Killer Mike turned to Instagram to share an impassioned response to Mike Pence’s announcement that he left a Indianapolis Colts game when he saw that the players knelt during the national anthem. “I wonder how he feels about the constitution,” Mike opens. “Free speech is what protects this and any protest. The constitution that guards against Tyranny like the state abusing and denying citizens full rights.” The statement is finished, “God speed on our next election. I hope we send his religious nut ass back home to relish in his false understanding of what this country is and we never see him on a national stage again.” Read his full statement below.
The Melodic Tree’s Weekly Playlist
1. Teenage Blue – Dream Girl
2. Revelations – Dirt Dress
3. Washington Moon – Globelamp
4. In Us – Lexi
5. Mr. Wndow – Dada Plan
6. Wolfcat – Still Woozy
7. Hanging Up on U – Shampoo
8. Shimmy – Midnight Sister
9. Happy Birthday – Emily Reo
10. Eleven Weeks – Vansire
11. Find Your Saint – Pinkshinyultrablast
12. The Fire – Mourn
13. Sensuela – Column
14. Static Buzz – Snail Mail
15. Southbound Station – Omni
16. Combine – John Maus
17. Steps – Daag
18. Lay It On Me Straight – Dr Danny
19. Think About Me – The Blow
20. Guts – Tall Friend
Stream Pleasure Systems’ new album Antumbra Pull
Clarke Sondermann,’s, from the Washboard Abs, released a new album named Antumbra Pull yesterday via Antiquated Future. It is his first full-length album released under the name and it can be rlistened to below.
Listen to the Killers talk about “Rut” on “Song Exploder”
Brandon Flowers and Ronnie Vannucci from the Killers are the guests on the latest “Song Exploder,” the podcast dedicated to having musicians dissect their music and creative process. During this episode, they talk about the song “Rut” from the band’s newest album Wonderful Wonderful. They talk about how Flowers’ wife’s childhood trauma influenced the songwriting, and trying to figure out the rhythms for the song. Listen to the full episode here.
Real Estate share new song to benefit ACLU
Real Estate announced earlier this year and that they partnered with Los Angeles vegan footwear company Keep to design a new shoe. Every pair comes with a cassette that features an unreleased song and demos for “Two Arrows” and “Two Part.” Listen to the cassette’s first track, “In Time” here. The net proceeds from the the Keep x Real Estate Ramos shoe will go towards the American Civil Liberties Union.
Listen to the Roots’ “Schoolhouse Rock”-style song about slavery
During the season premiere of “Black-ish” on ABC last night m, an illustrated version of the Roots sang a “Schoolhouse Rock”-esque educational song about slavery. It opens with Black Thought singing, “I am a slave/Yes, I’m only a slave/They’ll place my body in an unmarked grave.” Watch the animated video here. The Roots also released the song “It Ain’t Fair,” in July, from the soundtrack to Detroit, Kathryn Bigelow’s film about the 12th Street riot in 1967.
Watch Cap’n Jazz and Hop Along cover Sonic Youth’s “100%”
Cap’n Jazz reunited this summer to play FYF and Riot Fest. The stayed together for a little bit longer to perform with Hop Along. The two bands covered Sonic Youth’s “100%” together for A.V. Club’s “Undercover” series. Watch it here, and go here for an interview with Tim Kinsella about the song. “100%” was on Sonic Youth’s 1992 album Dirty originally. Their FYF set was their first show together since 2010.
Watch the trailer for Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ new documentary
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have released a trailer for their upcoming tour documentary. Directed by Patrick Daughters, There Is No Modern Romance follows the band on the road during their shows in the UK in 2003 behind their album Fever to Tell. It will be bundled with their upcoming reissue of Fever to Tell on October 20th via Interscope/UMe. Watch a trailer for the doc here.
The Melodic Tree’s Weekly Playlist
1. Plastic – Moses Sumney
2. Cranes in the Sky – Solange
3. Something For Your M.I.N.D. – Superorganism
4. Keep Pushing On – John Maus
5. Why Didn’t I? – Palberta
6. I’m a Kid – Jadu Heart
7. Deathless – Ibeyi
8. Wednesday Night Atonement – Curtis Harding
9. Close But Not Quite – Everything is Recorded
10. Cupid – The Big Moon
11. Feel it Out – yaeji
12. Pillow Palace – Cherusii
13. No worries – Suzanne Kraft
14.Nakhodka – Khotin
15. Depths (Pt.1) – Yumi Zouma
16. Faithless – Heavenly Beat
17. Close Your Eyes – Tape Wave
18. Essence – Jade TV
19. Value – Hideous Towns
20. Get High – Tender Age
Watch The Tallest Man On Earth cover Nick Drake
Tallest Man On Earth, aka Swedish folk singer Kristian Matsson, has been working on a video series the last few months called “The Light In Demos.” He shares a little life update in every episode before performing live, and on the most recent installment, he performs a song by Nick Drake. Watch Matsson’s cover of Drake’s “Bird Flew By” here.
The Melodic Tree 