Author: Matt Doria

NME

A series of records owned by legendary DJ John Peel – once branded by NME as “the king of the live session” – will be sold at an auction in London next month.

• READ MORE: From Sonic Youth to The Smiths: the best John Peel sessions ever

Before his death in 2004, Peel amassed a weighty collection spanning over 26,000 LPs, 40,000 seven-inch singles and countless CDs. A selection of those, as well as various items of memorabilia, will be auctioned off at Bonhams’ Knightsbridge location on Tuesday June 14. It takes place a week before the 50th anniversary of Glastonbury, which has long honoured Peel with a stage named in his honour.

According to a press release, the records on offer were “carefully selected by the family, whist retaining the integrity of the John Peel Record Collection”.

Key pieces in the lot include an annotated mono pressing of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s ‘Two Virgins’ LP (which holds an estimated value of £15,000-20,000), a promotional album signed by The Rolling Stones (£6,000-8,000), a copy of the rare Marc Bolan album ‘Hard On Love’ (£5,000-6,000) and a copy of ‘Queen II’ that comes with a letter hand-written to Peel by Freddie Mercury (£1,000-1,500).

In the way of merchandise, Peel’s estate are offering up a handful of his ultra-rare posters – including one for Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’ valued at £3,000-4,000) – a five-page letter from David Bowie that features a series of original sketches (worth £3,000-4,000), and his ‘93 NME Award for Godlike Genius (£800-1,200).

In a statement shared with the announcement of the sale, the Ravenscroft family commented: “By virtue of the role he played in it, John/Dad was in a position to have access to many of the most celebrated people and events in the history of popular music. This is reflected in a wealth of souvenirs he collected throughout his life.

“He had not only a voracious appetite for vinyl, but a keen sense of what memorabilia, ephemera and correspondence might find an interested audience in decades to come (though it could be argued that this was achieved by a strategy of keeping almost everything that crossed his path).

“In going through the accumulation of 40 years of pop music moments, we decided that some of the most interesting items might find a home, with fans of his programme or of the artists whose music he played. Bonhams have assisted us to carefully select what is being offered for sale, and we hope these items find the attention and appreciation that we’re sure John/Dad would feel they warranted.

“We had no desire to split up his beloved record collection but have included in the sale a selection of particularly rare or unique records that do not take away from the integrity of his archive.”

Katherine Schofield – the director of Bonhams’ Popular Culture department – added that Peel “had an incredible impact on the new music landscape”, and declared that “without his passionate advocacy of emerging talent, generations of music lovers may never have heard the sounds of The Fall, The Undertones, The Sex Pistols, and countless others”.

She continued: “This collection, offered directly by the family, comprises some of Peel’s most collectible and rare records, spanning decades in music – many of which are accompanied by letters from the artists or their management. A number of the test-pressings in this collection were the source of the first airplay for landmark songs.”

In 2012, Peel’s record collection was made into an interactive online museum. It came part of The Space, an experimental service organised and funded by the Arts Council and the BBC.

In 2020, nearly 1,000 classic sets performed for the John Peel Sessions series – aired on BBC Radio 1 across his 37-year tenure at the station – were catalogued and made available online. Throughout the years, Peel had overseen more that 4,000 live sessions by over 2,000 artists.

One of the official releases of the sessions came in 2005. In a review of ‘The Complete John Peel Sessions’, NME wrote: “These Peel Sessions are a chronicle of their scorched-earth policy that spanned the five years of the late-’80s when rock was reborn in a placenta of white noise.”

The post Rare LPs and memorabilia from John Peel’s private collection will be auctioned off next month appeared first on NME.

NME

Harry Styles has opened up about transitioning from a teen star in a boyband into a career musician on his own path, explaining that he found solace in seeing the way Billie Eilish approached her own sudden rise to pop stardom.

• READ MORE: Harry Styles’ new song ‘As It Was’ is a reflective ode to the bittersweet nature of change

Ahead of his hotly anticipated third album, ‘Harry’s House’, landing on Friday (May 20), Styles sat down with Zane Lowe for a 78-minute chat about the album’s inception, touring, Style’s creative process and his maturation as both an artist and a person away from the spotlight. Eilish came up towards the end of the interview, when Styles spoke candidly about how his artistry now compares to the way he approached it in the early days of One Direction’s split.

He explained: “I definitely had a really big moment, I think, when Billie Eilish kind of first blew up. I think being in the band, I’d always felt like … it was fun and exciting because we were young. And I had a moment, seeing her do this at such a young age, where I felt like, ‘I’m not that young anymore.’ 

“For a while, it was like, ‘How do you play that game, of like, remaining exciting?’ And I just had a moment where I felt like, ‘OK, we’re not the same thing.’ And in the same vein of, like, ‘You’re not always going to be the kind of young thing,’ I was like, ‘OK, I would really like to think about who I would like to be as a musician.’”

Styles went on to say that although he and Eilish had “[run] into each other a couple of times” over the last few years, he’s not told her personally about how she inspires him. “I’m kind of like, from afar, incredibly thankful to her,” he said, “because I feel like she felt like she represented something to me there.

“It felt like [she] came in in a way that was like, ‘You’re not… Like, don’t worry about being this thing, ever.’ Because, you know, she’s a lot younger than me, and there’s no point in me going, like, ‘OK, how do I get back in? How do I like, get back to like… She just totally broke spell for me, in a way that I’m very grateful for.”

Have a look at Styles’ full interview with Lowe below (they talk about Eilish around the 1:15:30 mark).

Earlier this month, Styles opened up about the benefits of receiving therapy for his mental health, after initially being hesitant to engage with it. He said that he started therapy reluctantly about five years ago, having originally “thought it meant that you were broken” and that he felt it was a music industry cliche to seek help. “I wanted to be the one who could say I didn’t need it,” he said, noting that therapy ultimately trained him out of his tendency to “emotionally coast”. 

Styles recently debuted two tracks from ‘Harry’s House’ during his Coachella 2022 headline set. His performance during the first weekend of the festival saw him premiere ‘Boyfriends’ and ‘Late Night Talking’, while also giving his chart-topping single ‘As It Was’ its first live airing.

The artist also has a litany of headline tour dates on the horizon, including ‘One Night Only’ gigs to launch ‘Harry’s House’ in New York and London. From there, he’ll embark on the UK and Ireland leg of his world tour – find any remaining tickets for those shows here – before heading on a North American tour in August. Next February, fans in Australia and New Zealand will be able to catch Styles performing in stadiums.

Next week, Styes will become the latest artist to read a CBeebies Bedtime Story for the BBC. He’ll read In Every House, On Every Street, a story written by Jess Hitchman and illustrated by Lili la Baleine, which is described as “a heartwarming celebration of homes and the different families that live in them”.

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NME

Bartees Strange has returned with another preview of his forthcoming second album, ‘Farm To Table’, sharing the poignant and powerful new single ‘Hold The Line’.

• READ MORE: Bartees Strange: The Washington, DC artist bending genres to build his own uncompromising world

A notedly emotive cut from the Washington, DC indie-rocker, Strange explained in a press release that ‘Hold The Line’ is one of the most thematically raw tracks on ‘Farm To Table’. It was inspired by George Floyd’s seven-year-old daughter Gianna, who was thrust into the public eye when her father was murdered by former police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020.

Strange expounded: “I remember watching George Floyd’s daughter talk about the death of her father and thinking wow – what a sad introduction to Black American life for this young person. It was painful to watch her grow up in that moment, like all Black kids eventually do. 

“‘Hold The Line’ was written over the course of three days during that first pandemic summer. Through this song I was trying to make sense of what was happening in the US, my neighborhood and my community at that moment. During the marches people were trying to stop the bleeding, locked arm in arm, doing everything they could to hold the line.”

Check out the lyric video for ‘Hold The Line’ below:

Set to arrive on June 17, ‘Farm To Table’ – the follow-up to Strange’s debut album, 2020’s ‘Live Forever’ – was previewed in March with lead single ‘Heavy Heart’. That song’s release came with the news that Strange had signed to his “dream label”, 4AD, who will release ‘Farm To Table’. It was followed up last month with ‘Cosigns’, along with details for the new album.

NME named ‘Live Forever’ one of the 20 best debut albums of 2020, writing: “The record resists conforming to genre at every turn, blending shades of indie rock, hip-hop, punk, country and more – often within the same song.” 

Since then, Strange has performed on Late Night With Seth Meyers, performed an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and released standalone single ‘Weights’. He’s also shared covers of Bon Iver’s ‘Skinny Love’, TV On The Radio‘s ‘Province’ and The National‘s ‘About Today’, remixed Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘Kyoto’ and opened for Courtney Barnett on her recent North American tour. 

Strange will head out on a UK and European tour in July – dates and details can be found here.

The post Bartees Strange zooms in on the pain of Black America with new single ‘Hold The Line’ appeared first on NME.

NME

Tom DeLonge is set to release his directorial debut, Monsters Of California, later this year – and while he’s yet to lock down a release date, he today shared the first glimpse of its sci-fi insanity with an official trailer.

• READ MORE: Five things we learned from our In Conversation video chat with Tom DeLonge

Per the film’s synopsis, Monsters Of California follows the mind-bending exploits of Dallas Edwards, who, flanked by an ensemble of similarly dorky, sex- and drug-loving teenagers, “attempt[s] to unearth answers to a series of mysterious, paranormal events happening around Southern California”. 

“As they peel back the layers on this onion of the unexplainable,” the logline continues, “they unravel the extraordinary secrets held within the deepest levels of the Government.”

Check the trailer out below:

Big-ticket names appearing in Monsters Of California include the Tony-nominated Richard Kind (Curb Your Enthusiasm), the Emmy-nominated Arianne Zucker (Days Of Our Lives), Sports Illustrated model Camille Kostek, Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers) and Gabrielle Haugh (Jeepers Creepers 3). It’ll also star a handful of Hollywood newcomers such as Jack Samson, Jared Scott and Jack Lancaster.

The film comes via DeLonge’s own multimedia empire, To The Stars, which the ex-Blink-182 and current Angels & Airwaves leader founded as a record label in 2015. He co-wrote it with Ian Miller, produced it alongside Stan Spry and Eric Woods, and directed it solo.

In a statement shared with the trailer (per Collider), DeLonge said: “Anyone who knows me, or follows me on social media, knows I’m no stranger to the paranormal, which is why directing Monsters Of California was a no-brainer. The film takes my fascination with the unexplained, combines it with the skate culture I grew up a part of, and tosses in my ridiculous sense of humour that millions got to witness during my Blink-182 days. 

“In recent years, I’ve had the good fortune of helping the Government remember how much they care about UFOs through the work we do at To The Stars, and it’s that experience which helped inspire this movie. I can’t wait for audiences to see the fucked up fun adventure these kids go on.”

“I’ve been a fan of Tom as an artist since I was in college,” added Spry. Blink-182, Boxcar Racer, and Angels & Airwaves are parts of the soundtrack of my life. Working with him on Monsters Of California has been the most fun, and creatively fulfilling project I’ve had the good fortune to be involved in. I’m beyond excited for the world to get to see what he has created.”

Last July saw DeLonge open up about Monsters Of California with NME. At the time, he described it as a “coming of age film with dick jokes”, and said his venture into filmmaking was “the beginning of the mainstream version of what I wanted to do”. He cited the work of John Hughes as an inspiration for the film, and also described it as what would happen “if Spielberg went back and made an R-rated indie paranormal film.”

In the music world, DeLonge’s most recent effort was the sixth full-lengther from Angels & Airwaves, ‘Lifeforms’. Landing last September via Rise, the record was plugged by four singles: ‘Euphoria’, ‘Restless Souls’, ‘Losing My Mind’ and ‘Spellbound’.

The post Watch the wild first trailer for Tom Delonge’s sci-fi action-comedy ‘Monsters Of California’ appeared first on NME.

NME

Tom DeLonge is set to release his directorial debut, Monsters Of California, later this year – and while he’s yet to lock down a release date, he today shared the first glimpse of its sci-fi insanity with an official trailer.

• READ MORE: Five things we learned from our In Conversation video chat with Tom DeLonge

Per the film’s synopsis, Monsters Of California follows the mind-bending exploits of Dallas Edwards, who, flanked by an ensemble of similarly dorky, sex- and drug-loving teenagers, “attempt[s] to unearth answers to a series of mysterious, paranormal events happening around Southern California”. 

“As they peel back the layers on this onion of the unexplainable,” the logline continues, “they unravel the extraordinary secrets held within the deepest levels of the Government.”

Check the trailer out below:

Big-ticket names appearing in Monsters Of California include the Tony-nominated Richard Kind (Curb Your Enthusiasm), the Emmy-nominated Arianne Zucker (Days Of Our Lives), Sports Illustrated model Camille Kostek, Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers) and Gabrielle Haugh (Jeepers Creepers 3). It’ll also star a handful of Hollywood newcomers such as Jack Samson, Jared Scott and Jack Lancaster.

The film comes via DeLonge’s own multimedia empire, To The Stars, which the ex-Blink-182 and current Angels & Airwaves leader founded as a record label in 2015. He co-wrote it with Ian Miller, produced it alongside Stan Spry and Eric Woods, and directed it solo.

In a statement shared with the trailer (per Collider), DeLonge said: “Anyone who knows me, or follows me on social media, knows I’m no stranger to the paranormal, which is why directing Monsters Of California was a no-brainer. The film takes my fascination with the unexplained, combines it with the skate culture I grew up a part of, and tosses in my ridiculous sense of humour that millions got to witness during my Blink-182 days. 

“In recent years, I’ve had the good fortune of helping the Government remember how much they care about UFOs through the work we do at To The Stars, and it’s that experience which helped inspire this movie. I can’t wait for audiences to see the fucked up fun adventure these kids go on.”

“I’ve been a fan of Tom as an artist since I was in college,” added Spry. Blink-182, Boxcar Racer, and Angels & Airwaves are parts of the soundtrack of my life. Working with him on Monsters Of California has been the most fun, and creatively fulfilling project I’ve had the good fortune to be involved in. I’m beyond excited for the world to get to see what he has created.”

Last July saw DeLonge open up about Monsters Of California with NME. At the time, he described it as a “coming of age film with dick jokes”, and said his venture into filmmaking was “the beginning of the mainstream version of what I wanted to do”. He cited the work of John Hughes as an inspiration for the film, and also described it as what would happen “if Spielberg went back and made an R-rated indie paranormal film.”

In the music world, DeLonge’s most recent effort was the sixth full-lengther from Angels & Airwaves, ‘Lifeforms’. Landing last September via Rise, the record was plugged by four singles: ‘Euphoria’, ‘Restless Souls’, ‘Losing My Mind’ and ‘Spellbound’.

The post Watch the wild first trailer for Tom Delonge’s sci-fi action-comedy ‘Monsters Of California’ appeared first on NME.