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Killer Mike spoke at a press conference held by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms last night in response to the widespread protests in the wake of George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police. In an emotional speech, the rapper and activist advocated for peace, urging people to organize and vote for more progressive leaders instead of taking part in violent protests. "I am duty-bound to be here to...
Conor Oberst stared out at the audience, squinting and seething. The Black Cat in Washington, DC was maybe halfway full, and a pretty good number of the people in that room were not going to let the sensitive young man onstage interrupt their conversations. Constant mass-chatter hum was always a problem at shows in DC, but on this night, for whatever reason, the crowd was just not interested in anything...
She made it through the wilderness. Lady Gaga never really went away, and the numbers suggest she barely lost a step. Yet in the years since Artpop and its attendant theatrics pushed her dance-pop excess to its tipping point, she's been studiously avoiding the sound she made her name on. With 2016's Joanne, she pivoted to an earthier strain of pop infused with country and classic rock. With 2018's...
Heads up: Wyatt is grabbing the intro reins this month as he takes a deep dive into the Netherlands' flourishing black metal scene. Turia’s Degen Van Licht shimmers into focus, materializing out of hazy delirious heat. What emerges is a strange beast; it’s jagged at the edges, a jangly maelstrom that marches and roars forward. Within the crashing tumult is a blooming series of fractals, melodic...
Riots have been raging throughout Minneapolis and across America demanding the arrest of the police officer who killed an unarmed black man named George Floyd by kneeling on his neck. President Donald Trump condemned the rioters this morning with a threat of retaliatory violence: "These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz...
Jed The Humanoid may not be one of science fiction's most iconic tragic figures, but his obscurity only emphasizes the sadness of his story. As Grandaddy's Jason Lytle tells it, the android first known as Jeddy 3 was assembled in the kitchen from whatever spare parts were lying around. "When we finished Jed we were so proud," Lytle sings in one of those quavering twee Neil Young voices that was so...
Matty Healy, frontman of the divisive UK band the 1975, has deactivated his Twitter after facing backlash for a tweet about George Floyd, the 46-year-old black man (and former Houston rapper) who was killed by Minneapolis cops on Monday. In footage taken by an onlooker, Floyd can be heard repeating "I cannot breathe" while a white officer kneels on his neck for seven full minutes. "If you truly believe...
Grimes is selling her soul. Literally. Starting today, Bloomberg reports, she's exhibiting her first fine art show online on Gallery Platform Los Angeles (5/28-6/3) and Maccarone Los Angeles (5/28-8/31). The show is called Selling Out. And included in it is a work also titled Selling Out: a legal document whereby the purchaser acquires a percentage of Grimes' soul. When she began to conceive of the...
If you’re feeling any guilt about quarantine-induced creative inertia, take heart: Mark Duplass finds himself “weirdly thriving” at the moment and he feels kinda guilty about that too. “The inherent privilege of where I’m at is so obvious and ridiculous,” the wildly prolific 43-year old writer/actor/director says at the beginning of our Zoom call, “so…
Even after years of us knowing them, there is still something weird about Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. On the surface, they are a straightforward, classicist indie band — a group that seems easy enough to get on first listen, a sound that could approach comfort food. But there is something alchemical in their songwriting that,…
We’ve Got A File On You features interviews in which artists share the stories behind the extracurricular activities that dot their careers: acting gigs, guest appearances, random internet ephemera, etc.
This summer, every festival is cancelled. Most of the cancellation announcements have been brief and businesslike, but one was emotional. In April, the…
We’ve Got A File On You features interviews in which artists share the stories behind the extracurricular activities that dot their careers: acting gigs, guest appearances, random internet ephemera, etc.
There were all these other lives Jason Isbell could’ve led. He could’ve never left Drive-By Truckers, and spent a steady career as one…
We’ve Got A File On You features interviews in which artists share the stories behind the extracurricular activities that dot their careers: acting gigs, guest appearances, random internet ephemera, etc.
Over the last decade, Mike Hadreas has steadily remade himself. Back in the beginning, with 2010’s Learning, there was no clear plan for…
We’ve Got A File On You features interviews in which artists share the stories behind the extracurricular activities that dot their careers: acting gigs, guest appearances, random internet ephemera, etc.
It’s hard to believe that Hayley Williams’ new album, Petals For Armor, will be her first solo effort. She’s been in spotlights of…
After spending his teenage years woodshedding on Bandcamp, Will Toledo and his DIY-project-turned-band Car Seat Headrest arrived in the middle of last decade with the one-two shot of 2015’s Teens Of Style (a rerecording of selections from his DIY days) and 2016’s instant classic Teens Of Denial, both released by the indie institution Matador Records.
If you’ve come into contact with Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” in the last decade or so, it’s likely been in meme form. Pizzas, leashes, Reese’s, Jesus — all things that have been cut into pieces as the deathless chorus to the Cali rockers’ hard-charging hit has, as with so much late-’90s and early-’00s pop cultural…
We’ve Got A File On You features interviews in which artists share the stories behind the extracurricular activities that dot their careers: acting gigs, guest appearances, random internet ephemera, etc.…
The coronavirus pandemic has forced all of us to put just about everything on hold: No matter what you thought your big plans for life in 2020 were, they’re not happening anytime soon. That’s been felt in the music world, too, with festival and tour cancellations and postponements, and with artists delaying their albums to…
At nearly a quarter of a million Twitter followers, ‘80s soft-rock icon Richard Marx’s social following is remarkable to say the least. And he makes good use of it, too. On a typical quarantine day, the “Right Here Waiting” singer has tweeted gifs, memes, and articles that show his extreme displeasure at how Donald Trump…
It took a little longer for Hamilton Leithauser to find his way to The Loves Of Your Life. After the prolific burst the former Walkmen singer enjoyed following the dissolution of his old band in 2013, it’s now been four years since we heard from him. By Leithauser’s own estimation, figuring out what the album…
Kelley Bader delivers the first words of I’m Glad It’s You’s new album looking out from the back of an ambulance, reliving the most painful day of his life. Almost certainly the luckiest day of his life as well. On July 5, 2017, Bader was at the wheel of the band’s van when it rolled…
We’ve Got A File On You features interviews in which artists share the stories behind the extracurricular activities that dot their careers: acting gigs, guest appearances, random internet ephemera, etc.
At the end of the week, Stephen Bruner will release his latest album as Thundercat, It Is What It Is. He’s once again…
All Gareth David wanted to do was find a few friends. And if they were into indie rock, so much the better. He had just enrolled at Cardiff University, and he didn’t know anyone at all. Fortunately, he had just discovered Myspace right before heading out to university.
