You knew we'd get here at some point, right?
Slayyyter's new album WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA was released in late March, and it's a grimy electronic masterpiece. This album is a clear contender for our #Wicked25 this year.
Today's song - co-written by Slayyyter and her producers - is called by her "the best song I've ever written." It makes sense. It's dark and inventive.... and also, she's literally shooting a Chanel handbag in this video.
Afrika Bambaataa was a complicated man with a complicated history - and not always a good one. Several CREDIBLE child sexual abuse allegations were definitely part of his history, and that's horrendous. Because of that, I almost didn't post this one.
What is undeniable is that he was one of the people who started hip-hop house parties in the 1970s. So, with his passing, a pioneering and very dark portion of hip-hop history closes. This 1982 single was his only appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, and the song is seen as one of the most influential hip hop songs of all time.
Normally, I would say that the artist who passed would be missed, but in this case, I won't be saying that. I will say that he leaves behind some influential music. That's all I am going to say.
"Snipe Hunter is Tyler Childers going all‑in on weird spiritual country: talking to gods, playing with garage rock and Phil Spector (and Rick Rubin) sounds, and still somehow landing back in the holler. It’s messy and brave in a way major‑label country almost never is. This is the album I absolutely expected to dislike and almost didn't listen to - and yet, here we are, talking about it, because it is that undeniably good." - Literally me.
I don't take many trips back to the 1980s, but in this caex of Fairport Convention) and Linda Thompson - a husband-and-wife duo - had been married for nine years and had released five albums of varying acclaim and success. They had been dropped by Gerry Rafferty, who had financed recordings that generated no interest. Their marriage was struggling - and Linda was pregnant.
So when Joe Boyd signed them to his Hannibal Records, he was taking a serious risk. What he got was a masterpiece of an album that ended up being a pretty big hit, 1982's Shoot Out The Lights. It would be the duo's final album (and their marriage would be over by the time of the album's releasae), but it would reestablish Richard as a songwriting force.
The title song is a masterclass in guitar-driven emotional rock music.
So, we talk a lot on here about a lot of those big music prizes. From the Mercury Prize, for the UK, to Polaris for Canada, to the Australian Music Prize, there a lot of them.
One I have not talked about much is the Premio Ruido, or the "Noise Prize", given to Spanish artists. shego - named after a character from the TV show Kim Possible, of all places, is a band that is a of women from Madrid who were on the shortlist for the 2025 version of that prize.
Their album No lo volveré a hacer is absolutely amazing, even though it is almost entirely in Spanish - which you won't notice or care about. It is highly recommended and worth a listen!
