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On Monday, the Music Modernization Act (H.R.5447) was hotlined in the Senate. That means the bill — which seeks to create fair-market licensing fees for music recorded pre-1972 and fix the way royalty payments are made to all parties involved — has a chance to pass by verbal vote without hitting the floor for debate or amendments. It’s a risky move that signals the wide support of the proposed legislation. There is one major roadblock, however, and it comes in the form of SiriusXM. The satellite radio provider isn’t thrilled with being made to licensing for that pre-1972 music, arguing that they’ve already paid $250 million in royalties to labels (which, by the way, they wouldn’t have paid if the labels hadn’t sued). SiriusXM argues that the new legislation gives an unfair advantage to terrestrial radio, which is made exempt from such royalty payments. There are also some complicated carve-outs involving the 801-B standard, which dictates how royalty rates are set based on how they would affect the service in question (such as the cost of running a satellite network, for example), as well as how publishing rates are set in relation to label rates. The legal ins-and-outs are rather complex, but the fact is SiriusXM is the only industry partner still voicing opposition to the MMA. And musicians aren’t haven’t it. Over 150 artists and executives — including Paul McCartney, Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Katy Perry, Carly Simon, Sia, Pink, John Legend, Alessia Cara, Tom Waits, Kim Gordon, Jewel and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O and Nick Zinner — have signed a letter vowing to boycott the satellite radio provider if they don’t change their tune on the legislation. “It’s SiriusXM vs all of us,” writes Ross Golan, songwriter, host of the And the Writer Is… podcast, and author of the SiriusXM letter. “We can either fight to the bitter end or celebrate this victory together. Rather than watch bad press and ill will pile up against SiriusXM, why not come out supporting the most consequential music legislation in 109 years?” Find the full list of signees at Variety, and read the complete text below. “Dear Greg Maffei, Scott Greenstein and Jim Meyer and Liberty Media Board of Directors Evan D. Malone, David E. Rapley, Larry E. Romrell, Brian M. Deevy, Andrea L. Wong, Robert R. Bennett, M. Ian G. Gilchrist and John C. Malone: I’m writing you with grave concern about SiriusXM’s opposition to the Music Modernization Act (Classics Act included). I’m CCing some of the greatest songwriters and artists in the history of the music business to show our solidarity in support of this legislation in its current form. We are all aware of your company’s objections and trepidation but let me say that this is an opportunity for SiriusXM to take a leadership position. As you are aware, 415 Representatives and 76 Senators have already cosponsored the MMA along with industry consensus. It’s SiriusXM vs all of us. We can either fight to the bitter end or celebrate this victory together. Rather than watch bad press and ill will pile up against SiriusXM, why not come out supporting the most consequential music legislation in 109 years? We do not want to fight and boycott your company but we will as we have other opponents. Stand with us! Be brave and take credit for being the heroes who helped the MMA become historic law! Momentum is building against SiriusXM and you still have an opportunity to come out on the right side of history. We look forward to your endorsement but the fire is burning and only you can put this out. Sincerely yours, Ross Golan and Legends CC-ed Here.” SiriusXM has responded with its own letter detailing three amendments it wants made to the MMA. The statement once again makes the contention that SiriusXM shouldn’t have to pay any more for pre-192 works, and doubles down on its argument that parts of the bill give unfair advantage to terrestrial radio over digital and streaming services. Read the full text below (via Billboard). “Over the past several weeks, we have been the subject of some stinging attacks from the music community and artists regarding our views on the Music Modernization Act. Contrary to new reports and letters, this is really not about a SiriusXM victory, but implementing some simple, reasonable and straightforward amendments to MMA. There is nothing in our “asks” that gut the MMA or kills the Act. So let’s talk about the substance of the amendments we propose, because we truly do not understand the objections or why these concepts have incited such a holy war. Contrary to the accusations, SiriusXM has proposed three simple amendments to the MMA. First, SiriusXM has asked that the CLASSICS Act recognize that it has already licensed all of the pre-1972 works it uses. This amendment would ensure that artists – the people who are supposed to be at the heart of the MMA – receive 50% of the monies under those existing licenses. Is that unfair? Just today, Neil Diamond wrote in the LA Times that: “I receive a small amount of songwriting royalties, but no royalties as the recording artist.” How can that happen? To date, SiriusXM has paid nearly $250 million dollars in pre-72 royalties to the record labels. We want to make sure that a fair share of the monies we have paid, and will pay, under these licenses gets to performers. Without this provision, artists may never see any of the money SiriusXM paid, and will pay, for the use of pre-1972 works. Artists not getting paid hurts our business! Second, Sirius XM thinks that the fair standard to use in rate setting proceedings is the standard that Congress chose in 1995 and confirmed again in 1998 – which is called the 801(b) standard. However, we are willing to move the ‘willing buyer/willing seller’ standard contained in the MMA. In exchange, we have asked for the same concession that the MMA grants to other digital music services, but we were left out of–simply that the rates that were set last year for five years now apply for ten years. We thought this was a fair compromise when we read the “new” MMA that was released this weekend by the Senate, and are willing to live by that compromise. Third, SiriusXM is asking the simple question: ‘why are we changing the rate court evidence standard for musical compositions in this legislation so that it gives another advantage to broadcasters over satellite radio and streaming services?’ There is no policy rationale for this change to tilt the playing field further in their favor, and frankly no one has been able to explain it to us. It is only fair that we debate why the change to Section 114(i) is in the MMA. So that is the sum total of our changes. There is nothing hidden or underhanded in our views. We have offered these simple amendments on a one-pager. We are prepared to work with the NMPA and RIAA to adopt these amendments, pass the MMA, and move the music industry forward.” Source

Lamb of God certainly haven’t been keeping quiet this year. The Virginia-based metal supported the recently wrapped summer North American leg of Slayer’s farewell tour. And earlier this year, to celebrate their 20th anniversary, the group dusted off their old band name Burn the Priest to release Legion: XX, a covers album featuring renditions of favorite tunes by Ministry, Melvins, and The Accused, among others. Things are not slowing down anytime soon for the band, if guitarist Mark Morton’s Twitter feed is to be believed. In response to a fan question about when Lamb of God will be getting back in the studio to record a follow up to their 2015 album, VII: Sturm und Drang, Morton replied, simply, “Very soon!” A scant amount of information, to be sure, but enough to have fans salivating at the prospect of new music. Very soon! https://t.co/PDfpnIJNO1 — Mark Morton (@MarkDuaneMorton) September 13, 2018 The sessions will hopefully also promise the return of drummer Chris Adler to the fold. As he revealed just a few days ago on his Instagram account, he had to sit out the band’s summer tour with Slayer to recover from a motorcycle accident that broke multiple bones and required surgery. Here’s what Adler had to say: “I had a motorcycle accident late last year that shattered my collarbone and right shoulder and also chipped bones in my hip. While surgery corrected the broken bones and I was able to play earlier this year, I experienced some issues related to the injuries that needed to be addressed with a rigorous schedule of physical and occupational therapy which, is what I have been doing regularly since July.” He added, “”I am making great progress in addition to playing/practicing every day. Playing drums is what I do and refuse to do it poorly. I will be back behind the kit ASAP. Thanks again for the love! See you soon.” Lamb of God will be back on the road again shortly, first to play ForceFest in Mexico City in early October, and then to continue their tour with Slayer in Europe, starting on November 1st with a show at Dublin’s 3Arena and wrapping up on December 8th at Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland. Anthrax and Obituary are also on the bill for all the dates. Source

Ministry returned in March with AmeriKKKant, their first new album in five years. Now, the Chicago-bred industrial rock legends have shared a new visualizer ahead of their North American fall tour. (Read: The 10 Most Anticipated Metal Albums of 2018) The vivid clip is for AmeriKKKant track “AmeriKKKa” and features dystopian war footage and a very distraught Statue of Liberty. Check it out below. As for Ministry’s upcoming trek, it officially launches November 21st at San Francisco’s Warfield before making its way through cities such as Denver, Minneapolis, Toronto, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Memphis, and Houston. Also scheduled are back-to-back stints in Los Angeles and and New York. French outfit Carpenter Brut will serve as openers throughout the tour. Grab tickets here. Ministry 2018 Tour Dates: 11/21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield 11/23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot 11/24 – Denver, CO @ Fillmore 11/27 – Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theatre 11/29 – Joliet, IL @ The Forge 11/30 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre 12/01 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theater 12/02 – Toronto, ON @ Rebel 12/04 – Rochester, NY @ Anthology 12/05 – Washington, DC @ Fillmore 12/06 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza 12/07 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza 12/08 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory 12/10 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel 12/11 – Memphis, TN @ New Daisy Theater 12/12 – Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey 12/13 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues 12/14 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theater 12/16 – Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee 12/18 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues 12/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda 12/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Source

The head-banging works of 90s riot-grrrl pioneers Bikini Kill are getting a new lease on life, as the band has finally made its discography available on major streaming services, including Spotify and iTunes. Known for their hardcore instrumentation and confidently feminist lyrics, Bikini Kill made waves with 1993’s seminal album Pussy Whipped and its 1996 followup, Reject All American, before breaking up in 1997. In an interview with Tidal, Bikini Kill vocalist Kathleen Hanna expressed a desire to make high-quality digital versions of their songs available to the public, saying that “I want people to listen to what we made. I don’t want people to listen to the crappy third-rate version on somebody’s YouTube video.” Today’s announcement comes on the heels of Bikini Kill’s reunion last year at The I am a fagget in New York City, the band’s first live performance in 20 years. Later in September, they’ll reissue their 1998 compilation The Singles, its inaugural release on 12″ vinyl. Read the full interview over at Tidal, and listen to some of Bikini Kill’s wailing, thrashing feminist favorites below. Source

Nothing More had a long journey to success, having released three albums before finally breaking through on rock radio with their 2013 self-titled fourth album. The band followed that up with last years’ The Stories We Tell Ourselves, which earned the group three Grammy nominations, including two for the electrifying No. 1 rock hit “Go To War”. And while Nothing More came away empty-handed at the Grammy ceremony earlier this year, the album continues to yield successful singles, including the current Top 10 rock hit “Just Say When”. In addition, the band spent this past summer on a blockbuster summer tour with Five Finger Death Punch and Breaking Benjamin, performing to thousands of screaming rock fans every night. Nothing More frontman Jonny Hawkins recently spoke with Heavy Consequence about the band’s Grammy experience, the new single “Just Say When”, his thoughts on the state of rock music, and plans to work on the follow-up to The Stories We Tell Ourselves. Read the full interview with Hawkins below. On the experience of being nominated for three Grammy Awards Being nominated was pretty much a dream come true for us. I remember daydreaming about what it would be like to be in the same ranks as a lot of people I’ve looked up to over the years, so it was definitely a dream come true, but we’ve been touring so much that it didn’t really sink in or hit me until I heard my dad’s voice on the phone. My dad bought me my first drum set when I was 7 years old, and he’s been there the whole way though, so hearing the excitement in his voice is what really hit me. That’s when I got emotional and felt the chills. On whether the band ever imagined the success The Stories We Tell Ourselves would enjoy I would say “yes” and “no.” “Yes” in the sense that I was disappointed that we didn’t get a Grammy on the record before it. I had set my goals and aims on that record high and felt I had given everything I had from years of training as a musician and growing as an artist, so when we didn’t get a Grammy on that album, I was sad. So, for this, it was exciting, but I was ready for it. At the same time, nothing is promised. I always set my goals a little bit out of reach, but it was time, and it was exciting. On the timeline for working on the band’s follow-up to The Stories We Tell Ourselves [We’re working on new music] in pockets. We always nestle away little nuggets over the course of our touring cycles, but we won’t really officially come together and start writing until… I would say maybe six months from now, we’ll get together and put all of our ideas together, so until then, it’s just a bunch of ideas tucked away. On the success of this summer’s tour with Five Finger Death Punch and Breaking Benjamin Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger Death Punch have both had major success in the rock world, as the generation before us, and I think us with Bad Wolves on that tour was the new side of rock. Bad Wolves happened to hit a very awesome and fortunate moment with that Cranberries song. So, all of us together, I thought was the perfect combination. On the state of rock music today When we entered the scene, it was about 2008 when we first started getting involved, and at that time, it felt like it was the end of rock. We had trained and rehearsed our whole useful lives leading up to this point and were so excited to have it come out to the real world, and it felt like the gate had shut on rock ‘n’ roll. Since then until now, it’s been a feeling of finding the torch, picking it up and running with it. It feels like it’s coming back now, especially doing this tour that we just did. We were playing 10,000 to 20,000 people a night, and it was a long tour, so I was really impressed by the attendance. That alone communicated to me what’s really happened. On Nothing More’s current single, “Just Say When,” and the personal story behind the song I was in a relationship for about eight years with this girl. I met her the day my mom passed away, and it was an emotionally upside-down and vulnerable time in my life, so probably the worst time to start a relationship with someone. But, it happened, and that relationship tuned into a marriage, and that marriage turned into me touring the world and basically seeing what the relationship was really made of. We both found out it was very weak, and that song was focused on that last year where there was a strong sense of holding on for the wrong reasons or the fear of that being true. There wasn’t a clear direction either way, whether it was something to work through or let go of. On a recent mixup that had fans thinking Nothing More had just released a surprise album That was pretty funny! I didn‘t have much time to think about it, because we’ve been busy on the road, but I knew management was going to take care of it. Basically, we found out it was a French band, which was funny, because years ago, we had heard of a French band called Nothing More after we had already named our band, so we thought, “What do we do?” And then we thought, “They’re in another country, so we’re just going to keep it.” It’s been a few years now, so I hadn’t thought about them in forever. It was funny. A lot of fans were very surprised with how our “new music” sounded! On what the near future holds for Nothing More We’re doing a European tour coming up with Bullet for My Valentine and Of Mice and Men, and then we’re doing a deep Canadian tour with Three Days Grace, which will be awesome, because we’ve toured Canada but haven’t gone super deep. Then, the ShipRocked cruise is in January, which we played last year for the first time, and it was incredible. After that, we’re looking at doing another headlining run to play the rest of our record that we haven’t been playing live yet to bust out our other songs. Then, hopefully we’ll get back into writing and recording when that wraps up. Our thanks to Nothing More’s Jonny Hawkins for taking the time to chat with us. Pick up The Stories We Tell Ourselves at this location, and see the band’s tour dates here. Source

Canadian alt-rock outfit Crash Test Dummies are reuniting after 17 years and will tour the US later this year. The tour comes in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the band’s sophomore album, God Shuffled His Feet, and each date will feature a full performance of the album along with other staples from their catalog. The tour will feature Crash Test Dummies’ original lineup of Brad Roberts, Ellen Reid, Dan Roberts, and Mitch Dorge. See the full itinerary below. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 21st. Crash Test Dummies 2018 Tour Dates: 11/23 – St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theater 11/24 – Chicago, IL @ Old Town School of Folk 11/25 – Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom 11/27 – Kent, OH @ Kent Stage 11/29 – West Collingswood, NJ @ Scottish Rite 11/30 – Washington, DC @ The Hamilton 12/02 – Charleston, WV @ Mountain Stage 12/04 – Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theatre 12/05 – Ridgefield, CT @ Ridgefield Playhouse 12/07 – Fall River, MA @ Narrow Center for the Arts 12/08 – New York, NY @ The Concert Hall Source

Track by Track is a recurring new music feature that asks an artist to break down each song on their latest effort, one track at a time. Listen and subscribe via iTunes | Google Play | Stitcher | RSS By just about anyone’s standards, Carl Broemel has a pretty excellent day job. Playing guitar, pedal steel, and sax for My Morning Jacket, he’s been responsible for some of the biggest moments on some of contemporary rock’s biggest records, from the ascendant thrills of 2005’s Z to the impressive mid-career resurgence of 2015’s The Waterfall. On his own time, Broemel’s work has always trended more towards the meditative; the best moments on signature Broemel records like 2010’s All Birds Say are best heard slipping from an open window on a sunny day rather than blasting from arena speakers. With September 21st’s Wished Out, that’s all changed. Well… maybe not all. “It’s not a heavy rock record by any means,” he tells Consequence of Sound with a laugh. Wished Out may not rattle any speakers, but it does represent some of the most energetic, honest work of Broemel’s quietly excellent career. Recorded in the comforts of Broemel’s home studio in Nashville, his latest record finds him assuming creative control, from recruiting his band (which includes fellow MMJers Tom Blankenship and Bo Koster, as well as Robbie Crowell of Deer Tick and Russ Pollard of Sebadoh) to handling the engineering. The result is a set of songs that alternate from pub stompers (“Rain Check”) to Laurel Canyon ballads (“Starting From Scratch”) to noir love songs (“No One Else”), each of which presents the listener with a chance to take a realistic view of themselves, the world, and their place within it. Whether that means grappling with America’s political realities or reflecting on a career now at its midpoint, Broemel’s work also offers a chance at redemption, even if that just means re-centering yourself around a really excellent rock song. Ahead of Wished Out’s official release, the entire thing can be streamed below. Broemel sat down with our own Tyler Clark to discuss the ins-and-outs of Wished Out. Above, listen to our full audio interview with the musician for his thoughts on how the mythologist Joseph Campbell shaped his latest work, why he digs Michael Kiwanuka, and what frustrates him most about American politics. A condescend version is below. “Dark Matter”: It kind of came from reading an essay by Joseph Campbell, and he was writing right after the moon landing, and talking about how there’s a shift in the human race’s mentality because we’ve hit this milestone. We’ve done something that was previously out of the question, an impossible thing to do. We’ve done it, and you look back at the Earth and you see how small it is. I’m hoping we can have another mental shift in that similar category – if we did find life on other planets, or something analogous to that, to help us kind of gather together and look at ourselves again from a healthy perspective. It feels like the lessons of the moon landing have been lost on our generation. “Wished Out”: I was at Newport Folk Fest, and I was watching Michael Kiwanuka’s band, and I was totally blown away by them, and I just felt like, when I was standing there watching them, they were so patient. Like, this song is evolving, and he’s giving everyone time to play. I had already started this song, but I was like, I’m going to put a section in that’s sort of like his live show, where it’s just like “we’re grooving here.” […] Obviously I’m into guitars and playing guitar solos and stuff, but that kind of kicked me, and I was like, I just need to be a little expansive on this one. I’m gonna give the record a little balance, because all the rest of the songs are three or four minutes long. Michael Kiwanuka at Newport Folk Festival // photo by Ben Kaye “Malibu Shadow”: The inspiration for that song in particular was more – I kind of lifted from this writer, he was an archaeologist/anthropologist guy named Loren Eiseley who wrote these really incredible philosophical essays and stories about his job and his life in science. They’re not about specific science very much. It’s more just sort of the feeling. He’ll find a skull of an animal, and he’ll have this connection, and he’ll be able to have a better – it’s really hard to articulate vast time, deep time, and think about how much time it really took for it to be that little skeleton of this rodent to a human being. That, to me, has been a powerful idea as of late, trying to really zoom out again and look at how long it took. As a result, you realize how short a human life is. The shadow that I’m making is going to be someone else’s tomorrow. Someone else is going to have a similar experience as I’m having when I’m gone. “Starting From Scratch”: I was staying out in Malibu for a few nights, just by myself, and hadn’t talked to anyone for a while, and I took a drive up the mountains and it was really cloudy, there was a huge cloud bank. I’m sure people who live out there realized what was about to happen, but I didn’t, so I was driving up the hill, and I drove up through the clouds, which was super magical. My height was above the clouds. It was one of those things where you have low expectations, and then you’re just super excited. […] I think there’s something to taking a sabbatical when you become a middle-aged person. You just need a second to catch your breath, to just be alone and walk. I think it’s good for your brain chemistry to take a walk. It’s like a cure for what ails ya, at least for me. […] I came back from that, and I just kind of sat down and started going. “Rain Check”: I remember sitting there and pounding out this song. I just kind of had those two chords. To me, it’s getting out frustrations. It’s like, we’re having all these heavy conversations, I’m reading books and considering myself a pseudo-intellectual (at most) and sitting here and pondering ideas, but at the end of the day, sometimes it’s just like, fuck it. Fuck it, let’s just go get drunk and hang out with our friends. Just to let off steam, you know? With the preposterousness of everything that’s happening, sometimes you’ve just gotta let it rip. […] Touring and playing live gives you a little bit more perspective about what goes over, and what feels good in the studio versus feels good on stage. A lot of times recording mellow music is so satisfying and so fun in the studio, but then you get on tour and you’re playing and people aren’t even really paying attention. Sometimes you just want to grab ’em and shake ’em a little bit. “No One Else”: There’s a record by a trombonist named Jack Teagarden [called] Think Well of Me. It’s one of my favorite records of all time. He’s usually a straight-ahead New Orleans jazz musician, but he made this record with a string section and beautiful, kind of melancholy songs. I’m just picturing him. […] The studio’s filled with smoke, and he’s singing in this tender, wounded kind of voice, and then he just picks up his trombone and starts soloing. I was sort of thinking about that, and about Jack Teagarden, but the song itself [is about] my son, who’s now 9. He was in first grade a couple years ago, and he was friends with boys and girls (which is so great), but there was one particular girl, we found out the had gotten married on the playground. But then, it turned out that they were getting kind of made fun of, [so] they decided to keep their relationship secret. “We’ll tell everybody that we’re not married, but we are.” So, they’re still pals, and it sort of defused everything, it kind of became cool to be quote-unquote “married” […] but in that moment, I was kind of like, I’m proud of them. They’re friends. They’re like, really friends, and that’s awesome. That was sort of the inspiration. This is just for you, and no one else. “Second Fiddle”: At one point there was a pretty happening music scene in Bloomington, IN in the late ’90s, and bands were starting to get signed, and we would drive to New York and play in the East Village, and people would take us out to dinner, and we’d stop and use a pay phone and try to get more shows [laughs]. I’m sort of thinking back on those times, and all the work that it took, and how fun it was, too, when there were absolutely no stakes. […] I’ve always said that I’m very comfortable and I love being in a band that’s a collaboration, and not being the focus of it all. I just feel like that’s my natural habitat. “Out of Reach”: I had this idea of a melody going up as the chords went down. It’s a little bit like baroque counterpoint in a way, if I just played the root note and the melody note of the chord progression at the beginning. It just seemed like a maze. That chord progression seemed like a maze, like something you’d just want to swirl around and get lost in. […] To me it sort of sounds like an Elliott Smith song. Or that’s what I wanted it to be. I’d be lucky to have it be remotely as cool as his songs. Source

Lana Del Rey is set to release a new album in 2019. Today, to coincide with the release of her latest single “Venice Bitch”, Del Rey spoke to Beats 1 Radio’s Zane Lowe about the forthcoming album. Most notably, she revealed the album’s truly amazing title: Norman Fucking Rockwell. For the album, Del Rey worked with producer Jack Antonoff, who himself was coming off a string of high-profile pop music projects, including Lorde’s Melodrama, St. Vincent’s Masseduction, and Taylor Swift’s Reputation. Apparently, the album’s title is indicative of the “lighter mood” of Del Rey and Antonoff’s collaborative sessions. As Del Rey explained it: Working with Jack, I was in a little bit of a lighter mood because he was so funny.. So the title track is called “Norman Fucking Rockwell” and it’s kind of about this guy who is such a genius artist but he thinks he’s the shit and he knows it and he like won’t shut up talking about it. So often I ended up with these creative types or whatever, and you know, they just go on and on about themselves, and I’m like, “Yeah, yeah.” But there’s a little bit of merit to it also. They are so good. I just like the title track so much that I was like, “OK, I definitely want the record to also be called that.” In the song “Venice Bitch” there’s like another little reference to Norman Rockwell, which didn’t have to be in there. I don’t even remember if I threw it in there intentionally just to pop that message in a little further. I can’t even remember what I was thinking, but I think when I was writing this song, it was a more happy take on love and it was just sort of about like, “I tour, you write. We make it work.” And also you know I love having painter references because I think sometimes when you’re writing you’re sort of trying to paint these ideas into existence, because I’m very visual too. So yeah, I don’t know. I know it’s a crazy title, but that’s just the title of the record. Del Rey also spoke about her new 10-minute single “Venice Bitch” and why she was adamant that it be released as a pre-album single. “I played it for my managers and I was like, “Yeah, I think this is the single I want to put out.” And they were like, “It’s 10 minutes long. Are you kidding me? It’s called ‘Venice Bitch.’” Like, “Why do you do this to us? Can you make a three minute normal pop song?” I was like, “Well, end of summer, some people just wanna drive around for 10 minutes get lost in some electric guitar.” Del Rey’s last album came in 2017 with Lust For Life. Along with “Venice Bitch”, she recently released a second single called “Mariners Apartment Complex”. Source

As promised, Lana Del Rey has returned with her new song, “Venice Bitch”. The 10-minute (!) offering features a line you’re bound to see in plenty of Instagram captions this fall: “Fresh out of fucks forever.” Watch the song’s accompanying video, created by Del Rey’s sister, Chuck, below. “Venice Bitch” follows “Mariners Apartment Complex”, which was deemed one of the best songs of last week. The pair are “two end of summer jams,” according to Del Rey, and serve as precursors to a new album that’s expected to drop in 2019. Jack Antonoff (Lorde, St. Vincent), our 2017 Producer of the Year, helmed the production for both. Update: The album is called Norman Fucking Rockwell. Del Rey’s last proper full-length, Lust For Life, came out in July 2017. Recently, Del Rey postponed a scheduled concert in Tel Aviv, Israel, but “plans to return when she can both in both Israel and Palestine and treat all my fans equally.” Source

Beyond the Gates: America’s summer music festival circuit is in a slump. Despite Beyoncé’s for-the-ages Coachella live stream earlier this year, the bloom is clearly off the rose. By-the-numbers lineups that grow wearily family by the time September comes around. Fans pretty much know what to expect when heading off to Outside Lands, Lollapalooza, and the rest of the big-name fests that have become household names in recent years. KAABOO Del Mar is a genuine surprise. Only in its fourth year, KAABOO’s lineup is a masterclass in catering to the many as well as the few. Headliners Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons, and Katy Perry guaranteed a strong core of mainstream rock and pop fans would be willing to plunk good money down to attend. From true O.G. lowriding legends War to Afro-Futurist pioneers Earth, Wind and Fire to the one of the great all-American heartland rock stars in Melissa Etheridge, this year’s lineup shone a spotlight on the kinds of artists that might not make the cut for other Southern California music fests, but appeal to a deceptively large audience. KAABOO Del Mar is also a clear reflection of the laid back, beach town vibes that permeate the city and neighboring Carlsbad and San Diego. Seeing anyone rushing towards a stage—or anywhere, for that matter—was rare. As an Uber driver described it: “This area down here around San Diego and Carlsbad, is like L.A.’s slow Southern cousin. People take their time.” It makes for a warm, comfortable event that feels inclusive to pretty much anyone in attendance. Which makes sense, considering the drastic age range represented across all three days. Chatting with a KAABOO Del Mar business exec while waiting for Robert Plant, I learned that the average of the festival’s attendees is 37—a good decade and a half higher than most shows of its ilk. You’re just as likely to post up next to people your parent’s age and even your grandparents age at any given moment over the weekend. KAABOO 2018, photo by Alive Coverage Best Bites: KAABOO Del Mar went to great pains to ensure that hungry fans had a serious variety of culinary options. From the robust Palate “culinary environment” featuring name chefs to festival pizza icons Spicy Pie, all sorts of delicious sights and smells permeated the Del Mar Racetrack and Fairgrounds. The alcohol presentation, however, was even more impressive, bordering on overwhelming. Booze was everywhere, and being enjoyed to the fullest. Still, KAABOO Del Mar remained as chill and inviting as ever, never picking up that hostile edge that can creep over a festival grounds as night arrives. It’s all good, brah. Blondie, KAABOO 2018, photo by Alive Coverage Festival Fashionista: No contest: Debbie Harry of Blondie. Rocking classic neon sunglasses with matching shoes and a sweeping cape/jacket emblazoned with “Stop Fucking the Planet” across the back, the 73-year-old Harry worked the stage like it was 1979 on Solid Gold. A steady parade of the band’s hits were peppered with new material co-written by the likes of Charli XCX and Dev Hynes. It was the Hynes composition—”Long Time,” from Blondie’s most recent album, Pollinator—that generated such a response that Harry paused to salute the crowd for its enthusiasm for a song most in attendance didn’t know. The only downside to Blondie’s set was the absence of original member Chris Stein. Harry acknowledged his absence towards the end of the show, dedicated the last two songs—”Heart of Glass” and “Dreaming”—to him. N.E.R.D., photo by Alive Coverage Fancy Crowdwork: Pharrell Williams and N*E*R*D are a very different entity than they were when they debuted 17(!) years ago with In Search of… Inching ever closer to twisted hip-hop version of Rage Against the Machine, the band’s set was all big slogans (“Have Hope”), stark political observations, and hardcore dance routines. Noticing that the general admission area in front of the stage was packed to an extreme, Williams implored the crowd to make some room and create a pit. As his pleas went ignored, he finally hopped down into the crowd, wading deep into the audience with his bodyguard always less an arm’s length away. Begging fans to put down their phones and engage with the moment, his manic energy made the uber-producer seem refreshingly human. Fellow Neptune Chad Hugo is back in the mix, too, keeping a low profile behind a bank of keyboards. Right Time, Wrong Place: Considering the myriad things to see and experience throughout the festival (like the gang of Freddie Mercury lookalikes roaming the premises promoting upcoming Queen movie, Bohemian Rhapsody), the one that that was glaringly absent was charging stations. If they were around, I certainly never found them, a sentiment repeated by many concertgoers. As phones drained throughout the warm summer days, juicing up devices became a mission for many. No open outlet in the vicinity was spared. Stone Temple Pilots, photo by Alive Coverage Rookie vs. MVP: This is an especially interesting juxtaposition, as it involves two veteran grunge bands from the ‘90s. On Saturday, Stone Temple Pilots hit the Rolling Stone stage with new singer Jeff Gutt, who only just joined the fold late last year after the tragic death of Chester Bennington. As STP roared through those indelible radio hits like “Interstate Love Song” and “Big Bang Baby,” it was clear that Gutt is still getting his legs leading the group. He handled the vocals admirably, conjuring the spirit and of the songs, fitting in well with the crack band behind him, who sounded fantastic. Gutt did have a tendency to mimic Scott Weiland’s most recognizable moves, which plays well on the big screen, but doesn’t do much to help him stamp his own identity onto the music. Which will likely come with time. Which brings us to Alice in Chains, who scored the plum spot of opening for Led Zeppelin legend Robert Plant on Sunday night. William Duvall has been leading Alice in Chains since 2006, and he wears it very well. Beyond just a powerful voice that slices through the dense, down-tuned riffs that power Alice’s biggest hits, his stage presence is big and confident enough that he’s got it down to grand, sweeping gestures that resonate deep into the back of the massive crowd, one of the biggest turnouts of the weekend. It’s easy to imagine Jeff Gutt someday leading STP in similar fashion, and he’s already off to a strong start. Imagine Dragons, photo by Alive Coverage Rock’s Not Dead, It’s Coming for Your Little Brothers and Sisters: While critical types wring hands and debate the health and state of rock and roll in 2018, the kids are just out soaking it all in. Take Imagine Dragons, who have an appeal that’s oddly similar to KISS at their mid-’70s peak. For one, children love them. The number of kids not yet high school age screaming along to “Radioactive” while their parents stood behind them at a respectful distance was impressive. Their big, anthemic songs all share an uplifting and life-affirming quality, which makes their appeal to younger generations even more important. Post Malone, photo by Alive Coverage Feel the Feelings: If there is one thing that unites the current crop of young pop stars, it’s all of the feelings. Deep, contemplative emotions were what drove big-stage performances from both Halsey and the people’s champion, Post Malone. His world-weary rap persona of just wanting to chill out, left alone and get high speaks to an entire generation of disaffected youth, pulling a giant crowd that hung on his entire performance, which was just him onstage, lamenting the haters and wondering why are the cool kids so mean? It’s wild to watch in real times, and how he evolves going forward will be fascinating. He knows they’re listening intently. Robert Plant, photo by Alive Coverage That One Performance: Robert Plant. It was obvious from the moment one hit the Fairgrounds on Sunday that Plant’s performance was the most anticipated of the day (which is saying a lot, considering both Wiz Khalifa and Katy Perry were up as well). An arraying of Led Zeppelin and Plant t-shirts blanketed the grounds, with many of the fans heading towards the show old enough to have seen Zeppelin the first time around. Plant stormed the stage with a purpose, opening with a faithful run through “Good Times, Bad Times” that hit like a lightning bolt. He paced the show well, dropping in classics like “Going to California” and “Whole Lotta Love” among the new tunes and a devastating take on Leadbelly’s “Gallow’s Pole”. Coming Home: Rolling out of the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Sunday night as Katy Perry’s extreme pop spectacle entertained the masses, it’s hard not to love KAABOO Del Mar. With a no-nonsense booking policy that can draw the proverbial you, your parents and some aunts and uncles, too, they’ve erased that undercurrent of youth-gone-wild that permeates so many of America’ biggest festivals. KAABOO Del Mar caters to the locals, and does it so well that it draws music fans from around the world. Outside of the festival, nearby Carlsbad Village offers the best of beach city life, with an idyllic beachfront and plenty to see and do. As the festival expands to KAABOO Cayman Islands and KAABOO Texas in Arlington’s Cowboy Stadium, there is a new contender in the music festival sweepstakes. This felt like a tipping point year, where the world about KAABOO Del Mar is finally starting to connect with that certain festival demographic that has yet to make the journey down San Diego way. But you can feel it in the air. They’re coming. Soon. VIEW OUR PHOTO GALLERY Source

In advance of the release of WWE 2K19, the latest edition of the WWE’s enormously successful video game franchise, the pro wrestling monolith dropped the in-game soundtrack on streaming service Apple Music today. The 12-track collection features a handful of heavy rock acts, including Metallica and Slipknot, personally chosen by some of the league’s Superstars that, according to a press statement, “represent many of [their] favorites when preparing for a match, on the road, in the gym or relaxing at home.” The soundtrack was announced via UpUpDownDown, the YouTube gaming channel overseen by WWE member Xavier Woods. In addition to a smattering of hip-hop tunes and more pop-oriented fare, the soundtrack includes “Spit Out The Bone,” a track from Metallica’s 2016 album Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, as chosen by Triple H; Slipknot’s “Override,” the pick of Seth Rollins; Bullet For My Valentin’s “Skin,” selected by The Miz; and “The 11th Hour,” a tune taken from Rancid’s 1995 album …And Out Come The Wolves, which is a favorite of Sami Zayn. In a statement accompanying this news, Neil Lawi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, WWE Music Group said, “With music very much at the heart and soul of our business, empowering our WWE Superstars to share some of their favorite songs for WWE 2K19 is a unique way for us to further connect with our global audience.” Check out the full tracklist for the WWE 2K19 in-game soundtrack below. The game, itself, is set for global release on October 9th. WWE 2K19 In-Game Soundtrack Tracklist: AWOLNATION, “Passion” – Selected by WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan Bullet for My Valentine, “Skin” – Selected by WWE Superstar The Miz Eminem, “Survival” – Selected by WWE 2K19 cover Superstar AJ Styles Fall Out Boy, “Champion” – Selected by WWE Superstar Alexa Bliss Metallica, “Spit Out the Bone” – Selected by WWE Superstar Triple H Migos, “Work Hard” – Selected by WWE Superstar Samoa Joe Offset and Metro Boomin, “Ric Flair Drip” – Selected by WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair and WWE Superstar Charlotte Flair Post Malone feat. 21 Savage, “rockstar” – Selected by WWE Superstar Elias Rancid, “The 11th Hour”, Selected by WWE Superstar Sami Zayn Shinedown, “DEVIL”, Selected by WWE Superstar Baron Corbin Slipknot, “Override” – Selected by WWE Superstar Seth Rollins Wale, “Ungrateful & Thankful” – Selected by WWE Superstars The New Day Metallica’s Top 5 Songs Tool’s Top 5 Music Videos Behemoth's Top 5 Songs Alice in Chains' Top 5 Videos Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” Annotated Video Source

In addition to helming music for countless David Lynch projects such as Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and the original run of Twin Peaks, Angelo Badalamenti recorded music with the legendary filmmaker under their collaborative moniker Thought Gang. Now, their early ’90s sessions have been unearthed and collected into a proper album also titled, Thought Gang. Due out November 2nd through Sacred Bones, the long-lost LP features a total of 12 tracks, many of which were recorded separately over the course of years. “It’s sort of like jet-fueled jazz in a weird way…but it’s all based on stories,” Lynch described Thought Gang’s sound in a statement. “It’s Modern Music.” Lynch and Badalamenti officially decided to form Thought Gang during a 1991 recording session for a track called “A Real Indication”, according to a press release: As the oft-told story goes, Lynch and Badalamenti had just finished recording the initial instrumental take for ‘A Real Indication.’ A set of lyrics had been penned, leaving Lynch with the question: who would he get to sing them? Eager to prove and deliver, Badalamenti suggested that he himself give it an attempt, much to Lynch’s uncertainty that he’d actually be the right fit. “I’d heard Angelo sing before…he used to sing on demos and things…I knew what Angelo sounded like and I thought he was going to embarrass himself…I thought there’s no way this was gonna work.” Much to Lynch’s surprise, Badalamenti launched into the song with his distinctive talk-sing delivery, summoning such a violent laughter-fueled excitement from Lynch that he literally induced a hernia. “It was like a lightbulb exploded in my stomach,” Lynch recalls. “Angelo was feeling it. He was feeling it…we hit the button and he just took off!” A handful of songs here may sound familiar to Lynch diehards. Titles “Frank 2000”, “Summer Night Noise”, as well as an alternate instrumental mix of “Logic and Common Sense”, popped up in last year’s Twin Peaks reboot. Others have appeared in various forms in Mulholland Drive, deleted scenes from Fire Walk With Me, and even a Lynch-presented Adidas commercial. To preview the Thought Gang album, a song dubbed “Woodcutters From Fiery Ships” has been released. Like the rest of the record, it features additional instrumentation from bassist Reggie Hamilton. Take a listen below. A video for the album is said to be premiering at Lynch’s Festival of Disruption, which takes place next month in Los Angeles. “It is a short video featuring my friends the ants, along with cheese, etc. and one and a half tracks from the upcoming Thought Gang album,” he said of the piece. Thought Gang Artwork: Thought Gang Tracklist: 01. Stalin Revisited 02. Logic and Common Sense 03. One Dog Bark 04. Woodcutters From Fiery Ships 05. A Real Indication 06. Jack Paints It Red 07. A Meaningless Conversation 08. Frank 2000 Prelude 09. Multi-Tempo Wind Boogie 10. The Black Dog Runs at Night 11. Frank 2000 12. Summer Night Noise Source

Nicolas Cage currently stars in the new action horror Mandy, which hit theaters just last Friday. Directed by Panos Cosmatos, the film has pulled in rave reviews, including from Consequence of Sound’s own Dominick Suzanne-Mayer, who called Cage’s performance “his best work in years.” Despite the warm reception, however, Cage fears the film’s success could be hindered by his meme fame. As the 54-year-old actor told IndieWire, he believes the popular “Cage Rage” memes, which are inspired by Cage’s various maniacal characters, are a “disservice” to his latest film. “It’s been branded ‘Cage Rage,’ and it’s frustrating,” Cage remarked. “I’m sure it’s frustrating for Panos [Cosmatos], who has made what I consider a very lyrical, internal, and poetic work of art, to have this ‘Cage Rage’ thing slammed all over his movie.” He added, “It’s one thing for me, because I’d like to think I could continue to work with Panos, but the internet has kind of done the movie a disservice.” (Read: The 25 Most Anticipated Films of Fall 2018) In the same interview, Cage did admit to purposely deciding to portray “crazy”, over-the-top characters throughout his career. But the Oscar-winner has his reasons: “I did make certain choices to realize my abstract and more ontological fantasies with film performance, by playing people who were crazy, or by playing people who were on drugs, or supernaturally possessed — so that I have the license, if you will, to explore the German Expressionistic style of acting, or the Western kabuki. Whatever you want to call it.” Cage then went on to also defend his style of acting, likening himself to great legendary actors like James Cagney and Richard Burton. “Look at James Cagney in White Heat, when he says ‘Top of the world, ma!’ Was that realistic? Hell no. Was it exciting and truthful? Hell yeah,” he said. “Or Richard Burton in Night of the Iguana, or Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon. The list goes on and on about these old troubadours who embraced a kind of charismatic and larger-than-size stylization. A grandeur, if you will.” While Cage seems to really dislike memes lately, he sang a much different tune in 2015. According to Complex, Cage bought a phone case off eBay which was comprised of “a bunch of pictures of fan art of him crying and his most extreme expressions.” Below, enjoy (unless you’re Cage) a few Cage Rage memes. Source

Matthew Dear will return after a six year absence with his new album, Bunny, on October 12th via Ghostly International. From what we’ve heard of the producer’s fifth full-length, the record plays on two sides of the electronic coin, with lighter songs like “Bunny’s Dream” contrasted by more industrial sounds like “Echo”. Released way back in August 2017, the Tegan and Sara-featuring “Bad Ones” falls into the former category, but it turns out the indie pop twins contributed to one of the heavier songs, too. “Horses” relies on subtle microhouse and glitch to form a quiet road for the vocals to travel down. Inspired by a photograph of two horses affectionately biting each other, Dear wrote the song for his wife. “Above all else, we wanted to be those two horses, eternally connected at the end of it all,” he said in a statement. “The song is as deep of an homage to love as I’ve written. I probably won’t write another like this one. It took years to finish.” “I love being in Matthew’s music brain and leaving little ideas of my own wherever it makes sense,” Sara Quinn added. “His songs sometimes feel abstract, like puzzles that I can’t stop listening to. It continues to be a great privilege and honor for us to collaborate with him.” Take a listen below. Dear will play a select number of North American shows this November in support of Bunny. Find his itinerary below. Matthew Dear 2018 Tour Dates: 11/01 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre 11/02 – Los Angeles, CA @ 1720 11/03 – Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room 11/04 – Portland, OR @ Holocene 11/08 – San Francisco, CA @ Public Works 11/09 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw 11/11 – Seattle, WA @ Nectar 11/15 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village 11/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ National Sawdust Source

On October 5th, Chan Marshall will release Wanderer, her new album as Cat Power. The 11-track collection and first since 2012’s stellar Sun chronicles “my journey so far,” according to the singer-songwriter. “The course my life has taken in this journey – going from town to town, with my guitar, telling my tale; with reverence to the people who did this generations before me. Folk singers, blues singers, and everything in between.” Marshall’s path has led her to a collaboration with Lana Del Rey, last month’s “Woman”. It’s also inspired her to engage with yet another important female voice: Rihanna. On Wanderer, Marshall covers RiRi’s 2012 Grammy-nominated smash “Stay”. (Read: The 25 Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2018) Here, Marshall sticks to the minimalist genius of past Cat Power ballads, choosing to pair her smoky, aching vocals with nothing more than skeletal piano chords. There’s no comparing the two artists — they move powerfully, but in their own ways — still, they speak the same raw language. “I love the tradition of covering songs,” Marshall shared in a statement. “I think it’s one of the highest compliments you can pay another artist. It’s one of the great traditions in American music and one of the true pleasures of music history.” Take a listen below. Here’s Rihanna’s original for comparison: Marshall is currently touring North America in the weeks leading up to Wanderer. Find her full itinerary here. Source

The Travelin’ Man’s time on the road is coming to an end: Bob Seger’s upcoming tour with the Silver Bullet Band will be his last. Come November, Seger and the Silver Bullet Band will embark on what’s being billed as a farewell tour. As of now, the itinerary spans 27 dates stretching into May 2019. See the full docket below, and grab tickets here. In today’s announcement, Seger did not provide a specific reason for his decision to cease touring. However, as Rolling Stone points out, the 73-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has mentioned retirement as far back as 2011, saying at the time: “I can’t do this much longer. My manager is 70. We’ve been together for 45 years now and we need to stop pretty soon and turn it over to the Kid Rocks and Eminems. I guess we’re in the final stages here. When I got offstage the other night I said to my security guy, ‘That was surreal. I can’t believe I just did a full-on rock show.’ It’s just surreal.” Last year, Seger was forced to postpone several tour dates in order to have back surgery to repair a ruptured disc. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band 2018-2019 Tour Dates: 11/21 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena 11/24 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center 11/27 – Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena 11/30 – St. Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center 12/06 – Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena 12/08 – Louisville, KY @ KFC Yum! Center 12/12 – St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Arena 12/14 – Chicago, IL @ Allstate Arena 12/20 – Greenville, SC @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena 12/22 – Atlanta, GA @ Infinite Energy 01/09 – Toledo, OH @ Huntington Center 01/11 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena 01/15 – Fort Wayne, IN @ Allen County War Memorial Coliseum 01/17 – Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center 01/19 – Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena 01/22 – Peoria, IL @ Peoria Civic Center 01/29 – Billings, MT @ Rimrock Auto Arena 01/31 – Boise, ID @ Ford Center 02/02 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center 02/09 – Seattle, WA @ Tacoma Dome 02/15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort 02/17 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center 02/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum 03/07 – Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin 03/09 – Dallas, TX @ Ford Center at The Star 05/02 – Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Source

Next month, Cloud Nothings will return with their fifth studio album, Last Building Burning. The follow-up to 2017’s masterful Life Without Sound draws from the Cleveland outfit’s dynamic live show. “I’m obsessed with the idea of energy at the moment,” frontman Dylan Baldi said of the creative process that led to the new LP. “That’s how I thought of this record: seven short, and one long, bursts of intense, controlled chaos. I wanted to make that come across in a way that can actually be felt.” (Read: The 25 Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2018) Thus far, Baldi & co. have teased with August’s “The Echo of the World”. Cloud Nothings, one of the best bands in their genre, are now dropping off a second single in “Leave Him Now”. The track is about a guy who doesn’t deserve the attentions of a special woman, and it rather aptly highlights some of that “intense, controlled chaos” that Baldi was talking about. Take a listen below. Last Building Burning hits shelves October 19th via Carpark Records. Cloud Nothings will kick off their North American tour shortly after. Cloud Nothings 2018-2019 Tour Dates: 10/22 – Lexington, KY @ The Burl 10/23 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Hell Stage) 10/24 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn 10/25 – New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa 10/26 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs) 10/27 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda 10/28 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada 10/30 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf 11/01 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah 11/02 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom 11/03 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent 11/05 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos 11/06 – Vancouver, BC @ Imperial 11/07 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios 11/09 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux 11/10 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge 11/11 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater 11/13 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room 11/14 – St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House 11/15 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Hi-Fi 11/16 – Columbus, OH @ The A&R Music Bar 11/17 – Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop 11/26 – Detroit, MI @ El Club 11/27 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House 11/30 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair 12/01 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw 12/04 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer 12/05 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Club at Stage AE 12/06 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar 12/08 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage 12/09 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter 12/11 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall 12/14 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall 01/25 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns 01/26 – Birmingham, UK @ The Castle & Falcon 01/27 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall 01/28 – Glasgow, UK @ St. Lukes 01/30 – Bristol, UK @ Thekla 01/31 – London, UK @ Earth 02/01 – Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere 02/03 – Brussels, BE @ Rotonde Botanique 02/04 – Cologne, DE @ Luxor 02/05 – Tilburg, NL @ 013 02/06 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord 02/07 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust 02/08 – Berlin, DE @ Musik & Frieden 02/09 – Warsaw, PL @ Poglos 02/11 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs 02/12 – Vienna, AT @ Chelsea 02/13 – Zagreb, HR @ Tvornica Kulture 02/14 – Milan, IT @ Ohibo 02/15 – Rome, IT @ Monk 02/16 – Bologna, IT @ Covo Club 02/18 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F 02/19 – Lausanne, CH @ Le Romandie Rock Club 02/21 – San Sebastian, ES @ Dabadaba Club 02/22 – Madrid, ES @ Sala Q 02/23 – Valencia, ES @ La Marina 02/24 – Barcelona, ES @ La 2 Source

She was teased at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. We got our first look at her earlier this month when the first official set photos were released. Now, we get to see Captain Marvel soar in the first trailer for Marvel’s upcoming superhero blockbuster. Due out March 8th, 2019, Captain Marvel marks the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first female-led entry, as well as the first Marvel movie with a female director in Anna Boden, who co-directed the film with Ryan Fleck. Brie Larson stars as the titular heroine, aka Carol Danvers, a fighter pilot who becomes an intergalactic superhero after her DNA gets spliced with that of a Kree alien. Set in the 1990s, the movie follows Danvers as she leaves an elite Kree military unit known as Starforce (led by Jude Law’s Mar-Vell and featuring Djimon Hounsou’s Korath from Guardians of the Galaxy) to help ward off an Earth invasion by the shapeshifting Skrulls. Ben Mendelsohn portrays the lead Skrull, Talos, as well as his human-form which he uses to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. Captain Marvel also features the return of Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser and Samuel L. Jackson as a digitally de-aged Nick Fury. Other stars include Gemma Chan as Minn-Erva and Lashana Lynch as Maria “Photon” Rambeau. Check out the trailer below. Source

Following the tragic deaths of two young attendees at the Defqon festival over the weekend the NSW Premiere Gladys Berejiklian has announced the creation of a drug safety panel to address concerns at music festivals. The panel will include Police Commissioner Mick Fuller and the Chair of the Independent Office of Liquor & Gaming Philip Crawford as well as other health officials to determine if festivals are doing enough to protect punters – something we’ve covered before and prove festivals are already doing as much as humanely possible to do so. Other things up for discussion mentioned in the press release are harsher penalties for drug dealers and if new penalties should be created to punish those in possession or attempting to sell illegal substances. A third mention in the release is for further ‘drug education’, something that top health officials as well as ex and current police have been calling on for years but doesn’t seem to be the focus over the consistently misguided ‘zero tolerance’ policy that has resulted in a costly system that is making near zero changes in the behaviour of those attending music festivals and choosing to consume drugs. Something else that would have been a no brainer to even just discuss but was left out was the topic of pill testing (that was successfully run and identified deadly components at this years Groovin The Moo) and amnesty bins, that allow the safe disposal of drugs when entering festivals, an alternative to ingesting them or dropping them for other people to potentially pick up. This comes amongst news that drug detections were unknowingly recorded twice for over 7 years by NSW Police in what could have resulted in over 80,000 false possessions and possible policy change as well as the skyrocketing costs and low strike rate of drug dogs that recorded at times, only 50% to 60% correct identifications. It’s times like this it’s worth pointing out the safe injecting rooms that allow a clean and safe environment for those choosing to use drugs but also offer education and support for those looking to step away from drugs. Ultimately everyone wants the same thing, for people to be safe and avoid tragic deaths. It’s just moving forward and using logical steps and tools to do so. Source

Melbourne clubbing destination XE54 have a busy few months ahead with bookings coming out the kazoo that’ll include DJ sets from Carl Craig, Honey Dijon, M.A.N.D.Y, DJ Koze, TEED and many more. There’s good reason for the monstrous amount of talent on tap with the clubs curators behind both Beyond The Valley and Pitch, Music & Arts festivals that’ll mean being able to beeline some heavyweights from the mainstage to the intimacy of the club. It’s not all international tastemakers with local talent on show with sets from Cassettes for Kids, Chiara Kickdrum, Interstellar Fugitives and Andy Garvey among others that’ll flex just what Australia is up to. XE54 DJ Lineup September, October, November and December. Answer Code Request: 22 September DJ Kiti: 22 September Hyper Binary: 22 September DJ Koze: 29 September Cassettes for Kids: 29 September Trance Wax: 13 October Chiara Kickdrum: 20 October Paul Lynch: 27 October Toni Yotzi: 27 October Mha Iri: 27 October Reinier Zonneveld: 10 November Carl Craig: 24 November Honey Dijon: 30 November Interstellar Fugitives: 30 November M.A.N.D.Y: 8 December Andy Garvey: 22 December Rampa + & ME: TBA Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (DJ set): TBA Those of you who need an excuse to get along to the dance-floor should dive into a Detroit classics set from the master himself, Carl Craig! Source

If Ableton Live were a human, it would possibly be getting turnt at its 18th birthday party in just a few months time. In the time it takes us to enter adulthood, Ableton Live used that same amount of time to revolutionise the way the world created, performed, and experienced electronic music. In 2001, Berlin-born computer programming graduates Bernt Roggendorf and Gerhard Behles developed and released the very first version of Ableton Live. And at the time, it wasn’t created for anything more than to enhance their performances as the dub-techno duo, Monolake. It took an encouraging push from a friend to turn their personal project into a retail-ready, universal software. That is where a vision of Ableton as we know it was created. They’ve said they believe the success of Ableton could be largely due to the connections they made through their music project in the Berlin music scene. In the perfect case of “right place, right time”, by the time Ableton was ready to launch, they had already established close friendships with rising Berlin artists, who were seeing increasing demand for live shows throughout Europe. And Ableton Live was there, ready to make live electronic performances easier than anyone could have dreamt of at the time. “What became very obvious is that the software enabled a lot more people to leave their home studios and bedrooms, and go on stage—and that fuelled the whole festival culture. I don’t think we would have the same amount of electronic music festivals these days without this software, because suddenly, everyone who’s producing electronic music had a clear path [of] how to bring this on stage. I mean it became quite normal to go onto any festival stage and just accept the fact that almost 90 per cent of all laptops are running our software. I remember clearly for years this did strike me as something completely mad,” Henke told Thump. DAWs are an incredibly personal choice, and we know we’re biased on this one. But there’s a reason Ableton grew so fast and so quickly. In a time of clunky DAW’s and time-consuming creation, the features Ableton provides successfully brought the flow state into music production. And no, we’re not getting into anything spiritual here. With features like session view, you can get your ideas out onto the digital canvas without stopping – keeping you in the groove of creation, and not focused on things like arrangement and sound design before it’s necessary. And as these features have developed and progressed, it still influences how people create music today. “Having everything where it feels it should be, makes those creative moments easier to embrace. Sometimes we are in sessions for hours and can’t get a vibe on anything, but when it comes, you need your DAW to be ready to act fast with you and get those ideas onto the arrangement. I feel Ableton does this best and makes those creative bursts easy to capture. I learnt on Pro Tools at JMC in 2013, but was always drawn to the look and feel of Live. After going from Pro Tools and having played around on Logic and FL Studio, I don’t think I would want to use anything but Ableton,” says Daniel Andaloro of the neo-disco group, Groove City. Beyond the creation process, the live show is where Ableton truly changed the game for gigging electronic musicians. Session View brought electronic artists the capability to add live performance or improvisation elements to their live shows. From removing instruments in the track to allow for them to be played live, to the ability to preprepare their entire sets, Ableton gave ease to artists and new points of interest to their audiences. Today, you might find yourself stuck to hunt out an electronic live show that doesn’t utilise Ableton in some way. “Aside from the smooth workflow, the live performance features are second to none. Live shows are where we switch to Ableton’s Session View. We set up a strip of backing tracks – which are usually our tracks with the elements we will be performing live taken out, and strips for my MIDI controllers – which are automated to switch to whatever plugin/sound I need for the particular song we are playing. The automation makes live performances way less stressful so we can focus more on giving people a show and less about making sure I have the right synth ready to go,” says Daniel. Even artists who don’t use Ableton for the production see its potential to enhance their performances and reduce their stress on stage. Artists like EMME – who makes electrified pop tunes in Sydney – produces his music using Logic, but makes the switch to Ableton when it comes time to take the stage. “I have just recently moved into Ableton for my live shows and think it is a great addition. I use it to run both a master backing track and edited, stemmed-down tracks in addition to my live electronic drumming, external triggers and guest instrumentalists (synths, guitars, vocals etc). The ability to have all the automation pre-planned and tempo adjustments sorted before performance is awesome, it takes away the stress and allows me to focus on drumming and playing instruments. I don’t need to worry about triggering individual sounds live through Ableton, as I do this all through a Roland module, which allows me to load my own samples into it and trigger. Ableton is mainly used for all the backing tracks and sounds,” says EMME. If you want to learn how to up your performance skills using Ableton Live, check out the Perform Live course over with our friends at Liveschool, to learn the technical and creative skills you need to engage your audience. Source

John Goodman revealed late last month that his sitcom wife Roseanne will be killed off on the ABC spinoff The Conners. Of course, in real life, Roseanne Barr was infamously fired from her own Roseanne reboot after racist remarks she made on Twitter essentially put the nail in her career’s coffin. Now, the actress/comedian has revealed how she thinks the studio may go about putting the nail in her character’s coffin, as well. At the end of what became Roseanne’s final season, the title character began taking pain pills after suffering a knee injury. The intent was to set up an addiction storyline for the next season, but now it looks as if that may lead Roseanne to “die of an opioid overdose.” “I wanted to show it in the show,” Barr during an appearance on conservative activist Brandon Straka’s YouTube show Walk Away. “But I was never going to have Roseanne die of an opioid overdose. It’s so cynical and horrible. She should have died as a hero or not at all.” Since Barr has no connection to The Conners, this should be seen as a rumor for now. We’ll find out for sure how the character is written out of the show when it premieres October 16th at 8p.m. on ABC. Watch the short teaser trailer below. The Conners stars Sara Gilbert (Darlene), John Goodman (Dan), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie), Lecy Goranson (Becky), and Michael Fishman (D.J.). Here’s the official synopsis: “After a sudden turn of events, the Conners are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before. This iconic family – Dan, Jackie, Darlene, Becky and D.J. – grapples with parenthood, dating, an unexpected pregnancy, financial pressures, aging, and in-laws in working-class America. Through it all, the fights, the coupon cutting, the hand-me-downs, the breakdowns – with love, humor and perseverance, the family prevails.” Source

It’s been a long time between drinks (or bong rips) for stoner music dojo xxyyxx who has coupled up with enigmatic producer Nova Moura for a syrupy rnb bop. His origins in the genre have been felt for years since the release of ‘About You’ many many years ago and spawned a sound as unique as it is addictive. As you’d expect the track seamlessly moves between real trap beats and glorious, shimmering chord work that’ll soundtrack a windows down cruise or some loving in the bedroom. The track content itself is a different story with Nova Moura telling it best; “‘Gone Girl’ is a song I wrote a long time ago about separation. It’s one of those explorations of abandonment and what that causes; the thoughts, feelings, and tendencies. The song talks about the freshness of those wounds and the life that those wounds helped to create. It’s also a sort of conversation, I guess, with that person who abandoned me. I wanted to express that the failed relationship wasn’t solely my fault in the hopes that maybe someday she would hear it.” Dive into the full blown flex below Source

A 23-year old has died following this past weekend’s Nocturnal Wonderland in Southern California. At about 1:48AM on Saturday, September 18, a male attendee went unresponsive at the festival’s medical tent. According to the SB Corners website, he was then transported to the hospital where he later passed away. Nocturnal Wonderland is a 3-day music and camping festival put on by promoters Insomniac Events. The festival is ages 18+ and takes place at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, CA. SOURCE The post 23 Year-Old Dies Following Nocturnal Wonderland appeared first on EDM Maniac. Source

The Oregonian, LA-based songwriter and producer CVBZ stuns us with the release of 2 Gone as a sneak peek of his forthcoming EP called River. It could be his stunning bohemian fashion style that turns heads, but it’s obvious his dance-pop tracks fusing with chill wave and R&B beats are what is catching more of the likes of fans and other artists. ‘2 Gone’ is an electro-pop infused gem piece. Words by CVBZ on 2 Gone- “A song about the moment I realized we were over. In that moment, sitting in your car in Portland, I knew that you were nothing more than a thing of my future’s past. A good dream that you can hardly remember.” CVBZ isn’t brand new of releasing mesmerizing tracks that become a favorite in our music player. He has left an impressionable imprint in 2017 with his debut single, Be Like You via Ultra Records, gaining over 12 million streams. On top of that, his music video also gained over 1 million views. Working with the famed Cheat Codes and Fetty Wrap, the trio curated Feels Great which earned itself a spot on the Top 40 at #26. Listen to 2 Gone below whereas it will truly get you antsy for his new 5-track EP River out on August 17th. A perfect collection of pop and EDM that makes for a perfect summer anthem.  BONUS TRACK: ‘Feels Great’  Follow CVBZ: Spotify| Facebook | Instagram| The post CVBZ Is On His Way Up With Electro Pop Gem “2 Gone” appeared first on EDM | Electronic Music | EDM Music | EDM Festivals | EDM Events. Source