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Not listening to this, but some great, varied, and interesting hip hop music came out today that Stereogum could post about: Spillage Village - Spilligion: collab album with EarthGang, JID, and various other Dreamville-associated artists Elzhi - Seven Times Down Eight Times Up: super gifted MC from Detroit who can bar you to death Action Bronson - Only For Dolphins: slick puns and shit talk over basically yacht rock. His best project in a while. There’s a new Public Enemy album, a project by Mozzy (LA dude featured on the Black Panther soundtrack), a new project by ASAP Ferg, a deluxe edition of Wayne’s Tha Carta V, a posthumous Lil Peep compilation, and a surprise release from Joji. That’s like 5 hours of music you could get into (not counting singles) before even thinking about this gossip tape.

Agreed. That's one of the best rock songs of the millennium.

Outer Peace is really, really, really good and it saddens me that more people don't acknowledge that.

I admire his stance on asking folks to call his music “Country” despite what’s popularly thought of it or present on country radio. His type of raw, folk-inspired songwriting (as well as traditional fiddle music instrumentals) has the same claim to the legacy of country music as the spectrum of Keith Urban, Florida Georgia Line, Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert, Jon Pardi, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, and all the rest. Good for him.

So Covid is Antifa?

Just be happy they finally decided not to post about Kanye's latest mental breakdown.

It’s especially challenging to argue against the current financial model when you look at this recent report that 1% of artists generate 90% of all streams. https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2020/09/10/music-streams-data/

Making this a separate post so it can be downvoted appropriately.. These trends put a lot of weight behind the arguments of folks like Daniel Ek, who focus on the idea that they're already single-handedly keeping the entire industry afloat. It's great that we music fans want streaming services to pay artists more, but from their perspective they're "doing their job". We should spend more time raising hell about **how the money is distributed** to try and raise the boats of smaller artists. Switch to a user-centric model that rewards artists with a lot of fans rather than pushing for all artists to get paid more per stream. Deezer is doing it: https://www.deezer.com/ucps

If we're focused on the physical story, the actual deal is that the existing CD market has massively cratered during COVID, not that vinyl is soaring. The actual circumstances is that both are a ridiculously small fraction of the total recorded music revenue. Based on the provided numbers: - Streaming subscriptions account for over 80% of ALL recorded music revenue - Ad-supported streams account for ~7% - Digital sales account for ~6% - Vinyl accounts for ~4% - CDs account for ~2% It's pretty wild to think about, and underneath it is the reality that most of the indie artists that get the most coverage are in that 6-7% of physical sales revenue.

Agreed that the production's a little too slick for my taste, but the songwriting on Western Stars was excellent. First single "Hello Sunshine" was one of my most-played songs of last year.

Beautiful, beautiful song. For the folks who haven't been paying attention to their extremely sparse release schedule: "Nothing's Gonna Happen (Demo)" from last year sounds like the frozen scene from the cover of If I Was has started to melt, and "Home Alone, Too" from 2018 is one of the best Christmas songs of the last decade.

To add to the above: If you want more singer-songwritery go Tunnel of Love (personal favorite). If you want more jammy go E-Street Shuffle. If you want more stark and desolate go Nebraska.

I'm laughing like a fool listening to this. Can we save Stereogum again in like a year?

This was nice. Flips the tone and loses the subtlety, but honestly one of the better Billie covers I've heard. Miley will probably release a solid, competent covers album at some point in her 40s and it'll end up being the album of hers that I listen to most.

This song has a great end-of-summer feel and I am very excited for this record.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

I guess what I was trying to say is that it's a bit easier to hear the comparison point when it's sung in that way. No offense meant to Katy Perry if anyone read it that way. I love this album!

I will also ride to the death for the closing track "Not Like The Movies", which is a really fragile moment to close out this album of overblown pop bombast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ewTkrfaWtA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ewTkrfaWtA

Please forgive the "indie/rock white male plays a pop song more serious" trope because the original version is top-10-song-of-the-decade incredible (and way better than this cover). BUT I've always found it interesting how a rock arrangement immediately reveals its lyrics as the more wondrous, flip side of a Springsteen song. On this specific song, Katy and her collaborators tapped into a sense of pure Americana lyricism that feels timeless. It's a hard line to straddle without falling into parody (as Lana Del Rey did from time to time during this era), but they nailed it on "Teenage Dream". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ughGgGOWxLg

Yeah “And We Danced” has a Tom-Petty-meets-Bon-Jovi energy that should’ve been obvious radio fare.

You should absolutely arrest someone who (allegedly) shoots someone from walking away from an argument, regardless of the color of their skin.

To be fair, no one is.

I think she just didn't want to seem opportunistic when the single came out.

Everyone draws their own line. Personally, there are quite a few folks whose music I haven't been able to listen to since their allegations came to light. The songs just don't sound the same.

Man this song wrings me out. Every track released so far has been incredible, Aug 28 can't come fast enough.

Song of the week for sure.

Oh come on. Your (and others') dismissal of "cancel culture" is rooted in the idea that it is a performative way for folk to publicly shame others as a way to feel better about themselves. This guy's been accused by three women of sexual assault. Maybe there is a line somewhere that we can argue over, but conflating them in this situation is fucking stupid.

Um... not sexual assault? Those are not the same.

I’ll add a couple of 2020 projects from my list that I haven’t seen. I’m very into songwriters with strong, personal lyrics. Katie Pruitt - Expectations: LGBTQ country/folk songwriter with a stunning voice and really warm instrumentation. Great arc, remarkably uplifting music that feels like a way to fight against all the shit going on this year. Nation of Language - Introduction, Presence: Brooklyn 80s new wave that sounds like its fronted by Matt Berninger at times. Hooks are absurdly song, even though it’s their debut I’ve been calling it a lost greatest hits record. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher: Elliott Smith-indebted sad music from someone who’s going to be a legend. She’s got about three song of the contenders on this absurdly well-written sophomore album. Ken Yates - Quiet Talkers: Anthemic songwriting stripped to the bone in service of a dustier sound. One of the better B sides of the year for late night #mood listening. Work on a puzzle to this. Christian Lee Hutson - Beginners: Equal parts funny and sad, a threadbare debut collection of personal stories that feels like it could become a cult classic depending on where his career goes. Swamp Dogg - Sorry You Couldn’t Make It: Soul-inflected R&B with plenty of soft horns and Justin Vernon on guitar, perfect for a weekend morning. At least until John Prine duets on two songs about death and your heart fucking breaks. Destroyer - Have We Met: Droll, witty poetry that floats on top of razorbuzzed synth textures but somehow it’s also pop songs? All hail the modern lounge lizard. Westerman - Your Hero Is Not Dead: Soft patches of grass to get lost in, with one of the more obliquely empathetic songwriters I’ve ever heard. Peter Gabriel would be really into his vocal tone and melodies.

Surprise Staves album as we head into a winter quarantine would be the only nice thing about winter quarantine.

Same here. Can't justify spending over $100 when I just want the remaster.

Shocked she's not calling this the deluxe version to game the charts.

Are you fucking serious? 150,000 are dead already.

Anyone else hear Channel Tres at the end?

The thing is, he’s not wrong: if you’re trying to sustain a career using JUST STREAMING REVENUE, you need to release constant product to generate revenue. But that’s just a completely asinine idea because most artists would never in a lifetime be able to make music that way.

Pop music can be anything. Billie Eilish is one of the biggest new stars in the world and she put out basically a Frank Sinatra song with Soulquarains drum break in it today. Taylor Swift just had her highest ever streaming week with a collection of singer songwriter tales that wouldn’t have been out of place in the 70s. Yeah, some people are playing with form to create shorter, catchier, more idiosyncratic music. That’s fine. Stop being boring and old.

Channeling the Soulquarians was not what I expected from the new Billie Eilish song but I am very glad to hear it. Love what she’s choosing to do artistically with the attention she has earned.

I jog with a mask every day. Honestly y'all, it really ain't that hard. Slow down a little if breathing is more difficult, you're still getting a good workout.

Much like the song itself, the second half of this video is when it really kicks into gear. Lots of beautiful imagery, and whether the socially distant stadium is a commentary on modern times or not it punched me in the gut. I was a bit disappointed by the lo-fi quarantine videos for "Garden Song" and "Kyoto", but if those choices led to having promo budget left for this one, they were totally worth it. Also, Phoebe should be in a horror movie.

No "Too Shy" is a criminal oversight.