Music News

On a warm, hazy Monday in August, tucked away in a nondescript office park in Milford, Connecticut, Keith Dakin, Kevin Begley and Allan Lamberti were deciding the sound of Star 99.9, a radio station that plays what’s known as “Hot Adult Contemporary.”

Each week, Dakin and his team examine what’s being streamed and Shazam’d in their town, neighboring towns and the whole country; they also consult a custom-made panel of “nine Hot AC stations, all owned by different companies, five alternative stations that lean female, and five Top 40 stations that are successful.” The trio comb through this data in search of songs that are likely to resonate with their target audience: “A mid-30s mom, a working mom that brings her kids to school, likes to listen to relevant music, doesn’t like sleepy-time songs,” Dakin explains.

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Chicago MC Mick Jenkins has always been something of a rap hermit, emerging when he feels ready and dropping sprawling projects of baritone philosophy and freeform wordplay. When he broke out in 2014 with the contemplative mixtape The Water (S), Jenkins seemed to exist outside of the general rap universe: he collaborated with a small roster of underground MCs while espousing at times sanctimonious views on self-improvement, the ills of society and the shallowness of other rappers. Jenkins’ voice–alternatively booming and restrained–sounded like some sort of doomsday robot’ aided by sparse, unconventional production steeped in jazz and ambient music; he convincingly played the part of rap savior chosen to awaken the masses, even if a large hunk of the masses had no idea who he was.

But Jenkins’ intelligence and commitment to craft can work against him. Listening to his full-length projects in a single sitting can sometimes feel laborious rather than inspiring, like if your favorite college professor kept lecturing hours after class was supposed to end. His 2016 album The Healing Component was overlooked and uneven; he seemed stuck between making a separate artistic statement from The Water (S) and losing the fan base that devoted themselves to it, which resulted in an album that often lacked an identity. Pieces of a Man, Jenkins’ second album, finds him loosening up, or at least exerting more self-control. His rhymes on Pieces, as always, are dexterous and learned, layered and clever, but he’s taking himself less seriously, and in the process having some fun. There’s still proselytizing, to be sure, but he’s stopped trying to convince others of his superior knowledge and talent. “I be on my show and prove, not my show-and-tell,” he raps on “Barcelona.” It’s a subtle shift that nonetheless makes Pieces of a Man his most confident and listenable project in years.


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Josh Fauver, the former Deerhunter member who served as bassist during the Georgia band’s ascension to indie rock stardom, has died at the age of 39.
Deerhunter revealed on social media that Fauver had died; a representative for the band confirmed the death. No cause of death was announced.

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Two of country’s most exciting voices met up with one of soul and gospel’s all-time greats at the 52nd CMA Awards, as Chris Stapleton was joined by Maren Morris, Mavis Staples and Marty Stuart for an uplifting performance that connected country’s present with pop music history.
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This Scottish singer-songwriter has churned out reliably solid albums since “Dark Horse and the Cherry Tree” launched her career in 2009 with a pedal-loop heard around the world. These days when Ed Sheeran plays entirely pedal-looped stadium-show sets, he often thanks Tunstall for the inspiration. But if she’s eluded you so far, Tunstall’s latest album WAX is a perfect entry point – an album full of feverish rock grit produced by Franz Ferdinand’s Nick McCarthy, imbued with a fierce stomp from from start to finish.

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Kanye West called out Ariana Grande and opened up about his “mental disorder” during an early Saturday morning string of tweets.
On Thursday, after West reignited his feud with Drake during another Twitter airing, Grande tweeted prior to the arrival of her new single “Imagine,” “Guys, i know there are grown men arguing online rn but miley and i dropping our beautiful, new songs tonight so if y’all could please jus behave for just like a few hours so the girls can shine that’d be so sick thank u.”

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Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Black Panther track “All the Stars,” Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born single “Shallow” and Thom Yorke’s “Suspirium” from Suspiria are among the 15 tracks that were shortlisted for the Academy Awards’ Best Original Song, the Oscars announced Monday.

Dolly Parton’s “Girl in the Movies” (Dumplin’), Sade’s “The Big Unknown” (Widows), Quincy Jones’ “Keep Reachin'” with Chaka Khan and Mark Ronson (Quincy), Sigur Ros’ Jonsi and Troye Sivan’s “Revelation (Boy Erased) and the Coup and Lakeith Stanfield’s “OYAHYTT” (Sorry to Bother You) also made the shortlist, Variety reports.

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“Historic” was the adjective of choice for artists, songwriters and politicians alike when Congress passed the Music Modernization Act earlier this year. The overdue bundle of reform — intended to update copyright rules for the streaming age and help music-makers take home more money — was an industry-wide effort, years in the making.

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“Siete” is a dancefloor-killer, but you wouldn’t know it by the first 30 seconds. It unravels itself in a leisurely fashion, with a tumble of drums and few jabs on sitar before the percussion elements make firm, syncopated, throbbing formations. By the time the sitar returns, the song grows more sharp and urgent. Instruments continue to stack themselves upon the other: first a Bansuri, or bamboo flute, joins the fray, and then other sound-effects gurgle and pitter-patter. But the buzzing sitar, almost menacing at times, is the unusual and alluring engine here, turning “Siete” into a promising preview of Nicola Cruz’s upcoming sophomore album. E.L.

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Childish Gambino, Tame Impala and Ariana Grande are among the headliners for the 2019 Coachella Music and Arts Festival. The events will take place over two back-to-back weekends – April 12-14 and April 19-21 – at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Passes go on sale on Friday at 11 a.m. PT via the festival’s official website.

The lineup also includes Janelle Monáe, Solange, Khalid, the 1975, DJ Snake, Diplo, Anderson .Paak, Kid Cudi, Weezer, Aphex Twin, Zedd, Bad Bunny, J Balvin, Billie Eilish, Chvrches, Bassnectar, Dillon Francis, YG and Kacey Musgraves alongside dozens of additional artists.

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