Thursday Music News

12/13/2012

Hallie Santo

Well, that Paul McCartney/Nirvana thing happened. Macca "jammed" with former grunge-rockers Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic (plus Foo Fighter Pat Smear) at the 12-12-12 Hurricane Sandy benefit show at Madison Square Garden last night. The quartet (or "Sirvana," as Spin has dubbed them) debuted a new song called "Cut Me Some Slack," which features some furious drumming from Grohl and an all-out guitar shred-fest. Here's a video of the performance, but we also recommend you watch Chris Martin's duet with Michael Stipe and Kanye West's latest kilt-clad appearance.

The Knife are back! Karin Dreijer Andersoon and Olof Dreijer announced yesterday that they will be releasing their first proper album since 2006's Silent Shout (unless you count their Darwinist opera Tomorrow, in a Year). Shaking the Habitual will be out sometime in spring 2013, but for now, all we have is an unusual teaser video that features the Swedish siblings on a swingset. At least they've taken off those creepy bird masks...

Yesterday afternoon, Dirty Projectors shared a video for "Offspring Are Blank," the opening track from their latest album, Swing Lo Magellan. The clip, directed by David Longstreth, follows the frontman as he wanders through a landfill wearing a bright yellow haz-mat suit. According to Pitchfork, Dirty Projectors are slated to debut videos for "The Socialites" and "Swing Lo Magellan" later today and tomorrow, respectively, on Pitchfork TV. Watch "Offspring Are Blank" now.

This next video might be the most adorable four minutes of lip-synching that we've seen since The Black Keys released "Tighten Up" two years ago. In "Sweet Talk," Jessie Ware plays mom to a miniature (but equally stylish!) version of herself, who records the Devotion track in the studio and then performs it for her parents. Watch it below.

A$AP Rocky is gearing up for the release of his highly-anticipated major label debut, Long.Live.A$AP. Yesterday, he stopped by MTV Studios to premiere the album's title track. Long.Live.A$AP is due out January 15 on RCA; watch the performance below.

Sonic Youth have terrible luck when it comes to equipment. The band finally recovered two of the guitars stolen during a 1999 tour van robbery, and now Thurston Moore's prized 1960 Fender Jazzmaster has gone missing. The sticker-covered guitar was reportedly stolen from a Best Western in Philadelphia at around midnight on 12/12/12 (scary, right?), and a police report has been filed. Check the band's website for photos and more information.

Related News & Reviews

Daily Roundups

Brooklyn dream-rockers DIIV made their network television debut on Letterman last night. Zachary Cole Smith & Co. played a frantic rendition of "Doused," the penultimate track on their outstanding debut album, Oshin. Watch the "fantastic" Letterman performance below.