Tag: Marshmello

NEWS ROUNDUP: International Women’s Day, Leaving Neverland, and MORE

Maggie Rogers, Mavis Staples, Phoebe Bridgers and Brandi Carlile meet at Newport Music Fest. Photo by Danny Clinch. The artists shared this photo along with messages of empowerment for International Women’s Day via Twitter.

It’s International Women’s Day!

Though some form of International Women’s Day has been around since 1909, the holiday celebrating women around the world has really gained traction over the last decade. This year’s theme was #BalanceForBetter, seeking to promote a more gender balanced world. Here’s how our favorite ladies in the music world celebrated.

  • Cardi B made a playlist on Apple Music for the occasion, featuring visionary women (including Grace Jones, Madonna, Tina Turner, and Solange).
  • Sharon Van Etten and Courtney Barnett both appeared as a guest curators for Amazon’s music streaming platform.
  • Ariana Grande tweeted a short video by director Hanna Lux Davis, reminding everyone a few tweets later “it ain’t feminism if it ain’t intersectional.”

  • Rihanna looked powerful in a black blazer.

  • Miley Cyrus shouted out some of her favorite bad ass bitches:

  • … while Lady Gaga paid tribute to her mama.

  • Maggie Rogers and Mavis Staples both reminisced via this photo with Phoebe Bridgers and Brandi Carlile.

  • Dua Lipa had some tea for those who fall short of protecting human rights.

  • And Micropixie released a video for Como Mínimo (#YesIsTheMinimum), from her upcoming LP Dark Sight of the Moon, out April 9.

The Fallout of Leaving Neverland

The explosive HBO Documentary about Michael Jackson’s alleged child abuse, Leaving Neverland, aired last weekend, and unsurprisingly, folks are divided on its message. Though the allegations are nothing new (Jackson settled a child abuse case out of court in 1994, and was acquitted in a similar case with a different victim in 2005) the harrowing testimonies of two men who say they were abused by Jackson when they were 7 and 10 are hard to dismiss. Radio stations have pulled Jackson’s enduring pop hits,  The Simpsons producers have pulled iconic episode “Stark Raving Dad” from the syndication due to Jackson’s guest voice over, and a Chicago run of biographical jukebox musical “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” was cancelled, though its team said this occurred due to scheduling difficulties and that they’ve set their sights on Broadway in 2020. Jackson’s daughter, Paris, seemed unfazed in a series of tweets in which she told folks to “chillax” – implying that even if Jackson’s legacy took a huge hit, his $500 million estate would ultimately be unaffected by the doc (though they’d previously filed a lawsuit to block it from airing). Meanwhile, debate continues to rage regarding blame placed on the victims’ parents, the degree to which Joe Jackson’s horrific behavior absolves his son’s various issues (including the alleged child abuse) and, of course, the idea that Jackson himself is an innocent victim of a slanderous campaign. One thing is certain: Jackson’s story is ultimately one of the saddest in pop music history, taking into account his tarnished childhood, various tabloid scandals, untimely death due to physician-sanctioned drug abuse – and it’s only compounded by the suffering of his alleged victims.

That New New

Solange has blessed the world with the (semi) surprise release of When I Get Home, her follow-up to 2016’s show-stopping A Seat at the Table.

Cementing their legacy as Jersey’s favorite pop punks, The Bouncing Souls released the second single from their forthcoming 30th anniversary EP Crucial Moments, out March 15. Their massive tour kicks off the next day at Jersey City’s White Eagle Hall.

Vampire Weekend have shared two new tracks from their upcoming Father of the Bride LP, out in May

Mac DeMarco announced his next record Here Comes the Cowboy with a single called “Nobody,” giving Mitski fans a little déjà vu; both artists (and their shared PR team) say it’s just a coincidence.

Bedouine is back with a one-off single that reflects on the aftermath of her gorgeous 2017 self-titled debut.

SOAK has released another lovely singled from April 26 release Grim Town., announcing some US tour dates (including two at SXSW) to go with it.

Alan Vega’s final recordings have been released to benefit the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation, which provides teaching materials to educators seeking to engage students by teaching pop music history. The Suicide co-founder passed away in 2016.

Everyone loves a corgi – and that includes illuminati hotties, who are very honest about the fact that sometimes doggos are are the only thing keeping us in a mediocre relationship. They’ll be in Austin next week for SXSW.

Stef Chura has announced her sophomore record Midnight with its lead single “Method Man.”

Blushh shared a one-off single to get folks pumped for their upcoming SXSW dates as well.

Toronto punks Greys have announced third LP Age Hasn’t Spoiled You, out May 10, sharing its first single “These Things Happen.”

Rick from Pile remains the biggest babe in all of DIY indie rock; this week the band released their latest single and announced forthcoming LP Green and Gray, out May 3.

In other DIY news, Patio ready themselves for the April 5 release of Essentials with their latest track, “New Reality.”

NOTS have seemingly recovered from their recent lineup changes and shared the first single from their upcoming LP 3, out May 10. Two of its members are also releasing an LP this year as Hash Redactor.

The National have announced a new collaborative project with director Mike Mills entitled I Am Easy To Find. It’s essentially an hour-long companion album to a 24-minute short film of the same name starring Alicia Vikander. The first track on the album, “You Had Your Soul With You,” has some guest stars as well – Sharon Van Etten, Kate Stables of This Is the Kit, The Brooklyn Youth Choir, and longtime David Bowie bandmate Gail Ann Dorsey lend vocals. The band have announced a bunch of tour dates with Courtney Barnett and Alvvays supporting.

Local Natives released two videos this week, one of which stars Kate Mara. Both will appear on the April 26 release of Violet Street, a follow-up to 2016’s Sunlit Youth; they’ve previously announced a slew of tour dates.

Sky Blue, a posthumous collection of unreleased material from celebrated singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, arrived March 7 to commemorate what would’ve been his 75th birthday.

Kishi Bashi returns with new LP Omoiyari on May 31, and has released the album’s first single, “Summer of ’42”.

Charly Bliss have shared a video for “Chatroom,” the second single from their upcoming record Young Enough, out May 10.

CupcakKe keeps it topical with a new single entitled “Bird Box,” referencing the recent Netflix horror movie and the Jussie Smollett controversy alike.

Having penned Grammy-nominated hits for Ariana Grande and Janelle Monae, Tayla Parx is poised to break out on her own with a highly anticipated solo debut on Atlantic Records, We Need to Talk, out April 5. Her latest video for “I Want You” follows earlier singles “Slow Dancing” and “Me vs. Us.”

Christian Fennesz, who records electronic music under his last name, returns to basics with a new 12-minute track called “In My Room,” from forthcoming 4-song LP Agora, out March 29.

Ahead of the April 12 release of No Geography, The Chemical Brothers share a video for “We’ve Got To Try.”

Festival faves Marshmello and CHVRCHES have collaborated on a sugary new single titled “Here With Me.”

Dido’s first record since 2013, Still on My Mind, is out today; her first tour in fifteen years hits the US in June.

End Notes

  • The Prodigy singer Keith Flint was found dead of apparent suicide at the age of 49.
  • I would unironically love to attend one of these West Coast Man Man shows featuring “Friday” singer Rebecca Black.
  • Gayle King interviewed R. Kelly for CBS regarding the sexual abuse allegations against him, prompting an explosive on-camera outburst from the singer that has been widely discussed. We’re so tired.
  • Swedish black metal band Watain have been banned from performing in Singapore due to their “history of denigrating religions and promoting violence.”
  • NYC concert-goers spontaneously burst into song on the ACE platform following a sold-out Robyn show at MSG.
  • Speaking of Robyn, she’s been announced as one of the headliners for Pitchfork Music Festival, which takes place in Chicago from July 19-21. HAIM and the Isley Brothers top Friday and Saturday’s bills respectively, with Stereolab, Mavis Staples, Belle & Sebastian, Earl Sweatshirt, Pusha T, Tirzah, Kurt Vile, Low, Julia Holter, Rico Nasty, Neneh Cherry, Snail Mail, Khruangbin, Soccer Mommy, Amber Mark, CHAI, and more set to play as well.
  • While we’re on the subject of festivals, Variety has leaked a potential lineup for Woodstock 50 and it’s not exactly overflowing with “heritage” acts; Jay-Z, Chance the Rapper, and Black Keys look like likely headliners.
  • Elton John tweeted an definite release date in October 2019 for his upcoming memoir.
  • Massive Attack have rescheduled some of the North American Mezzanine reunion tour dates due to illness.
  • You can buy the hospital gown that Kurt Cobain wore during a legendary 1992 Reading Festival Nirvana performance for a mere $50,000.
  • L7’s Donita Sparks emerged as a hero when, in true punk fashion, Marky Ramone and Johnny Rotten nearly came to blows at a panel discussion on upcoming John Varvatos and Iggy Pop-produced Epix docu-series Punk.
  • Morrissey is taking his upcoming covers record California Sun to Broadway.
  • Taylor Swift stalker Roger Alvarado was arrested for breaking into the pop star’s home again, fresh off of a stint in jail for the same charge (bringing his Swift-related arrest total to three).
  • Arcade Fire will reportedly cover “Baby Mine” in Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo remake, and it’s a real family affair.
  • Mark your sundials – Red Hot Chili Peppers will stream a live concert from the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt on March 15.

REVIEW: Ultra Miami Was An Exercise in Letting Expectations Go

Music festivals are disappointing. There, I said it.

Every few weeks or so, somewhere in the world, people spend a ton of money on plane tickets, festival tickets, and hotel rooms, then spend a ton of mental energy figuring out what to pack and what to wear for some festival that will probably disappoint them.

My recent trip to Ultra Miami epitomized this experience.

As usual, I lost a ton of sleep with the planning. I spent half an hour on the phone with my life coach discussing whether to go (I’m admittedly neurotic). I looked up hotels after I booked one just to reassure myself I got the best deal possible (I didn’t). I checked ticket resale sites every day as I anxiously waited for my press credentials to not be approved.

Then, the ticket I paid double the price on didn’t arrive when it was supposed to. I spent three mornings in a row on the phone with the company, eventually pulling the journalist card and threatening to ruin their reputation if they didn’t come through (hey, it worked). Exhausted the night before the festival, I slept through the Above & Beyond concert I’d gotten tickets for. Then, the friend who’d convinced me to come to Miami got out-of-his-mind high and disappeared, and the only other person there I knew didn’t have time to see me. The interviews I’d planned to do fell through. Almost nothing I went there for actually happened.

The festival itself didn’t live up to the hype. The grounds were small and the stages were basic — nowhere close to the gorgeous artwork of EDC or Tomorrowland. Even Armin van Buuren, who consistently kills it, fell flat. My friends and I agreed he lacked a certain energy.

Still, it had its magical moments. The highlight was Marshmello, who brought up Will Smith for “Welcome to Miami.” After him, The Chainsmokers also put on an entertaining show, and Jauz gave a high-energy performance as always with a set that incorporated the intro to Martin Garrix’s animals and Internet Friends’ “You Blocked Me on Facebook.”

When most people come to music festivals, they’re set on which artists they need to see, which friends they need to meet up with, and what parties they need to go to. The irony is, you can’t control your way toward losing control. Sticking to an agenda completely defeats the purpose of a festival: to let go of stress and have fun. Ultimately, many people leave festivals just feeling more stressed out.

I refused to leave Ultra this way. So, at around 7 p.m. on the last night, when my body was telling me it could not continue even though I was dying to see Above & Beyond at 9:30, I called a Lyft, headed back to my hotel, ate some tacos, and played Above and Beyond from my computer. And it was fucking fantastic. Above & Beyond may be what I came there for, but what you come somewhere for is not always what you stay for. Our desires change, and isn’t the whole point of a music festival to live in the moment?

“When I say ‘life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you,’ I don’t really know if that’s true,” Jim Carey once said in a commencement speech at Maharishi University. “I’m making a conscious choice to see challenges as something beneficial so that I can deal with them in the most productive way.”

That’s exactly how we have to act when things don’t go our way: entertain the possibility that they did go our way; we just didn’t realize it. I didn’t get what I came to Miami for, but I did gain some valuable self-discovery. Perhaps that’s the best we can hope for, no matter where our journey leads.

AF 2017 IN REVIEW: Our Favorite Albums and Singles of the Year

While there’s been many a jaded thinkpiece about the import of music critics (usually begging the question What are they good for?) and the ubiquity of year-end lists can feel shallow at times, we can’t stress enough the importance of what it means to share music among friends. It’s a huge part of developing our tastes early in life – everyone has that one super cool bestie who introduced you to your favorite band in middle school – and as we get older, if music remains a source of passion in our lives, it becomes something we bond over as new relationships form.

Here at Audiofemme, we think of our readers as friends, so we made a list too. It’s not definitive, it’s not authoritative, and it’s (hopefully) not pretentious – just a round-up of the albums and singles that soundtracked the year for our regular writers (and, of course, your editors). We hope it will result in discovery as one year becomes the next; perhaps that album you missed back in February will get you through this winter, here and now. Music exists on a continuum, and even though the releases were highlighting now all came out within a particular calendar year, we don’t have to put them aside as we turn the page. Stay tuned for more features over the next week recapping 2017, and in the meantime, take a listen to some of our most beloved tunes.

EDITOR LISTS

  • Annie White (Executive Director)

    Top 10 Albums:
    1) Zola Jesus – Okovi
    2) the xx – I See You
    3) Jlin – Black Oragami
    4) King Krule – The OOZ
    5) Perfume Genius – No Shape
    6) Kelela – Take Me Apart
    7) Julien Baker – Turn Out The Lights
    8) Slowdive – Slowdive
    9) SZA – Ctrl
    10) Priests – Nothing Feels Natural
    Top 5 Singles:
    1) Aimee Mann – “Goose Snow Cone”
    2) Rostam – “Don’t Let It Get To You”
    3) Lorde – “The Louvre”
    4) Cardi B – “Bodak Yellow”
    5) Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Deadly Valentine”

  • Lindsey Rhoades (Editor-in-Chief)

    Top 10 Albums:
    1) Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me
    2) The War on Drugs – A Deeper Understanding
    3) Slowdive – Slowdive
    4) Sophia Kennedy – Sophia Kennedy
    5) SZA – Ctrl
    6) Circuit des Yeux – Reaching for Indigo
    7) Kelly Lee Owens – Kelly Lee Owens
    8) Big Thief – Capacity
    9) Havah – Contravveleno
    10) sir Was – Digging a Tunnel
    Top 10 Singles:
    1) Land of Talk – “Inner Lover”
    2) Xiu Xiu – “Wondering”
    3) The National – “Nobody Else Will Be There”
    4) Jlin – “Holy Child”
    5) Marika Hackman – “Boyfriend”
    6) Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – “An Intention”
    7) Wolf Parade – “Valley Boy”
    8) Syd – “Body”
    9) Perfume Genius – “Wreath”
    10) Pixx – “Toes”

STAFF LISTS

  • Madison Bloom (Only Noise)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Happyness – Write In
    2) Timber Timbre – Sincerely, Future Pollution
    3) Aldous Harding – Party
    4) Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.
    5) Perfume Genius – No Shape
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Aldous Harding – “Imagining My Man”
    2) Blanck Mass – “Please”
    3) Benjamin Clementine – “Phantom of Aleppoville”

  • Ashley Prillaman

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Valerie June – The Order of Time
    2) Portugal The Man – Woodstock
    3) Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.
    4) Big Thief – Capacity
    5) SZA – Ctrl
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Valerie June – “Astral Plane”
    2) Amber Mark – “Lose My Cool”
    3) Big Thief – “Shark Smile”

  • Kaiya Gordon (Playing Columbus)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Princess Nokia – 1992 Deluxe
    2) SZA – Cntrl
    3) Paramore – After Laughter
    4) Aye Nako – Silver Haze
    5) Big Thief – Capacity
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Cardi B – “Bodak Yellow”
    2) St. Vincent – “New York”
    3) Japanese Breakfast – “Machinist”

  • Sara Barron (Playing Detroit)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Daniel Caesar – Freudian
    2) Jamila Woods – HEAVN
    3) Moses Sumney – Aromanticism
    4) Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett – Lotta Sea Lice
    5) Kevin Morby – City Music
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) St. Vincent – “New York”
    2) Snoh Aalegra – “Fool For You”
    3) Cigarettes After Sex – “Sweet”

  • Elizabeth Wakefield

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Bambara – Swarm
    2) Angel Olsen – Phases
    3) Bjork – Utopia
    4) Surfbort – Bort 2 Death
    5) Liars – TFCF
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Alexander F – “Swimmers”
    2) Weeping Icon – “Jail Bilz”
    3) Uni – “What’s the Problem?”

  • Tarra Thiessen (Check the Spreadsheet)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Francie Moon – So This is Life
    2) The Big Drops – Time, Color
    3) Angel Olsen – Phases
    4) Lola Pistola – Curfew 
    5) Thelma & The Sleaze – Somebody’s Doin Somethin
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Bizarre Sharks – “Tremendous”
    2) Ty Segall – “Black Magick”
    3) Fruit & Flowers – “Out of Touch”

  • Jamila Aboushaca

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) ODESZA — A Moment Apart
    2) Royal Blood — How Did We Get So Dark?
    3) Cut Copy — Haiku From Zero
    4) Khalid — American Teen
    5) Lana Del Rey — Lust For Life
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Rostam Batmanglij — “Gwan”
    2) Cut Copy — “Standing In The Middle Of The Field”
    3) alt-J — “In Cold Blood”

  • Natalie Kirch (Pet Politics)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Def Grrrls – GRLS
    2) PILL – Convenience
    3) Fruit & Flowers – Drug Tax
    4) THICK – It’s Always Something
    5) Fraidycat – Other Better Places
    Top 3 5 6 Singles:
    1) Holy Tunics – “Victoria”
    2) Alexander F – “Call Me Pretty”
    3) Grim Streaker – “Miami Girl”
    4) Lost Boy ? – “Mr. Dribble Drab”
    5) Haybaby – “Yours”
    HONORABLE MENTION: Bad GP – “The GP Stripes Theme Song”

  • Suzannah Weiss (High Notes)

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Laura Marling – Semper Femina
    2) Galantis – The Aviary
    3) Robin Schulz – Uncovered
    4) Sleigh Bells – Kid Kruschev
    5) Björk – Utopia
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Marshmello ft. Khalid – “Silence”
    2) Martin Garrix ft. Troye Sivan – “There for You”
    3) Dua Lipa – “New Rules”

  • Mandy Brownholtz

    Top 5 Albums:
    1) Alvvays – Antisocialites
    2) Waxahatchee – Out In The Storm
    3) Future Islands – The Far Field
    4) Priests – Nothing Feels Natural
    5) King Woman – Created In The Image Of Suffering
    Top 3 Singles:
    1) Alvvays – “NotMy Baby”
    2) Yumi Zouma – “December”
    3) Charly Bliss – “Glitter”