Around the Tubes: February 1, 2920

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Desus and Mero, Def Leppard, lovelytheband, Kate Tempest, Disgraceland, Keb’ Mo’, Angie Rose, COOKED: Survival by Zip Code, The Circus, and Friends.

- Desus and Mero returns with special guest David Letterman joining the duo in-studio to kick off season two on Monday, February 3 at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime. The show will continue to air all-new episodes on Monday and Thursday nights. Desus and Mero features the duo chatting with guests at the intersection of pop culture, sports, music, politics and more, as well as giving their take on the day’s hot topics in their signature style in front of a small live studio audience from New York City. Additional upcoming guests include Missy Elliott, Penn Badgley, Lakeith Stanfield, Seth Meyers and returning guest Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

- Legendary British rock ‘n’ roll icons and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame® inductees Def Leppard release The Early Years 79-81 box set, representing the band’s first two albums, On Through The Night (1980) and High ‘N’ Dry (1981), on March 20 via UMe/Virgin. The box set was executive produced by lead singer Joe Elliott and mastered by the band’s long serving sound engineer Ronan McHugh. Joe Elliott says of the box set, “Well the fans asked, and we listened! Really excited to have our early years reworked with a load of rare material including the newly unearthed Live at the Oxford New Theatre, recorded on the 1980 UK tour …. It’s been a trip putting this box set together and I hope you all enjoy listening to it as much as we did working on it!” Pre-order The Early Years 79-81 box set HERE.

- This week, alternative pop trio lovelytheband is back with their brand-new single “loneliness for love. The track is packed with an energetic beat, glistening keys, and nimble guitar that pulsates alongside sweeping verses and an instantly irresistible chorus. “loneliness for love” is available now at all digital retail providers via The Century Family, Inc. Click HERE to listen.

- British spoken word artist, rapper, poet, novelist and playwright Kate Tempest releases her new song, “Unholy Elixir”—listen HERE! The track, produced and mixed by Dan Carey, is accompanied by a video created by illustrator Natalya Lobanova—watch HERE!

- Jake Brennan, host of “Disgraceland” in partnership with iHeartRadio, released the first episode of the podcast “27 Club,” a musical, true-crime iHeartRadio Original Podcast that tells the stories of musicians who have joined rock and roll’s most infamous and morbidly exclusive 27 Club. Over the course of 12 episodes, season one will analyze the life and death of one of the greatest guitarists of all time: Jimi Hendrix. “27 Club” will be distributed through the iHeartPodcast Network beginning today and can be heard now on iHeartRadio and everywhere else podcasts are available. Episode 2 will air this Thursday, January 30, with new episodes to follow every Thursday through the end of the season.

- he now five-time GRAMMY® Award-Winner, Keb’ Mo’, has earned another statue for his mantel for Best Americana Album, awarded for his critically acclaimed album Oklahoma released via Concord Records on June 14, 2019.

- Rising hip-hop artist Angie Rose has released her latest single “Infatuation” today, an up-tempo track that tells the story of a girl who grows in personal strength and independence, as she overcomes an initially deceptive attraction to a man, by realizing those feelings were ultimately nothing more than infatuation. Highlighting her raw energy and undaunted songwriting, the single promises to become a radio staple.

- The new feature documentary COOKED: Survival by Zip Code, a searing exploration into the politics of “disaster,” blends investigative reporting about the deadly 1995 Chicago heat wave with a potent argument that the best preparation for a disaster may start with investing in racial and economic justice. COOKED: Survival by Zip Code will have its national television debut on the PBS television series Independent Lens this Monday, February 3 at 10:00 pm (check local listings), preceding coverage of the Iowa Caucuses. The film will also be available to stream at PBS.org and on the free PBS Video App throughout Black History Month.

- This week on The Circus, Alex Wagner goes backstage with Andrew Yang, who talks about the future of his campaign, how he voted for Bernie Sanders in 2016, and his chances in Iowa on caucus night.

- On September 22, 1994 the first episode of Friends aired on NBC, and since then the series, characters and its infamous taglines have become a global phenomenon. After 236 episodes and its ten season run on-air, the beloved series went into syndication episodes on a number of networks, and in 2015 Netflix acquired the exclusive rights to stream the series; eventually becoming one of most watched shows on the platform, until the close of 2019! So where have your “Friends” been, now that its 2020? According to Ross, “We Were On A BREAK!” from streaming - but have no fear, you can still get all of your favorite episodes on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD today!