The Blacklist, the epic, 53-artist tribute to Metallica’s self-titled “Black Album” coming out September 10, is producing a lot of Metallica covers. But most of those we’ve featured were of the hits. IDLES, the British punk band, decided to take on a less famous track, “The God That Failed.” Continue reading »
Millions saw Brandi Carlile cover John Prine’s final song “I Remember Everything” at the recent Grammy Awards. Turns out, it was a preview of a new album, a sequel to 2010’s Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine, one of the best tribute albums ever. Not much more info out there yet – it’ll be out in the fall, apparently – but it has a high bar to live up to. Continue reading »
Rather than rocking out at the canceled 2020 Reading and Leeds festival this past weekend, IDLES found a different way to perform, doing three live sets from London’s Abbey Road Studios uploaded to spniismusicposts’ YouTube. They played several new songs from their upcoming album Ultra Mono, as well a few covers, including The Strokes’ “Reptilia.”
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If you’re a music and/or data nerd, journalist Rob Mitchum’s annual spreadsheet compiling the albums on every publication’s year-end lists is fascinating. Long before the Village Voice‘s Pazz & Jop poll comes out, you can see, mathematically, where the critical consensus is landing.
In 2018, most names in the upper echelons came as no surprise if you follow music journalism. But, to me, one name near the top stood out: IDLES. Though near the top, this British punk band appeared on far fewer publications’ year-end lists than the likes of Kacey Musgraves or Cardi B. But here’s the thing: When IDLES did appear, they ranked high. In fact, their album’s average year-end-list ranking was higher than anyone else in the top 50. They were either in someone’s top ten, or not there at all. Continue reading »