The last time the Beastie Boys attended South By Southwest, it was in 2006, when the group was promoting their fan-sourced concert film Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That! A lot has changed in the last 13 years. When the Beastie Boys stopped by to deliver a keynote address at the …
Read More »Beto, Biden, and the Electability Trap
Back in mid-December, before setting out on his vision-quest road trip, Beto O’Rourke held one last town hall as El Paso’s three-term congressman. By then, he had already seen himself rapidly become the Democratic establishment’s dream candidate for president after narrowly losing his U.S. Senate challenge to Ted Cruz — …
Read More »Advertisers Continue to Flee Tucker Carlson. Will Fox News Stick With Him?
On Wednesday morning, Fox News hosted advertisers at its New York headquarters for the first “upfronts” meeting in the network’s history. The goal was to convince executives to purchase airtime on Fox News programming blocks despite the network’s Trump-fueled descent into abject demagoguery. Though protesters congregated outside the network’s Manhattan …
Read More »Tucker Carlson Refuses to Back Down in the Wake of Even More Foul Clips
Fresh audio of Tucker Carlson’s run of appearances on Bubba the Love Sponge’s radio show is making the rounds. True to the duo’s on-air oeuvre, it features a bunch of gross misogyny. This time, it’s directed at a teenager. In 2007, Miss South Carolina Teen USA Caitlin Upton was widely …
Read More »Watch Maren Morris Sing Elevated 'Girl' on 'Jimmy Fallon'
Ratcheting up the promotion for her just-released sophomore LP, Girl, Maren Morris stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday night to play a smoldering rendition of the album’s title track and lead single. Cowritten by Morris, Greg Kurstin and Sarah Aarons — who also shared in the …
Read More »A 72-Year-Old Proves You're Never Too Old to Make Trap Beats
In 24 hours, a 72-year-old man from Chicago went from an unknown, amateur producer to a small viral phenomenon. Last Monday, Arthur DuBois walked into Haven Studio with a simple mission: find someone to arrange and mix the beats his family and friends had written off as an annoying, inconsequential …
Read More »House Passes Anti-Corruption, Pro-Voter Rights 'For the People' Act
The Democratically-controlled House of Representatives passed a sweeping reform bill to address money’s corruption of politics and the erosion of voting rights on Friday. “It’s a power grab for the American people,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told theNew York Times. Among the reforms proposed in the bill are: Making Election …
Read More »Why Did a Bunch of Republicans Vote Against a Bill Condemning Bigotry?
This wasn’t supposed to be hard. On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted on a resolution denouncing hatred. The bill was introduced as Democrats grappled with how to respond to what pro-Israel lawmakers have considered anti-Semitic sentiments expressed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), but its language encompassed pretty much every …
Read More »Think You Have a Hit? Make Sure It's the First Song on Your Album
As a songwriter and producer, Warren “Oak” Felder’s resume encompasses hits from Nicki Minaj (“Your Love”), Usher (“Good Kisser”) and Alessia Cara (“Here”). He’s been in the industry for nearly 15 years and, until 2018, he had never heard anyone say “skip rate” in the studio. “That word was not …
Read More »Song You Need to Know: The National, 'You Had Your Soul With You'
The National‘s songs usually feel warmly hermetic – from their artfully enveloping art-goth sonics to the way Matt Berninger’s merlot-gorged baritone turns midlife malaise into a lush cocoon. Which makes their forthcoming new album I Am Easy to Find, due in May, an interesting change-up. The band is joined by …
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