Fans of the California-based electronica duo Blaqk Audio have waited over three years for a new album, but the frustration and impatience finally broke on April 15 when the band released Material, its third studio album.
Although not heavily advertised, fans who kept a close eye on the band online learned that was streaming on Pandora in its entirety a whole week before it was available for purchase, which was very good news for those who have played Blaqk Audio’s last two albums to death.
Photo credit – WWYZ-FM Broadway
The legendary country western singer/songwriter Merle Haggard died at the age of 79 on April 6th 2016 after battling pneumonia for several months. But that doesn’t mean the world won’t get new music from the music icon.
He has left behind several hundred unreleased songs for his adoring fans. He spoke with Broadways Electric Barnyard about his personal archives of songs “probably 300, 400 songs that I haven’t released that I’ve collected over the years.”
http://country925.iheart.com/media/play/26076117/
Haggard’s song writing and voice gave him a fan base that was very loyal throughout the years. His career spanned more than half a century and will survive beyond his death thanks to this treasure trove of new, previously unheard material.
L.A. singer Jhene Aiko and Detroit Rapper release “Twenty88,” their latest collaboration project. |Courtesy: Vibe magazine
No longer are music fans held by a string as artists slowly promote new music. Within the last couple of years, the music industry has transitioned from an extended promotional to an instantaneous body of work that can constantly be grown with just the click of a button.
Just a few days before the release of their first EP together, Jhene Aiko and Big Sean would release clips of a music video for a single of their EP, “Memories Faded.” As the two promoted the April 1 release on Instagram through mysterious videos and album covers, their past collaborations represent a template that would be duplicated in their work as Twenty88.
Heffron Drive members Kendall Schmidt and Dustin Belt announce the release date of their newest single “Rain Don’t Come”
The wait is finally over for fans of the California-based band Heffron Drive. The band announced that the international release of their brand new single “Rain Don’t Come” is set for April 8th on iTunes.
Pimp-pimp hooray!
The now reigning “king” of hip-hop Kendrick Lamar continues to share his excellent music with the masses with a new EP titled untitled unmastered. Disclaimer: it features 8 untitled and unmastered tracks but despite the raw nature of the album, it sounds so skillfully created that what is meant to sound incomplete is more complete than any newly released music this year.
The Smiths, taken by Stephen Wright
For over 30 years, The Smiths have been the voice of angsty and lonely teenagers looking for somewhere to belong. And while lead singer Morrissey’s lyrics touch on a spectrum of different topics–from Oscar Wilde to the evils of meat-eating–the most recurring subject in both his solo work and The Smiths’ discography is love, and not always the happy kind.
Morrissey’s infamously lovelorn lyrics usually delve into the darker aspects of the phenomenon, which is perhaps why some may think The Bell House’s Smiths-themed Valentine’s Day concert doesn’t make much sense. Nevertheless, Brooklynites have the opportunity to listen to Smiths tribute band Sons & Heirs perform the group’s tragic tunes of lost love in an effort to make the love-centric holiday more tolerable — or perhaps to just simply appreciate some well crafted lyrics and sharp melodies.
As a lyricist, Morrissey is known for his biting, honest, and relatable lines. Even the most romantically successful and charming have no doubt shed a tear or two during “I Know It’s Over”:
If you’re so funny,
Then why are you on your own tonight?
And if you’re so clever,
Then why are you on your own tonight?
If you’re so very entertaining,
Then why are you on your own tonight?
If you’re so very good-looking,
Why do you sleep alone tonight?
“How Soon is Now?” declares “I am human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does,” while “Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me” assures:
Last night I dreamt
That somebody loved me
No hope, no harm
Just another false alarm
Morrissey’s great humor that often permeates his lyrics can’t be ignored, though. To haphazardly categorize all Smiths songs as “sad” or “depressing” would be missing the point, and would paint the group as something that they simply are not. In their most well-known song, “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” Morrissey famously sings, “And if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side would be a heavenly way to die.” “Shoplifters of the World Unite” jokingly encourages kleptomaniacs to grab whatever they can get their hands on, and “Vicar in a Tutu” tells the tale of, well, a vicar who has a habit of wearing tutus.
Still, it’s not hard to imagine a room full of singles at Brooklyn’s Bell House connecting to lyrics like, “Love is just a miserable lie,” and “I am human and I need to be loved just like everybody else does.” While there is always a fine line between making ourselves feel worse and comforting ourselves when we decide to put on a sad song, it seems that more often than not, we have to get more upset in order to feel better.
So next time you find one of your friends moping around over Valentine’s Day, send them a Smith’s playlist and hand them a box of Kleenex. Though it would probably be a good idea to sprinkle in a few lighter tunes just to keep them even.
Here’s a list of some of my favorite Smiths songs, made up of both the funny and the dark: