George Clinton, the legend behind Parliament/Funkadelic has announced his retirement from touring starting May 2019, as Billboard reports. “This has been coming a long time. Anyone who has been to the shows over the past couple of years has noticed that I’ve been out front less and less,” Clinton said in a statement to Billboard. He went on: “Truth be told, it’s never really been about me. It’s always been about the music and the band. That’s the real P-Funk legacy. They’ll still be funkin’ long after I stop.”
Cecilia announces debut LP Adoration
Rome-based Halcyon Veil artist Cecilia, who guested on Rabit’s Le Fleurs du Mal LP last year, but is now releasing her own debut full length, Adoration, on the avant garde label on May 4th.
Adoration’s first track “Gros Animal” is available for streaming (below), and pre-order the record in digital, FLAC (wtf?), WAV, or vinyl formats.
Thundercat shares new song “Final Fight”
Thundercat has released a track called “Final Fight.” Listen below. It is the latest song on Adult Swim’s ongoing Singles Program. “Final Fight” is his first new song since Drunk, the album he released last year.
Artist to Watch: Brian Ishiba
Almost three years later and the Artists to Watch section will be returning on a semi-regular basis and why not start off with pop music being created from a recent Tokyo transplant, Brian Ishiba. Having recently moved to Japan from the suburban life outside of LA, his latest album, which came out in February, is about how he was feeling getting ready to leave the “controlled chaos of urban living and the stress that comes with” to Tokyo.
His music, especially “How Can I Be Sure” (listen below) creates a sense of nostalgia in the listener for what could have been if you never embraced the new and confronted the future. Ishiba said, about his music, “these songs are little episodes in my life over the course of the past six months. They’re about feeling lost and dealing with my fears about the future. They’re about accepting the things in life you can’t change. They’re me whining to myself. They’re about saying goodbye.”
Listen to the full EP below.
Watch Radiohead’s acoustic performance of “True Love Waits”
Thom Yorke performed an acoustic version of “True Love Waits” during their Rio de Janeiro, Brazil show yesterday. Watch it below via CoS. The song is on 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool even though it took a long time for it to be attempted to be recorded, where it only ended up on their 2001 live album I Might Be Wrong. Producer Nigel Godrich released production notes that showed that the song dated back nearly 20 years.
The Melodic Tree’s Weekly Playlist
1. Keep Me Under Your Arms – Modern Vices
2. Tired – Moaning
3. Sunlight – Yuno
4. Mean Maybe – Yellowbirds
5. Niagara Falls – Jaymay
6. Flowers – Palmas
7. Cab Deg – Good Morning
8. Bowlly Goes Dancing Drunk Into the Future – Loving
9. Feelin Blue – Aldous RH
10. Forevertime Journeys – naran ratan
11. Don’t Run Into the Dark So Quickly – Jon Bap
12. Red Clay – Charlotte Dos Santos
13. Dent Jusay – Matt Martians
14. Kittyliter – Swarvy
15. I’m Just Snacking – Gus Dapperton
16. Lover Boy – Phum Viphurit
17. Labelle – Telex Telexs
18. With Me – Plastic Plastic
19. Yuuwahuu – Gym and Swim
20. Lost in Jane – Solitude is Bliss
Listen to Sufjan Stevens perform on “Live From Here”
Sufjan Stevens was the guest on the newest episode of “Live From Here.” He performed “Tonya Harding, ““Heirloom,” and his songs from Call Me By Your Name, “Visions of Gideon” and “Mystery of Love.” He also performed a hymn he said he sung growing up in the United Methodist Church. He said, “I was struck by it as a kid because it’s actually really dark and gloomy.” Listen to the performance, at the 13:00, 53:00, 1:43:30, and 1:54:45 marks.
Mitski collaborates with Xiu Xiu for new song “Between the Breaths”
Mitski and Xiu Xiu have put their forces together for a new song titled “Between the Breaths” for a film soundtrack. Listen to it below. It is from the soundtrack for John Cameron Mitchell’s upcoming sci-fi comedy film How to Talk to Girls at Parties, based on Neil Gaiman’s short story. The film is set to be released in the states on May 18th.
Trust Fall, Soar, Ian Sweet, Frankie Cosmos at Capitol Theater in photos
Watch CupcakKe’s new “Spoiled Milk Titties” video
CupcakKe has released a video for “Spoiled Milk Titties” from her new album Ephorize. The new video shows a spur-of-the-moment romantic excursion while she’s on her way to the hospital. She explains, “You know how you leave a cup out for so long, a cup of milk is going to spoil eventually? I’ve been naked so much I think my titties are, like, spoiled.” Watch it below.
