Month: January 2023

The National have announced their next album, First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, and fans are absolutely buzzing. After there was some early speculation about Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers being on the record, the band seemingly confirmed the rumors with a password-protected website teaser that named both artists — and Sufjan Stevens.

Now, The National’s official tracklist reveal has proven all the theories were correct. Taylor Swift is collaborating with the band once more, this time on a song called “The Alcott.” As for Bridgers, she has two performances on FTPOF, titled “This Isn’t Helping” and “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend.”

“I love the way they do that sort of down-beat, sometimes self-loathing, reflective, ‘cut down to the heart of the matter’ lyricism,” Swift previously told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe (via Far Out) about her love for The National.

While fans might have to wait a little while longer to hear their favorite artists on a new collab, The National offered something to hold listeners over, in the form of the album’s first single, “Tropic Morning News.”

Continue scrolling for the complete tracklist.

1. “Once Upon A Poolside” Feat. Sufjan Stevens
2. “Eucalyptus”
3. “New Order T-Shirt”
4. “This Isn’t Helping” Feat. Phoebe Bridgers
5. “Tropic Morning News”
6. “Alien”
7. “The Alcott” Feat. Taylor Swift
8. “Grease In Your Hair”
9. “Ice Machines”
10. “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend” Feat. Phoebe Bridgers
11. “Send For Me”

First Two Pages Of Frankenstein is out 4/28 via 4AD. Pre-order it here.

Over the past week or so, The National have been doing mysterious stuff. First they mailed some cryptic stuff to their fans, then they shared a password-locked website that seemed to tease collaborations with Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, and Sufjan Stevens. Now, the inevitable news is here: The National have a new album, First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, on the way.

Indeed, the upcoming LP, set to drop on April 28, does feature Swift, Bridgers, and Stevens. The band shared the lead single, “Tropic Morning News,” today (one of the songs they debuted live back in May 2022).

In a press release, Aaron Dessner says of the track, “When Matt [Berninger] came in with that song in the depths of his depression, it felt like a turning point for us. It’s almost Dylan-esque in its lyrics and it’s so much fun to play; everything suddenly felt like it was coming alive again.”

The album came after a period when Berninger was in “a very dark spot where I couldn’t come up with lyrics or melodies at all,” as he put it. He continued, “Even though we’d always been anxious whenever we were working on a record, this was the first time it ever felt like maybe things really had come to an end.” Bryce Dessner noted that eventually, the band “managed to come back together and approach everything from a different angle, and because of that we arrived at what feels like a new era for the band.” Aaron Dessner added, “To me, the power of this record has to do with the intentionality and structure of the music meeting with a lot of accidental magic.”

On top of all that, the band announced tour dates for this year, featuring support from Soccer Mommy, Bartees Strange, and The Beths.

Listen to “Tropic Morning News” above. Below, find the First Two Pages Of Frankenstein art and tracklist, along with The National’s upcoming tour dates.

1. “Once Upon A Poolside” Feat. Sufjan Stevens
2. “Eucalyptus”
3. “New Order T-Shirt”
4. “This Isn’t Helping” Feat. Phoebe Bridgers
5. “Tropic Morning News”
6. “Alien”
7. “The Alcott” Feat. Taylor Swift
8. “Grease In Your Hair”
9. “Ice Machines”
10. “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend” Feat. Phoebe Bridgers
11. “Send For Me”

05/20 — Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theatre *
05/21 — Chicago, IL @ Auditorium Theatre *
05/24 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem *
05/26 — Boston, MA @ Boston Calling Festival
05/28 — Napa, CA @ Bottlerock Festival
05/30 — Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre *
06/02 — Troutdale, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield *
06/03 — Troutdale, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield *
06/04 — Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Park *
06/05 — Burnaby, BC, Canada @ Festival Lawn at Deer Lake Park *
08/01 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia ~
08/03 — New Haven, CT @ Westville Music Bowl ~
08/07 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore Detroit ~
08/08 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee ~
08/09 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory ~
08/11 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom ~
08/15 — Nashville, TN @ Ascend Amphitheater ~
08/16 — Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park ~
08/18 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden (with very special guest Patti Smith and her band)
09/21 — Dublin, IRE @ 3 Arena *
09/23 — Leeds, UK @ First Direct Arena *
09/24 — Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro Arena *
09/26 — London, UK @ Alexandra Palace *
09/29 — Amsterdam, NL @ Ziggo Dome ^
09/30 — Berlin, DE @ Max-Schmeling-Halle ^
10/01 — Munich, DE @ Zenith ^
10/04 — Madrid, ES @ WiZink Center ^
10/05 — Porto, PT @ Super Bock Arena ^
10/06 — Lisbon, PT @ Campo Pequeno ^

* with Soccer Mommy
~ with The Beths
^ with Bartees Strange

First Two Pages Of Frankenstein is out 4/28 via 4AD. Pre-order it here.

The Dallas Mavericks are out of the play-in race in the Western Conference for now, as the team is holding onto the 5-seed with a 24-21 record as of Wednesday morning. It’s required some remarkably heavy lifting by Luka Doncic that runs the risk of wearing him down by the time the postseason rolls around, and apparently, the Mavericks’ MVP candidate would like a little help.

In a piece by Tim MacMahon of ESPN about the ways that Doncic and Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young will always be connected, MacMahon reports that Doncic is trying something new as the trade deadline approaches: He’s advocating for the front office to bring in reinforcements.

Doncic has been more spectacular than ever this season, efficiently leading the league in scoring despite frequent double-teams and dragging Dallas to a 24-21 record, good enough for fifth place in the West. He’s certainly not satisfied to be in the middle of the playoff pack. Doncic is a fiery competitor with a championship pedigree, having won titles with the Slovenian national team and Real Madrid, and patience isn’t high on his list of virtues.

Sources said Doncic, who hasn’t shown a desire to be involved in personnel matters in the past, has strongly indicated he wants the Mavs to upgrade before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

Doncic’s numbers have, unsurprisingly, been stellar this season, as he’s averaging 33.8 points, nine rebounds, 8.8 assists, and 1.6 steals in 37.4 minutes per game. He’s scoring and playing more than ever, while his usage percentage of 38.2 percent is also a career-high. Unfortunately for Dallas, a measure complicating any attempt to upgrade next to Doncic would require some patience from other teams, as the Mavericks’ first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft belongs to the New York Knicks.

One of the biggest names in photo licensing has filed a significant lawsuit that could slow down the rapid rise in AI art generators. The controversial process “scrapes” previously created art and repurposes it through a series of algorithms that allow users to create theoretically new works. However, Getty Images has pushed back in UK court with a lawsuit that could see the practice stymied in lengthy copyright litigation.

On Monday, Getty targeted Stability AI for “illegally copying and processing millions of its copyrighted images.” Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“Getty Images provided licenses to leading technology innovators for purposes related to training artificial intelligence systems in a manner that respects personal and intellectual property rights,” said the company, which prohibits the sale of AI generated art, in a statement. “Stability AI did not seek any such license from Getty Images and instead, we believe, chose to ignore viable licensing options and long-standing legal protections in pursuit of their stand-alone commercial interests.”

In addition to Getty, a class action lawsuit in California federal court has been filed by a group of artists who seek to protect their intellectual property from being downloaded and repurposed by AI art generators without permission.

“Until now, when a purchaser seeks a new image ‘in the style’ of a given artist, they must pay to commission or license an original image from that artist,” the class action suit reads. “Now, those purchasers can use the artist’s works along with the artist’s name to generate new works in the artist’s style without compensating the artist at all.”

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

This year, the Harlem music festival documented in Questlove’s directorial debut Summer Of Soul is returning and will actually be a year-long affair celebrating the history and culture of the New York neighborhood and its influence. While the Harlem Festival Of Culture will mostly take place in July, a series of related events will kick off this month with a concert at the legendary Apollo Theater headlined by rap icon Lil Kim.

The Jump Off With Lil Kim And Friends is billed for January 26, which is incidentally the Apollo’s 89th anniversary. Yvonne McNair, the Harlem Festival Of Culture’s co-founder and talent producer, said in a statement, “As we prepared to start on this road to the launch of the festival, we realized that this was also a milestone year for hip-hop and knew that our first major event out of the gate had to be special and center around hip-hop and R&B.”

“One of the tenets of HFC’s mission is to celebrate and preserve the cultural contributions of the Black Diaspora in music, media, art, fashion, and entertainment. Hip-hop culture has touched every single part of society, and there is no artist that better represents its far-reaching impact than Lil Kim. We’re so thrilled that Kim will help us curate the evening to bring a full, one-of-a-kind music experience to audiences in the city where it all began. We’re also excited to launch this event and our festival journey with our partners.”

“Apollo was like my backyard,” said Kim herself. “I played there so much and every time it was always love. The crowd is always amazing!”

Over the past year, Kim’s influence has become more apparent than ever, as successors to her raunchy rap legacy like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion talked about collaborating with her, and even Nicki Minaj acknowledged her impact.

Billie Eilish is reportedly seeking a restraining order against a 39-year-old man accused of breaking into her parents’ Los Angeles home, according to a report by Los Angeles Times. The Times says they have received court documents, including a statement from Eilish.

In the statement, Eilish wrote that a man Christopher Anderson intruded into her childhood home, in which her parents Maggie Baird and Patrick O’Connell still live “unannounced and uninvited after apparently professing his love for me and expressing that he really wanted to meet me.”

Eilish noted that she had never communicated with Anderson prior, and that he had shown up to the home several times before the break-in, which took place on January 5. She added that she does not feel safe returning to her family’s home.

O’Connell also noted in the documents that Anderson, “professed his love for my daughter Billie, claimed that at some point in time, Billie had been watching Mr. Anderson and writing songs about Mr. Anderson and that Mr. Anderson really wanted to meet Billie.”

Back in 2020, Eilish filed a restraining order against another man who had shown up to their house several times in the past.

Eilish’s brother, Finneas, has alluded to stalkers in his song, “The ’90s,” singing “I hate how easy they can find me just by looking up my mom’s address.”

“Regrettably, this is not the first time an unknown individual has attempted to contact my family and me specifically by stalking us outside my family’s home and by making professions of love to and threats of violence against me,” Eilish wrote in the most recent court documents. “However, each such occasion, including the present one, causes me substantial anxiety, fear, and emotional distress over my personal safety and that of my father, mother, and brother.”

Is there anything Snoop Dogg hasn’t accomplished in his thirty-year career? Over the past few years, the rapper has expanded his business empire to include acquiring his former record label, opening a Funko Pop store, starting a pet clothing line, and of course, collaborating on a cannabis line. The musician has surely come a long way since writing out his song lyrics on typewriter.

That said, the Long Beach native is still experiencing a career first, having been named by the Songwriters Hall of Fame as one of its latest inductees. The class of 2023 inductees will also include musical trailblazers Sade, Glen Ballard, Gloria Estefan, Jeff Lynne, Teddy Riley, and Liz Rose.

When discussing the annual event, SHOF Chairman Nile Rodgers said, “The music industry does not exist without songwriters delivering great songs first. Without them, there is no recorded music, no concert business, no merch… nothing. It all starts with the song and the songwriter.”

He added, “We are therefore very proud that we are continually recognizing some of the culturally most important songwriters of all time and that the 2023 slate represents not just iconic songs but also diversity and unity across genres, ethnicity, and gender, songwriters who have enriched our lives and, in their time, literally transformed music and the lives of billions of listeners all over the world.”

In fact, with her induction, Gloria Estefan will become the first Latin woman to enter the ranks.

The ceremonial event is slated for Thursday, June 15th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. To purchase tickets, click here.

2022 was definitely a year that happened! Despite some potential moral misfires and slight price adjustments, Netflix was able to hold its own throughout the year, thanks to viral movie moments and Daniel Craig in nautical wear. And now it’s on to the next one, though this year will have significantly fewer movies than the last two years, which averaged about one movie premiere a week. That seems excessive, anyway.

The streamer gave fans a first look at what to expect in the coming year of action movies, intense dramas, and more Adam Sandler murder mystery parties. Truly, there is something for everyone!

Kicking off 2023 will be Eddie Murphy’s You People with an all-star cast led by Murphy and featuring Jonah Hill, Lauren London, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Sam Jay, Elliott Gould, Travis Bennett, Molly Gordon, Rhea Perlman, Deon Cole, and Louis-Dreyfus, just to name a few. The comedy will premiere on January 27th.

Just in time for the most romantic holiday of the year (National Umbrella Day), Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon will lead the romantic comedy Your Place Or Mine, which debuts on February 10th. The preview also included a look at Idris Elba reprising his role as Detective John Luther in Luther: The Fallen Sun, which will premiere on March 10th. Jennifer Anniston and Adam Sandler will reunite in Murder Mystery 2, the sequel to the unexpected 2019 hit. Sandler and Aniston’s characters Nick and Audrey Spitz have returned to become full-time detectives, though they seem to be struggling to get their small business off the ground. It’s very relatable in the gig economy!

When it comes to action films, Chris Hemsworth’s long-awaited Extraction 2 will premiere on June 10th, just over three years since the first film in the franchise. The sequel was written by Joe Russo of The Russo Bros. fame and will bring back Tyler Rake on another high-stakes mission, this time set on a beautiful snowy mountain.

The second half of the year will bring They Cloned Tyrone, a sci-fi comedy starring John Boyega and Jamie Foxx, meanwhile Gal Gadot’s latest action thriller Heart Of Stone will land on the streamer on August 11th.

Other movies slated to drop this year include Millie Bobby Brown’s Damsel dropping on October 10th, Emily Blunt and Chris Evans’ Pain Hustlers on October 27th, and Michael Fassbender’s The Killer, which will premiere on November 10th. Finally, Zack Snyder’s buzzy sci-fi epic Rebel Moon will land in December.

As for the yet-unannounced films, we do know that Netflix has that mighty deal with Rian Johnson, which means there will probably be some progress on the upcoming Knives Out installment in the coming year. Earlier this month, Johnson told Variety how he intends to craft the third installment. “I’m starting to work on the third movie now, and that’s also what’s got me creatively jazzed: I don’t have to replicate the last movie at all. The goal is to strike out in a completely new direction tonally and thematically.” There is a good chance some movement will happen this year, perhaps for a 2024 release. One can dream!

(Via Variety)

There’s two ways of looking at the box office total for conspiracy loving Gina Carano’s most recent film, the Ben Shapiro-produced Terror on the Prairie (think: a grittier Yellowstone, but without the “woke” kisses). The charitable interpretation is that it only made $13,115 because it had an extremely limited theatrical reaction — we’re talking one, maybe two theaters — before being released on Daily Wire. The funnier interpretation is that it only made $13,115 because no one wants to see the fired The Mandalorian star in a low-budget Western — including some conservatives, via Indiewire:

Terror on the Prairie represented the right-wing media outlet’s most serious attempt at mainstream filmmaking to date, [but] it failed to resonate with its target audience. A new story in the AV Club revealed that there are still some fringe online personalities who thought the film was too “woke.” Many of them took to Twitter and IMDb comment sections to complain about the film’s male characters acting insufficiently masculine while allowing Carano’s heroine to save the day.

The people of Worth It or Woke? have spoken, and they are triggered:

In response to a suggestion that she lost millions by not being able to keep her beliefs to herself, Carano wrote, “I didn’t fumble the bag I just didn’t go along with the sell out narrative, the online mob couldn’t handle that so they petitioned to have me fired & won. I’m not sorry for that. I stood for what I believe the right thing to do was & the more time that goes by the better I feel.” She added, “The genuine bag fumble is sell out journalists like you who sold out America and stopped asking questions to be liked by a fickle manipulated mob. That is what you valued and that will be your legacy.”

(Via Indiewire and the AV Club)

One of the traits that endeared GloRilla to audiences so much during her breakout in 2022 was her commitment to bringing her “ratchet ass friends” along for the ride. That included fellow Memphis rapper Gloss Up, who landed her own record deal with Atlanta’s Quality Control Music. Despite being on different labels now, the two clearly remain best friends, celebrating and showing off their bond in Gloss’s aptly-titled new single, “BestFrenn.”

In the video, Gloss and Glo get their GLOW on, borrowing the themes and aesthetic of an underground wrestling promotion. They make one hell of a tag team, taking on all challengers, which include the “Laso Girls” a cowboy-themed duo,
“Battle Buddies,” who share a military look, and “Biker Girls,” whose gimmick ought to be obvious from their title. In the lyrics, the two Memphis rappers boast, “Wе don’t do no one-on-one, we all bе jumpin’ in.” Sounds about right.

While GloRilla was the clear 2022 rookie of the year, Gloss Up was no slouch herself. She appeared on labelmate Lakeyah’s mixtape No Pressure Pt. 2, lending a belligerent verse to the single “Real B*tch” and establishing herself as a potential star in her own right. With Glo backing her up and the QC machine at her disposal, it’s only a matter of time until she proves every bit the crowd-pleasing presence as her bestie.

Watch Gloss Up’s “BestFrenn” video featuring GloRilla above.