Home Blog Page 6

Balaam And The Angel Return With New EP ‘Love Death Wealth Water’ and a 40th Anniversary Tour

0

Balaam And The Angel have a new EP coming, and they’re pairing it with a tour marking four decades since one of the most important albums in British alternative rock. ‘Love Death Wealth Water,’ a four-track follow-up to their 2024 comeback EP ‘Forces Of Evil,’ arrives May 1 on all digital platforms, with a limited-edition coloured 12-inch vinyl available via the band’s own Darklands Recordings label. It’s their second release of new material since returning after a 30-plus year silence, and the momentum is clearly building.

Recorded at Oxygene Studios in Manchester with Christoph Bride (The Chameleons, Spear Of Destiny), the EP pushes into territory that blends the atmospheric darkness of the band’s early work with the punch of their later albums. Guitarist Jim Morris describes a recording process driven by renewed confidence and deliberate attention to detail, with an openness to contemporary sounds that keeps the material from feeling like a nostalgic exercise. Alongside the EP release, the Morris brothers, Mark, Jim and Des, one of the few acts of their era still running with the original lineup, will play a series of UK dates in May and July. Then in November, they take ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’ on a 40th anniversary tour, performing the 1986 Virgin Records debut in full across Leeds, London and Birmingham, with more dates to be announced.

‘Love Death Wealth Water’ EP Tracklist:

“Wealth”

“Fear Of Poison Water”

“You Are Dead To Me”

“Love Me Too”

EP Release Shows:

May 9 – Woking @ Fiery Bird

May 10 – Brighton @ Concorde 2 (Kindred Spirits Day Fest)

July 9 – York @ The Fulford Arms

July 10 – Edinburgh @ La Belle Angele (Deadinburgh Festival)

“The Greatest Story Ever Told” 40th Anniversary Tour:

November 20 – Leeds @ Warehouse

November 27 – London @ Bush Hall

November 28 – Birmingham @ O2 Institute2

Greek Symphonic Metal Ensemble Mystfall Unleash Cinematic New Album ‘Embers of a Dying World’

0

Greek symphonic metal ensemble Mystfall have released their second full-length album, ‘Embers of a Dying World,’ out now via Scarlet Records. Led by soprano Marialena Trikoglou, the band builds on the foundation of their 2023 debut ‘Celestial Vision’ with ten tracks that push deeper into dark, cinematic atmospheres, exploring the weight of human consequence through a conceptual lens where dreams and nightmares collide to keep the human spirit intact. The lead single “Sleeper In The Abyss” is out now with an official video on YouTube, and it’s a strong entry point into a record that rewards the full listen.

Radiohead’s “Kid A Mnesia” Becomes a Live Audiovisual Installation Debuting at Coachella This Weekend

0

Radiohead’s presence at Coachella this weekend isn’t a performance. It’s something more unusual. The band has announced Motion Picture House, a 75-minute audiovisual installation built around ‘Kid A Mnesia,’ their 2021 combined reissue of ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac.’ The project debuts inside a 17,000 square-foot underground bunker at Coachella before moving to a North American run through Brooklyn, Chicago, Mexico City and San Francisco. You’ve got to sign up to enter.

The installation features artwork created by Thom Yorke and longtime visual collaborator Stanley Donwood during the original ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’ recording sessions, alongside a new spatial audio mix drawn from the multitracks, rendered in 6-point surround sound. The project first launched in 2021 as a virtual-only exhibit, directed by Sean Evans, after COVID restrictions shut down the original physical concept. This is the version it was always meant to be. Yorke describes it as “a Monster is trapped in a derelict museum of the lost and forgotten.” Presale registration is open now through April 12 via Fair AXS, with public on-sale beginning April 24.

Motion Picture House Presents ‘Kid A Mnesia’ Dates:

May 6 – May 31, 2026 – Brooklyn, NY @ Agger Fish Building

July 30 – August 23, 2026 – Chicago, IL @ Cinespace Studios

October 27 – November 15, 2026 – Mexico City, MX @ La Maravilla Studios

January 14 – February 7, 2027 – San Francisco, CA @ Palace of Fine Arts

Olivia Rodrigo, Matt Damon, Will Ferrell and Paul McCartney headline Saturday Night Live’s Star-Studded May Lineup

0

Saturday Night Live is closing out Season 51 with a May lineup that delivers on every level. Olivia Rodrigo kicks things off on May 2, pulling double duty as host and musical guest for her hosting debut and third SNL appearance overall. She arrives promoting her upcoming third album, ‘You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,’ due June 12, with lead single “Drop Dead” dropping April 17.

Matt Damon returns to host for the third time on May 9, with Noah Kahan as musical guest ahead of his fourth studio album ‘The Great Divide,’ arriving April 24. The season finale on May 16 brings Will Ferrell back for his sixth hosting appearance alongside Paul McCartney, performing on SNL for the fifth time as he prepares to release ‘The Boys of Dungeon Lane’ on May 29. Before all of that, Colman Domingo hosts this Saturday, April 11, with Anitta as musical guest. Saturday Night Live airs live on NBC at 11:30pm ET and streams on Peacock.

DJ Cummerbund Mashes Up Chumbawamba and Queen in Gloriously Unhinged “Fat Thumping Girls”

0

DJ Cummerbund dropped “Fat Thumping Girls” on April Fool’s Day, and it’s exactly as committed and ridiculous as that implies. The mashup locks Chumbawamba’s 1997 anthem “Tubthumping” together with Queen’s 1978 classic “Fat Bottomed Girls,” then keeps going, folding in Sade, Madonna and John Mayer, a well-timed appearance from the Shake Weight, and the obligatory Randy “Macho Man” Savage cameo that Cummerbund fans have come to expect. It shouldn’t work as well as it does, but that’s precisely the point, and the editing here is sharp enough to make the whole chaotic thing feel inevitable.

Marc Anthony Adds Eight New Dates to His “Vegas…My Way!” Residency at Fontainebleau Las Vegas

0

Marc Anthony’s Las Vegas residency isn’t slowing down. Following sold-out shows and overwhelming demand, Fontainebleau Las Vegas has announced eight new dates for “Vegas…My Way!” at the BleauLive Theater, with Anthony returning September 11, 12, 13, 16, 18 and 19, timed to Mexican Independence Day weekend, plus two Race Week performances on November 20 and 21.

Presales open today, with general on-sale hitting Friday, April 10 at 10am local time. A limited number of tickets also remain for previously announced July and August dates, July 24, 25, 29 and 31, plus August 1, for anyone who hasn’t locked in their spot yet.

The residency has earned its reputation fast. Anthony performs with his full live band, moving through more than three decades of chart-topping material in both English and Spanish, shifting from high-energy anthems to emotionally charged ballads with the kind of command that only comes from doing this at the highest level for as long as he has. The four-time Grammy and eight-time Latin Grammy winner brings something to a residency format that most performers simply can’t match.

The experience continues after each show with “Vegas…My Way! Late Night Sessions” at Nowhere Lounge, where Motif, a member of Anthony’s band, curates live music sets that keep the night going in a more intimate setting. It’s a thoughtful extension of what’s already one of the Strip’s most in-demand live experiences.

Silverstein and Story Of The Year Team Up for the “Camp Screamo” Co-Headline Tour This Summer

0

Two of post-hardcore’s most enduring acts are finally sharing a stage together. Silverstein and Story Of The Year have announced the Camp Screamo Tour, a co-headline run kicking off July 12 in Asbury Park, NJ, with special guest Origami Angel along for the ride. Remarkably, despite years of mutual respect and a shared scene, this marks the first time the two have toured the U.S. together.

Silverstein frontman Shane Told isn’t underselling it. “This tour is going to be nostalgic, loud, chaotic, fun, wild, emotional, slightly unhinged, sweaty, mildly dangerous, and a little irresponsible,” he says, adding that the setlist pulls from across the band’s catalog, classics alongside deep cuts. Story Of The Year come in equally loaded, drawing from their recent ‘A.R.S.O.N.’ material alongside ‘Tear Me to Pieces’ and the songs that built their following two decades ago.

Both bands bring decades of catalog and hard-won live credibility to this run, and the mutual admiration here is genuine. “They are a really important band to the scene, and their records just keep getting better,” Story Of The Year say of Silverstein, and that kind of honest respect tends to translate directly into how a tour actually feels from the floor. Camp Screamo has the right energy before a single note is played.

The tour runs through August 7, with additional festival appearances at Vans Warped Tour in Long Beach, Montreal and Orlando rounding out the full run.

Camp Screamo Tour Dates:

July 12 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summer Stage

July 14 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore

July 15 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva

July 19 – Kansas City, MO @ VooDoo at the Harrah’s

July 22 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom

July 23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Rockwell at The Complex

July 25 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park

July 26 – Long Beach, CA @ Vans Warped Tour

July 28 – Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre

July 29 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace

July 31 – San Antonio, TX @ The Espee

August 1 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall

August 2 – Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory

August 4 – Fayetteville, AR @ Ozark Music Hall

August 5 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl

August 7 – Buffalo, NY @ Terminal B at the Outer Harbor

August 21-22 – Montreal, QC @ Vans Warped Tour

November 14-15 – Orlando, FL @ Vans Warped Tour

Chicago Industrial Supergroup The Joy Thieves Erupt With Blistering New Single Feat. Chris Connelly

0

The Joy Thieves have opened their ‘Apocalypse Pending’ album campaign with a track that doesn’t ease you in. “The Wrong End of Your Rifle,” featuring Chris Connelly (Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Pigface, Fini Tribe) on vocals, is out now via Armalyte Industries, a jagged, industrial-rooted broadside aimed squarely at corporate impunity, state violence and the screen-numbed culture that lets it all happen in plain sight. The full album lands June 5.

The track’s foundation is a modern re-recording of one of hip hop’s most iconic breakbeats, “Ashley’s Roachclip” by The Soul Searchers, rebuilt by producer-drummer Dan Milligan with contemporary drum sounds and layered into something that hits with both sonic force and political edge. God Is In The TV Zine called it “blistering and unrelenting,” adding that it “lingers long after the noise fades.” That’s exactly the right read.

Connelly doesn’t soften the message. “When the billionaires are accountable for nothing and force their will by suppression in the streets, we have to become inventive,” he says. “We can’t argue or reason with bullets.” It’s confrontational language for a confrontational track, and it fits the moment The Joy Thieves are clearly trying to capture across ‘Apocalypse Pending.’

The Joy Thieves revolve around Dan Milligan and James Scott, drawing from an 80-plus member roster that includes current and former contributors from Ministry, Stabbing Westward, Killing Joke, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, KMFDM, Nitzer Ebb and more. Their approach produces something they describe as made by “all of us. And yet, none of us,” and the result is aggressive, precise and layered with melody in ways that pure industrial rarely manages.

Produced, engineered and mixed by Joy Thieves Productions at Populist Recording + Mastering in Wheaton, IL, “The Wrong End of Your Rifle” is available now on Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.

Bill McClintock’s Latest Mashup Pairs “Roxanne” and “She Works Hard for the Money” in Surprisingly Perfect Fashion

0

Video editor Bill McClintock has done it again. His latest mashup locks “Roxanne” by The Police together with Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money,” and the result is one of those combinations that makes you wonder why nobody tried it sooner. McClintock’s quiet thesis, that both songs share more than just a time signature, lands immediately once the tracks start weaving together. Guitars from L.A. Guns’ Tracii Guns (“Never Enough”) and Ratt’s Warren DeMartini (“Round and Round”) add another layer of unexpected muscle to the whole thing.

Head Automatica Hit the Road This June With a New Album on the Way

0

Head Automatica are touring again, and a new album is coming. The Daryl Palumbo and Dan the Automator project has announced a seven-date run through the western United States this June, kicking off June 1 in Seattle and wrapping June 11 in Denver, with a September date at the Bolero Block Party in Meadowlands, NJ also on the books.

The band launched in 2004 as Palumbo’s vehicle to push beyond his punk roots into new wave, synth-heavy electronics and garage. They toured with The Cure, Gary Numan and Interpol, hit main stages at Coachella and Riot Fest, collaborated with El-P and Del the Funky Homosapien, then went on indefinite hiatus in 2012 after two albums. In the years since, the catalog quietly accumulated 42 million-plus streams.

The current lineup brings back original guitarist Craig Bonich, Glassjaw drummer Chad Hasty and longtime Palumbo collaborator Richard Flesh. They’ve released two singles in the past two years, most recently the industrial-leaning “Annulment,” which followed “Bear The Cross,” their first new music since the ‘Popaganda’ era. Both tracks signal a band that’s retained its electronic DNA while pushing into heavier, more textured territory.

A third full-length is expected later this year. These June dates are the lead-up.

Head Automatica Tour Dates:

June 1 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza

June 2 – Portland, OR @ Holocene

June 4 – Sacramento, CA @ Goldfield Trading Post

June 6 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room

June 7 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge

June 9 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge

June 11 – Denver, CO @ Marquis

September 25 – Meadowlands, NJ @ Bolero Block Party