Maurice White, founder and leader of funk act Earth, Wind & Fire, has died. TMZ has reported that he passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. He was 74 years old. White’s brother and bandmate Verdine has released the statement through Facebook in response to his passing:
My brother, hero and best friend Maurice White passed away peacefully last night in his sleep. While the world has lost another great musician and legend, our family asks that our privacy is respected as we start what will be a very difficult and life changing transition in our lives. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.
In almost a month, M. Ward will come back with More Rain, his first solo album in four years. To promote the follow-up to Wasteland Companion, the singer-songwriter performed on Late Show last night with a smooth rendition of “Confession.” He also performed “Girl From Conejo Valley” as an online bonus.
Watch both videos below.
More Rain will arrive March 4th via Merge. It features collaborations with Peter Buck of R.E.M., Neko Case, k.d. lang, The Secret Sisters, and Joey Spampinato of NRBQ.
Disclosure, in support of last year’s Caracal, have announced a North American tour. It will start in April and will continue through June. Check out the full itinerary below.
Disclosure:
04-06 Monterrey, Mexico – Auditorio Banamex
04-08 Guadalajara, Mexico – Auditorio Telmex
04-09 Mexico City, Mexico – Ceremonia Festival
04-16 Indio, CA – Coachella
04-23 Indio, CA – Coachella
05-10 Houston, TX – Revention Music Center
05-12 Dallas, TX – The Bomb Factory
05-13 Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion
05-14 Kansas City, MO – Crossroads
05-17 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
05-18 Magna, UT – The Great Saltair
05-20 San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
05-25 Eugene, OR – Cuthbert Amphitheater
05-27-30 George, WA – Sasquatch! Music Festival
05-27-29 Boston, MA – Boston Calling Festival
06-16-19 Dover, DE – Firefly Music Festival
Seven months to the date after the release of Wildheart, Miguel hosted a “Wildheart Motel” party in Los Angeles last night featuring various performances going on at the same time in different rooms. As Pitchfork points out, one of the performances occurred with Miguel covering “My Girl” by the Temptations as a duet with Rihanna, who also sang Mary J. Blige’s “Not Gon’ Cry.” You can watch the extended Periscope footage here.
DIIV’s latest album Is the IsAre, will arrive next Friday throughCaptured Tracks. A week before the drop of the album, the band decided to make it available for streaming. Listen below via the Guardian.
Is the Is Are features ithe previously-shared title track, “Dopamine,” “Bent (Roi’s Song),” “Mire (Grant’s Song),” and “Under the Sun.”
MusicNOW is a music festival that is collaboration-focused held every year in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded by the National’s Bryce Dessner. It hold its 11th year March 18-20. The lineup has been announced today.
MusicNOW has shared a highlight from the festival’s history to accompany the announcement. Watch professionally-shot video of a 2010 performance of Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Bryce and Aaron Dessner, Colin Stetson, and yMusic covering Sharon Van Etten’s “Love More” below. Fan footage has been around previously, and audio of the cover was on a MusicNOW compilation last year.
This year’s MusicNOW will show the world premiere of Bryce Dessner’s full orchestra version of his Aheym, and the U.S. premiere of his piece Réponse Lutoslawski,both being performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. The lineup will include Kronos Quartet, Punch Brothers, Sam Amidon, Julia Wolfe, Luluc, and more. You can check out the full details here.
The Iowa Caucus is only a few days away and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is bringing in some notable musicians fo a last minute push. Vampire Weekend, Killer Mike, and Foster the People are all set to perform at a rally that is held by Sanders at theUniversity of Iowa Field House this Saturday.
The performance will mark Vampire Weekend’s beginning as a three-piece after the departure of Rostam Batmanglij and their first live performance since August 2014.
According to Ezra Koenig, frontman of Vampire Weekend, the lineup for Saturday will Koenig, drummer Chris Thompson, Dirty Projectors’ Dave Longstreth, and the University of Iowa Hawkapellas a capella group. He also said that the want to perform a separate show other than the main event.
For Killer Mike, the rally is just the newest in his various public appearances he has made for Sanders. The Run the Jewels MC has been a sort of de facto campaign spokesman. He has interviewed Sanders at his barbershop, introduced him at a rally in Atlanta, and spoke to the media after a Democratic debate.
The rally 2ill begin at 6:30 p.m. local time and is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.
On February 5th, Red Hot Chili Peppers will perform at a Bernie Sanders fundraiser at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. Click here for more info.
UK alternative rock band, Yuck are set to come back with their upcoming album, Stranger Things, on February 26th through Mamé Records. After releasing tracks from the album “Hearts in Motion” and“Hold Me Closer,” the band went off the record and released a cover of Fugazi’s 2001 song “Cashout”.
On Fugazi’s 2001 LP The Argument, the song is calmer than the distorted rock sound from Yuck but singer/guitarist still saw the connection.“The whole record is fantastic,” Bloom said about “Cashout” in a statement. “The whole record is fantastic, but this song in particular stands out for me mainly because of its lyrics and how relevant it still feels more than a decade on. I’m not sure exactly what inspired Fugazi to make this song, but I imagine I share the same anger and frustration as they do.”
Check out the cover below.
Pre-orders for Stranger Things are avaliable now via PledgeMusic. The band will be on the road supporting the record in North America this spring.
Yuck 2016 Tour Dates: 02/26 – London, UK @ Moth Club 02/27 – London, UK @ Moth Club
03/11 – Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover
03/12 – Atlanta, GA @ Aisle 5
03/13 – Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish moon
03/14-18 – Austin, TX @ South by Southwest
03/19 – Dallas, TX @ Spillover Festival
03/21 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
03/23 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
03/24 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
03/25 – Visalia, CA @ Cellar Door
03/26 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
03/28 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
03/29 – Vancouver, BC @ Fortune Sound Club
03/30 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
03/31 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
04/02 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
04/04 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry
04/05 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
04/06 – Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
04/07 – Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch
04/08 – Cleveland, OH @ The Spot
04/09 – Toronto, ON @ Silver Dollar Room
04/10 – Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt
04/11 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
04/12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
04/14 – New Haven, CT @ The Space
04/15 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
04/16 – Winston, Salem, NC @ Phuzz Phest
05/12 – Norwich, UK @ Arts Centre
05/13 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Petes
05/14 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast
05/15 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
05/16 – Guilford, UK @ The Boileroom
05/17 – Birmingham, UK @ Oobleck
05/18 – Brighton, UK @ Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar
05/19 – Bristol, UK @ Exchange
05/20 – Nottingham, UK @ Bodega
05/21 – Leed, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
05/22 – Bedford, UK @ Esquires
The Melodic Tree 