Jazz trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire has a recurring theme in his music: owls. In December 2023, he released the Grammy Award-nominated Owl Song, and his latest, just released and extraordinary record, honey from a winter stone, includes a track called “Owled.” His compositions are rich and complex, but the owl thing begs further inquiry… […]
Chicago’s Union Park paid an epic tribute to house music this Labor Day Weekend with its eclectic ARC Music Festival, now in its fifth year. Originating from Chicago’s boiler rooms over 40 years ago, ARC’s lineup featured an incredible range of dance music artists, including Derrick Carter, Cajmere/Green Velvet, DJ Heather, DJ Lady D, Mike […]
Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and has a handful of public screenings through Sept. 14, needs a subtitle, like “Why Elvis Was The King?”. The Elvis busts, Elvis impersonators, velvet Elvis, Elvis weddings, gaudy Graceland interior décor, later-life health struggles, pill dependency, […]
BABYMETAL came out of Tokyo in 2010 as an audacious mutation of Japanese pop and muscular heavy metal. With a very young Su-metal singing up front, and two other females dancing beside her, the band was both a curiosity and a genuine sensation, with songs that were both crushing and playful. By 2012, BABYMETAL had […]
It was just last year that Michelle Buzz and Lance Shipp, two seasoned Los Angeles-based pop songwriters, were feeling a little burnt out, and decided to do something different on the weekends for fun. “We really felt like there wasn’t room to be wild and infuse what inspired us into what we were working on,” […]
Before the chimes of his doorbell stop echoing, Sebastian Bach throws open the front door of his Las Vegas home. His 6’4” frame fills the doorway, his iconic voice as recognizable when he speaks as when he sings. “You want some coffee??” he bellows, then runs in socked feet to the open-plan kitchen to make […]
System of a Down’s Serj Tankian conveys maximum emotion with just his voice and an acoustic piano on a new cover of “Lady in Red” balladeer Chris de Burgh’s song “I’m Counting on You,” which is out today (Sept. 5). The song will also be included on Covers, Collaborations & Collages, which is rolling out […]
When electronic-ambient-new age pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre was working on 1976’s Oxygene, in his makeshift home studio, he often had to tape down two preset buttons of his Korg drum machine to achieve the effect he wanted. Thanks to the breakout success of that record and its winning blend of bright keyboard melodies and warped analog […]
Name Nick Ghanbarian, Bassist Best known for Being the tallest member of Bayside standing at 5’9” and liking Star Wars and wrestling way too much. Current city Orange County, California. Really want to be in Tokyo! I’ve only been once and the band has never performed there. I’d love to add it to the list of places we’ve played. I just want […]
Each week, SPIN digs into the catalogs of great artists and highlights songs you might not know for our Deep Cut Friday series. Death Cab For Cutie’s fifth album Plans recently turned 20. The Seattle band’s major label debut was their first and only album to go platinum, powered by the radio hits “Soul Meets […]