I will never trade a conversation against a sunset. | | | | Lil Nas X at Stagecoach, Indio, Calif., April 28, 2019. His EP "7" is out today on Columbia.
(Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) | | | | | | “I will never trade a conversation against a sunset.”
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| | rantnrave:// I have no idea if LIL NAS X gave KURT COBAIN a writing credit on his song "PANINI" because he seriously thinks the first few notes of the chorus have more than a vague, coincidental resemblance to "IN BLOOM," or if that's the price for any songwriter living in a post-"BLURRED LINES" world, or if '90s rock references are now an requisite part of the Lil Nas X brand (which was born, in part on an actual NINE INCH NAILS sample), or if the attention he gets from it offsets the royalties he's giving up, or if he's just a generous guy. But "Panini" is no more an "In Bloom" cover/sample/interpolation than Nirvana was a PIXIES cover band or my last name is LEFSETZ. I do know this: The 20-year-old from Atlanta who has no particular interest in being a country star (the feeling, from official Nashville, is mutual) knows what he's doing and he's put in the work and he's going to keep putting in the work till he can't no more, and he's either going to be my favorite new pop star of 2019 or one of my all-time favorite one-hit wonders. Either way, his super-short, super-catchy songs are catnip for the world of summer 2019, which starts today. His EP, 7, is out today on Columbia... I'd venture that my favorite rock song of 2019, FURY's "VACATION," is more deserving of some Kurt Cobain royalty participation than anything Lil Nas X has done. The scream-along hardcore anthem, which starts off with singer JEREMY STITH lamenting that his vacation is "over too soon," is built on a resequenced version of the four chords that Nirvana wrote into rock history with "SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT": two sets of I and IV chords, a minor third apart. The chord sequence completes itself, in Fury's rendering, in a chorus that releases enough melodic tension to start an army of punk-pop bands. By the time Stith gets around to informing us that "buried are the ones I’ve failed to entertain," you're wondering if it's not only familiar chords, but also words, that he's resequencing. The song, from the Southern California band's second album, FAILED ENTERTAINMENT, doesn't sound remotely like Nirvana, by the way. Give Cobain a writing credit before someone sues... FACEBOOK has rescinded its ban on the cover of LED ZEPPELIN's HOUSES OF THE HOLY... This is one of the most bittersweet New Music Fridays in a long time. The release schedule includes the fifth album by CASSIUS, the French electro duo whose co-founder, beloved producer PHILIPPE ZDAR, died after falling through a window Wednesday in Paris. Also due today: the new HOT CHIP album, which features production by Zdar. The GUARDIAN's LAURA SNAPES remembers Zdar as "a veritable Zelig of French music innovation at the turn of the century." PITCHFORK's PHILIP SHERBURNE traces his life through nine classic records... It's FRIDAY and that means, in addition to LIL NAS X, CASSIUS and HOT CHIP, there's new music from HATCHIE, MARK RONSON, WILLIE NELSON, TITUS ANDRONICUS, ILOVEMAKONNEN, the RACONTEURS, MANNEQUIN PUSSY, BLACK MIDI, GUCCI MANE, BENNY THE BUTCHER, BEAK>, BEDOUINE, TRINA, BLACK PUMAS, FRUIT BATS, AARON WATSON, BUDDY & JULIE MILLER, RICHARD REED PARRY, HOLY GHOST, MR. HUDSON, PHILIP BAILEY, JANE WEAVER, HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES, HARRY & THE POTTERS, TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB, K CAMP, JIM LAUDERDALE and the soundtrack to YESTERDAY.
| | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| Queens, New York native Lil Tecca has gone from local rapper to viral sensation to Billboard hitmaker in a matter of months. Prior to debuting on the Hot 100 chart with “Ransom,” the 16-year-old rapper gained a following with buzzing hits like “Love… | | |
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| On Saturday (15th), while I was sitting in the airport waiting to head back to New York, I noticed MetalSucks published a rather disturbing story on Katy DiSanto, the wife of Vektor vocalist/guitarist David DiSanto, of accusing her husband of abuse. You can read Katy's full story via as well as make a donation on her campaign. | | |
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