Public Enemy Return to Def Jam, New Album Due Next Month

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNew York City venue (Le) Poisson Rouge is launching LPR.tv, a subscription-based service through which they will livestream concerts held in their downtown venue (without an audience) in high-definition video with full production and soundboard audio.The venue has booked an impressive array of indie-leaning artists for LPR.tv’s inaugural lineup, including Cults, Kimbra, Sunflower Bean, !!! (Chk Chk Chk), San Fermin,  Kevin Devine, Son Little, Laraaji, Too Many

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAlicia Keys has finally announced a release date for her latest studio album, “Alicia,” which was scheduled for March 20 but delayed due to coronavirus until May 15, and then delayed indefinitely: It’s coming on Friday, she said in a brief social media post that features fans typing questions about the album’s release date, concluding with her saying simply, “September 18 th, oh, oh, oh!”Save the date 9.18.20 ✨

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn celebration of her career-spanning new album, “An Evening of New York Songs and Stories,” Suzanne Vega will play two globally livestreamed concerts from New York City’s iconic Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. The first will go live on October 7 at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time for North American fans and the second will go live on October 8 at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, to accommodate U.K.

Spike Lee and David Byrne aren’t an obvious pairing. While the former’s oeuvre, for the most part, features unflinching stories about Black life in America, the latter became a hero to white college-educated teens everywhere.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBruce Springsteen has dropped a new song and video called “Letter to You,” the first track from his new album of the same name, which is arriving on Oct. 23.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLiz Phair, whose widely influential 1990s albums have been enjoying a revival in recent years, has signed a new deal with the relaunched Chrysalis Records and will release her first album in a decade next year, the company announced Wednesday.Phair’s albums, particularly her 1993 debut “Exile in Guyville” and the follow-up “Whip-Smart,” have influenced two generations of young female singer-songwriters.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMatthew Caws of Nada Surf, Neal Francis, Say Hi, Pink Mountaintops, The Long Ryders, a new project featuring Kurt Wagner of Lambchop and Mac McCaughan of Superchunk, and many more independent artists have banded together for a 58-track compilation album to benefit voters’ rights called “Talk – Action = Zero Vol.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUnless you’ve been in the right place in Los Angeles at the right time over the past several years, Fiona Apple performances have been as rare as Bigfoot sightings.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWhen veteran music producer Hal Willner passed away due to complications believed to be associated with Covid-19 on April 7, a day after his 64th birthday, the music community in New York and beyond was devastated.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorWith the exception of the psychedelic misadventure “Their Satanic Majesties Request,” the Rolling Stones’ “Goats Head Soup” is probably the most maligned album of the group’s first 20 years. Released in 1973, it arrived as most of the bandmembers were entering their 30s and the group was entering its second decade (unheard-of for a rock band at the time), and it found them moving awkwardly into both.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFor today only — Friday, Sept.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a Wednesday filing in Los Angeles Superior Court, Britney Spears’ attorney filed a motion opposing a request by her father, Jamie Spears — who is also her conservator — to to keep her conservatorship case sealed.“Far from being a conspiracy theory or a ‘joke’ as James reportedly told the media, in large part this scrutiny is a reasonable and even predictable result of James’ aggressive use of the sealing procedure over the years to minimize the amount of

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs part of a long retrospective era that’s included a documentary, a speaking tour and more, the Beastie Boys will release a 20-song compilation on Oct.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police in May, an organization formed by music industry execs Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang under the name #TheShowMustBePaused began with a call for a single day shutdown soon grew into a movement that called for change across the entire industry.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorMore than 1,500 music venues across the U.S. will be illuminated in red light on Tuesday evening (Sept.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFive agents formerly with Paradigm have launched a new agency called TBA that represents The War on Drugs, Courtney Barnett, Chvrches, Jose Gonzales, Guided by Voices, Jay Som, Yaeji, Omar Apollo and many other artists.The company, which has offices in New York and Los Angeles, was founded by agents Marshall Betts, Avery McTaggart, Amy Davidman, Ryan Craven, and Devin Landau.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn this pivotal year and racially charged era, the BET Awards chose to open their show in June with a new version of Public Enemy’s iconic 1989 song “Fight the Power,” which sadly is as relevant today as it was 31 years ago.

Regardless of your thoughts about Michael Jackson’s legacy in light of the accusations of sexual abuse and assault with underage children, it appears his music is still striking a chord with a generation that is finding themselves surrounded by racism and violence, seemingly on a daily basis. And one of Jackson’s music videos is being re-edited to reflect the modern times by the original director, Spike Lee.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorK-pop titans Blackpink are joined by Selena Gomez for a new song and video called “Ice Cream,” the second single from the quartet’s debut album, set for release via YG Entertainment/Interscope Records on October 2.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe concept of the remix album dates back to the 1980s, when record companies would slap together several “dance,” “club,” “house,” “street” or “funky fresh” remixes into full-length albums, creating a relatively low-overhead addition to the catalogs — and balance sheets — of artists ranging from Madonna and David Bowie to the Human League and Milli Vanilli.