News

Robin Williams Dead at 63

Celebrated comedian and actor, Robin Williams is dead at the age of 63 unexpectedly on Monday, August 11. According to the Los Angeles Times the Marin County Sheriff’s Department received a 911 call at 11:55 a.m. PT about an unresponsive man found in his Tiburon, California home. There is speculation, that the cause of death is suicide due to him dealing with depression.

A representative for Williams released a statement, reading: “Robin Williams passed away this morning. He has been battling severe depression of late. This is a tragic and sudden loss. The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time.” The Sheriff’s Department, according to Entertainment Weekly, suspect “suicide due to asphyxia.” A formal ruling will be issued following a more thorough investigation.

Williams received multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards in his lifetime as well as an Oscar for his role in Good Will Hunting. He also won six Grammys over the the course of his career, five for Best Comedy Recording, and one for Best Spoken Word Album in 2003.
He also had appeared in the video of Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry, Be Happy in 1988. The two worked together again a decade later in 1998 to a cover the Beatles’ Come Together for In My Life.

Foo Fighters to Release Sonic Highways On November 10

The Foo Fighters have announced on their social medias the name, artwork, and release date for their new album. Sonic Highways is set to release on November 10th. The band has also out a video on their website showing leading man, Dave Grohl getting a tattoo to celebrate their new album. You can also preorder their Sonic Highways on their website. They also have new merchandise featuring the figure eight on their cover album.

The album shares it’s namesake with the HBO show, Sonic Highways, which is set to release in October. The show is directed by Dave Grohl and it documents the band recording their album across the country. The artwork for Sonic Highways features multiple famous landmarks from those cities, including Seattle and New Orleans.

Kings Of Leon Cancels Show After Nathan Followill Is Injured

Kings of Leon posted on their Facebook page that drummer, Nathan Followill, was injured after a pedestrian jumped in front of their tour bus causing them to come to a sudden stop. Sustaining broken ribs during the stop, the band had to consequently cancel their show in Saratoga Springs, New York. Fans are offered refunds for the cancelled show.

After receiving get well messages from fans, Followill tweeted, “Thank you for all of the get well soons. I’m a little banged up but will be back better than ever.”

Nathan’s bandmate and brother Jared Followill tweeted about the incident on Sunday as well, writing: “So sad this a.m.. Bus accident last night. Nathan has broken ribs. This was the most fun tour in a while. We’ll be back ASAP.#GetWellNate.”

The Killers Were Joined Onstage By Danielle Haim

Danielle Haim, the frontwoman of Haim, joined the Killers onstage last night (August 9th) on the drums.

During their set at Outside Lands festival in San Francisco, the Killers were joined by the multi-instrumentalist and singer. Haim played drums for the song “On Top.”

Haim have also promised that their new album will be ready soon, confirming that they wanted to start to record the album this summer. The trio of sisters have been touring almost nonstop since the release of their debut album Days Are Gone in September 2013.

Keyboardist Alana Haim told BBC 6 Music at Glastonbury: “This is the first time we’ve ever written on the road. We’re going home in a month to start recording. I promise record two won’t come in six years, it’ll come very soon.”

Westboro Baptist Church Parodies Fall Out Boy

Westboro Baptist Church, the controversial church group that pickets events, recorded a parody of “Thnks fr th Mmrs” by Fall Out Boy entitled ‘Thnk Gd Fr Vrythng’.

Westboro Baptist Church have set their attention towards from picketing soliders’ funerals and their families to protesting and parodying bands such as Panic! At The Disco and most recently, Fall Out Boy. This time, the Church turned their protest into a parody song.

Panic! At The Disco, when the church picketed their show in Kansas City earlier this year, and donated $20 to the charity, Pride 2014, for every member of the Church. The band eventually donating $1000.

The Church’s next protest will be Fall Out Boy’s show in Kansas City tonight, August 9. ‘Thnk Gd Fr Vrythng’ parodies the original, “Thnks fr th Mmrs” lyrics to show the Church’s beliefs.

Foo Fighters Share First 8 Seconds of Album

The Foo Fighters have released the first 8 seconds of a song, the first hint towards their new album due out in November. Throughout the last few weeks, the Foo Fighters have been releasing a series of hints, revolving around the number eight.

Fans have also assembled an image that could be either the album cover or a promotional image for Sonic Highways. On their social medias, the Foo Fighters have been posting geographical coordinates pointing to cities they have recorded in for their new album. The images include landmarks in the cities including Chicago, Seattle, New York City, Washington D.C., Hollywood, Austin, Nashville, and New Orleans.

The album is due in November and is accompanied by an HBO mini series, Sonic Highways, which documents the recording process of the album.

Adam Duritz from Counting Crows is On Tinder

Tinder, the game-like dating app where you flip through pictures of people around you, has a new member as Adam Duritz joins the app. Based on his profile, he shows that he is a funny, 50 year-old who has a smile that is approachable.

If you don’t have Duritz around you, there are still musicians out there, and there is a blog dedicated to just that.

St. Vincent Serving as Bandleader on Late Night with Seth Meyers

Next week, on Monday August 11th and Tuesday August 12th, Annie Clark, St. Vincent, will be leading the house band for late night, the 8G Band. She will be the replacing Fred Armisen those two days as he films the highly-anticipated fifth season of Portlandia.

Even though the 8G band has had a variety of guest musicians joining the band, the band was only ever lead by Armisen. However, knowing how St. Vincent has been able to impress crowds, including a sometimes judgmental Saturday Night Live crowd.

Earlier this year, St. Vincent took a short performance as the front woman of Nirvana during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction.

Jack White’s Lazaretto is Best-Selling Album of the Year

Jack White, a true enthusiast of everything related to vinyl, broke sales records with his sophomore solo album Lazaretto. The album at number 27 on the charts and the album has sold over 60,000 copies of its vinyl. Therefore making it the best-selling vinyl LP of 2014 and the best-selling of all time since Vitalogy by Pearl Jam. The Arctic Monkeys’ AM, sold 29,000 is the second best-selling vinyl copy, but that is a mere second to Jack White.

Modern Sky Festival Coming to U.S.

The Modern Sky Festival is expanding to the United States in October after being successful in China. The first festival is set for October 4th and 5th at Rumsey Playfield, Central Park in New York City. The lineup features Cat Power, The Blood Brothers, Liars, Stars, The Both (Aimee Mann and Ted Leo), a tribute to Nigerian funk musician, William Onyeabor. There are also various Chinese bands performing such as Zhang Xuan, Re-TROS, Queen Sea Big Shark, and Second Hand Rose.

Festival passes, which include two-day, one-day, and VIP, are avaliable at the festival’s website.