Saturday, July 17, 2021

Around the Tunes: July 17, 2021

 

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting.  This post includes blurbs on Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Clairo, Chelsea Cutler, Almost Famous, Tycho and Benjamin Gibbard, Elvis Costello, The Mysterious Death of Eazy-E, Wakefieldand I Love Youu for This.


- The second season of “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” will premiere with the first three episodes on September 8th and every Wu-Wednesday following.  The Clan is disillusioned with life in the projects, and Bobby knows that success in the music industry could be their ticket to better lives. But getting the Clan members to drop everything for music isn’t easy. The resentment between Dennis, Sha, Power and Divine still runs deep, while the other Clan members struggle dealing with intercity life. This time around, Bobby is dedicated to authenticity and though he knows he can lead his crew through the challenges of the music business, the Clan’s fractures may prove too much to overcome.


 Clairo has released her highly anticipated sophomore studio album, Sling, today via FADER Label/Republic Records. Listen HERE.  Co-produced with Grammy® Award winning producer Jack AntonoffSling was recorded at Allaire Studios in Upstate New York and features 12 tracks, including her critically acclaimed track “Blouse,” which the 22-year-old performed live on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last month. Watch the breath-taking performance HERE.


Platinum Certified singer, songwriter, and producer Chelsea Cutler is back today with her new single, “Walking Away”—listen HERE!  Chelsea Cutler’s new song “Walking Away” hinges on lightly plucked guitar, as she accepts the end of a relationship and says goodbye once and for all through lyrics so personal, they could be a text message. Last year, she shared a short snippet of the track on Instagram, which fans lovingly dubbed the “Jeep Song.” After months of clamoring for its release, she finally delivers it today, and it marks the beginning of her highly anticipated sophomore album, set for release later this year.


"Look under your bed—it'll set you free."  With those enticingly enigmatic words, an empathetic, hip older sister bequeaths to her hyper-smart but nerdy 11-year-old brother her Rosetta Stone to life in the late-'60s: a prized trove of expertly curated rock, pop, and folk albums that set into chaotic motion young William Miller's eye- ear- and mind-opening journey in director Cameron Crowe's quasi-autobiographical 2000 ode to rock 'n' roll fandom, Almost Famous..  UMe has compiled multiple iterations of the film's Grammy® Award-winning  soundtrack, augmented comprehensively in the limited-edition Uber Box set that encompasses an expanded soundtrack with five CDs, seven 180-gram black vinyl discs, and a brand new 7-inch for Stillwater's "Fever Dog." The expanded soundtrack includes songs from The Beach Boys, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, The Who, and Yes, plus all the songs created for the film's fictional aspiring rock group Stillwater, most written for the movie by Cameron Crowe, Heart's Nancy Wilson and Grammy Award-winning guitarist, Peter Frampton.  The Uber Box includes bonus items such as a 40-page photo book and memoir housed in a film-prop-replica of William Miller's high-school notebook complete with writings by Cameron Crowe, Nancy Wilson, along with cast and crew members; the first-ever complete William Miller cover story on Stillwater as a 1973 Rolling Stone newsprint; two replica ticket stubs from Stillwater's San Diego and Cleveland concerts; and a Stillwater tour poster. Exclusively available only in the Uber Boxset is a Stillwater Cleveland concert poster and a backstage poster; six film-prop-replica backstage passes (some seen throughout the film); three film-prop-replica business cards for Dick Roswell (Stillwater road manager), Lester Bangs (Creem magazine), and Ben Fong-Torres (Rolling Stone magazine); and three photo prints of cast members. Pre-order the ALMOST FAMOUS EXPANDED SOUNDTRACK now and listen to Stillwater's Bonus Track "Love Comes And Goes," HERE.


2x GRAMMY® Award-nominated electronic artist Tycho and Benjamin Gibbard of 8x GRAMMY® Award-nominated Atlantic Records recording group Death Cab for Cutie have announced the release of a landmark new collaboration. “Only Love” is available now via Mom + Pop Music/Ninja Tune; an official visualizer – designed by Tycho mastermind Scott Hansen – is streaming now at YouTube.  LISTEN TO “ONLY LOVE”


Gen Z singer-songwriter Claire Rosinkranz announces the ‘Claire Rosinkranz Tour’ for this Fall 2021. The tour is in support of her recently released sophomore EP, 6 Of A Billion – listen HERE!  The tour kicks off November 7th in San Francisco, with stops in major cities including Los Angeles and Chicago before ending in New York on November 17th. Spotify Fan First: Tour Pre-sale begins today, July 14th at 9AM Local Time, and general on-sale begins this Friday, July 16th at 10AM Local Time. Get tickets and more information HERE.


Elvis Costello and longtime collaborator, 18-time GRAMMY® and Latin GRAMMY® award-winning producer, Sebastian Krys, have brought together a stunning international cast of some of the biggest Latin rock and pop artists from around the globe to interpret Elvis Costello and The Attractions’ album, This Year’s Model, entirely in Spanish. The inspired Spanish-language adaptations are set to the band’s classic studio performances, culled from the original master recordings, which have been newly mixed by Krys, revealing a new power and intensity to The Attractions’ 1978 instrumental performances. The mixes, sometimes running on, allow us to now hear “What Happened Next:” Costello and Mick Jones of The Clash lock dueling rhythm guitars in a thrilling coda to “Pump It Up” or Pete Thomas almost demolishing his drum kit at the end of “No Action.” There is even the occasional vocal cameo appearance by the bandleader, but the album can now be enjoyed in an entirely new way. Spanish Model is set for release September 10 via UMe.  Watch/share video for Pump It Up” by Juanes.  Pre-order Spanish Model.  Pre-order This Year’s Model


WE tv debuts groundbreaking original investigative docuseries, “The Mysterious Death of Eazy-E” on Thursday, August 12th at 10pm. Featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews, the four hour-long installments explore the extraordinary impact Eric Wright, aka “Eazy-E,” had on the music industry and his daughter’s quest for answers to the perplexing circumstances surrounding the 1995 death of the gangsta rap icon.  VIEW SUPERTEASE HERE


SHOWTIME has picked up the Australian drama series WAKEFIELD, starring British actor Rudi Dharmalingam (The Split, In The Shadow of The Moon). Scheduled to premiere on Monday, October 18 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME with an eight-episode season, WAKEFIELD is a psychological drama that shines a comedic light on what happens when the sanest individual working in a psych ward begins to lose his grip. A Jungle Entertainment production, WAKEFIELD is executive produced by showrunners Kristen Dunphy and Sam Meikle. The series is directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse (The Dressmaker, How To Make an American Quilt) and Kim Mordaunt (The Rocket)


SHOWTIME has picked up the half-hour comedy series I LOVE THIS FOR YOU, starring and executive produced by Emmy® nominee Vanessa Bayer (Saturday Night Live), along with fellow nominee Molly Shannon (The White Lotus, The Other Two) also leading the cast. Bayer co-created the series with Emmy nominee and two-time Peabody winner Jeremy Beiler (Saturday Night Live, Inside Amy Schumer, I Think You Should Leave), who will executive produce. Emmy and Peabody winner Jessi Klein (Inside Amy Schumer, Dead to Me, Transparent) will serve as showrunner and executive produce along with Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, Wet Hot American Summer). 

Sunday, July 11, 2021

57 Channels and Only This Is On: July 11, 2021


Kevin Can Fork Himself:  Really, she is going to admit she is going to murder her husband.  Sure, she is in mutual assured destruction territory, but murder is a lot worse than drug trafficking.

 

Motherland: Fort Salem:  Doesn’t marrying off soldiers to get pregnant sound like a pretty bad idea?  Sure, replenishing soldiers is a good thing, but you are losing current soldiers at their peak for months to make soldiers that will not be battle read for about twenty years seems like it would hurt the current cause.

 

In the Dark:  Well that has to be in the discussion for worst hour on television this year.  So many dumb people.  Instead of trying to get to the nerdy guy’s airport before he leaves, why not call him first.  She keeps trying to call the lesbian, but does not try to call the nerd?  Then that gay homosexual may have been dumber.  He is mister goody-goody, not want to do the altruistic deed of taking a blind chick to her dead grandmother’s funeral because he does not want to skip school to buying weed and lying about his age to hook up with older dudes.  Then he comes back to get the blind chick to the funeral only to let the taxi leave.  Get back into the taxi and go to the funeral!  So forking stupid.

 

Good Girls:  Oh hey, the secret service is back.  They were the best part of the last couple seasons.  Though I still do not understand how the mayor was able to get his brother off on a federal case.  Maybe they can explain that now.