Category: news

Jockstrap share abstract music video for new single ‘Concrete Over Water’

A preview of the duo’s debut album

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NME

London pop duo Jockstrap have released the abstract music video for ‘Concrete Over Water’, a new single from their upcoming debut album.

Released by Rough Trade on April 12, the seven-minute-long single continues Jockstrap’s penchant for frenetic instrumentation. Its music video, directed by the band and Eddie Whelan, sees the duo playing out a narrative with characters created by vocalist Georgia Ellery.

“The video was born out of the celestial themes in the song,” she explained in a statement.

“Eddie and I created the characters (Moongirl, Voyager, Magma Boy, etc.) to explore the feelings of wonder, inspiration and the search for answers, to reflect what the song represents to me.”

Watch the music video for Jockstrap’s ‘Concrete Over Water’ Below.

‘Concrete Over Water’ follows the release of ‘50/50’, another track from the duo’s upcoming album, in November 2021. ‘50/50’ went on to soundtrack Stella McCartney’s 2022 Paris Fashion Week show. Before that, Jockstrap had last released music in the form of their September 2020 mixtape ‘Beavercore’.

Earlier that year, Jockstrap released their debut EP ‘Wicked City’. It received a four-star review from NME writer Luke Cartledge, who described it as “strange and invigorating”. He praised the inventive songwriting that was “like nobody else at the moment”, which would in turn land Jockstrap in the 2021 NME 100 list of essential emerging artists.

Speaking to NME following the release of ‘Wicked City’ in June 2020, Skye described their writing process as one with “no limits”, saying, “There are parts of the songs that we don’t understand.”

“Whenever I make music there have to be parts of it I don’t understand – you have to be expressing something you don’t really know or can’t talk about, there has to be a mysterious thing.”

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Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite announces new memoir

‘Spaceships over Glasgow: Mogwai and Misspent Youth’ is coming out in September

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NME

Mogwai‘s Stuart Braithwaite has announced details of a memoir – find out all about Spaceships over Glasgow: Mogwai and Misspent Youth below.

The book is set to land on September 1 via White Rabbit Publishing, and will tell the story of Braithwaite’s childhood in Scotland, through his musical beginnings and decades-long career with Mogwai.

“I am immensely proud to be working with White Rabbit on my first book Spaceships Over Glasgow,” Braithwaite said in a statement.

“The process of researching it and writing it has been challenging but one that I’ve really enjoyed. It’s incredibly exciting to be able to share it with the world.”

Lee Brackstone of White Rabbit added: “From his early years in thrall to the giants of alternative music like MBV, JAMC and Sonic Youth to improbable sonic misadventures on tour with one of the greatest psychedelic bands of the present day, Mogwai, Stuart Braithwaite’s memoir is a funny and righteous celebration of a life lived on the road and in the studio, dedicated to the pursuit of aural (and occasionally) psychic enlightenment and obliteration.”

See the cover of Spaceships over Glasgow: Mogwai and Misspent Youth below.

Elsewhere, Mogwai are set to head out on a rescheduled set of UK and European tour dates at the end of the month.

The Glasgow band were due to start their tour on January 27 in Milan, with a date scheduled at London’s Alexandra Palace on February 25. However, they then pushed back the gigs to April and May due to the current surge in cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The band will now start their tour in Copenhagen on April 30, heading to London’s Alexandra Palace on May 27. All original tickets will remain valid, however a new date for their Utrecht show is still to be confirmed. Find tickets here.

The Scottish group released their 10th studio album ‘As The Love Continues’ back in February 2021, going on to score their first-ever UK Number One with the project. In celebration of achieving the feat, they later confirmed a special homecoming show for November.

In October, they won the 2021 Scottish Album Of The Year (SAY) award for ‘As The Love Continues’, beating out the likes of Biffy Clyro, Stanley Odd and The Snuts, and were also nominated for the 2021 Mercury Prize.

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K-pop boyband EPEX under fire for allegedly referencing Nazi pogrom in new song

However, the boyband’s agency C9 Entertainment claims the song was inspired by George Orwell’s ‘1984’

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NME

K-pop boyband EPEX have been called out for allegedly referencing the Nazi anti-Jewish pogrom Kristallnacht in their new song ‘Anthem Of Teen Spirit’.

On Monday (April 11), the South Korean music group released their latest mini-album ‘Prelude Of Anxiety Chapter 1. 21st Century Boys’, which was led by the title track ‘Anthem Of Teen Spirit’.

Soon after its release, however, fans of the group started noticing what they alleged to be references to and parallels between the song’s lyrics and the historical event Kristallnacht, a November 1938 pogrom carried out by the Nazi Party against Jews in the city of Danzig.

Fans specifically pointed out the line “I see them burning raw, Crystal Night is coming” from the song’s chorus as what they allege to be a reference to the historical event. On the other hand, others have compared EPEX’s styling in the music video to those worn by Nazi Party officials.

One of the writers of the song, Albin Nordqvist, has since spoken out about the situation, where he clarified that he only worked on the English demo of the track and had no idea about the revisions that had been made. Instead, the songwriter directed fans to message EPEX’s agency C9 Entertainment.

“I have no involvement with the current lyrics or topic. Today is the first day I’ve heard this version,” he wrote in a Twitter thead on April 11. “I would also like to ask you to stop messaging me about this… Please refer to the Agency instead.”

Earlier today (April 13), two days after the controversy broke, C9 Entertainment released a statement about the alleged references to Kristallnacht in ‘Anthem Of Teen Spirit’. In its statement, the agency claims that the song was instead inspired by “various literary works, films and physics theories”, with George Owell’s 1984 as one of the main points of reference.

In particular, the company alleges that the song’s lyrics do not reference Kristallnacht, but instead the symbolic “glass paperweight” from the novel. “It has absolutely nothing to do with actual historical events,” C9 Entertainment claims.

The agency later apologised for “not check[ing the metaphor] more carefully and in detail” in its statement. It added that the it has since changed the lyrics for the song and the boyband have re-recorded the controversial parts of ‘Anthem Of Teen Spirit’, and the company is in the process of replacing the song on music services.

The label also addressed the boyband’s styling in the video, claiming that “all costumes and contents were expressed using the setting and lines of 1984 as a motif, and there is no connection with actual events, people or groups”.

“We will be more careful and pay deep attention so that the music, lyrics, and music video[es] of EPEX do not hurt anymore,” C9 added. “Once again, we sincerely apologise to everyone.”

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Jackson Wang says he felt “lost” about where his music career was headed

“I didn’t know who I am and what am I doing now”

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NME

GOT7’s Jackson Wang revealed that he has been feeling unsure about where his music career is headed.

The GOT7 recently made an appearance on The Cruz Show, a programme on Los Angeles radio station Real 92.3 LA, where he spoke about his upcoming English-language solo album ‘Magic Man’ and his nearly decade-long career in the music industry.

During the interview, Wang revealed that he had hit a rough patch sometime in the past year. “I was having a hard time,” Wang said. “You know, I’m in this industry for eight, nine years and it just got to a point – like I’m thankful and blessed along the journey – but it got to a point that I was lost, man. I didn’t know who I am and what am I doing now.”

Wang elaborated that he also felt apprehensive about being honest about his struggle with his music career. “Is this really what I want to do? Because you don’t know what’s happening tomorrow,” the singer added.

“Should I be honest with everybody and to myself that, ‘Hey, just give out a hundred percent [of] what’s inside me, deliver it on the table and have everyone see it, feel it?’,” he questioned.

Elsewhere in the interview, Wang also revealed that it was this rough patch that inspired much of forthcoming album, ‘Magic Man’. “[‘Magic Man’] is about a journey of exploring and finding the new me,” Wang explained. “You know, taking the time and deciding to put everything – whoever I was, whatever I had – behind and move on to accept the new me.”

Last month, Wang released a brand-new English-language single called Blow’. That song came shortly after Wang dropped the mixtape ‘LOST & FOUND’, which comprised eight old songs he had previously recorded but left unreleased.

According to a press statement, ‘Blow’ is the first look at Wang’s “Magic Man” persona, as hinted at the end of the music video. The persona will act as the main inspiration for the creation and direction of his forthcoming album of the same name.

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JOURNEY’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin” And QUEEN’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Selected For Induction Into National Recording Registry

JOURNEY’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” and QUEEN’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” are among the individual songs that have been selected for induction into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act…

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

JOURNEY's "Don't Stop Believin'" and QUEEN's "Bohemian Rhapsody" are among the individual songs that have been selected for induction into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian, with advice from the Library's National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB), annually selects 25 recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and are at least 10 years old. The selections for the 2022 registry bring the total number of recordings on the registry to 600, only a minuscule portion of the Library's vast recorded-sound collection of nearly four million items. "The National Recording Registry reflects the diverse music and voices that have shaped our nation’s history and culture," Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. "The national library is proud to help preserve these recordings, and we welcome the public’s input. We received about 1,000 public nominations this year." "This is the greatest honor of my life," said former JOURNEY singer Steve Perry, citing his family’s history as Portuguese immigrants to a small town in California. "I've gotten platinum albums and gold albums and I've gotten inducted into the [Rock And Roll] Hall Of Fame. But for my mother, my father, my grandmother and grandfather, I am truly beside myself that this is happening…it's an 'only in America' kind of thing." A little over a year ago, "Don't Stop Believin'" reached 1 billion listens on Spotify. In a 2009 interview with CBC's "Q" cultural affairs show, Perry said he always thought "Don't Stop Believing" — which is also the top-selling digital download of a track not originally released in this century, according to Nielsen SoundScan — had potential as a single. It was always a hit with live audiences, though it didn't get great radio play at the time it was issued, he said. "When we were doing the song in 1981, I knew something was happening, but honestly, when I saw it in the film 'Monster' with Patty Jenkins, I started think, 'Oh my goodness there's really something.'" He added: "The lyric is a strong lyric about not giving up, but it's also about being young, it's also about hanging out, not giving up and looking for that emotion hiding somewhere in the dark that we're all looking for. It's about having hope and not quitting when things get tough, because I'm telling you things get tough for everybody." Current JOURNEY singer Arnel Pineda, who has been fronting the band for 15 years, told CBS News in 2012, "Even before I discovered 'Don't Stop Believin'', it has been my motto — you know, to never stop believing in myself. The life that I've gone through, all those hardships, I never stopped believing that someday there is something magical that will happen in my life." In 2020, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, "Don't Stop Believin'" had become a rallying call for patients recovering from COVID-19 at two hospitals in New York and Michigan. The 1981 hit was being played at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan and the New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital during celebrations for patients prevailing over the coronavirus. In March 2021, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was officially certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing 10 million or more in sales and stream equivalents in the United States. QUEEN was the first British band in music history to earn the diamond song award. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was QUEEN's first Top 10 hit in the U.S. In the U.K., it went to No. 1 for 9 consecutive weeks, a record at the time, before returning to the top of the charts again in 1991. It was named the most-streamed song of the 20th century and its companion video recently passed one billion views on YouTube, making history as the first pre-1990s video to reach one billion views on the platform. In 2004, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and Freddie Mercury's vocal performance was named by the readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the best in rock history. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is also one of the many QUEEN hits featured on the band's blockbuster compilation "Platinum Collection, Vol. 1-3", which was certified five times platinum. This blockbuster compendium, which hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200, features tracks like "Another One Bites The Dust", "Killer Queen", "Under Pressure", "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions" and so many more.

JOURNEY’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin” And QUEEN’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Selected For Induction Into National Recording Registry

JOURNEY’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” and QUEEN’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” are among the individual songs that have been selected for induction into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act…

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

JOURNEY's "Don't Stop Believin'" and QUEEN's "Bohemian Rhapsody" are among the individual songs that have been selected for induction into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. Under the terms of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian, with advice from the Library's National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB), annually selects 25 recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and are at least 10 years old. The selections for the 2022 registry bring the total number of recordings on the registry to 600, only a minuscule portion of the Library's vast recorded-sound collection of nearly four million items. "The National Recording Registry reflects the diverse music and voices that have shaped our nation’s history and culture," Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. "The national library is proud to help preserve these recordings, and we welcome the public’s input. We received about 1,000 public nominations this year." "This is the greatest honor of my life," said former JOURNEY singer Steve Perry, citing his family’s history as Portuguese immigrants to a small town in California. "I've gotten platinum albums and gold albums and I've gotten inducted into the [Rock And Roll] Hall Of Fame. But for my mother, my father, my grandmother and grandfather, I am truly beside myself that this is happening…it's an 'only in America' kind of thing." A little over a year ago, "Don't Stop Believin'" reached 1 billion listens on Spotify. In a 2009 interview with CBC's "Q" cultural affairs show, Perry said he always thought "Don't Stop Believing" — which is also the top-selling digital download of a track not originally released in this century, according to Nielsen SoundScan — had potential as a single. It was always a hit with live audiences, though it didn't get great radio play at the time it was issued, he said. "When we were doing the song in 1981, I knew something was happening, but honestly, when I saw it in the film 'Monster' with Patty Jenkins, I started think, 'Oh my goodness there's really something.'" He added: "The lyric is a strong lyric about not giving up, but it's also about being young, it's also about hanging out, not giving up and looking for that emotion hiding somewhere in the dark that we're all looking for. It's about having hope and not quitting when things get tough, because I'm telling you things get tough for everybody." Current JOURNEY singer Arnel Pineda, who has been fronting the band for 15 years, told CBS News in 2012, "Even before I discovered 'Don't Stop Believin'', it has been my motto — you know, to never stop believing in myself. The life that I've gone through, all those hardships, I never stopped believing that someday there is something magical that will happen in my life." In 2020, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, "Don't Stop Believin'" had become a rallying call for patients recovering from COVID-19 at two hospitals in New York and Michigan. The 1981 hit was being played at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan and the New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital during celebrations for patients prevailing over the coronavirus. In March 2021, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was officially certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing 10 million or more in sales and stream equivalents in the United States. QUEEN was the first British band in music history to earn the diamond song award. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was QUEEN's first Top 10 hit in the U.S. In the U.K., it went to No. 1 for 9 consecutive weeks, a record at the time, before returning to the top of the charts again in 1991. It was named the most-streamed song of the 20th century and its companion video recently passed one billion views on YouTube, making history as the first pre-1990s video to reach one billion views on the platform. In 2004, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and Freddie Mercury's vocal performance was named by the readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the best in rock history. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is also one of the many QUEEN hits featured on the band's blockbuster compilation "Platinum Collection, Vol. 1-3", which was certified five times platinum. This blockbuster compendium, which hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200, features tracks like "Another One Bites The Dust", "Killer Queen", "Under Pressure", "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions" and so many more.

Lucius Say Harry Styles Denied Them Featured Credit on ‘Treat People With Kindness’

“We start the song, we sing every chorus, just us. We trade off the bridge. It is us and Harry Styles.”

Music – Rolling Stone

“We start the song, we sing every chorus, just us. We trade off the bridge. It is us and Harry Styles."

Jimmy Page says he refused to appear on Ozzy Osbourne’s new album

Members of Metallica, Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers all feature on the record

The post Jimmy Page says he refused to appear on Ozzy Osbourne’s new album appeared first on NME.

NME

Jimmy Page has explained why he has refused to appear on Ozzy Osbourne‘s new album.

It comes after the Black Sabbath legend confirmed that he’d finished the follow up to his 2020 LP ‘Ordinary Man’ earlier this week.

Sharing a photo on social media, Osbourne said “I’m so happy to let everyone know that I finished my new album this week and delivered it to my label Epic Records.”

“I’ll be sharing all the information about the album and its upcoming release with you in the next several weeks,” he added.

Last December, Osbourne’s producer and guitarist Andrew Watt said that Robert Trujillo (Metallica) featured on bass on the album, with the late Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) sharing drumming duties.

Smith has also recently confirmed that Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, Eric Clapton, Josh Homme and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready also feature. He claims Osbourne also tried to get Page to contribute but said “I don’t think he plays anymore”.

But the Led Zeppelin legend has now explained that he refused to appear on the album because he was too busy working on his own projects.

“There’s various things I’m working towards,” Page told Classic Rock. “It’s not just one thing, it’s multiple things, and I don’t want to even give a hint, because if you do … you give a one-sentence sound bite, and then if it doesn’t materialise, it’s like: ‘Why didn’t you do a solo album?’

“So I don’t want to say what it is that I’ve got planned, because I don’t want to give people the chance to misinterpret it.”

Elaborating further on his refusal to join Osbourne, Page added: “I will never be one of those people who’ll record alone and send someone a file. I never went into music in the first place to do that – it was for playing together.”

Meanwhile, Page recently said that it was a mistake to enlist Phil Collins to fill in on drums for Led Zeppelin at Live Aid.

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