| Godfather of Funk or whatever. I tell myself that s*** in the bathroom. So when I finish patting myself on the back, I flush the toilet and leave that s*** in there. |
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| On camera: Lainey Wilson at CMA Fest, Nashville, June 9, 2022. "Bell Bottom Country" is out Friday on BBR. |
| (Danielle Del Valle/Getty Images) |
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| quote of the day |
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“Godfather of Funk or whatever. I tell myself that s*** in the bathroom. So when I finish patting myself on the back, I flush the toilet and leave that s*** in there.”
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- George Clinton
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| rantnrave:// |
Release Now Mix Later
So many ways to set up and roll out an album in this third decade of this 21st century. You can spend weeks revealing song titles with bingo balls and lyrics via billboards. You can produce video trailers or write letters to your fans. You can do a thousand interviews. You can—and this would seem to be some kind of minimum requirement—actually finish the album.
Or, you can not. DRAKE and 21 SAVAGE announced their joint album HER LOSS on Saturday, i.e. five days ago, via a wall of text in the middle of a video for a song from Drake’s most recent album. They revealed it would be out six days hence, i.e. tomorrow. If Hits Daily Double’s sources are to be believed, this was a surprise to executives at Drake’s label, Republic, which only a day earlier had released the new album by Drake’s superstar labelmate Taylor Swift, she of the bingo balls and billboards and, it’s believed, around 1.5 million units worth of first week sales and streaming. “A lively showdown between two stars who’ve found very different ways to rule the marketplace” appeared to be in the making, Hits said, somewhat archly. But then on Wednesday night, less than 30 hours ahead of release day, Drake used his Instagram Stories to announce the album has been delayed because producer NOAH “40” SHEBIB “got COVID while mixing and mastering the crack so he's resting up."
Which is to say, as recently as yesterday Noah “40” Shebib (get well soon!) was still mixing, never mind mastering, a major pop album that was supposed to come out at midnight tonight. Drake and 21 Savage certainly aren’t the first to cram a release date, but this is really, really, really cramming. What’s the current absolute deadline for getting an album to streaming services for a midnight Friday release? What’s the current standard for considering an album finished? Does it really need to be mastered? Does it need to be mixed? Two years ago, I registered astonishment at CONWAY THE MACHINE releasing an album with a lyrical reference to a basketball game that had taken place 19 days earlier. That seems quaint now. How long until we have albums released on Friday with spoilers from Thursday night’s episode of ALASKA DAILY?
Drake and 21 Savage say next Friday, Nov. 4, is the new release day, for what it’s worth. It’s going to be a good fall for Republic Records.
It’s Thursday
And I’ll be traveling and taking tomorrow off—you might see a special edition of MusicREDEF featuring a very special guest rantnraver—so here’s what’s coming up on Friday, all of these presumably mixed and mastered:
Producer FRED AGAIN.., whose clients include Ed Sheeran and BTS, returns to his own music with ACTUAL LIFE 3 (JANUARY 1—SEPTEMBER 9, 2022), a dance album built in part on ambient drones provided by his mentor, Brian Eno, and samples collected from his phone and social feeds. “I’ve actually never heard anything quite like this before,” Eno told the New York Times.... CMA darling LAINEY WILSON showcases a throwback downhome country voice, but with deep grooves and “instrumental exploration,” on her fourth album, BELL BOTTOM COUNTRY... Mexican singer/songwriter NATALIA LAFOURCADE, who has a penchant for "processing darkness until it sprouts rays of light,” wrote her first album of all original material in seven years, DE TODAS LAS FLORES, in the shadow of a breakup. It’s a throwback recording, using analog tape and no click tracks... Experimental Zambian-Canadian rapper BACKXWASH wrestles with religion and an unpleasant childhood on HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING, whose title is taken from a horror movie.
Plus: albums from Smino, Babytron, Nosaj Thing, Dram, Yung Gravy, Benjamin Clementine, Molly Joyce, Dead Cross, Darkthrone, Show Me the Body, Fit for a King, Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp, Emmet Cohen, Trevor Dunn’s Trio-Convulsant, Candy Dulfer, Theo Parrish (DJ Kicks mix honoring the music of Detroit), Carl Cox, Dapz on the Map, Marlowe, Cakes Da Killa, Drugdealer, Sobs, Julie Roberts, Emily Scott Robinson, Trampled by Turtles, Giovannie and the Hired Guns, Honey Harper, Gabe Lee, Lee Fields, Luke Haines & Peter Buck, Sea Moss, Hammered Hulls, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Dorian Concept, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Junior Boys, Aoife Nessa Frances, Yesterdayneverhappened, Martha, Abraxas... And a remixed, box set version of the Beatles’ best album.
Rest in Peace
British DJ/producer MIGHTY MOUSE... Singer PAUL STODDARD of Boston metal band Diecast.
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| - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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Variety |
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| It’s Not Just ‘Exhaustion’: Why Mental Health Is Finally a Priority for Music Artists |
| By Ryan Dusick |
| I used to think pop stars who canceled tours "due to exhaustion" were just being divas, or worse-yet, downplaying a major drug or alcohol problem... until I suffered a breakdown on tour that effectively ended my career as a performing musician and sent me into a tailspin of depression, anxiety and alcoholism that lasted a decade. |
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Los Angeles Times |
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| The Great American Novelty |
| By Alex Pappademas |
| On the eve of his delightful sorta-fake, sorta-not biopic, 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,' we reflect on the comic genius of the world accordion to Al. |
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The New York Times |
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| What Is the Future of Kanye West’s Music? |
| By Joe Coscarelli and Ben Sisario |
| As corporate partners cut ties with the artist now known as Ye following weeks of antisemitic statements, many wonder if the recording catalog that was his bedrock will withstand the backlash. |
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HITS Daily Double |
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| Why Allen Grubman's RRHOF Induction Should Be Applauded |
| There’s been considerable chatter over stories in Penske-owned trade publications regarding former Rolling Stone chief Jann Wenner’s opposition to superattorney Allen Grubman’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which Wenner formerly led, and Grubman’s selection as recipient of the Hall’s Ahmet Ertegun Award. |
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Chicago Reader |
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| How punk adopted the Godfather of Gore |
| By Leor Galil |
| Herschell Gordon Lewis invented the modern splatter film with "Blood Feast"—and he’s inspired two thousand rock ’n’ roll maniacs. |
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| what we're into |
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| Music of the day |
| “Kammy (like i do)” |
| Fred again.. |
| From "Actual Life 3 (January 1—September 9, 2022)," out Friday on Again.. |
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| Music | Media |
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| “REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’” |
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