Myspace loses 50 million songs

We have a special place in our hearts for Myspace. It wasn’t the original social network, but it was the first to reach mass appeal and was a big part of what helped Metal Injection succeed in the early days, in terms of promotion.

Hope you had a backup: Myspace has confirmed losing data for 50 million songs uploaded to the platform between 2003 and 2015. Also in the news today: remembering Dick Dale, Shawn Mendes cleans up at the Junos, Neil Finn leaves social media in wake of Christchurch, Sam Smith comes out as genderqueer, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers play a very obvious cover at the Great Pyramids of Giza. Music in today’s episode: Jahzzar – “Comedie” (CC BY 4.0); BoxCat Games – “Against the Wall” (CC BY 3.0); Sean Mendes – “In My Blood”; Sam Smith, Normani – “Dancing With a Stranger” (Cheat Codes remix); Dick Dale and his Del-Tones – “Misirlou”; Lily Allen – “Alfie”; Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Pyramid Song” (Radiohead cover); Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Give It Away”

“As a result of a server migration project, any photos, videos, and audio files you uploaded more than three years ago may no longer be available on or from Myspace,” the statement says.

Moody summer vibes on Lana Del Rey’s new single

If you were lucky enough to attend Coachella over the weekend, she debuted the track in full Sunday night.

Do you know what time it is ninjas? It’s time for another Lana Del Rey remix to make those moody Mondays not so moody. We know, Lana is pretty much the Adele of 2014, but we don’t see her fading off anytime soon because a) Lana has fiery redhair (biased) and b) her eerie, sadgirl music makes it more fun for producers to spice things up a bit. Today we are stoked to give you the latest House hit by NYC/LA producers, Hotel Garuda, with their stellar take on Lana’s “Ultraviolence”.

The moment we pressed play, we found ourselves falling down the rabbit hole into a place where we were instantly seduced by 90’s synths, beachy basslines, and Lana’s flawless voice. Hotel Garuda turned this classic song into something truly extraordinary and we can’t seem to stop listening. If anything, we think this remix is symbolic to that of a siren in which we are sent into an elusive trance and we haven’t yet snapped out of it. These guys definitely know how to enchant their listeners – maybe too well…

Doom and gloom goddess Lana Del Rey has dropped her new song ‘West Coast,’ the first single from her much-anticipated ‘Ultraviolence’ album. While the record has no firm or concrete release date that we know of, this is the first audio treat from the album and hell yes, we’re feeling it.

The song is moody and melancholic, which is what we’ve come to expect from LDR, thanks to that kittenish voice and the noir-esque sonics that define the song. That’s her M.O. and she certainly revisits the formula with her new material.

Grandmaster Flash wins Polar Music Prize

“It is such an honour because a lot of times in our culture, what we do as DJs gets overlooked.”

A pioneer of hip-hop, a violin virtuoso and a street music charity are the winners of the 2019 Polar Prize, the prestigious Swedish music equivalent of the Nobel prize. Joseph Saddler, aka Grandmaster Flash, the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and The Playing For Change Foundation, will receive their awards from the Swedish king in Stockholm in June.

The winners will each receive one million Swedish kronor (95,700 euros, $108,000) at a gala in Stockholm on June 11 in the presence of King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Grandmaster Flash, whose real name is Joseph Saddler, is best known for his 1982 hit “The Message” about inner city violence, drugs, and poverty, and for developing DJ techniques such as scratching, backspinning and punch phrasing.

Grandmaster Flash, who with his Furious Five group were the first hip hop act inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, said in a statement that winning the Polar Music Prize was “such an honor, because a lot of times in our culture, what we do as DJs gets overlooked”.

80s one-hit wonders team up for tour

What do A Flock of Seagulls, the Escape Club, Missing Persons, the Motels, John Parr, and the Vapors have in common? They were all popular in the ’80s, and you could call them all one-hit wonders — even if that’s not entirely fair, because let’s not forget A Flock of Seagulls had three top 40 hits. They’re also all heading out on tour together. The Love ’80s Live Tour kicks off Aug. 2 on Coney Island, then runs for a dozen more dates, some of which will also feature Bow Wow Wow and Wang Chung. It’s safe to say, everybody will have fun. (Rolling Stone)

Black Star’s coming back

Yasiin Bey — previously known as Mos Def — says that he’s teaming up with Talib Kweli for a second collaborative album as Black Star. The first Black Star album, released in 1998, was critically acclaimed; although the duo have occasionally worked together in the years since, fans have now been waiting over two decades for a follow-up. Yasiin Bey made the announcement during a DJ set by Madlib, who’s also working on the album. He says the new LP is “coming soon.” (Hip-Hop DX)

Saddler was a founder member of Grandmaster Flash and the 3 MCs whose 1981 single, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, is the first documented incident of scratching on a record.

“It is such an honour because a lot of times in our culture, what we do as DJs gets overlooked,” said Saddler, reacting to news of the win.

“So for these people to say, ‘Let’s give this to someone who doesn’t necessarily use a microphone as their gift’, for me to be picked out of so many people, I am so, so deeply honoured.”

“It is a huge honor to be in this illustrious group of musicians who have received the Polar Music Prize,” Anne-Sophie Mutter, the German violinist said. From a small village in the Black Forest, Mutter auditioned for Herbert von Karajan at 13 years-old, playing with him and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra the following year, and debuting with the New York Philharmonic at just 17 years of age. In March, she will perform the world premieres of Unsuk Chin’s Gran Cadenza for Two Violins and Sebastian Currier’s Ghost Trio at Carnegie Hall.

New releases from Amanda Palmer, Stella Donnelly

“A lot of the themes on the record are about being alone and facing the slings and arrows of existence. I write about abortion, I write about motherhood, I write about miscarriage. It’s not an easy record.”

On March 1, the Geelong Women Unionists Network kicked off a week of International Women’s Day celebrations in Victoria. A week later, on the day itself, acclaimed U.S. singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer released her “hyper-personal, accidentally feminist, extremely direct” new album. Describing it, she said: “My personal life unfolded, along with abortion, and facing off with the world as a mother, right alongside the rise of [US President Donald] Trump and the extreme right in America. And it made telling the truth feel essential. I think it’s the sharpest, most effective political tool we wield right now, as women.

Amanda Palmer is constantly busy with one project or another, but she hasn’t released a proper solo album in seven years until now. There Will Be No Intermission is her third proper solo album ever, and it follows 2012’s Theatre Is Evil, which Amanda made with the Grand Theft Orchestra. It’s also a much different sounding album than the rock-oriented Theatre Is Evil. The songs on There Will Be No Intermission are more somber, often with just Amanda and her piano or Amanda and her ukulele, and the stripped-back arrangements help put Amanda’s lyrics — which are especially powerful on this album — in the forefront. In Amanda’s words, “The rise of global fascism alongside the spreading fire of #MeToo has forged a louder megaphone for all women, and we’re all seeing that radical truth is infectious. I feel more urgency than ever to share the naked truth of my experiences.

Stella Donnelly: Beware of the Dogs

If you’ve known someone who’s ever seen Stella Donnelly live — at one of the festival appearances on her busy schedule, maybe, or opening for an artist like Natalie Prass — you’ve known someone who’s told you you’ve got to listen to Stella Donnelly. Her debut EP Thrush Metal (2018) was full of quietly searing accounts of her life as a young Australian woman, and she’s getting a little bit louder with her first full-length. Donnelly has built a band for her first international headlining tour, and Beware of the Dogs hums with the lacerating lyrics and loping rhythms of songs like “Tricks.” (Jay)

Between Amanda Palmer’s latest and this debut album from Australia’s Stella Donnelly, it’s a good week for albums that resonate in the #MeToo era. Beware of the Dogs takes its sonic cues from twee-ish indie pop, but there is nothing lighthearted about this album lyrically. She issues warnings like “Are you scared of me old man? Or are you scared of what I’ll do? You grabbed me with an open hand, the world is grabbing back at you” (“Old Man”), she sings bluntly about rape and victim-blaming (“Boys Will Be Boys”), she discusses those awkward political debates with conservative relatives during the holidays (“Season’s Greetings”), she tackles everyday sexism (“Tricks”) and religion-based sexism (“Watching Telly”), and she sings proudly and unsubtly about a vibrator (“Mosquito”).

Ellie Goulding covers the Weeknd

“I didn’t necessarily think about the context… I just really love the way [The Weeknd] sings in this song,” said Goulding. “It’s very meaningful and very heartfelt.”

 

Three years after Ellie Goulding and The Weeknd scored smash hits from the Fifty Shades soundtrack (“Love Me Like You Do” and “Earned It,” respectively), the former artist has paid tribute to the latter with a cover that’s appropriately all hot and bothered.

While visiting BBC Radio 1’s famed Live Lounge on Wednesday (November 28), Goulding delivered a faithful performance of The Weeknd’s most recent single, “Call Out My Name.” Like Abel’s original version, the cover packs a ton of emotion and intensity into just four minutes — so much so, that when Goulding was done, she admitted, “I’m hot, I’m hot… in temperature!”

And for an extra dose of satisfaction, Goulding even snuck in a bit of Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” in the song’s final moments. “It’s quite sexy, I think,” she admitted — and we’d have to agree.