Month: January 2022

Anybody who thought the vinyl resurgence was just a fad was mistaken: The industry has experienced a legitimate revival. As a result, music fans are interested in physical media in ways they may not have if the decades-old medium hasn’t made a comeback. That doesn’t mean everybody is listening to just their parents’ old music, though. That’s part of it, sure, thanks to rereleases that present classic albums in new ways. A vital part of the renewed vinyl wave, though, is new projects being released as records, of which there are plenty.

Whatever you might be into, each month brings a new slew of vinyl releases that has something for everybody. Some stand out above the rest, naturally, so check out some of our favorite vinyl releases of December below.

Bo Burnham — Inside (The Songs)

Is Inside (The Songs) a comedy album? If you’re the Recording Academy, you might not think so. Regardless, the album and its parent Netflix special were some of the year’s most talked-about pop culture, and now the music is available on vinyl. That means you can listen to songs about the internet on a format that pre-dates it.

Get it here.

Fucked Up — David Comes To Life (10th Anniversary Edition)

Matador has spent a good chunk of the year reissuing some beloved releases from across their catalog, and the latest album to get that treatment is Fucked Up’s David Comes To Life. This 2-LP edition is pressed on “lightbulb-yellow” vinyl, and if that isn’t enough, the group is embarking on a brief tour in January, during which they’ll perform the album in full.

Get it here.

The New Pornographers — Mass Romantic (21st Anniversary Reissue)

Speaking of Matador, here’s another rerelease from the label, of The New Pornographers’ Mass Romantic. That LP turns 21 years old this year and this new edition of it comes with a bonus 7-inch, Letter From An Occupant, that includes two rare B-sides, “The End Of Medicine” and “When I Was A Baby.”

Get it here.

Cults — Cults (Deluxe 10th Anniversary Reissue)

Cults had a hit on their hands with their 2011 self-titled debut album, and now the beloved LP is ten years old. The band is celebrating that milestone with a special anniversary vinyl edition that features, alongside the original album, three bonus tracks pulled from the original recording sessions. The reissue is limited to just 1,000 total copies spread across three distinct pressings: 250 copies on gold vinyl, 250 on black and milky clear colored vinyl, and 500 on standard black vinyl.

Get it here.

Marvin Gaye — What’s Going On (50th Anniversary Edition)

There’s not much more to say about What’s Going On, as essentially every music fan knows how excellent and important the legendary Marvin Gaye project is. The album turned 50 years old in 2021 and this new anniversary edition is now the best way to enjoy the project on your turntable. The 2-LP release features direct-to-analog mastering and four rare tracks making their debut on vinyl, including a previously unreleased “stripped” version of the title track.

Get it here.

Pom Pom Squad — Ow EP

Ow, the 2019 EP that preceded Pom Pom Squad’s 2021 debut album Death Of A Cheerleader, wasn’t released on vinyl, but that changed this month. It comes pressed on cream white vinyl with a red label, a simple but striking visual accompaniment to the album art.

Get it here.

Fela Kuti — Vinyl Box #5

Partisan Records is working through a massive Fela Kuti reissues series, and they got Coldplay’s Chris Martin on board to help with the fifth installment. He helped curate this new collection, which features Why Black Man Dey Suffer, Noise For Vendor Mouth, Kalakuta Show, Excuse O, Ikoyi Blindness, Original Sufferhead, and Overtake Don Overtake Overtake. Each album is presented here with meticulous detail, as the art for all of them was carefully re-created from the original vinyl pressings.

Get it here.

Aeon Station — Observatory

The Wrens released The Meadowlands in 2003 and fans have been waiting for its follow-up ever since. Well, this month, one sort of arrived, as Kevin Whelan made (with help from Greg Whelan and Jerry MacDonald) a new album called Observatory, under the name Aeon Station. While this may not be the continuation of The Wrens that fans had in mind, its at least something and the striking blue vinyl will look real sharp spinning on a turntable.

Get it here.

Danny Elfman — Big Mess

Danny Elfman stays busy as one of the most esteemed purveyors of film and TV scores in the industry, but 2021 brought Big Mess, his first non-classical solo album since 1984’s So-Lo. Now he has wrapped up the year with a massive box set version of the project, a 4-LP edition that’s limited to just 1,500 copies. Aside from the core album, it includes Elfman singing a duet on “True” with Trent Reznor, as well as goodies like a life-size light-up model of Elfman’s hand, a 60-page hardcover art book, and more.

Get it here.

E-40 — The Hall Of Game (Vinyl Me, Please Reissue)

As the year comes to an end, take a minute to be thankful for Vinyl Me, Please, who have spent 2021 and the years preceding it busting out exclusive vinyl reissues of some classic releases. Their current hip-hop album of the month is a winner: E-40’s The Hall Of Game. This edition is pressed on exclusive 2-LP “Rapper’s Ball Red” Galaxy vinyl and comes with a booklet of listening notes.

Get it here.

Gorillaz — Gorillaz (20th Anniversary Reissue)

Damon Albarn has been dominating the virtual band space for two decades now with Gorillaz, meaning the band’s self-titled debut album celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, the band has unveiled a super deluxe vinyl box set, which includes early demos and rarities, along with a “previously unknown 27-page DMC dossier of leaked documents, memos, faxes, and some early Jamie Hewlett drawings.”

Get it here.

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

Since last year’s deal between Aaliyah’s original label, Blackground Records, and EMPIRE was inked, fans are finally getting their long-awaited wish of her music on streaming services. Blackground is owned by her uncle Barry Hankerson, who also happens to own the rights to all of the late R&B singer’s back catalog masters.

Through this partnership, the track “Poison” featuring The Weeknd was released last month and is slated to be on Aaliyah’s posthumous album, Unstoppable. At press time, the track has already clocked over 5 million Spotify spins and Hankerson is clearly pleased with this. “One of the songs that’s out now is doing incredibly well. And that’s the song that she did with Weeknd [“Poison,”] he said in an interview on The Geno Jones Show. He then further elaborated that the new album is coming this month and that it’ll feature some very big names. “Because of that success, we think it’ll only get better with people such as Ne-Yo and Snoop Dogg, Future, and Drake — one of her biggest fans. Those are the features that’ll be on the record and that’ll be out in January.”

Aaliyah’s music coming to streaming services hasn’t come without controversy. Aaliyah’s estate, which is not affiliated with Hankerson, has noted that several of the artists involved with her back catalog will not see profits under the deal between Blackground and EMPIRE. It raises an issue for fans who are surely happy to have Aaliyah’s music at their fingertips but then have to ask themselves, whether this is the way they wanted it to happen. Regardless, Unstoppable is officially set to drop later this month.

Dan Crenshaw and Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s social media feud is showing no signs of slowing down even as Greene finds herself permanently banned from Twitter and allegedly suspended from Facebook. This time around, Crenshaw is firing back after Greene accused him of hurting the conservative “brand” by suggesting that FEMA should be bolstering COVID test sites and help set up new ones.

“No FEMA should not set up testing sites to check for Omicron sneezes, coughs, and runny noses,” Greene wrote on Instagram, her only social media account that hasn’t been banned. Yet. “And we don’t need FEMA in hospitals, they should hire back all the unvaccinated HCW they fired. He needs to stop calling himself conservative, he’s hurting our brand.”

After catching wind of her retort, Crenshaw shot back by accusing Greene of being a Democrat after basically calling her an idiot. Via Houston Chronicle:

Crenshaw, who has been critical of Greene and her Freedom Caucus before, responded to Greene’s criticism in an Instagram story saying, “Hey, Marjorie, if suggesting we should follow Trump [SIC] policy instead of Biden mandates makes you mad, then you might be a Democrat — or just an idiot.“

As the Chronicle notes, this is not Crenshaw’s first time taking Greene to task. In early December, the Texas congressman put the QAnon representative and Lauren Boebert on blast by accusing them of being “grifters” who aren’t concerned with actually passing conservative policies.

“There are two types of members of Congress: there is performance artists and there is legislators,” Crenshaw said. “Performance artists are the ones who get all of the attention, the ones you think are more conservative because they know how to say slogans real well. They know how to recite the lines that they know our voters want to hear.”

(Via Houston Chronicle)

Kodak Black wants a Verzuz battle with Jay-Z and is willing to bet a lot to make it happen. Despite the obvious imbalance in audience and legacy, the Florida artist is apparently convinced he can hold his own. In fact, he’s so confident in his ability to pull out a win, he’s offering up 15% of his catalog should he lose — although he stands to gain more with a win, banking on a Vice President role at Jay’s Roc Nation management company. “I’ll do a versus wit Jay Z,” he tweeted last evening. “‘IF’ he win, he get 15% of my catalog! I win he make me Vice President of roc nation.”

It’d be unexpected were Jay to accept any of these terms — there’s little evidence that Kodak has any managerial experience, let alone with such a prominent position. Plus there are the obvious risks of hiring an executive-level employee who’s just as likely to get locked up within a year as anything (please see: Kodak’s laundry list of offenses including gun possession, sexual assault, and more). Jay hasn’t even accepted challenges from those he considers peers, such as Rick Ross and Snoop Dogg, boasting that “no one can stand on that stage with me.”

That hasn’t stopped a number of rappers, from Kodak to Future to Young Thug, from sending out challenges and expressing their belief that they could beat him — even where there’s no significant overlap in their fanbases. Truth be told, there’s rarely actually been a clear “winner” in most of the Verzuz battles, which are more about celebrating legacies than they are settling competitions. Still, it speaks to Jay’s towering profile in the hip-hop world that so many artists still want a piece of him It looks like he still has the throne — and he’s not giving it up anytime soon.

Rage Against The Machine founder Tom Morello may be very well-versed when it comes to writing an inspiring rock anthem, but he’s much less knowledgeable when it comes to the actual recording process. The musician, like many others of his caliber, has a very “nice” studio in his home, but he recently said he has no idea how to actually use it.

According to NME, Morello talked his lack of technical skills when it comes to using his recording set up in an interview with Guitar World. The musician admitted that even though the studio is “nice,” he doesn’t know what any of the buttons on the console do. “I have a nice studio in my house but I don’t know how to work it. Like, I don’t know how to move any of the buttons around,” he admitted.

Morello and his band usually record music with an entire team of people in the studio, but because of lockdowns over the past two years, the musician knew he wasn’t going to be able to play shows or record music with others for a while. Sure, Morello released two albums in 2021 (and a song with 11-year-old rocker Nandi Bushell), but the musician was forced to get creative with recording it. Morello led by Ye’s example and decided to record songs on his phone. “I was reading an interview where Kanye West said he recorded the vocals to a couple of his big hit records using the voice memo on his phone,” Morello said. “So I did that.”

The Atlanta Hawks were supposed to be one of the top teams in the East this season, as Trae Young had vaulted into superstardom last season by leading the Hawks to a rather stunning run to the Eastern Conference Finals. After a busy 2020 offseason where they spent on free agents like Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari, the Hawks spent this past offseason focused on keeping the band together, handing out a lucrative new deal to John Collins and an extension to Clint Capela.

As we approach the midpoint of the season, though, the Hawks are far from that contender tier, sitting at 16-20 following a loss to the Blazers (without Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum) despite a 56-point outing from Trae Young. It was yet another fourth quarter collapse for the Hawks, who led by five coming into the fourth only to end the game with a five-point loss, and it’s certainly appears that the magic from last year’s post-All Star run has all but evaporated in Atlanta.

It’s not just outsiders and fans who are growing frustrated with last year’s success starting to look more and more like a mirage, as Hawks president and GM Travis Schlenk didn’t mince words on Atlanta radio on Tuesday morning. Schlenk took responsibility for Atlanta’s struggles, saying he might need to lower his expectations of this roster and said it might’ve been a mistake simply running it back this offseason.

One of the hardest things to do as an executive in sports is navigate that first offseason following a meteoric rise to success, as it can be hard to figure out what’s real and sustainable long term and what was a player or team maybe playing over their heads for a couple months. It’s clear the Hawks went into this past offseason still wearing rose-colored glasses, and there were few who blamed them for it. They certainly seemed like a team that had the pieces in place and maybe needed some minor tweaks and roster tinkering, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that foresaw a dropoff like they’ve had.

Still, the NBA is a results business and with the trade deadline looming, it sounds an awful lot like the Hawks will be active in discussions, at minimum, to see what’s out there and what kind of upgrades could be made for a roster that, to this point, simply has not recaptured the form of a year ago.

2 Chainz remains one of the more prolific and consistent names in rap music, even after nearly 20 years in the game. While he’s had a couple of off years — including 2021, during which he did not release a new project — it always seems inevitable that he’ll return with a new collection of punchline-ridden trap jams with an elaborate title. It looks like this month will be his target for the previously announced Dope Don’t Sell Itself, as he announced on his social media.

“Hey how u been!?,” he wondered in the post. “ts been a min I know, but im back with something new & exotic. U know I ain’t been around this long w/o being a thinker and a constant student & teacher of the game… my album ‘DOPE DONT SELL ITSELF’ drops this month & single this week. Sincerely, Two Tone Toni.”

As he previously revealed, he expects Dope Don’t Sell Itself to be his last trap album. Just before the new year, he provided a glimpse at the future with “Mortgage Free,” a new single produced by DJ Premier. Tapping into a Golden Era-influenced sound, the track shows how he might evolve past the musical (ahem) trappings of his prior works such as 2020’s So Help Me God.

Adele’s 30 was the biggest album of 2021, as it was the only one last year to sell a million copies. It’s getting off to a cracking start in 2022, as well: It was the first No. 1 album of the year, and now it’s No. 1 on the Billboard 200 yet again for the sixth total week on the chart dated January 8, thanks to the 99,000 equivalent album units it earned from December 24 to 30, 2021.

Meanwhile, it was a major week for Michael Bublé’s 2011 album Christmas, as it shot up to No. 2 (just a spot away from its former chart-topping position). This is the album’s 100th week on the chart. Rounding out the top 5 are Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version), Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour, and Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album.

Beyond that, a couple of albums make their debut appearances in the top 10: There’s the Encanto film soundtrack, which jumped from No. 110 to No. 7, and the 1963 holiday album A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector rises from No. 11 to No. 10.

Speaking of holiday music, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is No. 1 on the Hot 100 chart for a third straight week. It managed to retain its top spot despite a big week for Adele’s “Easy On Me,” which rose from No. 5 to No. 2.

We’ve said goodbye to 2021 and while there were plenty of incredible video games, there were so many more we didn’t get to play because of the sheer amount of delays. While that was an unfortunate part of 2021, this does give us the added benefit of having that much more to look forward to in 2022. This is set to be one of the biggest years in video games in quite some time with multiple major franchises anticipating a release. There is so much to be excited about and we’ve managed to break all of it down into five games, plus a bunch of honorable mentions, that we think are the most anticipated games of 2022 so far.

Why so far? Because we have no idea what the rest of this year has in store for us. There are likely games we haven’t heard about yet that will also be releasing later in 2022 as well as some games we’re expecting, but currently don’t have a release date, may suddenly be announced as an upcoming title for 2022. There is so much potential for this already gigantic year to get even bigger. So keep that in mind as we break down the five games that we’re anticipating the most in 2022.

Elden Ring (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – February 25

Elden Ring has the potential to be a massive game that brings in people who don’t typically play the kind of games that have this style. With Dark Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki involved we’re all expecting a game that feels very similar in tone and gameplay, but the cross-cultural appeal is going to come from the author of George R.R. Martin’s involvement. As the creator of A Song of Ice and Fire, or Game of Thrones for everyone who watched the TV show, Martin brings narrative credibility that is going to have people interested well beyond the world of gaming.

Horizon Forbidden West (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4) – February 18

Horizon Forbidden West is a highly anticipated sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn. This is one of those games that was supposed to come out in 2021, but a delay forced it into 2022. The first game was extremely well regarded for its world, character, and how fun it was to explore. Forbidden West appears to be taking all of those attributes and not only improving on them but turning this into one of the most visually stunning games we’ve ever seen. While it’s not always a good idea to buy into trailers, we can’t help but be excited every time we see new game footage. Everything looks gorgeous and we can’t wait to explore this world.

Starfield (Xbox Series X/S, PC) – November 11

For everyone that’s been wanting a new game from the creators of Fallout and Elder Scrolls, we finally have one with Starfield. This sci-fi adventure may end up being nothing more than another example of the tried and true Bethesda formula, but it’s a new world with new ideas and that’s exciting from a company like Bethesda. Not only that, but the new engine this game will be running on is supposed to be the engine that future Bethesda games like The Elder Scrolls VI runs on. A new IP, from one of the biggest developers in gaming, and it’s a sci-fi adventure? What’s not to be excited about?

God of War: Ragnarok (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4) – TBA 2022

God of War: Ragnarok is another game that was delayed into 2022. It was delayed for all the obvious reasons, but there’s reason why they would take extra care with this one. This is supposed to be the final chapter in the Norse story the series has been telling. With that we’re expecting some finality in this game and it would be a shame to rush it out just to meet an earlier release date. While we don’t currently know when exactly this year it’s coming out, we do know that everyone is eagerly anticipating to see how the end of Kratos latest story closes.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel (Switch) – TBA 2022

This is a game that everyone has been waiting years for at this point. The sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was first teased to us back in 2019. Ever since we’ve gotten very little info about it beyond a follow-up trailer at E3 2021 with a release date. While the trailer was cool, and a reminder it exists, it’s odd to have a game that is coming out this year and we still don’t have an official title besides “Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.” It makes us worried that this has the potential to be delayed at some point this year, but if that doesn’t happen then all of us can rejoice as we get another exciting adventure in Hyrule. This time in the sky.

The Best Of The Rest:

January

Rainbow Six Extraction (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, PC) – January 20

Pokemon Legends Arceus (Switch) – January 28

February

Dying Light 2 Stay Human (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – February 4

Sifu (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC) – February 8

March

Gran Turismo 7 (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4) – March 4

Triangle Strategy (Switch) – March 4

Stranger Of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – March 18

May

Forspoken (PlayStation 5, PC) – May 24

August

Saints Row (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – August 23

TBA

Bayonetta 3 – (Switch) – TBA 2022

Gotham Knights – (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – TBA 2022

Hogwarts Legacy (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – TBA 2022

Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch) – TBA 2022

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (Switch) – TBA 2022

River City Girls 2 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – TBA 2022

Marvel’s Midnight Suns (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – TBA 2022

Splatoon 3 (Switch) – TBA 2022

Sonic Frontiers (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – TBA 2022

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – TBA 2022

Tobias Harris’ tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers has not gone as well as either he or the team hoped when they acquired him from the Clippers in a trade in 2019 and proceeded to give him a max contract the next summer while Jimmy Butler walked to Miami.

For two years in Detroit and Los Angeles, Harris had become one of the league’s most efficient wing scorers, shooting over 40 percent from three and over 48 percent from the field, which is why he became a coveted trade target for both the Clippers in the Blake Griffin trade and then the Sixers the year after. His first two years in Philly were rocky, but he had his best season with the Sixers last year when he seemed to regain his form under a familiar coach in Doc Rivers, shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from three. That produced optimism that he could be that second or third star next to Joel Embiid, but he hasn’t come close to replicating that so far in 2021-22.

Harris is shooting just 45 percent from the field and a woeful 28.7 percent from three, posting his worst effective field goal percentage (48.5) since his rookie year in Milwaukee. Unsurprisingly, that has not endeared him to the Philly faithful, who have let him know how they feel about his struggles in the form of boo birds at home. That all came to a head on Monday night when he got booed going to the locker room after a poor close to the half against a bad Rockets team, which led to Harris gesturing to the crowd to boo him louder.

In the second half, after the Sixers pulled away from Houston, Harris hadn’t forgotten the boos and after a made bucket in the fourth quarter you could see him on the broadcast telling fans “don’t f**king clap.”

It’s not what you want to see if you are the Sixers, and it’s clear that the response from the home crowd is frustrating Harris. Philly crowds are not shy about giving it to anyone struggling on the home team, but it’s pretty obvious that Harris isn’t feeling the love when it comes his way after a positive play when he’s getting lit up for bad ones on the same night.