Category: News

Well, we’re in the home stretch: the winter holidays are now a matter of weeks away. Hopefully, you’ve done some exemplary planning and all your gift-buying has been done for months now. If that’s not the case, no need to worry: We got you covered.

If there are any music fans in your life whose names haven’t yet been crossed off your shopping list, our rundown of gift ideas is a strong place to start. Whether they could use some new headphones, if they’re more of a reader, or if something offbeat would perk their ears up, there’s bound to be at least one winning option here.

So, let’s get into it.

Grateful Dead Dancing Care Bears Little Playmate 7 Qt Cooler

In terms of animals, this season is all about reindeer, but now’s a great time to give bears a look, because two of the most iconic ones ever have come together for a collaboration: the Care Bears and the Grateful Dead bears. They’ve united under the Igloo banner for a cooler that’s good for holding 7 quarts (or up to nine cans) and comes in a lovely pink color.

Get it here.

Adidas RPT-02 SOL Headphones

There are almost too many options when it comes to headphones, but this offering from Adidas is particularly compelling, especially for eco-conscious consumers. In addition to sounding great and being sweat- and splash-proof, the RPT-02 SOL headphones are actually powered by light and built in part from 87 percent recycled plastics.

Get it here.

Metallica x Stranger Things Merch

Metallica had one of 2022’s biggest musical moments thanks to a memorable placement in Stranger Things, and now fans who want to spend a bit more time in Hawkins can. The band and Netflix teamed up for some exclusive merch based on the show and the band, including a version of the now-iconic Hellfire Club shirt that’s been given a taste of Metallica.

Get it here.

Skullcandy Push Active True Wireless Earbuds

Skullcandy has become an industry leader in headphones and they sure have packed a lot of features into their new earbuds. Aside from the sound and build quality customers have come to expect, the Skull-iQ Smart Feature Technology inside offers hands-free voice control, making these a supreme pick for the more active among us. If you tend to misplace things, Skullcandy thought of that, too, as they have Tile technology built in.

Get it here.

Cameo

Cameo has changed the game when it comes to giving everyday folks access to famous people. There is a rich roster of musicians on the platform, too, so if somebody in your life would appreciate a personalized video message from a musical favorite, options include Wayne Coyne of Flaming Lips, Kenny G, Bootsy Collins, Royce Da 5’9″, Gata, Alice Cooper, Dave Mustaine, Lupe Fiasco, and almost countless others.

Get it here.

Rolling Stones 60th Anniversary Collections

Soon, there will be no doubt about what luggage on the airport carousel is yours. That is, if you get an item or two from the new Rolling Stones anniversary collection, which has their iconic mouth logo on everything from rolling luggage to duffel bags to backpacks, all of which will bring a distinct aesthetic to travel adventures.

Get it here and here.

Loop Experience Earplugs

If the constant flow of stories about musicians losing their hearing hasn’t made this clear: It’s important to protect your ears at concerts (and other loud environments). Ear plugs are a concert/festival must-have and Loop earplugs offer a volume reduction of 18 decibels while keeping the sound natural. So, if you or a loved one don’t already have a hearing protection solution, this is your sign to get one (specifically, this one).

Get it here.

Ultimate Ears UE Drops

There are almost as many earbud/headphone manufacturers out there as there are songs to listen to through their products. When it comes to high-end choices, though, Ultimate Ears has an offering worth considering. The UE Drops are about as bespoke as you can get, too: The buying process includes taking a custom impression of your ear, meaning the earbuds you end up with should fit better than any pair you’ve ever worn before.

Get it here.

33 1/3: Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly book

The esteemed 33 1/3 series has been pumping out high-quality and super-focused books about classic albums for years now. This year, author Sequoia Maner took on Kendrick Lamar’s iconic album To Pimp A Butterfly, making this the perfect opportunity to get granular and learn about one of this era’s defining releases. And if that one doesn’t pique your interest, maybe one of the other books from this series will, which range from Cat Power to Duran Duran.

Get it here.

“Beats x Kim” Beats Fit Pro Earbuds

Beats is both one of the trendiest and most respected brand in headphones, and this year, they teamed up with Kim Kardashian for a line of flesh-colored earbuds that look wonderfully understated. Celebrity partnership aside, these have three listening modes (Active Noise Cancelling, Transparency Mode, and Adaptive EQ) and the Apple H1 chip, which allows for “automatic switching, audio sharing (with another pair of Beats headphones or Apple AirPods), and ‘Hey Siri.’”

Get it here.

Meta Quest 2 and Beat Saber

If you haven’t gotten on board yet, here’s some news: VR is here. Furthermore, Beat Saber is one of the most engaging music experiences on the platform and the game introduces new content all the time: In just the past few months, song packs from The Weeknd and Lizzo were added, bringing some of today’s biggest bops to the saber-swinging realm.

Get it here.

Snoop Doggie Doggs

It’s hard to believe this wasn’t already a thing, but in November, Snoop Dogg finally introduced a line of dog products, Snoop Doggie Doggs. The focus here is dog clothes, including jerseys, hoodies, shirts, bandanas, collars, harnesses, leashes, and tricked-out water/food bowls. There’s even a boom box chew toy that plays Snoop’s signature “bow wow wow, yippie yo, yippie yay” line from his 1993 classic “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?.”

Get it here.

A Creative’s Guide To Living An Artistic Life: Words + Music In 6 Seconds Deck

As a creative person, ruts happen. Grammy-winning artist/songwriter/producer Dan Wilson (of Semisonic) has something to help with those trying times, though: a 75-card deck of cards that feature advice about creativity, collaborating, and more. If an artist finds themselves stuck, they can pick a random card or flip through the deck, letting the wisdom contained within start them on the path to their next hit.

Get it here.

Harry Styles — Harry’s House Vinyl

It could be argued that Harry Styles had a bigger year than anybody else in music, with “As It Was” spending 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, making it one of the longest-running chart-toppers ever. With that in mind, Harry’s House is a definite vinyl buy, especially if you opt for one of the exclusive colors (orange and seaglass green) available on his webstore.

Get it here.

For The Birds: The Birdsong Project

The Birdsong Project is massive — For The Birds: The Birdsong Project is a five-volume benefit compilation consisting of 242 tracks by everybody from Jeff Tweedy to Damon Albarn to Tilda Swinton. This literally is for the birds, by the way, as the project benefits the National Audubon Society.

Get it here.

Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 Vinyl Box Set

If your vinyl library doesn’t have any Blondie in it, this box set is probably the best possible place to start your collection off right. It has the band’s first six albums — Blondie, Plastic Letters, Parallel Lines, Eat To The Beat, Autoamerican, and The Hunter — as well as four additional LPs that feature outakes, B-sides, and other exclusive rarities that add up to 124 total studio tracks.

Get it here.

Eilish No. 2 Eau de Parfum

Billie Eilish has been in the perfume game for a bit now, and her releases stand out due to the eye-catching bust container they come in. As for her latest fragrance, it’s described, “An alluring aroma which opens with the freshness of Italian bergamot and apple blossom. It flows into a woody, earthy spiciness of papyrus and black pepper with a contrast of wild wet poppy flowers. A base of woody palo santo and ebony are expertly wrapped in a metallic, nuanced veil of skin musk.”

Get it here.

Vinyl Me, Please

Time and time again, Vinyl Me, Please comes through when it comes to exclusive, appealing vinyl pressings. Pictured above is a gorgeous reissue of Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights (grab it here if that’s what you want), but their entire inventory is worth perusing to find the right album for your giftee. They also offer different options for gift memberships, so sending a loved one on that journey could be the way to go and the gift that keeps on giving.

Get it here.

Questlove — Music Is History book

Questlove is an established author at this point, and while The Roots drummer’s Music Is History book actually came out in 2021, it received some attention recently when the audiobook version earned a 2023 Grammy nomination in the Best Audio Book, Narration, And Storytelling Recording category. As for what the book’s about, it serves as a fascinating look at both Questlove’s encyclopedic mind and music history more broadly, via an exploration of one track per year from 1971 to 2021.

Get it here.

There is a lot of mistrust surrounding the implementation of artificial intelligence these days and some of it is justified. There’s reason to worry that deep-fake technology will begin to seriously blur the line between fantasy and reality, and people in a wide range of industries are concerned AI could eliminate their jobs.

Artists and writers are also bothered that AI works on reappropriating existing content for which the original creators will never receive compensation.

The World Economic Forum recently announced that AI and automation are causing a huge shake-up in the world labor market. The WEF estimates that the new technology will supplant about 85 million jobs by 2025. However, the news isn’t all bad. It also said that its analysis anticipates the “future tech-driven economy will create 97 million new jobs.”

The topic of AI is complex, but we can all agree that a new story from England shows how AI can certainly be used for the betterment of humanity. It was first covered by Tom Warren of BuzzFeed News.

---

Here’s a write-up on @BuzzFeed
Let me introduce you to Ben AKA “Dave” 😀https://t.co/8f7IEwPjHr

— Danny Richman (@DannyRichman) December 6, 2022

Danny Richman, 60, developed a friendship with plumber Ben Whittle, 31, a year ago after he came to his home to repair a bathroom leak. Richman, a search engine optimization consultant, became a mentor to Whittle and encouraged him to expand his business, which led to him opening a pool company.

However, Whittle’s professional development was hampered by dyslexia, making it difficult for him to communicate professionally. Dyslexia is a learning disorder that makes reading and writing a challenge because people with it have difficulty decoding how speech sounds relate to letters and words.

“To start with, I was reading and writing my bits, and then Danny was editing for me,” Whittle told BuzzFeed News. “And then he realized, there’s probably a much quicker way to do this.”

So in just 15 minutes, Richman developed an AI app that could correct Whittle’s writing and turn it into polite, professional-sounding British English. It’s based on OpenAI’s GPT-3 artificial intelligence tool.

He described the app’s creation on Twitter.

I mentor a young lad with poor literacy skills who is starting a landscaping business. He struggles to communicate with clients in a professional manner.

I created a GPT3-powered Gmail account to which he sends a message. It responds with the text to send to the client. pic.twitter.com/nlFX9Yx6wR

— Danny Richman (@DannyRichman) December 1, 2022

The entire process took less than 15 minutes to create. No coding required. Flow: Gmail>Zapier>GPT3>Gmail

— Danny Richman (@DannyRichman) December 1, 2022

I also helped him use GPT3 to prepare an estimate, create a contract and respond to client enquiries. He just secured his first contract worth £220,000. This would not have been possible without this tech.

— Danny Richman (@DannyRichman) December 1, 2022

Since Richman’s tweet went viral he has been approached by countless charities and educators about developing an app that can help people with various language difficulties. He believes that going forward, these apps can be made available free of charge for those who need assistance.

“My hope is that this can be achieved at zero cost to users and without the need for any form of commercialization,” he told Buzzfeed News.

Tabitha Goldstaub, a tech entrepreneur and co-founder of CognitionX, a market intelligence platform for AI, has dyslexia and relies on AI-enabled apps such as SwiftKey and Grammarly to help her communicate. So she understands firsthand the benefits that come with AI and the potential drawbacks. She was overjoyed by Richman’s creation.

So many GPT3 powered creative, sadistic, silly and glorious uses being shared but this one really tickled me this morning

No code required, small business using AI to simply enhance process, improve customer engagement and confidence! (Read thread) #TechThatHappensToDoGood https://t.co/kX1V4Ahhi8

— tabitha goldstaub (@tabithagold) December 6, 2022

Goldstaub believes that we can have the best of both worlds if we make sure that humans are part of the implementation process. “I only ever advocate for AI systems in the workplace if they have a Human in the Loop approach. HITL is a way to build AI systems that makes sure there is always a person with a key role somewhere in the decision-making process,” she told The Guardian.

Just a few days ago, The 1975’s Matty Healy joined Dashboard Confessional to play their classic emo hit “Hands Down” at the Audacy Beach Festival in Fort Lauderdale. “Emo multiverse is glitching,” Healy captioned the Instagram video of him shredding with the band. Real ones know that this is not his first crossover with the genre; “I’m an active emo man, I suppose I’d call myself,” he said in 2019 in a radio interview, before name-dropping Joan Of Arc, Braid, and Mineral.

So it’s the perfect time for Healy to lean in harder. Guitarist Adam Hann shared an Instagram Story of Healy playing the iconic American Football “Never Meant” riff — the one that gets more and more memeified as time passes because of how instantly recognizable it is. You don’t have to know the song to know it; just scroll TikTok long enough and you’ll likely come across some video.

Emo is also notoriously one of the most gatekept genres, thus it’s no wonder why Healy has always been proving his relevance in and knowledge about the genre. When he was a surprise opener for Phoebe Bridgers at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles last year, he introduced his song “Sex” by calling it “an emo classic,” a comment that definitely pissed off a bunch of American Football fans. But he’s not wrong…

Bad Bunny is standing alone at the top. The revelatory Puerto Rican superstar became the first-ever artist with an all-Spanish release, Un Verano Sin Ti, atop the year-end Billboard 200 chart. The record-breaking album made more history when the 2023 Grammys nominations were announced last month, as it is the first-ever Spanish-language project to be up for Album Of The Year.

If that weren’t enough, Billboard put Bad Bunny atop its year-end Top Tours chart with a total gross of $373.5 million across his El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo 2022 and World’s Hottest Tour headlining treks. Additionally, he’s the first artist in history to claim two tours with over $100 million earnings within a calendar year.

This morning (December 8), Bad Bunny was yet again alone in the spotlight on the cover of Billboard. The accompanying story contrasted Bad Bunny’s simplistic tour sets — mostly, just him, a beach chair, and a microphone — with the multidimensional team effort behind him since Noah Assad, his manager, signed him in 2016 when Bad Bunny was bagging groceries in his native Puerto Rico.

Bad Bunny can command audiences of thousands by himself, but he values working with others more.

“I’m at a point where, no matter what happens, I’m not looking for anything to happen. For example, I wasn’t looking for a collab with Drake,” Bunny said. “It was very spontaneous. Now it’s different. Now everybody — the biggest artist you can think of — wants to collaborate with me.” When Cobo offered that Bad Bunny is the biggest artist she can think of, he used an interesting analogy to describe how seriously he takes his access to any collaborator he wants.

“And I collaborate with myself,” he continued. “I see collabs in a very different way, as something very special. For me, a collaboration is almost like, I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but it’s almost like having sex with someone. Making a song is a serious matter. You’re saying things, and you’re with someone, and it’s not going to go away. It’s there forever; it’s not like pressing ‘delete’ if you change your mind. At the end of the day, collaborating with Drake, or whoever, is as special as a collab with Buscabulla, or Chencho, or Rauw [Alejandro], or Jhayco. Each has a specific moment and a specific feeling.”

Bunny also shared that he plans to take a break in 2023 “for my physical health, my emotional health to breathe, enjoy my achievements.” We can all agree he’s earned it.

See outtakes from Bad Bunny’s Billboard cover below.

The list of people, places, and things that Marjorie Taylor Greene has a problem with is a pretty extensive one, and most notably includes: Nancy Pelosi, underwear that don’t protect you from farts, people reminding her that she was the “surprise guest” at a white nationalist event, properly cooked turkey, gazpacho, feral hogs, student loan forgiveness, mask mandates, having her rights “fragrantly” violated, and, of course, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. And on Wednesday, she added yet another name to her sh*t list: Herschel Walker.

As if the former football pro hasn’t suffered enough humiliation since announcing his bid for U.S. Senate — including a ton of secret children coming forward, an ex-girlfriend (and mother of one of his children) sharing the get-well card and check the pro-life candidate sent her for an abortion, and, well, losing. Now he’s got Greene on his ass, complaining about how she could have helped him win over the state of Georgia. Which is an absolutely frightening thought.

On Wednesday, Greene celebrated Festivus early by airing her grievances against Team Herschel while chatting with Steve Bannon (wait, he’s not in prison?!). In true Republican-speak, Greene complained that “I was never asked very often by the Herschel Walker campaign to come speak at his events.”

So was it never? Or only sometimes? As she continued talking, we got the answer:

They only asked me to come to maybe two, I think. Two or three in my own district, when he was campaigning all over the state, running for Senate. But they only asked me a couple of times in my own district, which I find extremely insulting.

Others, however, might see it differently. And think that only asking an unhinged conspiracy theorist to be your hype woman in the district that actually voted her into office — TWICE! — was actually one of the few smart decisions the Walker campaign made. Well, that and not yanking Walker right off the stage when he began talking about whether it’s cooler to be a werewolf or a vampire.

You can watch Marge express her disappointment for yourself above.

ASAP Rocky hasn’t released a new album for nearly five years after 2018’s Testing, so the anticipation for his next album — which appears to be on the way — is sky-high. In a new interview with GQ, he revealed a few more details about the upcoming project, including its heavy input from Atlanta superproducer Metro Boomin. “I’m gonna put it to you like this,” he said. “This next album needs to be just called Flacko Boomin, you hear me?”

This is good news for fans of their chemistry in collaborations like “Feel The Fiyaaaah” from Metro’s newly released album Heroes & Villains — chemistry Rocky said stems from their first meeting ten years ago. “[ASAP] Yams [Rocky’s former manager, who died from an overdose in 2015] linked me and Metro in 2012,” he recalled. “This is before he’s working with a lot of people in Atlanta. He was still in college. ASAP Yams told me Metro was gonna be Metro. He was like, ‘This is the kid I’m telling you.’ So, Yams wanted this.”

Rocky made sure to assert that he’s working with Metro because of their connection, not Metro’s current hot streak. “Most artists wanna make [collabs just because they’re hot],” he insisted. “For us, it’s like, that’s really my n****.”

The road to Rocky’s next album already has its first piece in his new single “Sh*ttin Me,” which references his Rolling Loud mosh pit mishap in its dystopic video.

Despite being on the guest list, Kim Kardashian was noticeably absent from The Hollywood Reporter‘s Women in Entertainment breakfast on Wednesday morning. With no one made a big deal out of Kardashian’s absence, Seth Rogen decided to have a little fun with the elephant in the room. However, his route quickly went south when the actor realized that Kardashian undoubtedly has her hands full dealing with Kanye West and his recent Hitler love fest.

“Are we going to talk about how Kim Kardashian didn’t show up? Is that going to happen?” Rogen joked at the podium where Kardashian was supposed to be a presenter. Rogen then proceeded to roast the reality star until the awkward moment when he seemingly remembered that Kanye exists. Via Page Six:

“I’ll say is this… I have seen every episode of ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians,’ I know she is not doing something more important than this. I’ve seen 100,000 hours of her. She’s never done something more important than this. This would be the climax of the show.”

The comic actor then wondered, “What is she doing? I don’t know.” But he added, “She’s honestly… she’s probably dealing with a lot right now.”

Oof. As for the real reason for Kardashian’s absence, her camp said it was simply a scheduling mixup and made it a point to note that the reality star “never cancels.”

“The wrong event date was given to Kim’s team several weeks ago,” a Kardashian source told Page Six. “The error was realized only on Monday, and unfortunately her schedule could not be moved around at the last minute due to a prior work commitment. She was incredibly disappointed to not be able to attend.”

(Via Page Six)

While Donald Trump has spent more than a week desperately attempting to erase the fact that he hosted infamous white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes for dinner at Mar-a-Lago, he apparently sees no issue in welcoming a group of QAnon conspiracy theorists to his Palm Beach golf club. (His “supernanny” must have had the night off.)

As The Daily Beast reports, Trump spent Tuesday night meeting with — and fawning over — a group of QAnon conspiracy theorists who were hosting a far-right fundraiser at the former president’s Palm Beach golf club and residence. Liz Crokin, a noted Pizzagate theorist, took to Telegram to write about what a “privilege and honor” it was “to speak at America’s Future fundraiser to combat child trafficking at Mar-A-Lago.” She also noted that she did, indeed, discuss Pizzagate.

For his part, Trump just seemed thrilled that anyone was excited to meet him. In a video that was filmed at the event, he told the room full of QAnon quacks that “You are incredible people, you are doing unbelievable work, and we just appreciate you being here, and we hope you’re going to be back.”

The Daily Beast did not receive a response after reaching out to the Trump campaign for a comment.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Stephen King continues to make Twitter worth browsing despite, well, the current situation over there. The microwave salmon and English muffin addict is known to swing far and wide with his subjects of discussion. I still want to know more about why he’s so drawn to Manifest (does he love the soap-operatics of the story, or is he entertained by herrings so red that they’s positively bleeding?). For now, the regular dad jokes and literary references will do.

In this installment of mundane-yet-still-entertaining tweet subjects, King took a diversion into favorite t-shirt land. Here’s the Cell author’s prime example from his own dresser: “If you go home with somebody and they don’t have books, don’t fuck ’em.”

Those are wise words. I’d add that the books should bear a slightly worn quality, which suggests that they’re not mere impulse purchases that turned into strategic slices of decor. A well-stocked Kindle should qualify, in my opinion, although that’s obviously nothing that one can or should dig into unless invited. There should also be an addendum on the back of a t-shirt to showcase how Elaine from Seinfeld feels about bathroom books. That might kill the vibe for some people, but it could also help. Heck, I say that it’s a good weeding-out process for the future.

There are a ton of different ways musicians can tackle holiday songs. There’s the Phoebe Bridgers approach, which is just picking the bleakest Christmas ballad you can find and making it even sadder, like with last month’s “So Much Wine.” You can write your own song, like David Byrne just did with “Fat Man’s Comin’.” The Linda Lindas went the latter route, sharing the invigorating “Groovy Xmas,” and now they’ve performed it on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

On a stage lit up with red and green and decorated with Christmas trees, the band brought their holiday spirit and punk energy, bundling both into one. They got the audience dancing as they propelled the song forward with exciting riffs and catchy harmonies.

About the track, The Linda Lindas said upon its release, “There are so many cool Christmas songs that we love to dance to, and a lot of them are by our favorite punk bands: Alice Bag, Red Kross, Shonen Knife. We were inspired by them to write our own carol that you can add to your jolly playlist and enjoy at holiday gatherings! Please sing along and share: and we hope you have a very Groovy Xmas and an awesome new year!”

Watch their performance above.