Indie

Movement Festival Announces Its 2022 Lineup With Flying Lotus And 2 Chainz Joining Dance Music Legends

by
Movement Festival
Anthony Rassam

One of the most important music festivals in the country, Detroit’s Movement Festival is a reminder of the undying influence of dance music culture. Some form of Movement has taken place in Detroit’s Hart Plaza for over 20 years, and over 100 acts will perform over this Memorial Day Weekend from May 28th – 30th, 2022. 2 Chainz and Flying Lotus have been added to a headlining slate that already included Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, and Adam Beyer.

What Movement does best, is present a canvas of dance music mainstays from both electronic music’s beginnings and the contemporary artists that dominate the dance floor today. A Carl Craig B2B set with James Murphy illustrates this collision of the different ends of the spectrum the best and the thoroughly packed lineup builds from there.

Storied influential selectors are everywhere on this bill. From Detroit techno legends in Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson (performing under his E-Dancer moniker) to two of the greatest drum and bass producers of all time in LTJ Bukem and Goldie, who’ll be performing a B2B set for the first time ever. The slate of budding modern masters is deep, with Maya Jane Coles and Seth Troxler to Skrillex and Soulection founder Joe Kay.

It’s a loaded lineup for the return of this dynamic cultural function. peep the full lineup and get tickets are now on sale at www.movementfestival.com.

Movement lineup
Movement

Rex Orange County Reunites With Tyler The Creator On The Smooth New Single ‘Open A Window’

by

Rex Orange County has a new album quickly on the way, as Who Cares? is set to drop this week, on March 11. He shared “Keep It Up” to announce the album, and now he has dropped what will presumably be his final pre-album single, reuniting with Tyler The Creator on “Open A Window.” Rex and Tyler have famously collaborated before, most recently on Tyler’s 2017 album Flower Boy.

The new songs lives in the smoother side of Rex’s oeuvre, a soulful tune carried by a subtle but impactful groove. Tyler pops up during the song’s final third with a verse that accentuates the track’s rhythm.

Rex discussed his relationship with Tyler in a 2020 interview and gave an example of a time the rapper helped him out, saying:

“I was complaining and worrying about putting out that album, Pony, and feeling like… I was like, I don’t know if I’m wasting my time when there’s so much music coming out. I’m hearing albums come out every week and I’m even going, ‘Alright, cool, next,’ skimming things. It felt like just a landfill of music. I actually just called him up and he was like, ‘The thing is, first of all, everyone has their place. You can’t change anything. Complaining or hating on anything is a waste of your time, because whilst you’re spending 20 minutes hating on that person, that person’s going to spend 20 minutes doing their thing and living their life that they have. You’re going to be on this planet once and you’re just wasting your life. And there’s going to be someone in the world who thinks their album is what you felt when you first heard, like, Channel Orange or Stevie Wonder or whatever. You can’t take that away from anyone, whether you like it or not.’ […] It helped me so much not to be concerned so much about what people would think. He just broke it down in a way that helped me a lot.”

Listen to “Open A Window” above.

Who Cares? is out 3/11 via Sony Music. Pre-order it here.

TikTok Launches A New Tool To Help Artists On The Platform Distribute Their Music To DSPs

by
tiktok music
Getty Image

In recent years, TikTok has become one of the go-to social media platforms for the discovery and promotion of new music, but while it’s been helpful in generating hits for the likes of Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, Megan Thee Stallion, and more, for newer artists using the app to drive interest in their songs, the experience can be … let’s say a little “chaotic” — to say nothing of the labels who are trying to use the app to market artists and being hopelessly stonewalled by the cryptic algorithm and ever-evolving tastes on the app.

However, that may soon change as TikTok launches SoundOn, a new tool designed to help independent artists find their way on the platform, with a music-specific dashboard offering analytics, marketing advice, and even a team of employees to help A&R collaborations among artists. Most importantly, SoundOn will also help artists get paid — both directly through the app and via DSPs. Artists who upload music directly through SoundOn would get paid similarly to how a record deal works but with a “flexible exit clause” to allow them to withdraw rights should they decide to actually sign to a label.

The beta test of the new service has already generated its first major success in Muni Long’s “Hrs & Hrs,” which hit more than 1 million video creations and 1.6 billion views of the song, driving it to No. 16 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, plans for the future include a creator marketplace that will help match TikTok-ers with promotional partners, again helping them generate revenue outside of the traditional label system. It’s certainly another interesting innovation that may spark the next, artist-friendly phase for the music industry.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Bob Dylan’s New Book, ‘The Philosophy Of The Modern Song,’ Will Be Out Later This Year

by
Bob Dylan Artwork Miami Exhibit
Getty Image

Bob Dylan is a very prolific songwriter, who has been releasing albums for longer than plenty other artists have even been alive. He’s racked up accolades like a Nobel Peace Prize, natch, and expanded well beyond music into painting and literature. Speaking of literature, Dylan announced that his next book is going to be out very soon. The Philosophy Of The Modern Song will be published via Simon & Schuster on November 8, 2022. This one seems to be a more straightforward music book than his previous work, Chronicles Volume One, which was a stream-of-consciousness style memoir that came out back in 2004.

According to a press release, this new book includes “over 60 essays focusing on songs by other artists” including the likes of Stephen Foster, Elvis Costello, Hank Williams and Nina Simone. Dylan reportedly started working on the book back in 2010, and the CEO of Simon & Schuster thinks it will be help unpack what songs mean to all of us. “The publication of Bob Dylan’s kaleidoscopically brilliant work will be an international celebration of songs by one of the greatest artists of our time,” Simon & Schuster’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Karp, said. “The Philosophy Of Modern Song could only have been written by Bob Dylan. His voice is unique, and his work conveys his deep appreciation and understanding of songs, the people who bring those songs to life, and what songs mean to all of us.”

Check out the book’s cover art below, and pre-order it here.

The Philosophy Of The Modern Song
Simon & Schuster

Mitski, The National, And The Roots Will Headline The 2022 Pitchfork Music Festival

by
Mitski 2019 Governors Ball
Getty Image / Nicholas Hunt

Pitchfork Music Festival will return to Union Park in Chicago this summer. Celebrating newcomers and veterans in the realm of indie music, Pitchfork Music Festival takes place over the course of three days, with over 60,000 fans expected to attend this year.

Festivities kick off Friday, July 15, with headliners The National, Spiritualized, and Parquet Courts. Supporting these headliners are Tierra Whack, Ethel Cain, Cupcakke and more. Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, and Lucy Dacus will take the stage Saturday, July 16, with support from Magdalena Bay, Chubby And The Gang, and more. Closing out the festival on Sunday, July 17 are The Roots, Toro Y Moi, And Earl Sweatshirt, along with the likes of Noname, Badbadnotgood, and Injury Reserve.

“This year’s lineup is a celebration of the rising indie class, and those who continue to pave the way for innovation,” said Pitchfork editor in chief Puja Patel in a press release. “Our goal was to highlight a diverse group of artists who are taking their musical genres to new heights, and I’m proud of how it’s come together.”

General on-sale begins Friday, March 11 at 10 a.m. Check out the full line-up below.

Pitchfork Music Festival Lineup 2022
Courtesy of Pitchfork Music Festival

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Leon Bridges Made A Surprise Appearance At Justin Bieber’s LA Show

by
Leon Bridges 2022 Homecoming Big Game Weekend
Getty Image

During the LA stop at his Justice World Tour last night, Justin Bieber brought out Leon Bridges for a surprise performance. The Fort Worth, Texas-native then proceeded to perform “River” from his 2015 debut album, Coming Home.

Bridges released his most recent album, Gold-Diggers Sound, last July, which featured prominent production by Ricky Reed. Last month, he teamed up with fellow Texas musical trio Khruangbin for a collaborative EP called Texas Moon.

“Being under ‘the machine,’ you kind of have to adhere to whatever the label’s ideas are or whatever producer you’re working with,“ Bridges said of the EP in our cover story last month. “And whenever I’m doing that it’s more polished, but it’s still a vibe. Although I think my collaboration with Khruangbin is really where my heart is. I love how raw our sound is.”

Last night’s LA show was the first of two shows Bieber has planned at Crypto.com Arena on his Justice World Tour, which will take the Grammy-nominated “Peaches” singer across North America through June. Bridges is set to kick off a tour next month in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before making apperances at Hangout Festival and Glastonbury this summer.

Bieber announced last month that he would partner with Propeller and Live Free to local and national social justice organizations, including the REFORM Alliance, National Resources Defense Council, Fund For Guaranteed Income, and Last Prisoner Project.

Machine Gun Kelly Made A Beat Out Of Ellen DeGeneres’ Famous ‘Finding Nemo’ Whale Noises On ‘Ellen’

by

Alongside hosting her own long-running talk show, perhaps the defining job of Ellen DeGeneres’ career is voicing Dory in the Finding Nemo movies. On today’s Ellen episode, Machine Gun Kelly was a guest and he brought those two DeGeneres worlds together by remixing one of DeGeneres’ most iconic Finding Nemo moments.

To wrap up the “Burning Questions” segment, the final prompt was “Do your best Finding Dory impression.” That was a set-up for something MGK had planned, which started with him pulling out a piece of music production hardware. He started by showing DeGeneres an audio sample he pre-loaded onto the machine, a clip of her Dory character making “whale noises.” From there, he reversed the sound and used it as the foundation for an instrumental beat, which left DeGeneres impressed.

Elsewhere during the segment, DeGeneres asked what boyband Kelly would want to perform at his wedding. He responded, “Which boyband am I going to know the most songs of? For sure, NSYNC. Which band do I surprisingly know all these facts about? BTS. […] I remember one time, I met them at the Billboard awards. They were, like, stoked to meet me. I think I have a better chance of getting BTS to come.”

Check out the segment above. Kelly also talked about his and Travis Barker’s tattoos, so check that out below.

Corey Taylor Of Slipknot Thinks Kanye West Is A ‘F*cking Moron’ For His ‘Donda 2’ Stem Player Release

by
kanye west stem player
Getty Image

Kanye West is one of the more outspoken artists in music today, but he’s far from the only one. One of his peers who has developed a bit of a reputation for picking fights with other musicians is Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, who has never been known to hold his tongue. He’s never been a fan of some of Kanye’s more outrageous stunts, either, vehemently refusing Kanye’s claim of being the world’s “greatest living rock star” in 2015. More recently, it seems Kanye has once again got Taylor’s goat, prompting him to thrash the recently-divorced rapper in an interview with Metro UK.

This time, he’s taking issue with Kanye’s Donda 2 release tactic of selling the album exclusively through his $200 stem player, which Taylor characterized as “pompous and ridiculous,” going so far as calling Kanye a “f*cking moron” over it. The stem player, which separates the music into four separate tracks or “stems,” allows fans to transform the music as it plays, controlling the volume on each track and allowing some degree of speed and sound reversing. To Taylor, this is akin to “releasing all the parts for a car and sending them to people’s houses and going there, you got a free car, now you’ve got to figure out how to build the goddamn thing.”

Contrary to Taylor’s comments, the album is pre-downloaded in full and the touch controls merely allow fans to play around with how each song plays — i.e., lowering drums or vocals (my personal favorite use for it so far). Although his words suggest a slight misunderstanding of how the stem player works, Taylor’s got another point as well. “You’re assuming that the audience has the access and same technology that you have but you’re a f**king moron for doing that. Are you serious? It doesn’t work that way. The thinking that that’s a smart thing to do just shows you how convoluted and off the f**king property Kanye West really is.”

“When you’ve got that much money and that much people around you telling you exactly what you want to hear, your concept of reality just goes right out the f*cking window,” he continued. “People can’t afford their f*cking apartments for f*ck’s sake. It’s not right. It’s just so pompous and ridiculous.” He’s kind of got a point there; as fans have already programmed emulators to get around having to buy the players. Even Nipsey Hussle still kept his $100 mixtape, Crenshaw, free to stream while also running his “proud to pay” campaign, and he offered value besides periodic patches of an unfinished project. And while Kanye claims that the stem player returns profits and control back to artists, he has yet to demonstrate how the $200 devices really benefit anyone other than himself.

Glastonbury Announces Its 2022 Lineup With Headliners Paul McCartney And Kendrick Lamar

by
Kendrick Lamar Austin City Limits
Getty Image

When it comes to Europe’s summer festivals, Glastonbury is the grandaddy of them all. Think Coachella, but bigger and across five days. Now Glastonbury has finally announced the long-awaited lineup for the June 22nd to 26th affair, and the festival also cemented the headlining slate with Kendrick Lamar and Paul McCartney.

McCartney and Lamar will be playing the grandiose Pyramid Stage, along with a previously announced performance from Billie Eilish. We’ll go ahead and take the Pepsi challenge on these headliners, because can this really be topped? Taking place at Worthy Farm in Pilson, Somerset, England for the first time since 2019, the camping festival had already been sold out before the lineup was ever announced. It’s a testament to the cultural significance of this massive gathering and the lineup is positively bonkers.

Also on the bill are legendary diva Diana Ross; pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo; Mercury Prize winner Arlo Parks; jazz fusion legend Herbie Hancock; Oasis leader Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds; a TLC reunion; indie-pop queens Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, and St. Vincent; Little Simz headlining the smaller West Holts Stage; and a whole lot more. Glastonbury says that there’s still more artists to be announced, including more headlining and emerging acts.

Check out the full lineup poster above and visit the Glastonbury website for complete details on the fest, lineup, and a final ticket pre-sale opportunity.