Music

Music

For decades, the country music industry has billed itself as the rough-hewn, rural cousin to the effete sounds of the city. That appears to be going out the window, as more and more country producers embrace San Francisco's AI over Nashville's homespun troubadours. In a detailed reporting on changes in the country music industry, spoke to a number of professional song-writers, producers, and artists about the rise of AI in country music. Their responses point to a scene that's changing fast - and leaving human artists in the dust.

It's December so Toyah and Robert Fripp are in holiday mode on their Sunday Lunch YouTube channel and this week are revisiting their cover of Slade 's classic #1, "Merry Xmas Everybody." Watch that and Slade playing the song on Top of the Pops in the '70s, below.

The Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San Jose comes alive each December with lights, music, and community spirit for Fiesta Navideña. This year marks the 15th annual gathering on Saturday, December 13, 2025, from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm, with doors opening at 5:00 pm. Families and friends fill the space at 1700 Alum Rock Avenue to close out the year with free activities that highlight cultural roots and seasonal joy.

To fully grasp the band Soul Coughing and their debut album, Ruby Vroom, whose mix of hip-hop beats, samples, jazz, and rock sounded wildly fresh in the early days of "alternative music," it helps to understand how poetry and spoken-word performance fit in. You also need to get a handle on just how much newly unearthed sound from the past was back in circulation, now that the compact disc had exploded and the record industry was printing money.

From small country churches to the stages of the civil rights movement to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mavis Staples' career has spanned more than 60 years. The gospel legend has shown no interest in retirement. Her new album, One True Vine, is her second collaboration with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. "It's a totally different CD," Staples tells NPR's Neal Conan.

At a March Seattle gig, SML generated three epic improvisations of subtle groove science (the second piece even evoked the funky swagger of Average White Band's "Schoolboy Crush") and galvanic hypnosis. It was the best show this writer saw in 2025, and that it differed from the relative concision of the group's records just proves SML can thrive in various modes.

For most of his career, Dr. Loco has been the life of the party. Now, celebrating his life is the point of the party. The saxophonist, accordionist, vocalist and leader of the Rockin' Jalapeño Band, Dr. Loco is the musical alter ego of esteemed anthropologist JoseB. Cuéllar and the subject of an era-encompassing concert Sunday afternoon, Dec.B.14, at Brava Theater Center.

We asked 14 business leaders to share the songs that get them motivated and energized for the day. They named tracks by Beyoncé, Eminem, and U2, among others. Listen to their complete playlist on Business Insider's Spotify. From getting hyped up before important meetings to getting energized at the beginning of the day, these 14 leaders shared their go-to pump-up songs and why the tracks motivate them.

A disciple of John Cage, Moran uses prepared-piano techniques - inserting objects on and between the strings, sometimes playing the strings with her fingers or an EBow - along with electronic-music treatments (she's collaborated with Daniel Lopatin and performed in Oneohtrix Point Never's band on the Age Of tour, and it shows). Time and again on Don't Trust Mirrors, Moran tricks the listener into thinking the main instrument here is harp, which, if you're a fan of Mary Lattimore or Brandee Younger, is a plus. This legerdemain reflects the title's admonition that all is not what it seems.

Our family saw Wicked together last Thanksgiving. This year, we saw it again-together, yet separately, different cities, different schedules, the same emotional landing place. At the final chords, Sara's six-year-old blurted, "It's over? Is it really over?" He captured something adults often try to hide: the uneasy truth that we don't know what comes next, but we do know we've been changed.

Amazon Music has a new Spotify Wrapped knockoff this year called " 2025 Delivered," which offers a summary of users' listening stats, such as top artists, songs, and even podcasts. Notably, the platform also takes advantage of Amazon's virtual assistant, Alexa, by giving users a special message from their favorite artist. The feature can be found on the app by tapping on the Library tab.

Late Checkout is the new duo from Creeds and Neika, born somewhere between two gigs, a hotel hallway and a studio bag full of ideas. After years of making music together, they finally turned their shared energy into a project that reflects the world they know best: nights on the move, keycards that almost fail, and inspiration that hits right before check out.

Melbourne-based DJ Moopie, AKA Matthew Xue, is renowned for engrossing, wide-ranging sets that can run the gamut from gelid ambient music to churning drum'n'bass and beyond. He also runs A Colourful Storm a fantastic indie label that massively punches above its weight when it comes to putting out charmingly moody experimental pop music, from artists as disparate as London-based percussionist Valentina Magaletti, dubby Hobart duo Troth, and renowned underground polymath Simon Fisher Turner.

The holiday season is officially upon us, and if you're hoping to find some music-related gifts for the people on your shopping list (or to buy yourself), we can help. Listed here are some of this year's best albums, worthwhile reissues, exclusive and limited edition vinyl variants, cool action figures, books, and other merch, all ready to ship to you from the BV shop. Find lots more where these picks came from here, including a whole section of $10-and-below stocking stuffers.

Melody Prochet took the title for her new Melody's Echo Chamber album, Unclouded, from a Hayao Miyazaki quote about achieving equilibrium and clearing away hate to create space for acceptance. The follow-up to 2018's Bon Voyage is a showcase for suitably unburdened and dreamy psych-pop with rolling basslines and reverb-cloaked vocals, resulting in music that's more floral wisps than paisley curls. Even the song titles themselves invoke a trippy 1970s film: Eyes Closed, The House That Doesn't Exist, Flowers Turn Into Gold.

Steve Cropper, who died Wednesday at 84, is not a household name, but the music he made is some of the most familiar in American pop. The twanging guitar line that opens Sam & Dave's "Soul Man"-that's him. Same for the chugging riff on Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" and the chopping rhythm on the soul instrumental " Green Onions." He's the man who finished mixing "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay," adding the sounds of gulls and waves after his friend Otis Redding, with whom he wrote the song, died in a plane crash.

Eli, a 25-year-old singer-songwriter who traces her inspiration to American Idol, is that best friend distilled in a pop bonbon: Her new single "Glitter" is as breezy and familiar as a radio hit remembered from childhood. Over a slow-jam groove and twinkly, late-'90s-flavored production, Eli draws on her Jordin Sparks-esque powers and gently instructs you to get some standards: "You should be his baby, not his babysitter."

Yellowcard have announced a 2026 US tour with New Found Glory and Plain White T's, bringing together three notable acts from the emo/pop-punk world. The outing, dubbed "The Up Up Down Down Tour," kicks off May 6th in Atlanta, and runs through a June 17th show in Boston, hitting Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Nashville, New York City, and other markets along the way.

As one half of Brooklyn-based duo Water From Your Eyes, Nate Amos makes left-field pop that feels hypermodern: wry, memey lyricism; post-ironic genre-hopping; the kind of jilted chaos and tonal jumble that characterises a social media feed. Yet the band had actually been plugging away for seven years before their 2023 breakthrough. Amos's solo project This Is Lorelei has been going even longer, only gaining proper traction with last year's belated debut album Box for Buddy, Box for Star.

New Orleans duo The Convenience, who released the terrific Like Cartoon Vampires earlier this year, are here to rep for their hometown with five other artists from the scene you should know about: You can check out music from all five of their picks below.

Noah Weiland paid tribute to his late father, Scott Weiland, with a concert marking the 10th anniversary of the legendary singer's passing. The show took place Wednesday night, December 3rd, at the Garden Amp outdoor amphitheater in Orange County, California, with Noah singing songs from his dad's bands Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver.

I've read about how Kraftwerk wanted to remove all of the humanity from their music, but Eno often spoke about wanting to make synthesized music that felt distinctly human,

Stanley Simmons, a new duo comprised of singer-guitarist Evan Stanley and vocalist Nick Simmons - the sons of KISS legends Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons - have unveiled their debut single, "Body Down." Evan and Nick previously previewed the song, which they co-wrote with singer-guitarist Jacob Bunton (Steven Adler, Mars Electric, Lynam), with a stripped-down performance posted on Instagram way back in February. Now, the fully produced single is out, and available to stream below.

Avenged Sevenfold have unveiled a new song titled "Magic" as part of the new "Season 01" patch to the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

Let's enjoy our community, family and friends with a celebration of joy and cheer, music and entertainment, and fun festive activities. Join at the evening close with a YULETIDE COMMUNITY SINGALONG. -Photos with Santa-Hot Chocolate Bar-Arts & Crafts-Cookie Decorating Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur. Address: 19419 Stevens Creek BlvdCupertino, CA

When I was at prep school in the 1960s, a series of old military buffers came to give a lecture to my motley group of school friends about how we were predestined to run the British Empire; this was always an unlikely prospect since our colonial cousins were jumping ship at an alarming speed. Part of this imperial training process involved putting us young boys in dresses and bonnets and full stage slap to perform Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.