pitchfork.com - 1 532 Showbiz News and Updates

After testing positive for COVID-19, YNW Melly requested his release from Broward County Jail in Florida. A judge has now denied his request for release, TMZ reports.

Fuck it, mask off!

Today, April 14, Kelly Moran has shared a cover of Aphex Twin’s “Avril 14th”—the classic instrumental from 2001’s Drukqs that Kanye West later sampled on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’s “Blame Game.” Watch Moran’s piano cover below. Scroll down for Aphex’s original and a celebratory photo from Moran.

Pitchfork is pleased to announce that Soccer Mommy will play a stay-at-home concert that will broadcast live on Instagram this Wednesday, April 15, at 2 p.m. Eastern. You can tune in at Pitchfork’s Instagram.

Elvis Costello has written a lengthy tribute to the late John Prine. “My own introduction [to John Prine] was via an Atlantic Record single plucked out of a discount bin of 45rpm records on the counter of Rushworth and Dreaper in Liverpool,” Costello wrote in his essay, which exceeds 2,600 words. He continued:

Bruce Springsteen, SZA, Bon Jovi, Halsey, and more artists will perform a benefit concert for the state of New Jersey to support its Pandemic Relief Fund. Organized with the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund (NJPRF), the at-home performances will be broadcast on local television, radio, and online via Apple Music and E Street Radio on SiriusXM. Other performers include Tony Bennett, Charlie Puth, Chelsea Handler, and more.

Kodie Shane has shared a song with Lil Uzi Vert called “I’m So Gone.” As HotNewHipHop the two rappers have teased the track for a number of years. Listen to “I’m So Gone” below.

Kevin Morby and Waxahatchee are the latest musicians to appear on NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concert” series, filming from Morby’s home in Kansas City. They played four songs: two off Katie Crutchfield’s recent record Saint Cloud, (“Fire” and “Lilacs” ), Morby’s 2016 track “Beautiful Strangers,” and a cover of Songs: Ohia’s “Farewell Transmission.” Watch the video below.

Amnesia Scanner—the Berlin-based duo of Ville Haimala and Martti Kalliala—are back with a new album. It’s called Tearless and it’s set to arrive on June 5 via PAN. Listen to “AS Going” from the LP below. The new album, which follows up their 2018 full-length Another Life, features Lalita, Code Orange, and LYZZA.

The Wonders, the fictional band from the 1996 Tom Hanks movie That Thing You Do!, are reuniting for a benefit livestream. The show will broadcast on YouTube this Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m. Eastern. All four members of the band, as well as co-star Liv Tyler, will provide commentary. Find an announcement from Ethan Embry (who portrayed bassist T.B. Player) below.

Arcade Fire’s Win Butler has shared a handwritten update with fans, saying “work is flowing” on the follow-up to Everything Now. Although the record will be out “eventually, not soon,” Butler says “writing has intensified” during coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown. “We had been exploring a lot of lyrical and musical themes that feel almost eerily related to what is happening now,” he adds, alluding to a song called “Age of Anxiety.” Read the letter below.

Kid Cudi has shared a brand new track called “Leader of the Delinquents.” Cudi teased a clip of the song during an Instagram Live session on April 10. Hear the single below (via Republic).

The documentary about Other Music, the beloved New York City record store that closed in 2016, will be released through “virtual screenings” this week. The film was originally slated for a theatrical opening on April 18 and a physical release the same day for the since-postponed Record Store Day.

The staff of Pitchfork listens to a lot of new music. A lot of it.

The Streets are back. The UK rap project, led by Mike Skinner, have returned with a new Tame Impala collaboration called “Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better.” It’s the first song to be released from Skinner’s forthcoming mixtape None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive—out July 10 via Island. The tape marks the Streets’ first full-length since 2011’s Computers and Blues. Check out the video for the new track below.

Pitchfork Book Club highlights today’s best new music books.

Bob Nanna, best known as the frontman of Braid and Hey Mercedes, has announced his first solo full-length under his own name. The album is called Celebration States and it’s out July 10 (via New Granada). The record includes last year’s “Do You Want to Buy a Guitar?” and a new track called “Mr. Albatross.” Hear both songs below (via Alternative Press).

With music fans responsibly self-isolating and social distancing and venues on lockdown, artists are finding creative ways to navigate the coronavirus outbreak and its profound impact on the entertainment industries. To help you keep track, Pitchfork is rounding up a daily slate of concert streams, digital gatherings, community support efforts, and other endeavors artists are undertaking to support everyone’s wellness.

Pure X—the trio of Nate Grace, Jesse Jenkins V, and Austin Youngblood—has announced their first new album in six years. The band’s self-titled fourth album arrives May 1 via Fire Talk, with a physical release to follow on July 3. The announcement comes with two new songs, “Middle America” and “Fantasy.” Check those out below.

A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip has announced three upcoming albums. In a video posted on his Instagram account on April 10 (also his 50th birthday), Q-Tip sat playing a bass riff as text appeared announcing three titles: Algorhythms, Riot Diaries, and The Last Zulu. Q-Tip also wrote: “Thank u god willing I will get with u soon” at the end of the video. Find his full post below.

Real Estate have launched the “Quarantour,” an augmented reality concert experience that fans can experience on their mobile devices. “You’ll be able to transform the self-isolated space of your choice into a venue you can walk around in, complete with all five band members, stage/light/sound rigs, witty banter, and even an encore,” reads a press release. Watch a demo below and check it out the “Quarantour” on iPhone or Android here.

John Prine died on April 7 of COVID-19 complications. He was 73. Tributes have been pouring in from the music world in the days following his passing. Today (April 12), Roger Waters of Pink Floyd shared a cover of “Paradise” from Prine’s debut self-titled album. “Miss you, brother,” Waters said. Watch it happen below.

Film, TV, and music producer Hal Willner died at age 64 this week with symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Willner was a long-time producer of Saturday Night Live’s music sketches and produced records for Lou Reed. In a tribute to their late colleague, several stars from SNL’s history paid tribute to Willner by singing the chorus of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day.” Watch it happen below.

This week’s episode of Saturday Night Live was entirely remote, with cast members broadcasting from their homes and a special appearance from host Tom Hanks. Coldplay’s Chris Martin served as the musical guest for the episode, offering up a cover of the Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks classic “Shelter From the Storm.” Watch it happen below.

Pete Davidson share a video for a song called “Drake Song” on this week’s self-isolated episode of Saturday Night Live. It’s Davidson’s approximation of what happens in a Drake song. (“I miss my ex,” “No. 1 on the Billboard”). Davidson also did a rap song about the music video trope of waving money around. In this case, he has $2,000. That one’s called “Andre 2000.” Watch Davidson’s videos below.

Sturgill Simspon has tested positive for COVID-19, as the singer revealed via a post to his Instagram account earlier today. Simpson said he first sought medical attention on March 13, when he began to experience “chest pains, fever, and pre-stroke blood pressure levels,” but was unable to be tested for coronavirus until April 6. He says he received the results from the Nashville CDC on April 10.

Bonnie Raitt has shared a new video paying tribute to the late John Prine, who passed away on April 8 from COVID-19 complications. In the video, Raitt performs “Home,” originally written by Karla Bonoff and covered by Raitt on her 1977 album Sweet Forgiveness.

Caroline Polachek has released the instrumentals for her most recent album Pang. You can purchase them over on her Bandcamp page. Check out the alternate cover artwork for the new instrumental album below.

Travis Nelsen, longtime drummer in Austin indie rock group Okkervil River, has died. Okkervil River announced the news in a statement on their Instagram account on April 9. “Travis Nelsen, Okkervil River’s drummer from 2003-2010, passed away on Tuesday,” the band wrote. “He was a radiant, hilarious, charismatic, generous, passionate human being with a heart that was completely open.” Find Okkervil River’s full statement below.

Lana Del Rey has shared new details about her forthcoming spoken word album, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass, revealing the album’s cover artwork on Instagram earlier today. Erika Lee Sears illustrated the cover for the “audiobook of poems,” which will also feature music by Jack Antonoff. Check out the announcement below. An official release date has not yet been announced.