| The only real ritual I have is I need my creative space to be clean. | | | | |  | As they were: Abba stroll through Heathrow Airport, London, May 2, 1974. "Voyage" is out today on Polar/Universal.
(Hulton Archive/Getty Images) | | | | | "The only real ritual I have is I need my creative space to be clean." | | | | It's Bandcamp Friday
Not all today's barrage of notable new albums are available at the best place to buy music on the first Friday of every month, but a lot of them are, including: Indie singer/songwriter SNAIL MAIL's second album, VALENTINE, a breakup record on which she experiments with samples and yacht rock and, between the lines, confronts her difficulties with the fame her first album brought her... AIMEE MANN's QUEENS OF THE SUMMER HOTEL featuring songs written for a not-yet-produced stage version of GIRL, INTERRUPTED... And new works from a pair of dynamic jazz bassists: London's DANIEL CASIMIR, whose gorgeous, expansive BOXED IN features orchestral arrangements and a quartet including Nubya Garcia and Moses Boyd, and Washington's LUKE STEWART, WORKS FOR UPRIGHT BASS AND AMPLIFIER VOL. 1 are improvisatory soundscapes equally capable of putting you in a trance and waking you up from one.
And then there's ABBA's first album in 40 years. VOYAGE is "vintage Abba" that "piles on the tragic drama—it's a whole album of 'The Winner Takes It All,' without any 'Mamma Mia' or 'Take a Chance On Me,'" says Rob Sheffield in Rolling Stone. Or it's a lyrically embarrassing disaster that "rather than reflecting poignantly on the past... feels terminally stuck there" (Jude Rogers in the Guardian). Or both. Or neither. Pop can contain multitudes. Abba's last album, THE VISITORS, an ambitious, complicated, new-wavey divorce album released this month in 1981, certainly did... R&B superstar-in-the-making SUMMER WALKER seems a little bitter and more than a little giddy about all those breakups on the wonderfully titled STILL OVER IT. Hopefully her record company paid for some of the breakup dinners, unless that's the one she really wants to break up with... Multi-genre multi-instrumentalist TERRACE MARTIN continues running hip-hop, jazz and R&B through each other on DRONES, whose title track features his longtime collaborator KENDRICK LAMAR... JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN made THE SOLUTION IS RESTLESS with the late Tony Allen (they're some of his final studio recordings) and the Invisible's Dave Okumu, and includes her tribute to pandemic hero Jacinda Ardern, the prime minster of New Zealand.
Plus new music from DIANA ROSS (her first album since 2006), AMINÉ, SERPENTWITHFEET, EMMA RUTH RUNDLE, DIJON, MATTHEW SHIPP, JJJJJEROME ELLIS, DARIUS JONES, GREGORY PORTER, SARAH DAVACHI & SEAN MCCANN, ATTACCA QUARTET, BEN CHASNY (aka Six Organs of Admittance), KAY FLOCK, KEY GLOCK, NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS, CURTIS HARDING, SLOPPY JANE, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, HYRROKKIN & MERZBOW, PORTRAYAL OF GUILT, SEEYOUSPACECOWBOY, BRIAN FALLON, YOUTH FOUNTAIN, MARCUS GAD MEETS TAMAL, ENRIQUE IGLESIAS, NATION OF LANGUAGE, HARD FEELINGS, HANSON, PARCELS, WENDY EISENBERG (of Editrix), 96 BACK, HANA VU, MARCONI UNION, SITCOM, AHI, TASHA, ÌFÉ, JAMES ARTHUR, the VERVE PIPE, JESSE DAYTON (soundtrack to the country guitarist's new memoir), DANIEL TASHIAN, DARYL MOSLEY, PENELOPE ISLES, HOUNDMOUTH...
And, finally, KID A MNESIA, a deluxe reissue of RADIOHEAD's two turn-of-the-century masterpieces packaged with a disc of unreleased material called KID AMNESIAE.
Etc Etc Etc
The world's most regulated militia, the BTS fan army, is threatening to boycott the group's label, HYBE, because of its plans to partner with a fintech company to launch NFTs for BTS and other artists. Because of the computer power needed to make them, NFTs are significant producers of greenhouse gases, and BTS fans are complaining online that BTS NFTs would conflict with the group's public stance in favor of fighting climate change. HYPE's Q3 revenues were up a buttery 79.5 percent from the same quarter a year ago, driven largely by its name-and-likeness branding efforts—which those NFTs presumably would fall under... Also enjoying buttery Q3 results: LIVE NATION, which says US and UK festivals were a big reason for its financial upturn and which, hey, also says its vaccine and testing requirements didn't affect ticket revenues and had no impact on live-event staffing. Take note, all other industries... TRAVIS SCOTT's headlining set at ASTROWORLD will be livestreamed at 10pm ET tonight via APPLE MUSIC... The first round of GRAMMY voting—the one that determines the nominees—ends today.
Rest in Peace
Country guitarist CHUCK MORPURGO, best known for his long association with outlaw singer Dallas Moore.
| | | | Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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| | |  | | Pigeons & Planes |
| | 404 Error, Genre Not Found: The Life Cycle of Internet Scenes | | by Sophie Walker | | Today's cutting edge is tomorrow's lo-fi; what was the sound of the future is already a passing reference point. Pick it up, put it down. Do it because you can; do it because you're bored. In the virtual world, Rome was built not just in a day, but on a school night—but was any of it made to last? | |  | | Los Angeles Times |
| | The surprising story of how ABBA became beloved gay icons | | by Barry Walters | | Well before 'Mamma Mia!' a homemade remix of a second-tier ABBA song was the big bang of the LGBTQ community's love affair with the Swedish foursome. | |  | | The Guardian |
| | The message: why should hip-hop have to teach us anything? | | by Kelefa Sanneh, Bruce Sherfield and Esther Opoku-Gyeni | | Almost since it first emerged on the streets of the Bronx, audiences have expected hip-hop to express a revolutionary purpose. But perhaps this music shouldn't have to take a political stand. | |  | | The FADER |
| | Money is fake, Harry Styles is forever | | by Larisha Paul | | After an enforced pause, Harry Styles has returned with an unpredictable and affirming live show. Seeing the set five times really drives that home. | |  | | Music Business Worldwide |
| | Sometimes, 'polite pop stars' are stifled by this business | | by Rhian Jones | | The influence of the music industry can have troubling consequences for young artists - and prevent their personalities and talent from shining. | |  | | Complex |
| | Tayla Parx Gets Real About Mental Health for Creatives | | by Kennedy Rasberry | | It was her own experiences within the turbulent music industry that motivated Tayla Parx to bring attention to the lack of mental health resources in the entertainment space. But she's done more than just highlight the problem. | |  | | Bloomberg |
| | Live Nation Returns to Profit With Summer Concert Season | | by Lucas Shaw | | Live Nation Entertainment Inc., the world's largest concert promoter, returned to profit last quarter after about two years of losses, citing the return of summer shows following Covid-19 lockdowns. | |  | | The New York Times |
| | After 14 Years, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Finally Reunite | | by Jon Pareles | | The duo worked with T Bone Burnett on the million-selling triumph "Raising Sand," in 2007. Its sequel is once again an alternative to nearly all of its pop contemporaries. | |  | | KCRW |
| | Bent by Nature Ep. 2: Music Could Be Your Whole Life | | by Bob Carlson and Deirdre O'Donoghue | | Episode two of Bent By Nature explores the life of influential and enigmatic KCRW DJ Deirdre O'Donoghue behind the mic. O'Donoghue didn't talk much about her past or private life — even in the face of personal demons, and eventually, her deteriorating health. | |  | | The Sydney Morning Herald |
| | How Jacinda Ardern inspired a New York musician to sing her praises | | by Cat Woods | | Joan Wasser, aka Joan As Police Woman, was watching TV in her Brooklyn apartment and a story on the New Zealand Prime Minister inspired her to write a new song. | | | | | The Guardian |
| | Aimee Mann: 'Any woman my age is traumatised by growing up in the 60s and 70s' | | by Laura Snapes | | As she releases an album inspired by "Girl, Interrupted," the US indie icon reveals how a childhood kidnapping and her repressive southern childhood left her with PTSD. | | | | The New York Times |
| | Marian Anderson: A Voice of Authenticity and Justice | | by Anthony Tommasini | | A new box set explores the singer whose Lincoln Memorial concert was a 20th-century civil rights milestone. | |  | | Billboard |
| | Mexico, Brazil Consume More Music on Average Than Any Other Markets | | by Leila Cobo | | According to an IFPI study, Mexico and Brazil are the biggest consumers of music per capita, by far. | | | | Los Angeles Times |
| | Meet Glaive, the 16-year-old star of the hyperpop revolution | | by Mikael Wood | | Ash Gutierrez, known as Glaive, is at the forefront of a burgeoning musical genre called hyperpop, whose frantic energy is perfectly in sync with Gen Z. | |  | | ELLE |
| | What the Spice Girls Gave Us | | by Ilana Kaplan | | As the iconic girl group releases a 25th anniversary edition of their debut album, Spice, we reflect on the band's "girl power" ethos and how they inspired us to be ourselves. | |  | | Music x |
| | How to accelerate a music & tech start-up? | | by Maarten Walraven-Freeling | | There's so many people with great ideas. There's also many people who have the technical know-how to build products. And then there's a seemingly endless list of problems to solve in the music industry. | |  | | VICE |
| | Lads, Gak and Union Jacks: The Oral History of 'Cool Britannia' | | by Daniel Dylan Wray | | "The thing is, so much of it was about bulls***." | | | | Billboard |
| | CMA Leaders Sarah Trahern and Robert Deaton On Morgan Wallen and Producing a Safe Awards Show | | by Jessica Nicholson | | Trahern and Deaton discuss Luke Bryan's first run as CMA Awards host, ratings, COVID-19 protocols and more. | | | | | Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech | | "REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in
everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask 'why?'" | | |  | | | Jason Hirschhorn | | CEO & Chief Curator | | |  |
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