The Replacements, ‘Tim,’ and the Rise and Fall of Indie-Rock Morality

Piper Laurie, whose impressive work in the films Carrie and The Hustler made her a screen icon, died Saturday morning in Los Angeles. She was 91 and had been ill for some time.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Nowhere in the rap star manual does it say that a guaranteed formula for success is to “make psychedelic rock album with almost no rapping.” Yet that is exactly what Lil Yachty did with “Let’s Start Here,” his fifth full album but first rock project, after years as a top rapper with hits like “One Night,” “Minnesota,” “Oprah’s Bank Account” and guest spots on Kyle’s smash “iSpy,” Dram’s “Broccoli,” Calvin Harris’ “Faking It” and others. While Yachty’s new era was teased late last year with the trippy, 83-second-long single “Poland” (which isn’t on the album), at a listening session for “Let’s Start Here” in New York last December, a number of hip-hop journalists seemed perplexed by the new sound, which most directly evokes Pink Floyd, Funkadelic and other sounds from the early ‘70s.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Guillermo del Toro sent “Star Wars” fans into a tizzy in late September when he confirmed on social media that he was once planning a trip to a galaxy far, far, away as the director of a “Star Wars” movie. The Oscar winner provided no further details at the time, but he’s now confirmed to Collider’s Steven Weintraub that his axed “Star Wars” movie centered on Jabba the Hutt. Considering del Toro’s love of monsters, it’s hardly a surprise he’d pick Jabba as the focal point for his own “Star Wars” movie.

Ritzy Charters have revealed a list of the 10 most expensive yachts afloat — and the top three are worth a whopping $1.29 billion combined, exceeding the GDP of some smaller countries.“Luxury yachts are more than just a symbol of wealth; they not only provide incredibly gorgeous views but a level of privacy to those onboard who want a sense of relaxation that you can’t get from anywhere other than chartering across oceans,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement.Riding high at the top of the list is media magnate David Geffen’s The Rising Sun, worth a jaw-dropping $590 million.Originally owned by tech mogul Larry Ellison, the superyacht cost an estimated $200 million to build back in 2004. The classy craft measures more than 452 feet long and features a basketball court, a helicopter landing pad and a wine cellar — even a movie theater.Boldfacers who’ve accepted invitations to sail on the elite vessel include Oprah, Stephen Spielberg, Barack Obama and Julia Roberts.Geffen purchased the vessel — which holds 18 guests and 55 crew members in its 82 rooms — in 2010.Second on the list is the Koru, owned by none other than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.The behemoth, triple-masted yacht — reportedly worth an impressive $500 million — is the largest billionaire yacht that can venture into the high seas by sail power only.Hosting celebs like Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry, Koru features a pool, hot tub, bars, multiple dining spaces and a masthead modeled after the mogul’s fiancee, Lauren Sanchez.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Albums, mixtapes, singles, soundtrack songs, collaborations, features, one of the biggest concert tours of the year — it seems like there’s barely a moment of the day when Drake isn’t adding to his sprawling discography, which, with the release of “For All the Dogs” at 6 a.m. ET today, has grown to nine full-length albums since 2010 — four in just over two years — seven mixtapes since 2006, and so much more. They’re always long AF too, clocking in at an hour or much more, and with 23 songs spanning almost 85 minutes, “Dogs” is no exception.

The National frontman Matt Berninger has revealed to NME details of a sitcom he’s been working with brother Tom, titled Dos Apes.The long-mooted project was first teased back in 2020, when the Matt Berninger told NME that he was working on a sequel acclaimed film Mistaken For Strangers, as well as a TV show. Released in 2013, Mistaken For Strangers followed Berninger’s brother Tom as he joined the band on the road and attempted to document their journey while also failing in his role as tour manager.

Weather experts have warned that the 'Beast from the East' may make its return to the UK sooner than we think.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Live Nation’s “On the Road Again” plan, announced Tuesday, says it will deliver “tens of millions of dollars” for artists and touring crews by by providing $1,500 in gas and travel cash per show to all headliners and support acts, on top of nightly performance compensation, at venues the company owns, operates or exclusively books. Those clubs will also charge no merchandise-selling fees, so artists keep 100% of merch profits.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music There’s little question that the Birthday Party — Nick Cave’s first major band — was one of the most aggressive and confrontational groups of the ‘80s if not all of rock history. Their bruising, brutal sound and genuinely dangerous concerts are the stuff of legend, but as Cave’s intensity has been channeled into more-refined and less-blunt art, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how genuinely crazy the Birthday Party’s concerts were.

Jordan Moreau Lil Yachty’s latest album, “Let’s Start Here,” did just that: It gave the rapper’s career a new starting point by setting aside his hip-hop origins and rebooting into psychedelic rock. Yachty 2.0 stopped by Central Park’s SummerStage and showed off his new sound, while also giving original fans a healthy dose of his classic bangers. This year marked a massive shift for Yachty.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music When Megan Thee Stallion pulled out of her scheduled performance at the Global Citizen festival in New York earlier this month due to an “unforeseen scheduling conflict,” it took about five minutes to do the math and realize — oh, Beyonce’s playing in Houston that night. Not only did she and Megan team up for the “Savage Remix” back in 2020, they’re both from Houston.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Usher will be the headlining performer at the 2024 Super Bowl Halftime show, Apple Music, the NFL and Roc Nation have announced tannounced one of the most influential artists of a generation, USHER will perform during the APPLE MUSIC SUPER BOWL LVIII HALFTIME SHOW at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, NV. on Sunday, February 11, 2024, airing on CBS. “It’s an honor of a lifetime to finally check a Super Bowl performance off my bucket list.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It’s not hard to understand why Doja Cat sometimes seems to have a chip on her shoulder. She rode in five years ago on an unabashed novelty song called “I’m a Cow” (choice lyrics: “Bitch, I’m a cow / Bitch, I’m a cow / I go ‘Mooooo’”) and was originally positioned as a Dr. Luke-produced, sassy and solid if unspectacular pop-R&B singer.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music “As much as I love the United States, I am always appalled at the ease with which anyone can get a weapon,” says Peter Gabriel in a new video from Artist for Action to Prevent Gun Violence, the coalition of musicians — also including Billie Eilish, Sheryl Crow, Nile Rodgers, Bootsy Collins, Sofi Tukker, Rufus Wainwright, Bush and many more — designed to inspire people to volunteer, donate and vote to end the epidemic of gun violence plaguing the United States. The video arrives in a week of gun control activism in the music community: Migos rapper Quavo, whose nephew and bandmate Takeoff was shot to death as an innocent bystander during an argument outside a Houston bowling alley last year, met with Vice PresidentKamala Harris at the White House on Wednesday, spoke on a panel about combating the issue during the Congressional Black Caucus legislative conference in Washington, and appeared on “Good Morning America” Thursday morning talking about gun violence in the U.S.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The torrent of criticism around Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner’s controversial remarks regarding Black and female musicians continued on Tuesday as both the pioneering rock group Living Colour and the Black Music Action Coalition weighed in with statements. Wenner posted an apology for his remarks on Saturday, shortly after the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced that he had been ejected from its board of directors. The members of Living Colour — Will Calhoun, Corey Glover, Vernon Reid and Doug Wimbish — wrote: “We, the members of Living Colour, would like to address Jann Wenner’s recent apology for controversial statements made in support of his new book.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music After months of rumors, Katy Perry has sold her music rights to Litmus Music, the Carlyle-backed company co-founded by former Capitol Records president Dan McCarroll, for $225 million, the company announced Monday. The deal includes Perry’s stakes in master recordings and publishing rights for the five albums she released between 2008 and 2020: “One of the Boys,” “Teenage Dream”, “Prism,” “Witness” and “Smile.” Universal Music Group continues to own the masters to those albums.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music A day after the publication of a New York Times interview in which Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner said that Black and female musicians “didn’t articulate at the level” of the white musicians featured in his new book of interviews, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that he has been removed from its board of directors. “Jann Wenner has been removed from the Board of Directors of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation,” a terse statement from a rep reads in full; contacted by Variety, a rep for the Hall had no further comment. Wenner is a co-founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was launched in 1987, and had served as its chairman until 2020.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music It’s been 17 years since Sean “Puff Daddy/ Diddy/ Love” Combs made a solo album, and he’s more than made up for lost time with “The Love Album: Off the Grid.” In the conversation below, he describes the album as a “Super Bowl of R&B,” and the list of guests bears out that title: everyone from the Weeknd and Justin Bieber to Summer Walker and H.E.R. to Babyface and Mary J. Blige make featured appearances, but it sounds like a Puff album every step of the way.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Contemporary music is filled with great unreleased albums — the Beach Boys’ “Smile,” Marvin Gaye’s “Love Man,” the Clash’s “Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg,” David Bowie’s soundtrack to “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” multiple titles from Prince, Kanye West and Neil Young — many of which were never truly existed in anything resembling finished form. Usually, such albums turn out to be overblown in terms of their significance, leaving die-hard fans trying to piece together the ultimate version of a tantalizing missing link in a beloved artist’s catalog from scraps that were never a whole in the first place.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Hipgnosis Songs Fund’s board of directors announced Thursday that the company will sell two segments of its song catalog in a bid to increase its stock price and pay down debt. The statement, made in a dense 20-page document capably translated into plain English by Billboard, reveals that one package of assets includes 29 catalogs worth around $440 million, which the Blackstone-backed entity, Hipgnosis Songs Capital, has agreed to acquire.