Justin Vernon, when he is not writing music for Bon Iver or working with Kanye West at Glastonbury or working on his other endeavors, writes songs for Los Angeles indie-choral ensemble, the Silver Lake Chorus. This summer, the group released their self-titled album, which features songs written by indie-rock pioneers such as Tegan And Sara, Ben Gibbard, Wayne Coyne, and Vernon, whose song now has a music video. “From The Snow Tipped Hills,” in a typical fashion for Bon Iver, is airy and floaty, with Vernon’s songwriting getting enhanced by the group’s vocals. The video is shot with drone technology overlooking a California sunset and the nature of the whole performance is enchanting. Watch here.
Stephen Colbert in 2011 worked with Jack White and The Black Belles for a two-song collaborative single that was released through White’s label, Third Man Records. It seems as though Colbert is finally willing for his follow-up, but this time with a vastly different act, Chance the Rapper.
In an interview with Hot 97 recently (via Pitchfork), Chance announced the exciting news. “Me and Stephen Colbert have been working on a song together, and it’s gonna be released very soon,” he said. “He’s amazing. I can’t get that deep into it, but he’s amazing.”
Listen to Colbert and The Black Belles’ track “Charlene II (I’m Over You).”
It has been nearly five years since the release of Adele’s 21 and now, the pop sensation is finally making her comeback with her latest album. 25 will officially be here on November 20th, but she has released the LP’s lead single, “Hello” today along with the video for it, directed by Xavier Dolan.
Adele has described 25 as a make-up album, which is especially prevalent in “Hello.” The song is allegedly about rekindling with her estranged father. The lyrics are especially emotional, crooning “Hello, it’s me/ I was wondering if after all these years/ You’d like to meet, to go over everything/ They say that time’s supposed to heal ya/ But I ain’t done much healing.”
New York indie pop band, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, have announced their new EP. Named Hell, it will be out on November 13th through their own label, Painbow. They have also released the first track off the EP, a cover of “Laid” by James. Listen to it below and check out the track listing below and cover art above, which was made by Manuel Bujados.
They are also playing dates in London and Asia. Check those out below.
The band’s Kip Berman wrote in a press release:
A couple months ago I posted a demo for the song “Hell” and some people said, “why don’t you record that for real?” So we went over to my friend Danny’s studio (House Under Magic) and recorded the track along with two cover songs – “Ballad of the Band” by Felt and “Laid” by James as a way to mark our forthcoming tour of Japan. The latter has lead vocals by Jen Goma, who sang on our last album and also performs with the excellent pop contortionists, A Sunny Day in Glasgow. The Felt song is really the UR-Felt song, the wry articulation of what Felt is most famous for – not being an eighth as famous as they ought to be.
The song “Hell” is about how insufferable performances of sensitivity are when there’s a good song playing and someone you want to dance with.
Hell:
01 Hell
02 Ballad of The Band (Felt Cover)
03 Laid (James Cover)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart:
11/06 London, England – The Oval *
11/10 Tokyo, Japan – Club Quattro
11/11 Osaka, Japan – Club Quattro
11/28 Hong Kong – Cockenflap Festival
11/29 Singapore – Neon Lights Festival
The day has finally arrived! Today is the day! October 21st, 2015 is the precise day that Marty McFly arrives in Back to the Future II. In a fictionally literal way, the future is now! It is a moment that istodaythedaymartymcflyarriveswhenhetravelstothefuture.com has been waiting for for years, and one that is being celebrated in a huge way.
For the first time ever, the website reads “Yes!,” and it comes with a message from the Doc Brown, Christopher Lloyd. Lloyd and Michael J. Fox have already talked about what the film had right about the future, but now Doc has words for those who might be a bit sad about the lack of some of the technology. The future is yours to write!
Check out the once-in-a-lifetime video below.
The countdown website’s creator, Richard Haderer, is celebrating the day by donation to charity. Haderer’s mother, like Fox, suffers from Parkinson’s disease, so every cent earned by visits to his website today will be donated to The Parkinson’s Foundation Austria. You can donate directly on the site as well.
Lloyd, Fox, and Lea Thompson also went to Today to talk about the legacy of the film. They discussed reading the script for the first time, the onset chemistry, and the predictions of course. Watch the interviews here.
BTTFD is huge news everywhere, and that is including USA Today. As AdWeek pointed out, the newspaper will end the Thursday edition of its print newspaper in a cover directly from the 1989 film. The cover shows the inciting incident that sends Marty and Doc to 2015, as it shows Martin McFly Jr. getting arrested.
As the top half will be recreated directly from the film with headlines such as headlines like “Jaws Without Bite is the review of Jaws 19″ and “Woman Asphyxiates in Self Adjusting Jacket,” with the logo matching the film, and the bottom half never seen on screen. Thus, Universal and writer/director Bob Gale worked with the publication to create new articles, including one that announces the remake of George McFly’s novel A Match Made in Space, and a headline that states “Public more gullible than ever.”
Crystal Castles, Micachu and the Shapes, Alex G, Mr Muthafuckin eXquire, Yuck, Beverly, Downtown Boys, Har Mar Superstar, Guerilla Toss, Hinds, Joan of Arc, Into It. Over It., Jahkoy Prince Rama, and Pure Bathing Culture are among the artists that have been announced. It has also been announced that Talib Kweli will participate on a panel named “What It Means to Start a Label in the Digital Age.” Find the current lineup here.
While on the road in support of their latest record, Why Make Sense?, Hot Chip has been able to incorporate cover songs into its sets, especially Bruce Spingsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” and LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends.” The electronic outfit even performed both with David Byrne at Webster Hall in New York City in August. Hot Chip has now released a studio version of both covers blended into one amazing track.
The track is presented through a video that mixes found ’80s footage of concert clips and adds a frentic energy to the Springsteen classic track thanks to the synthesizers. It gets more and more energetic as it transitions into “All My Friends” at about the 05:00 mark. Listen to it below.
Hot Chip’s version of “Dancing in the Dark” is available through iTunes now, with a four-track EP coming out on October 23rd. As well as the cover, the EP will have an alternative version of “Cry for You,” and remixes of “Huarache Lights” by Soulwax and A/Jus/Ted. The cover will be on the October 24th deluxe edition of Why Make Sense? as well.
The National have been busy with the work on the follow-up to Trouble Will Find Me from 2o13. Last night, fans were given what could be the first taste of their new album, debuting a new song named “Roman Candle” at a benefit concert in Los Angeles. Watch footage of the performance below.
Frontman Matt Berninger announced in August that the band already has sketches for 3o new songs, with plans to meet in the studio while in Los Angeles.
Last night’s benefit concert was in benefit of the nonprofit Cooperative for Education which was co-founded by frontman Matt Berninger’s cousins, Joe and Jeff Berninger. The are hoping their new campaign, Thousand Girls Initiative, will help improve education for girls in Guatemala.
The Melodic Tree 