Month: May 2021

Here’s the weird thing about Star Wars: The Bad Batch: You don’t have to really have any working knowledge of the two prior animated Star Wars series set around this time: The Clone Wars or Rebels. (I speak from experience, I’ve only seen a handful of episodes from either series.) Of the three so far, a strong case can be made that The Bad Batch is the most accessible right from the start.

At least, it’s the easiest to describe to someone in one sentence: “After Emperor Palpatine initiates Order 66 to kill all the Jedi, five Clones, known as The Bad Batch, who don’t have the programming to blindly follow that order, try to figure out why, out of the blue, all the Jedi were killed.” And that premise is pretty juicy, because, as a viewer, we can imagine ourselves in that situation and thinking, wait, this makes no sense, what’s going on here? And to top it all off, the main antagonist of the series is none other than Tarkin, here still an Admiral rather than the Grand Moff we got to know in the original Star Wars. But instead of having to make, yet again, another villain, The Bad Batch uses literally the main bad guy from the first Star Wars. There’s no learning curve here with him: we know what Tarkin is all about and we know he’s bad news.

Ahead, we spoke with head writer Jennifer Corbett and producer Brad Rau who take us through why this series will be something different. And how they convinced the powers that be that the main villain needed to be Tarkin himself. Also, it’s not lost on them that the section of Star Wars timeline they are dealing with, between Revenge of the Sith and Solo is pretty barren and open right now, which gives them a lot of room to maneuver.

I completely understand why people like The Clone Wars and Rebels, but they were just never something I got into. But watching The Bad Batch, I was hooked. That might be kind of weird…

Brad Rau: I think with characters like The Bad Batch that we have introduced in The Clone Wars, but we don’t know that much about, and we don’t know what their potential destiny is in the Star Wars galaxy, gives us a lot of dramatic weight for sure. New characters in this era that we’re familiar with, but we haven’t seen much is I think a great combination for a new show.

And not to get too topical, but the idea that they are just basically in the military, and there’s a coup against the Jedi, and they are just trying to figure out what is going on because none of that makes sense is a pretty great premise for a show.

Jennifer Corbett: I think what’s fun about it is that, The Bad Batch, even in The Clone Wars, wasn’t a very political group. They’re just soldiers who go from mission to mission, and that’s what they know, and that’s what they excel at. So when the Republic falls and the Empire takes over initially, it’s like: that’s a little weird, but oh well, it’s another regime that we’re still going to be soldiers of honor. But then once they start to realize things are a little different, then they have to start thinking politically in a sense, which isn’t what any of them are used to. So it’s fascinating to watch their thought process, especially in the pilot and how they come to the decision that they do.

Did you two get excited when you heard that premise? That it’s basically about them just trying to figure out what’s going on because everything has unraveled? Because when you try to explain The Clone Wars to a non-Star Wars person, it’s pretty complicated. The whole, “Oh, one guy is in charge of both factions who are fighting,” thing.

Jennifer Corbett: I mean, as soon as I saw the arc on The Clone Wars for them, I loved this group. But the fact that you were going to be able to explore this time period, I was drawn to immediately. But, from just a character standpoint, there’s something really engaging about telling a story about these clones who were created and trained for one purpose: to be soldiers. And what happens when you take that away from them, because it’s all they’ve known and they’re not prepared for a time without war. And The Batches have prepared for having to take care of themselves, because it used to be done by the Republic. But now they’re the ones that have to find shelter, find food, find fuel, and it’s completely foreign to them. And we definitely go into those topics throughout the series. And yeah, it’s a fun ride.

Another advantage I think you have, at least what hooked me: It’s not like you both have to be like, “And you won’t believe the new bad guy we have. You think Vader’s bad? Wait till you meet Darth Bad,” or whatever…

Brad Rau: Darth Bad!

But Tarkin is the bad guy. He’s literally the main bad guy from the first Star Wars movie. So how does that work? Do you have to make an argument to use a character like him?

Brad Rau: Jen, you maybe can speak to this more. How early was Tarkin there?

Jennifer Corbett: That was a pretty early decision. Because, again, it is that recognition: the face and the name. And it’s like, Vader’s off doing other important things right now. So who’s going to handle the situation on Kamino? And it’s going to be Admiral Tarkin.

Does anyone higher up than you say, “Well, we don’t know if we can use Tarkin for this, he’s the main bad guy from the original Star Wars?” Or is it just, “sounds great.”

Jennifer Corbett: It’s definitely a conversation. But there was no pushback about it. Because, again, he served a purpose. We weren’t just throwing him in there because it’s like, oh, let’s just use Tarkin. It just made sense with where he was in his career and where he’s going.

Brad Rau: And we work really closely with Dave Filoni on the show as the co-creator and as our mentor really. So all of this stuff gets debated with Dave and those are… speaking of juicy conversations, those are fun.

When you look at that Star Wars timeline, you have a pretty good piece of real estate to work with here, between Revenge of the Sith and before Solo. Do you map out, okay, what other characters might be available during this time period that could potentially show up?

Brad Rau: Yeah, definitely. It’s an awesome, exciting time period. I think as fans and as creators, one of the reasons it’s exciting is the different characters that are alive in the Star Wars galaxy at this time that we might be able to come across. So yeah, we talk about it, we think about it. And when it makes sense, all we can really say is that we’ll probably see some more familiar faces.

Does that timeline real estate you have afford more freedom? I get there are obviously some places you can’t go because there’s a bunch of stuff that happens after the story is set, but not for a while…

Jennifer Corbett: Yeah, you’re right. There are things we know we can’t do and things we need to stay away from. But luckily, given that our characters are Clone Troopers, we don’t have to worry about a Jedi issue or anything like that. And I don’t feel like we’ve ever, creatively, come up against a wall where we can’t do something because of that. Again, it hasn’t really been explored that much on screen. So it is exciting to be able to really dive into different storylines that haven’t really been explored yet.

‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ begins streaming on May 4th via Disney+. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Every football training camp, every baseball spring training, you hear a familiar refrain from the players: “I’m in the best shape of my life.” It’s become an oft-covered cliche; even MLB managers, some of the least self-aware people in the world, recognize how much the meaningless phrase has been overused. But rarely, especially among athletes and movie stars, do you hear the opposite: “I’m in the worst shape of my life.”

Will Smith is in the worst shape of his life. Or so he claims, because he still looks damn good.

“I’m gonna be real wit yall – I’m in the worst shape of my life,” Smith wrote on Instagram, along with a photo of himself wearing a short shorts and hoodie with no shirt underneath. He has a slight belly, but his “worst shape” is still better than my best shape. “This is the most amazing post in the history of social media,” The Roots drummer Questlove wrote in response to the pic, while Selma director Ava DuVernay added, “I see no ‘worst’ here.”

Some thanked Smith for his honesty and noted that it’s “important for people to understand that even famous people don’t have [a] ‘perfect’ body” and, as people are wont to do on social media, there were of course plenty of others that were thirsty af.

“All i see is a meal sir,” wrote one fan, while someone else remarked that Smith looked “Daddy aF.”

Over 60 percent of Americans have gained weight during the pandemic. Smith sharing a photo taken in a backyard where he’s packed on a few pounds — and not being ashamed of it — is more “real” than any (heavily edited) picture of a sculpted celebrity lounging on a beach. He’s a relatable king (prince?).

(Via the Huffington Post)

American Idol has produced a number of stars over the past two decades, and all these years later, the show is still chugging along. This upcoming weekend, the show will have a Coldplay-themed episode and it turns out Chris Martin and the band will be heavily involved in it.

As Billboard reports, Martin will serve as a mentor for the remaining seven contestants: Chayce Beckham, Caleb Kennedy, Grace Kinstler, Casey Bishop, Willie Spence, Hunter Metts, and Arthur Gunn. The night’s second performances will be Coldplay covers, which Martin will help the contestants prepare. Additionally, the band will also give their debut performance of the upcoming single “Higher Power.”

The band teased something called “Alien Radio” last week with a mysterious website that give fans clues to decipher. After not much time, they figured out that a song called “Higher Power” is set for release on Friday, May 7, a conclusion that ended up being correct.

Earlier today, the band actually teased the song on TikTok by playing a snippet of it. Based on the portion of audio, it seems the song will be a fun and upbeat number.

Coldplay is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Los Angeles Lakers are in a tailspin right now, having lost six of their last seven games to slide into a tie for the dreaded 7-seed in the West. That the defending champs could find themselves in the play-in would’ve been rather unfathomable at the start of the season, but injuries to their best players have kept them from being able to separate from the pack in the West.

As they enter a stretch run filled with some very important games, they are going to do so without the services of at least one of their key players. While LeBron James’ sore ankle is one concern, looming just as large is the absence of Dennis Schröder, who missed Sunday’s loss to Toronto after being entered into the NBA’s health and safety protocols. On Monday, Shams Charania and Bill Oram of The Athletic reported that Schröder will be out 10-14 days, which means there’s a very real possibility that the Lakers will be without their starting point guard for the rest of the regular season.

Given the longer timetable, this would suggest a positive test from Schröder and the first concern is with his health and the hope that he will avoid any serious or longterm complications from COVID-19 — players like Jayson Tatum and Evan Fournier have spoken about the difficulties of returning to the court after battling the virus and the impact it has on their conditioning longterm. For the Lakers, it obviously puts them in a difficult position, as Schröder is one of the most difficult to replace players on a roster that is simply light on playmakers and ball-handlers.

The onus would normally fall on LeBron James to take over point guard duties more, but with his ankle still giving him some issues, adding more on-ball work seems like a less than ideal situation. Alex Caruso got his first start of the season on Sunday, but running the offense and orchestrating everything on that end is not the area he excels in. Schröder’s return will be determined by when he begins producing negative tests and also how he’s feeling physically, but with the play-in looming on May 18, the Lakers are finding themselves in a precarious position at the time of year they want to be finding their stride.

As the theatrical experience slowly returns to life after a basically year-long shutdown, Marvel surprised fans on Monday morning by dropping a deluge of information in a three-minute video titled “Marvel Studios Celebrates the Movies.” Narrated by the late Stan Lee, the half retrospective/half sizzle reel debuted the new title for Captain Marvel 2 alongside the first footage from The Eternals and a brief glimpse at Marvel’s jam-packed slate for 2022 and 2023.

According to the video, Captain Marvel 2 is now called The Marvels and has a brand new logo with a notable inclusion. The “S” in Marvels is spelled with the symbol from Ms. Marvel‘s costume, which further hints that Iman Vellani will be a major part of the sequel after she makes her debut in the Ms. Marvel series for Disney+. For those unfamiliar with the character, Ms. Marvel (real name: Kamala Khan) is a Muslim Pakistani-American teenager (from New Jersey), who became a breakout hit after being introduced in Marvel Comics in 2013. After having her Inhuman powers activated, Kamala adopted the mantle of Ms. Marvel as she followed in the footsteps of her biggest idol and eventual mentor, Captain Marvel.

You can see The Marvels logo and release date below:

On top of Ms. Marvel joining the sequel, Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau will also be jumping into the action. When we last saw Monica, her powers were being activated in the final episodes of WandaVision, which also suggested some tension between her character and Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers. In the comics, Monica has gone by several different names: Photon, Spectrum, and most notably, Captain Marvel. That’s right, at one point, Monica actually was Captain Marvel, and if there’s a couple of heroes roaming about with the same title, that would certainly explain the new title.

The Marvels (directed by Nia DaCosta) his theaters on November 11, 2022.

(Via Marvel)

Keeping track of all the new albums coming out in a given month is a big job, but we’re up for it: Below is a comprehensive list of the major releases you can look forward to in May. If you’re not trying to potentially miss out on anything, it might be a good idea to keep reading.

Friday, May 7

• A Certain Ratio — ACR:EPA EP (Mute Corporation)
• Acid’s Test –Strings Of Souls (Heavy Psych Sounds)
• Alfie Templeman — Forever Isn’t Long Enough (Chess Club Records)
• Allblack — TY4FWM (Thank You 4 Fuckin’ With Me) (Crumb Records)
• Aly & AJ — A Touch Of The Beat Gets You Up On Your Feet Gets You Out And Then Into The Sun (Aly & AJ Music LLC)
• Angel Olsen — Song Of The Lark And Other Far Memories (Jagjaguwar)
• Annie Hart — Everything Pale Blue (Orindal Records)
• Arielle — Analog Girl In A Digital World (self-released)
• Ashe — Ashlyn (Mom & Pop Music)
• Bailey Bryan — Fresh Start (300 Entertainment/Warner Music Nashville)
• Bebe Rexha — Better Mistakes (Warner Records)
• Best Move — Mirror Image Twins EP (Park The Van)
• Blue Cactus — Stranger Again (Sleepy Cat Records)
• Buffet Lunch — The Power Of Rocks (Upset The Rhythm)
• Century Egg — Little Piece Of Hair EP (Forward Music Group)
• Charlie Marie — Ramble On (Soundly Music)
• Chloe Moriondo — Blood Bunny (Elektra Music)
• Cold Moon — What’s The Rush (Pure Noise Records)
• The Damn Truth — Now Or Nowhere (Spectra Musique/Sony Music)
• Daniel Bachman — Axacan (Three Lobed Recordings)
• Dodie — Build A Problem (The Orchard)
• Dorothea Paas — Anything Can’t Happen (Telephone Explosion Records)
• Doss — 4 New Hit Songs EP (LuckyMe)
• Emma Moore — The Table EP (Pilot Records)
• Fickle Friends — Weird Years: Season 2 (self-released)
• Fiver — Fiver With The Atlantic School Of Spontaneous Composition (You’ve Changed Records)
• Fougére — Still Life (Studio Fougére)
• Francisco Martin — Beautiful Ramblings Of A Restless Mind EP (19 Recordings)
• GoGo Penguin — GGP/RMX (Blue Note Records)
• Graham Costello — Second Lives (Gearbox Records)
• Grey Mouse — A Moment Of Weakness (Addicted Label)
• Iceage — Seek Shelter (Mexican Summer)
• Ilan Bluestone — Impulse (Anjunabeats)
• India Jordan — “Watch Out!” (Ninja Tune)
• Jake Manzi — Whatever My Heart Allows (Missing Piece Group)
• Kali — Circles EP (self-released)
• Kasai Allstars — Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound (Crammed Discs)
• Kelsy Karter — Live From Nowhere (BMG)
• L’Orange & Namir Blade — Imaginary Everything (Mello Music Group)
• Leftover Salmon — Brand New Good Old Days (Compass Records)
• Linn Koch-Emmery — Being The Girl (Boys Tears)
• Lipstick Jodi — More Like Me (Quite Scientific)
• Lisa Gerrard & Jules Maxwell — Burn (Cleopatra Records)
• Lucinda Chua — Antidotes 2 EP (4AD)
• Mandy Barnett — Every Star Above (BMG)
• Manolo Redondo — The Lost & Found EP (Violette Records)
• McCormick — Till The Sun Comes Up (self-released)
• McKinley Dixon — For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her (Spacebomb Records)
• Mia Joy — Spirit Tamer (Fire Talk)
• The Mighty Mighty Bosstones — When God Was Great (Hellcat/Epitaph)
• Mighty Oaks — Mexico (Howl Records)
• Mina Tindle — The LFO/Blogothèque Sessions EP (37d03d)
• Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram, and Jon Randall — The Marfa Tapes (Vanner Records/RCA Nashville)
• Model Child — Unscrewed EP (XL)
• Moneira — Colour Visions (Jivvär)
• Nancy Wilson — You And Me (Carry On Music)
• Naomi Banks — Meeting Again EP (Bella Union)
• Natalie Bergman — Mercy (Third Man Records)
• Nelson Beer — Orlando EP (PIAS)
• Night Beats — Outlaw R&B (Fuzz Club Records)
• Night Heron — Instructions For The Night (Terrorbird)
• Nous Alpha — A Walk In The Woods (Our Silent Canvas)
• People Club — Take Me Home EP (Kartel Music Group)
• Pile — In The Corners Of A Sphere-Filled Room (self-released)
• The Purrs — We Thought There’d Be More People Here (Hockeytalkter Records)
• Quintin Copper & Nas Mellow — April Dreams (Diggers Factory)
• Results Of Adults — Interstellar Peach Delight (Cornelius Chapel Records)
• Robin McAuley — Standing On The Edge (Frontiers Music)
• Round Eye — Culture Shock Treatment (Paper + Plastick)
• Salem — Salem II (Salem/Decent)
• Sam Valdez — Take Care (B3SCI Records)
• Sanjay — Initiation EP (Purple Condor Records)
• Sarah Jarosz — Blue Heron Suite (Rounder Records)
• Semi Precious — Post-Euphoria (Squareglass)
• Senso — Drifter94 EP (Inverted Audio)
• Shaun Ross — Shift (JEX Records)
• The Skinner Brothers — Iconic EP (Blaggers Records)
• Sonic Haven — Vagabond (Frontiers Music)
• Sophia Kennedy — Monsters (City Slang)
• Sumo Cyco — Initiation (Napalm Records)
• Ted Russell Kamp — Solitaire (Ted Russell Kamp/PoMo Records)
• Tommy Emmanuel — Accomplice Series Volume 1 With Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley EP (CGP Sounds)
• Tommy’s Rocktrip — Beat Up By Rock ‘N Roll (Frontiers Music)
• Toosii — Thank You For Believing (Quality Control/Motown)
• Tony Joe White — Smoke from The Chimney (Easy Eye Sound)
• Travis Tritt — Set In Stone (Big Noise)
• Weezer — Van Weezer (Atlantic/Crush)
• Wiki & Nah — Telephonebooth (Wikset Enterprise)
• Will Stratton — The Changing Wilderness (Bella Union)
• Van Morrison — Latest Record Project: Volume 1 (Exile/BMG)
• Voroni — The Last Three Seconds (Small Pond)

Friday, May 14

• Alaina Castillo — Parallel Universe Part 1 (AWAL)
• Alan Jackson — Where Have You Gone (EMI Records Nashville)
• Andy Bell — See My Friends EP (Sonic Cathedral)
• Babe Rainbow — Changing Colours (Eureka Music)
• BALA — Maleza (Century Media Records)
• Benito Gonzalez — Sing To The World (Rainy Days Records)
• Caliban — Zeitgeister (Century Media Records)
• Carl Smith And The Natural Gas Company — Burnin’ (Match Box Records)
• The Chills — Scatterbrain (Fire Records)
• Cory Williams — Bird Mouth (self-released)
• Current Joys — Voyager (Secretly Canadian)
• Damien Jurado — The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania (Maraqopa Records)
• The Deep Dark Woods — Changing Faces (Six Shooter Records)
• Denm — Slum Beach Denny (Ineffable Records)
• Fanclubwallet — Hurt Is Boring EP (AWAL)
• Holly Macve — Not The Girl (Piccadilly Records)
• Jesse Terry — When We Wander (Wander Recordings)
• Johanna Samuels — Excelsior! (Mama Bird Recording Co.)
• John Andrews & The Yawns — Cookbook (Woodsist)
• Johnny Flynn & Robert Macfarlane — Lost In The Cedar Wood (Transgressive Records)
• Jorja Smith — Be Right Back (FAMM)
• Juliana Hatfield — Blood (American Laundromat Records)
• Kate Clover — Channel Zero EP (SongVest Records)
• Leider — A Fog Like Liars Loving (Beacon Sound)
• Liar Thief Bandit — Deadlights (The Sign Records)
• Lindsay Ellyn — Queen Of Nothing (Queue Records)
• Magic Island — So Wrong (Mansions and Millions)
• Mandrake Handshake — Shake The Hand That Feeds You EP (Nice Swan Records)
• Matt Berry — The Blue Elephant (Acid Jazz UK)
• Maxine Funke — Seance (A Colourful Storm)
• Michael Hearst — Songs For Unconventional Vehicles (Urban Geek)
• Mob Rich — Why No Why (Republic Records)
• Myles Kennedy –The Ides Of March (Napalm Records)
• Natik Awayez — Manbarani (Sublime Frequencies)
• Never Loved — Over It (Equal Vision Records)
• Night Heron — Instructions For The Night (Terrorbird)
• Okey Dokey — Leaky Sealing EP (Park the Van)
• Old Sea Brigade — Motivational Speaking (Nettwerk)
• Paul Weller — Fat Pop (Volume 1) (SuperDeluxeEdition)
• Riley Downing — Start It Over (New West Records)
• Roan Yellowthorn — Another Life (Blue Élan Records)
• Rob St John — Surface Tension (Pattern & Process Press)
• Rodrigo y Gabriela — Jazz EP (Rubyworks/ATO)
• Ryan Downey — A Ton Of Colours (Dot Dash Recordings)
• Sara Bug — Sara Bug (EggHunt Records/Clandestine)
• Sarah Neufeld — Detritus (One Little Independent Records)
• Sculpture Club — Worth (Funeral Party Records)
• Shaed — High Dive (Photo Finish Records)
• Smol Data — Inconvenience Store (Broken Camera Records)
• Sons Of Kemet — Black To The Future (Impulse! Records)
• The Steel Woods — All Of Your Stones (Woods Music)
• St. Vincent — Daddy’s Home (Loma Vista Recordings)
• Three-Layer Cake — Stove Top (RareNoise)
• Zuli Jr. — Stop It God. (Nurtured Ideas)

Friday, May 21

• 299 — The 299 Game (PNKSLM Recordings)
• Allison Russell — Outside Child (Fantasy Records)
• Animal Years — This Is Part Two Of An Album Called Animal Years EP (self-released)
• Ariel Bart — In Between (Ropeadope)
• Beach Tiger — Yenta (Southern America Records)
• Billie Marten — Flora Fauna (Piccadilly Records)
• Blake Shelton — Body Language (Warner Brothers Nashville/Ten Point Productions)
• Brian Bromberg — A Little Driving Music (Artistry Music/Mack Avenue Music Group)
• Chai — Wink (Sub Pop)
• Charles — Let’s Start A Family Tonight (Babe City Records)
• Claire George — The Land Beyond The Light (Cascine)
• Cloves — Nightmare On Elmfield (Polydor/Interscope)
• Dayglow — Harmony House (AWAL)
• The Devil Wears Prada — ZII EP (Solid State Records)
• Ducks Ltd. — Get Bleak EP (Carpark Records)
• Earth Girl Helen Brown Center For Planetary Intelligence Band — Earth EP (Empty Cellar Records)
• Facs — Present Tense (Trouble in Mind)
• Fiddlehead — Between The Richness (Run For Cover)
• Fly Pan Am — Frontera (Constellation)
• Gary Numan — Intruder (BMG)
• Gavin Preller — There Is Wonder (Joyful Noise Recordings)
• Georgia Anne Muldrow — VWETO III (Foreseen Entertainment)
• Gruff Rhys — Seeking New Gods (Rough Trade)
• Herman Frank — Two For A Lie (AFM Records)
• Hippie Death Cult — Circle Of Days (Heavy Psych Sounds)
• Holiday Ghosts — North Street Air (Gato Gordo Records)
• Imogen Clark — Bastards EP (MGM/Potts Entertainment.)
• James Francies — Purest Form (Blue Note Records)
• JD McPherson — I’m Still Here (Black Mesa Records)
• Jim McCulloch — When I Mean What I Say (Violette Records)
• John Hiatt with The Jerry Douglas Band — Leftover Feelings (New West Records)
• Jon Allen — … Meanwhile (Monologue Records)
• Lakely — Cold War (Lakely)
• Lambchop — Showtunes (Merge)
• Livingmore — Take Me (Nomad Eel Records)
• Lord Huron — Long Lost (Inertia Music)
• Lydia Ainsworth — Sparkles & Debris (Zombie Cat Records)
• Mannequin Pussy — Perfect EP (Epitaph Records)
• Mara Connor — Decades EP (Ba Da Bing)
• Marinero — Hella Love (Hardly Art)
• Mat Kearney — January Flower (Tomorrow Music/Caroline)
• Mischa Blanos — City Jungle (InFiné)
• The Mistons — World Of Convenience (self-released)
• Nick Jaina — Credo (Fluff & Gravy Records)
• Noomi — Life Aqua EP (self-released)
• Oliver Wood — Always Smilin’ (Honey Jar Records)
• Olivia Rodrigo — Sour (Geffen Records)
• Para One — Machines Of Loving Grace (Animal63)
• Patrick Droney — State Of The Heart (Warner Records)
• Patrick Paige II — If I Fail Are We Still Cool? (Fat Possum Records)
• Pink Chameleons — Peace And Love (Soliti Music)
• Pixel Grip — Arena (Feeltrip Records)
• Pop Evil — Versatile (Entertainment One Music)
• The Reverend Shawn Amos — The Cause Of It All (Continental Record Services)
• Robert Finley — Sharecropper’s Son (Easy Eye Sound)
• Roddy Woomble — Lo! Soul (self-released)
• San Holo — bb u ok? (Bitbird)
• Sinéad Harnett — Ready Is Always Too Late (Sony Music)
• Spang Sisters — Spang Sisters (Bathtime Sounds)
• Starlight Cleaning Co. — Starlight Cleaning Co. (SofaBurn Records)
• Storefront Church — As We Pass (Sargent House)
• Sunny Jain — Phoenix Rise (Sinj Records)
• Swallow The Rat / Clone — Split LP (Headbump Records)
• Sylph — Silver As It Was Before EP (Mute)
• Trapper Schoepp — May Day (Grand Phony Records)
• Trick Or Treat — The Unlocked Songs (Scarlet Records)
• Tuvaband– Growing Pains & Pleasures (Passion Flames)
• Twenty One Pilots — Scaled And Icy (Fueled by Ramen/Elektra)
• Vola — Witness (Mascot Records)
• Waterparks — Greatest Hits (300 Entertainment)
• We Were Sharks — New Low (Revival Recordings)
• Yoo Doo Right — Don’t Think You Can Escape Your Purpose (Mothland)
• Yung Mal — 1.5 Way Or No Way (Alamo Records)
• Zoo Wees — Golden Wings EP (Capitol Records)

Friday, May 28

• 81355 — This Time I’ll Be Of Use (37d03d)
• Allday — Drinking With My Smoking Friends (Believe Music)
• André Either — Further Up Island (Telephone Explosion)
• Aquarian Blood — Bending The Golden Hour (Goner Records)
• Austin Taft — Skeletons (Triple Edge Records)
• Bachelor — Doomin’ Sun (Polyvinyl Records)
• Beth Whitney — Into The Ground (Tone Tree Music)
• Blackberry Smoke — You Hear Georgia (Thirty Tigers)
• Black Midi — Cavalcade (Rough Trade)
• Blood Cultures — Luno (Pack Records)
• Brianna Perry — Boss Bitch Boulevard (Equity Distribution)
• Daniel Davies — Spies EP (Sacred Bones Records)
• Dawn-Song — For Morgan (2144317 Records DK)
• Dispatch — Break Our Fall (Bomber Records/AWAL)
• Elder Island — Swimming Static (self-released)
• Everett Parker — Outbound Travelin’ Crazies (Liberty)
• Ghastly — Mercurial Passages (20 Buck Spin)
• Gizelle Smith — Revealing (Jalapeno Records)
• Gwar — The Disc With No Name EP (P.I.T. Records)
• Hot Mulligan — I Won’t Reach Out To You EP (Wax Bodega)
• James Heather — Modulations: EP2 (Ninja Tune)
• John Errol — Inferno (Flexible Distribution/Terrible Records)
• KD Lang — Makeover (Nonesuch)
• Kele Okereke — The Waves Pt. 1 (KOLA Records/!K7)
• Kezia — Claire EP (Never Seven)
• Lost Division — Cuts And Scars (Inverse Records)
• Lou Barlow — Reason To Live (Joyful Noise Recordings)
• Mark Trecka — Acknowledgment (Whited Sepulchre Records)
• Masayoshi Fujita — Bird Ambience (Erased Tapes Records)
• Moby — Reprise (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Mustafa — When Smoke Rises (Regent Park Songs)
• Nathan Micay — Industry OST (LuckyMe)
• Of Mice & Men — Bloom EP (SharpTone Records)
• Penelope Trappes — Penelope Three (Houndstooth)
• Rider & Rolling Thunder — On The Banks Of The Tennessee EP (Defendu Industries)
• River Kittens — Soaking Wet (Create Records)
• Salvador Sobral — BPM (Warner Music International)
• Shannon McNally — The Waylon Sessions (Compass Records)
• Strictly Elizabeth — Contemporary Construction (Data Water Records)
• T-Tops — Staring At A Static Screen (Magnetic Eye Records)
• Thee More Shallows — Dad Jams (Monotreme Records)
• Theo Alexander — Sunbathing Through A Glass Screen (Arts & Crafts)
• Toler Gibson — The Days Before (Rocket Girl Records)
• UV-TV — Always Something (PaperCup Music)
• Wombo — Keesh Mountain EP (Fire Talk)
• Wyldest — Monthly Friend (Hand in Hive)

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Lone Star State is truly having a moment right now. With Megan Thee Stallion taking a break from her reign at the forefront of pop culture, fans hungry for more of her Texas twang have plenty of options thanks to Big Jade and Erica Banks. The two rappers link up in the video for Jade’s new single “Dem Girlz” featuring Beatking to champion around-the-way girls over a chopped-and-screwed sample of David Banner’s 2003 hit “Like A Pimp.” The celebratory video sees the trio surrounded by lowriders at a car meet, a Houston, Texas staple.

The song will appear on Big Jade’s upcoming debut album, Pressure, set for release soon from Alamo Records. Like its latest single, Pressure will be a showcase of Texas talent, with appearances from DJ Chose, OMB Bloodbath, and Houston legend Slim Thug. Jade’s been promoting the upcoming album through a series of freestyles and music videos for songs like “Gucci Bag” and “No Hook,” but will surely receive even more attention thanks to Erica Banks’ appearance. Banks’ song “Buss It” was recently a viral hit thanks to the TikTok “Buss It Challenge” that saw the song jump from regional banger to the Billboard charts.

Watch the “Dem Girlz” video above.

Erica Banks is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Livestream concerts have become increasingly common since the start of the pandemic, and while getting ready to check out a virtual concert isn’t as big a deal as going to an in-person show, there’s still usually some warning that it’s happening. That wasn’t the case with Adrianne Lenker this weekend, who decided to hop on Instagram Live and play a quick set of songs without any prior announcement (as NME notes).

Over the course of about 17 minutes, Lenker, wielding an acoustic guitar, ended up playing four songs, all from her 2020 album Songs: “Not A Lot, Just Forever,” “Forwards Beckon Rebound,” “Half Return,” and “Anything.” There was no chatting between songs or any talking at all from Lenker, who decided to let her delicate guitar-playing and singing carry the broadcast.

Perhaps this surprise set is Lenker’s way of practicing for her upcoming in-person concerts: Last month, she announced a brief tour consisting of a dozen shows over the course of a couple weeks in November. Lenker has certainly gotten a lot of performing in during 2020 and 2021, as she has appeared on The Tonight Show, The Late Show, and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. Elsewhere, Lenker has helped her Big Thief bandmate Buck Meek with his solo album and working on a new Big Thief record, which is apparently “pretty much done.”

Watch Lenker’s livestream set above.

(SPOILERS for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be found below.)

Emily VanCamp’s MCU character, Sharon Carter, made a (jaded) splash in Disney+’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier after a years-long absence from the superhero realm (following 2016’s Captain America: Civil War). Although Carter doesn’t have superpowers, she potentially set herself up as the new big bad (for the fourth Captain America movie or a Season 2) as the Power Broker, but during interviews, she’s still fielding questions about that kiss. Yes, people are still all worked up about Steve and Sharon kissing when he was in love with her great aunt.

VanCamp has previously communicated how she knows that the scene didn’t work well. She also pointed out that, if it helps at all, Steve was the one who made the first move. Now while speaking with Collider, she’s further explaining how a very positive thing (the push-pull dynamic of Sam and Bucky) sprang from that otherwise awkward scene.

“[Y]ou don’t want to sort of say, ‘Well, it was a terrible moment and it didn’t make any sense,’ because everyone’s just kind of doing the best they can to service the story in that moment, really. And so, yeah, we were all just, I think, doing the best that we could and something great came out of it, which was this dynamic between Sam and Bucky in the car! And so something great did come of it, ultimately. And here we have The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”

Yup, here’s where that buddy-comedy vibe was born.

Also, yeah, people shouldn’t hate on Sharon for going in on that kiss because (let’s face it) she really had a pretty rough few years in the aftermath. Sharon became a fugitive to help Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, and Bucky Barnes, and she didn’t receive much gratitude in return. She didn’t seem too bitter toward Steve in particular (especially concerning that kiss), although it was clear that the experience of being shafted by heroes (after helping them) left a mark. So yes, it’s Power Broker time for Sharon Carter, who’s probably gonna sell all the secrets and weapons prototypes as a double agent. Watch out, United States of America.

(Via Collider)

No matter how many times #TuckerMustGo trends, Tucker Carlson isn’t going anywhere.

The morally repugnant Fox News host and “terrible, terrible person” brings in big ratings for Fox News, and as one ex-staffer told the Daily Beast, that’s the only thing that matters. “Fox cares nothing about integrity, character, decency,” former-host Juliet Huddy said, while another one-time employee added, “The dirty little secret is that FNC doesn’t care about losing advertisers. They make their money via cable conglomerates that pay them much money so that dumb fucks who worship FNC can continue being told what, in their heart of hearts, they want to believe. And that’s a lot of people.”

In March and April alone, Carlson hosted Matt Gaetz in the midst of a sex trafficking scandal, reported on “the biggest story there is” (it involves sperm and smoking weed), angered military leaders after ridiculing female service members, supported Piers Morgan following his Megan Markle comments, defended the attack on the Capitol on January 6, endorsed a white supremacist theory, asked his viewers to harass people wearing masks in people, and spread “crazy conspiracy lies” about the vaccine. He’s been busy! But even though Carlson is “one of the most prominent vessel[s] in America for white supremacist talking points,” as John Oliver called him, he’s “untouchable.”

“He’s untouchable. He knows it, his staff knows it, everyone knows it,” one Fox News insider said of Carlson’s standing with Fox management. “The Murdochs love him,” another former Fox News personality said. “Like them, he is a rich, prep school kid born with a silver spoon who traffics in populism while living in an expensive ivory tower and never meeting in real life the people he gins up for ratings.”

One person even said that if Donald Trump is the most dangerous person in the country, “Tucker is a close second.” Something tells me Carlson considers that a compliment.

(Via the Daily Beast)