Tag Archives: pop music

Jesse Jackman and Dirk Caber with director and JMG reader Jasun Mark behind the wheel.

For the latest installment of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series, dance sensation Shamir performed three tracks from his critically-raved debut album. NPR’s Bob Boilen writes: When I first saw Shamir at NPR Music’s SXSW showcase, the 20-year-old singer popped on stage with a Yo Gabba Gabba T-shirt and proceeded to light up the night with his disco-infused funk and joyful …

Via the Telegraph: Cilla Black has died at her Spanish home, local police have confirmed. The much-loved TV star and singer is believed to have died of natural causes after being found at her home in Marbella. The Liverpoon-born star enjoyed her first taste of fame at the city’s Cavern Club, where she performed alongside acts including The Beatles and …

Via Pop Matters: “Restless” takes me back to Club Paradiso in Amsterdam, a church converted into a dance club. There is a reason why New Order never grow old or fade. Their sound has become archetypal of not only an era, but also of specific nighttime emotions. New Order has become synonymous with that eloquent longing that only comes at …

Spin recaps: One thousand musicians banded together in Italy to perform the Foo Fighters’ “Learn to Fly” all at once in an attempt to woo the band to come play a show for them. Let’s repeat that — 1,000 musicians. A thousand. “The Foo Fighters are not in Romagna since 1997, it’s time to get them back, but we need …

“On leaving the US on 27 July I flew from San Francisco International Airport to London on flight BA 284. At 2:30 in the afternoon I went through the usual airport security procedure including the stand-up ‘scanner’, and all was well – no bleeps and nothing unusual. Before I could gather my belongings from the usual array of trays I …

Stereogum recaps: Belle & Sebastian have shared a video for an extended version of “Perfect Couples,” a track from their latest album, Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance. There’s no real plot to speak of here — it’s more of a visualization featuring a neighborhood party that gradually gets more intricate and chaotic as more people join in. It crescendos …

TIME recaps: It’s been five years since Janet Jackson’s last album and four since her last tour, but 2015 is unquestionably the year of the Janet comeback. She’s already announced a world tour and a new studio album—her eleventh—and Friday morning she debuted the first video for a song off that album. The video for “No Sleeep” (spelled with an …

Diffuser reports: In some circles, British musician Chris Corner is best known as a founding member of ’90s trip-hop outfit Sneaker Pimps. But in more modern circles, he’s known as IAMX – his electro-pop alter ego with five albums to his name since emerging about a decade ago and a sixth – Metanoia – on the way. Corner told us …

“I like to compare myself to other kinds of artists like Picasso. He kept painting and painting until the day he died. Why? Because I guess he felt inspired to do so. Life inspired him, so he had to keep expressing himself, and that’s how I feel. I don’t think there’s a time, a date, an expiration date for being …

I believe she performed this last week at Freedom To Marry’s “going out of business” gala.

The Advocate recaps: The video for the duo’s rendition, which sounds a lot sexier and slinkier than the bouncy original, features vintage footage of the Swedish quartet and premieres exclusively today with The Advocate. The duo explains they they were originally asked to cover the song for an Abba tribute album. “Having the opportunity to choose the song from all …

Eurovision reports: This morning, SVT revealed Stockholm as the Host City for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. The capital city’s Globe Arena will stage the contest for the second time in its history. The Semi-Finals will be held on 10 and 12 May, the Grand Final on 14 May 2016. Information about ticket sales is expected later this year. The …

I first wrote about Maclean back in 2013 for the release of his quirky Australian hit Stupid, which made my top ten for that year. Today he’s back with a lovely ballad.

Martha Wash, Linda Clifford, and Evelyn “Champaign” King. (Via JMG reader Jonathan)

Stereogum recaps: Take a deep breath and savor the moment. We’re going to have a very short time before the parents’ groups of the world start loudly freaking the fuck out over Rihanna’s new video for “Bitch Better Have My Money,” so we need to appreciate every moment that that isn’t happening. Rihanna shared a preview of the video a …

This afternoon Beyonce posted an Instagram clip with this message: “Never too late. #LoveWins. ❤️.” At this writing the clip has 760K likes and over 40K comments.

Pitchfork raves: Pop has been playing house again for a couple of years now, but few acts have tapped the genre’s origins in sexual, social liberation as well as Robyn, Jägerstedt, and Falk do here. In brisk, unrelenting rotation, every element of the track gets a moment in the spotlight and dictates its own individual physical response: the shimmy of …