BTS to Release New Album, ‘BE (Deluxe Edition),” in November

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe pandemic has crushed the live-entertainment business, and concert venues in particular, all over the world — but New York’s may have been hit the hardest in the U.S. Due largely to the density of the city and its mass-gathering-based culture, the virus struck New York first and fastest, and has claimed nearly 33,000 lives.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“It’s a strange time to release music,” James Blake says in the Cadillac Escalade ad below that includes a preview of his new EP, “Before,” which drops Wednesday. “I still want to give people music — I still want to have that release myself,” he continues.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn the day that rapper Tory Lanez is scheduled to appear in court on charges of shooting Megan Thee Stallion, Megan has written a powerful op-ed and posted a companion video called “Why I Speak Up for Black Women” in the New York Times.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAn unusual trend in recent years has seen New York City’s subway stations transformed into memorials for late, great musicians, both officially and unofficially.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRepublic Records has promoted Amaiya Davis to vice president of media/cultural impact & engagement, it was announced today by the company’s executive vice president of media & artist relations, Joseph Carozza. She is based at the label’s New York headquarters.Davis will continue to spearhead publicity campaigns for a diverse roster of artists, including City Morgue, Duckwrth, Kash Doll, Kiana Ledé, Lil Tecca and more, according to the announcenemt.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“It feels like New York is starting to come back,” says veteran live-music promoter and venue owner Peter Shapiro, speaking from his Manhattan office on a mid-September afternoon. “There’s a lot of activity on the street right now,” he says, glancing out his window.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorA 77-track benefit album featuring Pearl Jam, David Byrne, Aimee Mann and many others raised more than $550,000 for voting-rights organizations on Friday, the only day it was available.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMariah Carey has always been about control: over her career, sure, but also over her extraordinary voice, which is her greatest asset as a performer. And that voice is in full bloom on “The Rarities,” her new compilation of previously unreleased and low-profile B-sides.Although releasing an album of rarities and outtakes can be like sharing baby pictures with the world, based on the evidence presented here, Mariah never really had much of an awkward stage.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTrey Anastasio and MSG Entertainment have announced “The Beacon Jams,” an eight-week virtual residency to be streamed for free exclusively on Twitch, live from New York City’s historic Beacon Theatre every Friday at 8 p.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter several days of online hints and teasers, Australian high-volume rockers AC/DC have confirmed their return to active duty by announcing that veteran singer Brian Johnson, drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams have rejoined the band after several years’ absence.A new photo of the band finds them looking older but energized, with lead guitarist Angus Young, now 65, still rocking the schoolboy outfit.The term “Pwr Up” featured in several of the teasers is

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorRapper Tory Lanez, who Megan Thee Stallion has accused of shooting her in the foot in an unexplained incident in July, dropped a 17-track album Thursday night in which nearly every song addresses the incident and its fallout, and what Lanez apparently perceives as betrayal from nearly all quarters.The new album, “Daystar,” may forever remain most famous for asking the musical question: “How the f— you get shot in your foot, don’t hit no bones or tendons?”The album

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhen you love something — a person, a dessert, a hat, or in this case, an album — you tend to want more of it. Usually, in the case of albums, there are some leftover songs that are not-quite-as-good as the ones that made the cut, and occasionally there are great ones.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBruce Springsteen has released “Ghosts” from his new album, “Letter to You,” which is out October 23 on Columbia Records.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorElton John has announced the rescheduled North American dates for his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour.” Following his recently announced dates in Europe, beginning September 1, 2021 in Berlin (tour dates here), the tour will kick off again in North America on January 19, 2022, in New Orleans, making stops in major markets, including Houston, Chicago, Toronto, New York, Miami and more.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLike everyone else, BTS and NPR have been forced to pivot during the pandemic — and for their first performance on NPR’s “Tiny Desk” concert series, the K-pop superstars performed from the record store VINYL & PLASTIC in BTS’s hometown of Seoul.The group drew more than half a million viewers for the premiere of the concert, which saw them tearing through three songs accompanied by a live band, including their current hit single “Dynamite.” The group also performed

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBTS and NPR announced on Sunday that the K-pop titans will be performing on NPR’s “Tiny Desk” concert series on Monday, Sept. 20 at 9 a.m.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSomehow, the mysterious British R&B/electronic-ish combo Sault has managed to drop four richly diverse, socially confrontational albums, all of them good and two of them absolutely great, in just 18 months.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAlt-rock veterans the Smashing have announced a new double album, “Cyr,” is dropping on November 27.The 20-track album was recorded in the band’s home base of Chicago with frontman and chief songwriter Billy Corgan producing.The group has also created a new five-part animated series called “In Ashes,” the first two episodes of which will including music from the album and will premiere on September 25 — watch the trailer below.“ ‘Cyr’ is dystopic folly,” Corgan has

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn Nov. 13, Elton John will release “Elton: Jewel Box,” a career-spanning 148-song boxed set containing some 60 previously unreleased songs.The set — the full tracklist appears below — is focused on lesser-known material from Elton’s 50-plus year career.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorOn day two of his latest epic Twitter binge, Kanye West followed through on his complaints about the music industry and his demands to be released from his recording and music-publishing deals by tweeting out dozens of pages from his recording contract with Universal Music Group.After referring to the music industry as “modern day slavery,” West tweeted, “Here are my ten Universal contracts … I need every lawyer in the world to look at these,” and after posting