Music news

• Cardi B pleads not guilty to strip club assault

  26-06-2019 12:14 via theguardian.com
  The rapper is accused of ordering attacks on two bartenders, one of whom she accused of sleeping with her husbandCardi B has pleaded not guilty to assault following two altercations at a New York strip club in August 2018. The rapper, born Belcalis Almanzar, turned herself into police in October following the alleged assaults on two bartenders at the Angels Gentleman’s Club in Queens, New York.The bartenders, who are also sisters, claim that Cardi and her entourage threw bottles and alcoho
  
  Read more

• Simon Cowell launches search for new boyband – by highlighting potential solo career

  04-06-2024 18:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Music mogul aims to replicate success of previous charges One Direction, but acknowledges ‘high degree of risk’ in ventureNearly a decade on from the end of his blockbusting global phenomenon One Direction, Simon Cowell is going back into the fray to discover a new boyband.His campaign was launched in London with a billboard featuring a sunglasses-clad Cowell evoking Lord Kitchener’s 1914 recruitment poster with the words: “Simon needs you! Future megastars wanted for new
  
  Read more

• Kanye West sued for sexual harassment by former assistant

  04-06-2024 16:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Lauren Pisciotta says she is owed $3m after enduring intentional infliction of emotional distressKanye West and his Yeezy sneaker business are being sued for sexual harassment, breach of contract and wrongful termination by a former assistant of the rap star who claims she is owed $3m after enduring intentional infliction of emotional distress.In a lawsuit, Lauren Pisciotta alleges West – whose legal name is now Ye – sent her lewd texts and performed sex acts while on the phone with
  
  Read more

• In the key of 5G: the ‘dimensionalist’ who wrote a symphony for 1,000 phones

  04-06-2024 16:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Mobiles are usually hated at concert halls. But Huang Ruo wants Mancunians to start using theirs on the way in – and not stop. The Chinese-American explains why the sounds of rain and traffic are all part of the experienceSymphony concerts aren’t supposed to be like this. This week, the audience for the world premiere of Huang Ruo’s City of Floating Sounds will download an app and stand at one of four designated starting points on the streets of Manchester. Then they will selec
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• ‘I could eat that girl for lunch’: the sexually explicit queer female pop topping the charts

  04-06-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Billie Eilish is the latest artist to sing frankly about sex between women – without it being titillation for men. Artists from King Princess to Girli explain why it’s taken so long‘I could eat that girl for lunch / yeah she dances on my tongue, tastes like she might be the one.” So runs the chorus to one of the biggest pop songs of the year, Billie Eilish’s Lunch – the latest star to join a host of others singing about lesbian love, with lyrics full of tongue
  
  Read more

• Glastonbury announces full 2024 lineup, adding James, Tems, Squeeze and more

  04-06-2024 11:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Femi Kuti, Seasick Steve and Birmingham Royal Ballet among other artists added as festival announces full range of stage timesThe full lineup for Glastonbury 2024 has been announced, with new additions to the bill including indie icons James and Nigerian pop sensation Tems.Squeeze have been announced to kick off the festival at noon on Friday on the Pyramid stage, while the Birmingham Royal Ballet will open the stage on Sunday with their production Interlinked. Femi Kuti, Seasick Steve, Jamie We
  
  Read more

• Rapper Brother Marquis, member of 2 Live Crew, dies aged 58

  04-06-2024 10:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Musician earned platinum-selling success with group who overcame obscenity and copyright charges, and coined famous 99 Problems chorus lineMark D Ross, the rapper known by stage name Brother Marquis who was part of the group 2 Live Crew, has died aged 58 according to the group’s social media accounts. No cause of death has been given.Born in New York, Ross befriended the group’s DJ Mr Mixx when living in California and then joined the Miami-based outfit in 1986. He was present for th
  
  Read more

• It was all eco: Coldplay beats emissions target for world tour – via kinetic dancefloors and trains

  04-06-2024 06:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Band announces their carbon footprint after two years of touring is 59% lower than what was generated on their previous tour, thanks to some creative solutionsColdplay has announced that they have reduced their touring carbon footprint by 59% compared with their previous world tour – via some creative methods that include kinetic dancefloors that allow dancing fans to generate electricity, recyclable LED wristbands and the band travelling by train.On Monday the British band announced that
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• ‘If I lost this flute, it would be pretty tragic’: Shabaka, Corinne Bailey Rae and Nilüfer Yanya on their favourite instruments

  02-06-2024 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From a Japanese bamboo flute that is harvested and then cured to an unusual fretless zither and a blue Fender Strat, three performers tell the stories of the instruments they cherishA central figure of the London jazz scene, Shabaka Hutchings, 40, has been a member of bands including Shabaka and the Ancestors, and the Mercury-nominated Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming. He announced last year that he would no longer be playing the saxophone live. For his solo debut album, Perceive Its Beauty
  
  Read more

• Liam Gallagher review – Oasis frontman delivers Definitely Maybe in all its 90s glory

  02-06-2024 12:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Utilita Arena, Sheffield
  It’s an unashamed nostalgia fest, but what could feel business-like morphs into something more considered, with strings, singalongs and even a dedication to brother Noel ‘I haven’t got any fucking new ones for you, so it’s going to have to be an old one, all right?” proclaims Liam Gallagher at one point tonight, during a set that feels like a time capsule of 1994. Performing Oasis’s classic debut Definitely Maybe in full, the backdrop
  
  Read more

• Charli XCX: ‘Labels are desperate for artists to be liked, otherwise you’re bad, evil and wrong’

  02-06-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Straddling the underground and the mainstream, the pop star long felt like an outsider. She talks about finding her crowd, her ‘blunt’ new album, and the more complicated aspects of female friendshipYou used to get one shot in the music business: the wrong marketing, the wrong song and you’d never be heard from again. This was not the case for Charlotte Aitchison, better known as Charli XCX, who posted tracks on Myspace so long ago she invited comparisons to Kate Nash. Still ju
  
  Read more

• ‘I’m a fan of chaos’: Blondie’s Chris Stein on Bowie, Debbie Harry and 50 years in rock’n’roll

  02-06-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In his candid new memoir, the guitarist talks about the glory period of Parallel Lines and how addiction and loss altered his lifeRead an extract from Under a Rock by Chris SteinIn the late 1970s, in downtown Manhattan, the musician Chris Stein became friendly with a young artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat. Both men were a long way from the celebrated cultural figures they would become: Stein had just started to make some money as the guitarist of New York new-wave act Blondie, the band he co-founded
  
  Read more

• ‘She dominates our age’: how Taylor Swift became the greatest show on Earth

  02-06-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The record-smashing singer-songwriter wields creative, commercial and celebrity power like no one before. As her billion-dollar Eras tour lands in the UK, we trace the making of the Swift universeHow to write about the biggest, most written-about star in the world as summer 2024 approaches, and with it the arrival of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour in the UK later this week? We could take cues from the normally level-headed New Yorker. But even they recently threw up their hands and pronounced Sw
  
  Read more

• ‘I’m bringing his music back to life’: the singer whose grandfather was silenced by the Holocaust

  02-06-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Roxanne de Bastion is honouring the memory of her brilliant Hungarian ancestor to keep his legacy aliveMy family has a piano. Its keys are weathered from touch. It has tiny marks on the top right corner where my dad used to gnaw at the wood with his baby teeth.I always knew this instrument to be special. It felt out of place in our otherwise modest family home (none of my friends had a battle-scarred baby grand in their living rooms, that’s for sure). Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Sky Ferreira: ‘I’m always scared I’m gonna die, all the time’

  02-06-2024 02:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The pop auteur and actor talks sleepwalking, growing up on MTV and the constant pains of communication – in life, if not in musicGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailWhat was the first album you bought?It sounds like I’m lying but it was Fiona Apple’s Tidal. Obviously I loved the Spice Girls and stuff like that, and I remember having Lauryn Hill when I was a little kid – but it wasn’t really mine, it was my mum’s and I took it. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• One to watch: Charlotte Day Wilson

  01-06-2024 13:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The Canadian singer-songwriter cuts loose from Toronto’s thriving R&B scene with a subtle yet fun-loving second albumA uniquely atmospheric brand of R&B has been coming out of Toronto over the past decade. Harnessing jazz instrumentals, introspective lyricism and intricate vocals, local artists such as Daniel Caesar, BadBadNotGood and Mustafa have all released ambitious projects that put a fresh spin on the genre.Carving her own creative path within this community is Canadian produ
  
  Read more

• Shaznay Lewis: ‘I asked my husband to describe me in three words. They were not printable’

  01-06-2024 10:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The All Saints singer on needing the fire brigade, wanting to be an ambulance driver, and an embarrassing accident in Gucci Born in London, Shaznay Lewis, 48, founded All Saints with Melanie Blatt in 1993; Nicole and Natalie Appleton joined three years later. The band’s two multiplatinum albums – All Saints and Saints & Sinners – were released in 1997 and 2000, and their five UK No 1 singles include Never Ever and Pure Shores. Their awards include two Brits, a Mobo and
  
  Read more

• Thank you for the music: Abba members get Swedish knighthoods

  31-05-2024 19:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Anni-Frid become first Swedes to be knighted by their monarch for almost 50 yearsAbba have received one of the most prestigious Swedish knighthoods after being awarded an order of chivalry last handed out almost 50 years ago.The pop legends were recognised by King Carl XVI Gustaf on Friday for their cultural impact, which has taken Swedish pop music to a huge global audience. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Ayra Starr: The Year I Turned 21 review – magnetic Afrobeats

  31-05-2024 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The Beninese-Nigerian singer-songwriter puts her big voice to work on a set of songs that are over all too soonBeninese-Nigerian singer-songwriter Ayra Starr has fast become one of the biggest musicians to come out of west Africa. Her debut, 19 and Dangerous, was gutsy, but there’s a noticeable jump in maturity in her latest, The Year I Turned 21. Here, she puts that big voice to work and experiments with more sounds and cadences.Alt-R&B pop track Birds Sing of Money is a statement ope
  
  Read more

• K-Trap: Smile? review – terse, punchy raps-to-riches flow

  31-05-2024 12:30 via theguardian.com
  
  (EGA Distro)
  The Brit-nominated south Londoner’s not quite debut album of trap and drill showboating flies byThe Brit awards feel increasingly pointless, a dripping tap in a streaming world. With successful bands at a historic low, the industry is reduced to nominating rap duos to fill the best British group category. Earlier this year it was Headie One & K-Trap, who have made one mixtape (Strength to Strength) but are very much not a group. Still, the recognition is nice, as south Lon
  
  Read more

• ‘Your defence is terrified!’: how Freed from Desire became a football, darts and protest anthem

  31-05-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Gala’s 1996 song has gone from forgotten rave classic to football terrace anthem – and was even used to protest against Rishi Sunak. The song’s creator and fans explain an unlikely revivalGala’s jubilant pop-dance banger Freed from Desire was a massive hit across Europe in the peak stadium-rave summer of 1996. But the story of the track was only just beginning. More than a decade later, it would become one of those rare pop songs to transcend its origins. Beginning a new
  
  Read more

• Richard Thompson: Ship to Shore review – another collection of beautifully gruelling material

  31-05-2024 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  (New West)
  Life gives more grist to the mill of the veteran singer-songwriter, whose guitar playing remains as eloquent as everIs there a surer pair of hands than Richard Thompson’s? Leading light of the 1960s folk-rock boom, solo troubadour since, his 18th solo album proffers 12 new songs resonating with oaky assurance even as they gnash and churn through the human experience, Thompson’s customary thumb to the wound.His containers, polished by his band, are never less than beautiful
  
  Read more

• Madonna sued for ‘pornography without warning’ at LA concert performance

  31-05-2024 11:32 via theguardian.com
  
  Lawsuit also alleges a late start for the 7 March concert, and claims the singer refused to allow the air-conditioning system to be usedMadonna has been sued by a concertgoer at her Celebration world tour, who alleges that Madonna produced “pornography without warning” and he “was forced to watch topless women on stage simulating sex acts”.In the lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles and seen by the Guardian, the plaintiff, Justen Lipeles, makes a series of allegation
  
  Read more

• Landless: Lúireach review | Jude Rogers' folk album of the month

  31-05-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  (Glitterbeat)
  Four powerful voices weave tender yet disquieting harmonies on a second album that honours bold womenVocal harmony is in the dense weave of so much traditional music, and it becomes a startling, golden thread in Landless’s second album. Named after an Irish word that can mean a cloak for protection, a breastplate and a hymn, Lúireach is a collection of 10 sublime songs, many of them about bold women. It also showcases four female singers (Méabh Meir, Lily Power,
  
  Read more

• Thou: Umbilical review – one of the finest metal albums of the past decade

  31-05-2024 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  (Sacred Bones)
  Huge riffs, guttural vocals and fearsome intent create a formidable wall of sound in the US band’s maximalist, in-your-face sixth albumA caustically intense mainstay of the US underground, Thou combine cavernously sludgy riffs with raw punk energy. Theirs is a sound of stifling humidity, a near hallucinatory heaviosity. Indeed, the narcotic heat of Louisiana – the band are from Baton Rouge – seeps through every sickly pore, wedding itself to the circling riffs, l
  
  Read more

• ‘Rapper’s Delight planted a seed for the rest of my life’: Questlove on hoarding, capturing hip-hop history and the Kendrick-Drake beef

  31-05-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The drummer, DJ and Oscar-winning director is a key custodian of Black culture, with 200,000 records to prove it. So why does he think he’s getting too old for rap music?With a sigh, Ahmir Thompson – better known as Questlove – turns his laptop around, so I can see the inside of his apartment, rather than the beautiful view of the New York skyline through the window behind him. It is a chaos of overflowing boxes and furniture covered with papers. “An ex-publicist of mine
  
  Read more

• HTRK turn 21: ‘Whenever I met fans I could tell they were a bit shocked I wasn’t the gothic lord’

  30-05-2024 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In our new monthly series Headline Act, we spotlight the Australian artist we’re most excited about – and they make us a playlistSee more from our Headline Act seriesGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailFew Australian bands have been as influential as HTRK: the Melbourne duo of Nigel Yang and Jonnine Standish, who have been performing underground music with their idiosyncratic mix of atmospheric electronic and guitar-based squall for the past 21 years. In that time, the duo has
  
  Read more

• Janelle Monáe: ‘I have to feel a film role in my pubic hairs. They have to vibrate’

  30-05-2024 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As she prepares for a UK tour – including Glastonbury – the singer and actor answers your questions on Prince, what makes her blush, and why we shouldn’t ostracise AIYou always look immaculate. Who are your style icons? 12monkeys
  That’s very nice of you to say. I wish you could see me right now – I look like I just came out of a dirty dishwasher. I think maybe my style icons are the different versions of myself: I live in different realms, so the version of me that
  
  Read more

• Aespa: Armageddon review | Alexis Petridis’s album of the week

  30-05-2024 12:15 via theguardian.com
  
  (SM Entertainment)
  Cutesy melodies, dubstep basslines, pop-punk and disco on the K-pop foursome’s debut album are outshone by their intriguing world-building, with interdimensional rifts and alien popcornIf you doubt that the world of South Korean manufactured pop is significantly different from its western counterpart, then a description of female quartet Aespa – or rather the world around them – should put you right.Their name may sound like an upmarket brand of air-freshener
  
  Read more

• Darius Rucker on country music, race and drugs: ‘I don’t think anyone went harder than us’

  30-05-2024 10:06 via theguardian.com
  
  The singer’s memoir recounts a life of ups and downs, with record-breaking success accompanied by critical snobbery and racial biasDarius Rucker will be the first to admit his memory can be hazy – he says on page one of his memoir that his years as the lead singer of the American rock band Hootie & the Blowfish were a blur of fame, drugs and his “close personal friend Jim Beam” – but he’s still armed with numbers. There’s the wild success of the band
  
  Read more

Follow @MusicUKnws on Twitter!