Friday Music News

04/28/2017

Janice Headley

CHVRCHES have teamed up with actress Kristen Stewart for a live version of their track "Down Side of Me," which can be found on the box set 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood (with 100% of the proceeds being donated to Planned Parenthood, natch). In a press release, frontwoman Lauren Mayberry says the track, "was not written specifically for this project but I really like how the lyrics can be interpreted in a way that supports the goal of the project as a whole. We should all be able to have faith that our governments are working in our best interests -- and if they aren't then, they should be challenged and held to account. 'I'll believe that you're all that you said you would be.' We have always tried to be socially aware and to link in with organizations whose work we support. Planned Parenthood is an incredibly important resource for so many women (and men) in America and the fact that Planned Parenthood has come under so much fire in the current political climate does not sit well with us. Now is not the time to stay quiet, and if artists want to help by raising money or awareness for causes that we believe in, then I think that they should." Watch below: [ Under the Radar ]

Another Planned Parenthood benefit that's coming out is the compilation Cover Your Ass Vol. 1 (alluding to future volumes down the road). The release will feature tracks from Hinds, The Lemon Twigs, Deerhoof, and, as you can stream below, Speedy Ortiz covering a track from TV on the Radio, the 2003 single "Young Liars." In a press release, the band state the song "is poetic and lovely, but also rife with the American shame and sneering political skepticism that marked the best of W. Bush-era post-punk. So the song has a renewed resonance considering the fearful dystopian anticipation our current administration’s ‘marked down freedom’ has generated in so many of us." Cover Your Ass Vol. 1 will be out May 26th via Lionfish Music. [ Consequence of Sound ]

Details are emerging about the reissue of Prince’s landmark 1984 album Purple Rain. The remastered reissue will feature a second disc of songs "from the vault." A press release claims these songs "have never been released or distributed in the collector or bootleg community." Check out one of those track below, the perfectly-Prince-titled "Electric Intercourse." An expanded reissue will also be available, which will feature a disc of single edits and B-sides, as well as a live DVD recorded at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY, on March 30, 1985. Want more rare Prince tracks? Be sure to listen to DJ Kevin Cole's tribute Nothing Compares 2 U: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Prince in the two-week streaming archive. (Available for just one more week.) [ Pitchfork ]

Humanz, the long-awaited new Gorillaz album, hits stores today, and to launch the new LP, the band stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night to perform the single "Let Me Out." Of the guest vocalists, Pusha T was there in person, while a digital Mavis Staples had to suffice. Perhaps it's a good representation of what the upcoming tour will be like, and when the band stops by next door at Key Arena on Saturday, September 30th. Humanz is out now on Warner Bros. [ Stereogum ]

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