Category: Music

Everything changed for Blondie in 1978. Leaning into their punk background, pop hooks, and the playful, far-ranging curiosities that gave their shows an edge, Blondie honed in on their sound with Plastic Letters, their sophomore album, in February and landed on U.S. Billboard charts for the first time. The band’s cultural domination exploded with Parallel…

Amadou Bagayoko, the award-winning Malian singer and guitarist in the husband-and-wife duo Amadou & Mariam, has died, according to the Associated Press. In a local televised broadcast, Mali’s Minister of Culture Mamou Daffé revealed that Bagayoko died on Friday (April 4) in his hometown of Bamako. He was 70. Alongside his wife Mariam Doumbia, Bagayoko…

Dave Allen, the bassist who played with Gang of Four in their heyday, died at home with his family on Saturday, April 5, the band announced on social media. While no cause of death was given, the band said Allen had been living with early-onset dementia for several years. He was 69 years old. David…

Wes Anderson’s new movie, The Phoenician Scheme, arrives in theaters on May 30, and today, Focus Features has unveiled the first trailer. It presents the story of Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), a rich businessman and “maverick in the fields of armaments and aviation” who enlists his daughter (Mia Threapleton), a nun, in a treacherous…

The staff of Pitchfork listens to a lot of new music. A lot of it. On any given day our writers, editors, and contributors go through an imposing number of new releases, giving recommendations to each other and discovering new favorites along the way. Each Monday, with our Pitchfork Selects playlist, we’re sharing what our…

S.G. Goodman has announced a new album; Planting by the Signs is out June 20 via the Kentucky singer-songwriter’s own label, Slough Water Records, and Thirty Tigers. Guests include Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matthew Rowan. The follow-up to 2022’s Teeth Marks was inspired by the deaths of Goodman’s dog and a close mentor figure. It’s…

Officially formed in Boston in the summer of 1981, SS Decontrol (short for Society System Decontrol) featured Barile on guitar alongside singer David “Springa” Spring, bassist Jamie Sciarappa, and drummer Chris Foley. Although Foley was the only member who previously knew how to play an instrument, the band barreled ahead, borrowing money from Barile’s parents…

Jack Black, Elton John, and Brandi Carlile all returned to Saturday Night Live last night, marking the fourth time that Black has hosted and the third time that John and Carlile have performed as musical guests in their respective careers. A riled-up Black riffed on everything from Indiana Jones to the overabundance of bassists at…

Car Seat Headrest have shared another selection from their forthcoming new studio album, a self-described rock opera entitled The Scholars. “CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You)” follows lead single “Gethsemane,” and is accompanied by an animated music video featuring cartoons by Cate Wurtz. Watch it below. Explaining the song in a press statement, the band…

Tim Mohr, the journalist and translator who chronicled the political importance of the 1980s East German punk scene and co-wrote memoirs with Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan and Kiss leader Paul Stanley, has died. Michael Reynolds, Mohr’s friend and publisher at Europa Editions, confirmed the news in a statement to Pitchfork, writing that Mohr died…