Basslines and Protest Signs is Brett Callwood’s column looking at the intersection of music and politics. This week breaks down the recent UK election results and shares some reactions from British artists.
It the middle of January, the holidays are long gone, you have left your resolutions in the dust and you need something to brighten your day. You know what you need? Boston Manor. Right now. You can get more of them by checking our their tour dates here. Including being on tour with Good Charlotte! Don’t miss out. Find them on social media: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
New England Metal & Hardcore Festival have announced their initial line-up for 2014. The festival will take place at The Palladium in Worcester, MA from April 17-19. Bands playing include All That Remains, Iced Earth, Slapshot, Cruel Hand, Twitching Tongues, Reign Supreme and more. It will also be the last East Coast performance from Bleeding Through.
Transit have released a hometown tribute video for their song “Young New England.”
With musical diversity, catchy melodies, and compelling lyrics, Transit have managed to produce thirteen tracks that are both unique and enjoyable, as well as giving their fans a much better understanding of who they are as people and the place that made them that way.
Family, friends and surviving members of the iconic British rock band The Who attended the funeral of virtuoso bass player John Entwistle on Wednesday at a rural church. Guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey and drummer Kenny Jones, who replaced Keith Moon after his death in 1978, attended the service at St. Edward’s Church in Stow-on-the-Wold. Entwistle, who died June 27 in Las Vegas, was now “reunited with Keith up there making great music,” the Rev. Colin Wilson said at the church, 60 miles northwest of London. “I think he would want us all to be strong, determined, unafraid of… Read more »
Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, a handful of Hell’s Angels, a gospel choir of 5,000 and a throng of close to 1 million onlookers turned out to help England’s Queen Elizabeth celebrate 50 years on the throne over the weekend at London’s Buckingham Palace. Eric Clapton, Ricky Martin, S Club 7, Spice Girl Emma Bunton, Joe Cocker, Phil Collins, the Corrs, Aretha Franklin, Sir Elton John, Tom Jones, Annie Lennox, Mis-Teeq, Brian Wilson, Rod Stewart, Cliff Richard and Will Young also turned out for the event, which played to a global television audience of millions more over the course… Read more »
Forget Punk Goes Pop! YUNGBLUD has released his version of the 1979 KISS classic “I Was Made For Lovin’ You.” The song is set to be featured in The Fall Guy, starring Oscar-nominated actors Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, and arriving on May 3. The emotional cover features a black-and-white video posted to his Instagram on Wednesday, May 1. In contrast to the original legendary rock, high-octane sound, Dominic Harrison, aka YUNGBLUD, takes a somber yet sultry approach, leading us to a new perspective of the track. Additionally, the slow-moving beat, paired with softened vocals, ushers listeners in while paying… Read more »
After teasing the cover, David Byrne has finally released his reimagination of Paramore‘s “Hard Times.” This follows the band’s take on Byrne’s classic track “Burning Down The House,” which they covered as part of the Talking Heads tribute album Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense via A24 Music. Both tracks will be out on April 20 for Record Store Day on a limited 12″ LP. “The band told me that their song ‘Hard Times’ was inspired by Talking Heads,” Byrne said in a Twitter post. “So I learned and recorded my version of their great song with a horn section.” Fascinatingly, this arrives… Read more »
PVRIS is back with a brightly romantic single, “Oil & Water,” out via Hopeless Records. Highlighted by sultry vocals partnered with mellow guitars and layered with a continuously catchy beat, the song displays vocalist Lynn Gunn’s knack for creating a dizzyingly reflective track. Gunn says the inspiration behind the lyrics is about what you would do for a relationship. “The song is about the push and pull of mismatched love and the lengths you’d go to make it work.” Not only does she develop a sound that is intriguing and infectious, but she becomes relatable through her writing that connects… Read more »
