It’s been nearly six years to the day since I last saw Minami Deutsch. That night, they were opening for Kikagaku Moyo at the wonderful—but now sadly closed—Burlington, VT venue, Arts Riot. The band’s name translates to “South Germany,” so the krautrock analogies were impossible to avoid. But what I found then, and what still…
Long before their reign as one of the most erudite bands in rock, Squeeze founding members Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook wrote a bunch of early songs as 1970s teenagers that have never seen the light of day. That will change on March 6, when BMG releases Trixies, the group’s first new album in eight…
Masked South African-reared country artist Orville Peck is the guest on the newest installment of the Lipps Service podcast, speaking with host Scott Lipps about his new EP, Appaloosa, the evolution of his look and persona and the challenges of sobriety, fame and reading social media comments. Peck also gets into the business side of music, making…
Jimmy “Super Rhymes” Spicer, whose 15-minute single “Adventure of Super Rhymes” is widely considered hip-hop’s first storytelling rap, died from cancer in 2019 in financial peril. As Russell Simmons’s flagship artist at Rush Management, Spicer helped lay the foundation for what would eventually become Def Jam Recordings. His music has been sampled by the Wu-Tang Clan, 2Pac, De…
Wednesday, November 5 Laugavegur, the main street of downtown Reykjavik, is a long artery vibrating with action during the festival. It overflows with gift shops, pathways to a Rainbow Street full of tourists and record stores that double as DIY venues, 10/11 convenience stores, and the Icelandic Punk Museum. “It’s just some weirdo in a…
This new ongoing series is about the business of music with a SPIN twist. Not since the dawn of the Internet, Napster, and streaming services combined has there been such curiosity and horror over the music industry’s latest challenge: AI. Every day brings a new headline pondering whether we are on the precipice of a…
Robyn has lifted a seven-year hiatus from new music with the fresh single “Dopamine,” which arrived with little warning today (Nov. 12) from new record label Young. The track was co-written with longtime collaborator Klas Åhlund and Taio Cruz, and produced by Robyn and Åhlund. “Everyone has a phone where they see their heart rate,…
Adele will make her acting debut in Cry to Heaven, an adaptation of the 1982 Anne Rice novel directed and produced by fashion maven Tom Ford. Production is underway in London and Rome, with a fall 2026 release in the offing. Set in 18th century Venice amid a backdrop of opera, Cry to Heaven will…
Kanye West called Erick Sermon sometime in May 2023 and wanted the EPMD co-founder to hop a flight to Los Angeles to work on a new project. Sermon’s ailing mother, Belinda, was in hospice care at the time and knew about the trip but didn’t want to hamper her son’s opportunity. Sermon protested but was…
Gwen Stefani, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Fleet Foxes, St. Vincent and Sharon Van Etten have all contributed exclusive tracks to the Amazon MGM holiday movie Oh. What. Fun., which will premiere Dec. 3. An accompanying soundtrack is out the same day from Sony Music Masterworks. Directed by Michael Showalter, Oh. What. Fun. stars Michelle Pfeiffer as a…
