Music news

• ASCAP settles with U.S. over music licensing

  12-05-2016 23:11
  By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, better known as the music licensing firm ASCAP, agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle a Justice Department charge that it blocked members from independently licensing their songs, the department said on Thursday. ASCAP said that the settlement would allow it to press on with talks with the department over how to amend a decades-old consent decree that governs how songwriters are paid. Under the settl
  
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• The Stone Roses: All For One review – lacking the stardust of the band's peak

  12-05-2016 22:09
  
  The Manchester band’s first music in 21 years will please the faithful, but those who crave the group’s true magic are unlikely to feel fulfilled The message from the band wasn’t exactly overflowing with detail: “The Stone Roses will release a new single tonight at 8pm,” it said. Well, they always could be a bit terse.Yet it said enough. After the Twitter rumours, the snaps of band members hurriedly entering Paul Epworth’s north London recording studio and a s
  
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• The Stone Roses have released their first new music in more than two DECADES

  12-05-2016 22:04
  
  New single All For One precedes a number of live shows this summer.
  
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• Jessy Lanza: Oh No review – wonky pop, peak danceability

  12-05-2016 22:00
  
  (Hyperdub)When Canada’s Jessy Lanza debuted with 2013’s Pull My Hair Back, she was pigeonholed as one of the “future R&B” artists mixing up 90s sounds with new electronics. Understandably, she and co-producer/partner Jeremy Greenspan have made a run for it on second album Oh No and a wider – and weirder – range of influences, from Yellow Magic Orchestra and J-pop to Chicago footwork and New Orleans bounce, shine through their wonky pop prism. Lanza’s
  
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• Twin Peaks: Down in Heaven review – exuberant garage rock refuses to grow up

  12-05-2016 21:45
  
  (Communion)Garage rock has long been affixed to adolescence. Not only was its raucous sound supposedly hammered out in the outbuildings of parental residences, but it was also founded during pop’s own coming of age. This third album by Chicago band Twin Peaks shows it’s a genre that continues to bristle with frustrated feeling and arrested development. On Cold Lips, childishly cruel character assassinations (“All there is in you is an absence of space”) are croaked over s
  
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• Stone Roses Release First New Music Since 1995

  12-05-2016 21:45
  
  Indie band The Stone Roses have released their first new music for 21 years - a track called All For One. It premiered on several British radio stations and was announced simultaneously on the band's Twitter feed with the link to iTunes.
  
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• Corinne Bailey Rae: The Heart Speaks in Whispers review – sweet, smooth soul

  12-05-2016 21:45
  
  (Virgin)Corinne Bailey Rae’s last album, 2010’s The Sea, was a grief-stricken affair that dealt with the death of her first husband. Time has been a healer, and this follow-up documents the storm breaking and light emerging into Bailey Rae’s life and lyrics: “Like seeing the sun again, after years of pouring rain,” she sings on standout track Caramel. Bailey Rae’s adoration of classic soul can be both a blessing and a curse. Do You Ever Think of Me, with its s
  
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• Kygo: Cloud Nine review – tropical house by committee

  12-05-2016 21:30
  
  (Sony)Norwegian producer Kygo has accrued more than a billion streams on Spotify ahead of his debut LP, partly via irresistible banger Firestone – the urtext for tropical house. This success has secured a lobotomised brains trust of neo-MOR singers, weaving grimly competent songwriting through Kygo’s catchy backings, where flutes and pianos form neatly resolving ringtones. Tom Odell gives Fiction some bright falsetto, but is torpedoed by a ghastly honky-tonk melody ripped from Avicii
  
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• Meghan Trainor: Thank You review – dance pop hurtles into romantic mush

  12-05-2016 21:15
  
  (Sony)After the mega-selling All About That Bass, Meghan Trainor’s second major-label album is supposedly influenced by Elvis, Aretha Franklin and, er, Olly Murs. One can imagine the King purring the acoustic Just a Friend in one of his bad films, but there’s lots of trademark Trainor: butt-wobbling, retro R&B and ostensible female-empowerment anthems that on closer inspection pander to the male gaze. In Woman Up – a reworking of Ashley Roberts’ 2014 flop, by the same
  
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• Readers recommend: share your songs about power

  12-05-2016 21:00
  
  Share your recommendations in the comments and our reader will pick the best eligible songs in a playlist next week
  This week we want to hear your songs on the theme of power. Interpret and extrapolate how you will – be it the lyrics, the music or song’s title and whether you see brute force or political influence – and post your nomination in the comments. Related: Readers recommend playlist: songs about sinnersContinue reading...
  
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• Hatebreed: The Concrete Confessional review – vital, ferocious heavy music

  12-05-2016 21:00
  
  (Nuclear Blast)Having walked a straight and narrow musical path for 22 years, Hatebreed might reasonably expect to find that their brutish metallic hardcore formula has succumbed to the law of diminishing returns. There must be, one assumes, only so many ways to bellow motivational slogans and snarling threats over crunching, low-slung riffs before the whole scowling shebang starts to wear thin. But as they have consistently proved over the past two decades, Jamey Jasta and crew are an irresisti
  
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• Yak: Alas Salvation review – a force of nature

  12-05-2016 20:45
  
  (Octopus Electrical)It can sometimes be hard to feel optimistic about rowdy, new guitar music. So much sounds grubby and calculated, grabbing at the receding coat-tails of past fads. And then you come across a band like Yak, a three-piece whose live shows are a force of nature, and whose debut album is barely less than that. Credit must go to producer Steve Mackey, who captures the sense of a band whose instruments sound almost as if they’re playing themselves. Everything’s in the re
  
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• Todd Snider finds Rest in Chaos: 'When I take hallucinogens it’s usually for work'

  12-05-2016 20:43
  
  The alternative country star has a new psychedelic jam band, Hard Working Americans – and he’s still retained the respect of Nashville’s old guardLong before Jack White and the Black Keys hit Nashville, Todd Snider was a one-man alternative in music city, releasing his debut album Songs for the Daily Planet in 1994. Since then he has carved out his own niche as a storyteller with a wit to rival John Prine, the folk heart of early Bob Dylan and the ragged glory of the Rolling St
  
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• Timberlake on acting and music producing for 'Trolls'

  12-05-2016 20:34
  Singer Justin Timberlake says working on upcoming animation "Trolls" became "like an embarrassment of riches" as he was able to combine his acting and music skills as well as go to work everyday at a location close to his family. The film, set for release in November, sees Timberlake playing cynical troll Branch, an outsider in an overly happy world of trolls. Timberlake also served as executive producer on the film's soundtrack, mixing original compositions with mashups of classics songs.
  
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• Oscar: Cut and Paste review – fay Britpop with glorious melodies

  12-05-2016 20:30
  
  (Wichita)Oscar Scheller is armed with heart-throb looks and sugary hooks. If it wasn’t for Oscar Pistorius and the Academy Awards rendering his name ungoogleable, not to mention the difficulty of staying afloat as an independent act in 2016, the London crooner’s career would seem preordained. His debut album belligerently establishes this art school boho’s fey Britpop status: he pummels his songs with dandyish imagery, an adversity to laddishness (“Tell me who I should su
  
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• Joe Driscoll and Sekou Kouyate: Monistic Theory review – fusion with crossover potential

  12-05-2016 20:15
  
  (Cumbancha) Six years ago, the American guitarist, rapper and singer-songwriter Joe Driscoll first teamed up with Sekou Kouyate, one of the finest kora players in west Africa, at a music festival in France. They are still together, after playing hundreds of shows around the world, and creating a confident, engaging fusion of their very different styles. Their second album is a classy, easygoing affair, with Kouyate’s exquisite kora work and fine, soulful vocals in the Susu language matched
  
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• Eagulls: Ullages review – a headlong plunge into 80s angst-rock

  12-05-2016 20:15
  
  (Partisan Records) Related: Eagulls: Eagulls review – exciting times for British guitar music The sound of Ullages (an anagram of Eagulls’ name) is bigger and more expansive than the Leeds five-piece’s 2014 debut, but there are fewer catchy tunes. It lacks the urgency, or those moments on the edge of hysteria that were honed from playing the songs live. Instead, Eagulls have plunged headlong into the 80s angst-rock of the Cure and the Chameleons. Guitars are drenched in reverb,
  
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• Macklemore and Ryan Lewis: ‘Systemic racism isn’t going to get clicks’

  12-05-2016 20:07
  
  Unrest in Ferguson led the duo to question their role in hip-hop. The result was White Privilege II, an examination of how white people view race. Will the pair’s soul-searching make fans assess their place in society, too?The first sound recorded during this interview with Ben “Macklemore” Haggerty and Ryan Lewis tells you a lot about where their heads are right now. Before a word has been spoken, Haggerty lets out a cavernous yawn, one that threatens never to end. “Tire
  
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• 'Really patriotic' former Westlife singer Nicky Byrne reveals Eurovision nerves

  12-05-2016 19:36
  
  Former Westlife singer Nicky Byrne has his fingers crossed for a Eurovision Song Contest win, backing his Irish entry Sunlight as the "perfect track".
  
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• Margo Price: ‘Country music is about divorce, drinking and jail’

  12-05-2016 19:13
  
  The outlaw Nashville singer worried she’d be singing to empty bars her whole life until Jack White heard the songs on Midwest Farmer’s DaughterA new sticker has appeared on the back of the Third Man Records minivan, which is blocking the driveway of Margo Price’s home in Inglewood, East Nashville: “You puke, you pay!”“I don’t know if it’s for us or another band,” the 33-year-old singer says, before apologising profusely. She drove back from a
  
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• Chloe Moretz Reveals Her Older Brothers Approve Of Boyfriend Brooklyn Beckham

  12-05-2016 18:29
  But it took a while.
  
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• Nafe Smallz Drops The Dopest Remix For ‘Smokin’ Featuring Chip & Black The Ripper

  12-05-2016 18:17
  The visuals for the track were done by Kevin Hudson, and he’s created a real dreamy, chilled atmosphere. And just in case you didn’t realise what the track was about, the huge spliffs, smoke and piles of weed throughout the video will definitely bring you up to speed real quick…
  
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• You Need To Hear Anna Kendrick & Justin Timberlake's Beautiful Rendition Of 'True Colours'

  12-05-2016 17:18
  
  Crying.
  
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• Kylie Jenner And Tyga ‘Split’ After Almost Two Years Together

  12-05-2016 16:59
  
  OH GAHD.
  
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• Catfish's Nev Schulman Announces He's Expecting A Baby Girl With Girlfriend Laura Perlongo

  12-05-2016 16:47
  
  Ngl, this baby is going to know everything there is to know about fake dating profiles…
  
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• Nadine Koutcher review – impressive technique, delicacy and drama

  12-05-2016 16:31
  
  Middle Temple Hall, London
  The Cardiff Singer of the World moved fluently between Liszt, Berg, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov in a confident London recital debutLast June Nadine Koutcher took the 2015 Cardiff Singer of the World title by storm. Now, nearly a year on, the Temple Music Foundation pulled off the notable coup of presenting her London recital debut in Middle Temple Hall, with its artistic director Julius Drake as her considerable accompanist. Related: BBC Cardiff Singer of the World rev
  
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• Stone Roses To Release New Music After 22 Years

  12-05-2016 16:19
  
  The Stone Roses have announced they will release their first new music in more than 20 years tonight at 8pm. The band, who are due to play gigs in their home city Manchester, as well as music festival T in the Park and New York's Madison Square Garden later this year, have not released new material since their album The Second Coming in 1994. A spokeswoman for the band would not give any further details on the single, including how or in what format the single will be released.
  
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• This Naked Photo Of Olly Murs Will Make Your Heart Skip A Beat

  12-05-2016 16:17
  
  Sorry for the pun.
  
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• Adelson e Salvini - a curious and uneven Bellini rarity, beautifully performed

  12-05-2016 16:09
  
  Barbican, London
  Opera Rara’s excellent singers complemented outstanding playing from the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Daniele RustioniBellini’s Adelson e Salvini dates from 1825. It was his first opera, written for a student cast at the Naples Conservatory, where Bellini himself, aged only 24, was a star pupil in his final year in composition class. It was popular during its opening run and got him noticed, but it was soon eclipsed by the works that launched his international career
  
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• Skepta: Konnichiwa review – rhymes that are dextrous, sharp and very British

  12-05-2016 16:00
  
  The architect of grime’s resurgence might have an eye on the US market, but he’s a distinctively, winningly English rapper
  It features five singles – two of them silver-certified hits – guest appearances from A$AP Mob’s Young Lord and A$AP Nast and a collaboration with Pharrell Williams, but the most telling track on Skepta’s fourth album might well be one that contains no music at all. As a tense bit of old-fashioned grime called Corn on the Curb unexpectedly
  
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• UK Hopefuls Joe & Jake Chat Eurovision Nerves & Their Chances Of Winning

  12-05-2016 15:30
  And they're not sick of the song yet...
  
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• Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively, Kendall Jenner And More Best Dressed Looks From Cannes 2016

  12-05-2016 15:03
  
  Check out all the super chic looks right here.
  
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• Departing chair leaves $55M to Curtis Institute of Music

  12-05-2016 14:40
  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The departing chairwoman is leaving Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music with quite a parting gift: $55 million.
  
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• Rick Astley: ‘I made tea for Bananarama, Dead or Alive, Mel and Kim’

  12-05-2016 14:09
  
  After perfecting the art of brewing hot drinks in a studio, pop legend Astley retired at 27. But how much did he make from rickrolling?Hi Rick! What’s it like to retire in your 20s (1) ?It’s a bit weird. I hadn’t had a proper job – I haven’t had a normal life, really. And I’m very grateful for that. The idea of stopping at 27 and saying, “I’m not going to do that any more,” was strange. There was a period of sitting around a lot doing bugger
  
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• Stone Roses to release new single on Thursday night

  12-05-2016 13:31
  
  The track will be the Manchester band’s first new music in 21 yearsThe Stones Roses have announced that a new single will be released at 8pm on Thursday night. They have given no clues as to the title, only the tersest of announcements: “The Stone Roses will release a new single tonight at 8pm.”The new song will be their first new studio material since the B-sides to the single Ten Storey Love Song in March 1995 – fans have been waiting 21 years since the band revealed Mo
  
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• Lea Michele Has A New Boyfriend And He Used To Be In One Tree Hill

  12-05-2016 13:29
  
  WELL THIS IS EXCITING.
  
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• Father John Misty review – Jim Morrison’s head on Jarvis Cocker’s body

  12-05-2016 13:19
  
  Academy, Leeds
  The crazed Casanova doesn’t so much own the stage as lease the land for miles around in a pelvis-thrusting, guitar-hurling showFather John Misty has just begun his fourth song when there’s a commotion in the crowd. “Do we have a medical emergency?” he asks, as the music stops and house lights come up. Eventually, normality resumes, and his band simply pick up Only Son of the Ladiesman where they left off – where the song’s lothario protagonist h
  
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• TWU Meets Tory Lanez

  12-05-2016 13:11
  “I would fall down to my knees and pray to God just to let me win, Even now I’m winning I pray”.
  
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• Lena Dunham Pays Tribute To Girls Actor Nick Lashaway Who Has Died In A Car Crash

  12-05-2016 12:58
  
  The 28-year-old played Lena’s love interest.
  
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• Premiere | Tough Love Take On Sigala's 'Give Me Your Love' For One Mighty Remix - Listen!

  12-05-2016 12:00
  
  Can it be the weekend already please?
  
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• You Might Not Be Quite As Clued-Up About STIs And STDs As You Think

  12-05-2016 11:59
  Here are all the ins and outs.
  
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• Dave & AJ Tracey Take It To The Streets Of Paris For New Banger, 'Thiago Silver'

  12-05-2016 11:58
  
  Dave and AJ Tracey went bar for bar on this track which is set to get a whole load of wheel ups when they perform.
  
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• Azealia Banks Attempts To Defend Her Zayn Malik Comments But Doesn’t Actually Apologise

  12-05-2016 11:50
  
  Cool.
  
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• Four New American Hogwarts Houses Have Been Unveiled In A Super Secret Code

  12-05-2016 11:44
  
  YAY.
  
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• MTV Review: Busted Gave Us New Songs & A Trip Down Memory Lane On First Night Of Comeback Tour

  12-05-2016 11:23
  
  Things got emotional...
  
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• Yacht apologise for 'not getting it' over their sex tape PR stunt

  12-05-2016 11:13
  
  LA band say they made an ‘egregious mistake’ in pretending to have had a sex tape stolen and leaked, in order to promote their new singleAfter being widely criticised, the Los Angeles band Yacht have apologised for the “egregious mistake” of claiming to have had a sex tape leaked to the internet.On Monday, Yacht’s Jona Bechtolt and Claire Evans – who are in a relationship – posted on Facebook claiming a film they had made for private use had been leaked
  
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• Manic Street Preachers release their Euro 2016 song Together Stronger

  12-05-2016 11:05
  
  The Manics have released their official song for the Welsh national team. Former Scotland striker Joe Jordan – a villain to Welsh fans for nearly 40 years – should cover his earsThe Manic Street Preachers have finally revealed their official Euro 2016 anthem for the Wales national team, Together Stronger (C’mon Wales).The song, with a video featuring the Wales football squad pogoing along behind the band, pays tribute to the former Wales player and manager Gary Speed, gripes ab
  
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• Desert Trip festival reportedly sells out in less than three hours

  12-05-2016 10:28
  
  The boomer-friendly event, headlined by the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Roger Waters, predicted to be the highest-grossing event in music historyThe Desert Trip festival – featuring the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and the Who – sold out all its 70,000 three-day tickets for each of the festival’s two weekends in under three hours, Billboard reports.Although the festival’s organisers – Goldenvoice and AEG z – have n
  
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• Kylie Jenner Reveals Three Home Truths About Herself During Intense Snapchat Session

  12-05-2016 10:26
  
  Kinda.
  
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• Man who prescribed Prince drugs before death is obstetrics specialist

  12-05-2016 10:06
  
  Why the singer sought out family doctor Michael Todd Schulenberg remains unclear, as police examine Prince’s computer hard drives for evidence of online prescriptionsIf Prince was seeking help for a problem with prescription drugs, it would make sense for him to turn to a Californian addiction specialist known for new ideas on treatment. Less clear is why he sought care from a local family care physician, specialising in obstetrics, who met with Prince twice in the weeks before his death a
  
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