster at Radiohead’s 1997 Glastonbury set. Hear all three clips below, and stay tuned for the full interview, which airs Sunday at 8 a.m. Eastern on BBC 6 Music.
Yorke elaborates on how Vangelis’ Blade Runner score inspired him:
Vangelis, it’s his hands that made that. Which encouraged me. Because that was the thing I was finding most daunting. Normally [scoring] a horror movie involves orchestras, these specific things. But Luca [Guadagnino], the director, and Walter [Fasano], the editor, are very much, like, find your own path with it. ... I just have to find a way into it.
On June 23, Radiohead will reissue OK Computer. Head here to read Pitchfork’s series of 20th anniversary features on the classic album.
Fleet Foxes’ new album Crack-Upis finally here. Six years after the release of HelplessnessBlues, you can listen to Robin Pecknold and company’s third studio LP below via NPR. It features the previously released songs “Third of May / Ōdaigahara,” “Fool’s Errand” (both named Best New Tracks), and “If You Need To, Keep Time on Me.” Fleet Foxes are currently on tour behind the new record, and recently announced that they were seeking another member to join them on the road. At a recent run of shows at the Sydney Opera House in Australia, they performed a set featuring numerous cuts off the new album.
