Eurovision is a natural love for me, Goodrem says, pointing to the two greatest influences in her life: Olivia Newton-John and Celine Dion, who have both been on the Eurovision stage. To be chosen, she says, feels like a celebration of a career which has leapt from milestone to milestone and cemented her in Australian pop history.
Sedaka got his breakthrough as a performer with 1958's The Diary—inspired when Connie Francis refused to let him and songwriting partner Howard Greenfield scour her diary for inspiration. Oh! Carol, meanwhile, was a paean to Sedaka's ex-girlfriend Carol Klein—the irrepressibility of the melody at odds with the misery in the lyrics (I am but a fool!). Klein was impressed enough to write an answer song, Oh! Neil, which she recorded under her new pen name: Carole King.
It's impossible to quantify the emotional landscape of a song-there's no judgment more subjective-but to my ear, "Ceremony" captures the drama of an unforgettable moment that feels like it's going to change your life forever, one where everything that's been is about to meet the future, and you can feel the unnamable tension of possibility swelling until it's about to burst.
A key member of the Brill Building songwriting factory, Sedaka teamed with lyricist and boyhood neighbor Howard Greenfield on songs that reflected the teen innocence of the post-Elvis/pre-Beatles era of the late 1950s-early 1960s, including Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Calendar Girl and Oh! Carol, a lament for his high school sweetheart, Carole King.
A chipper melodicist who never attempted to disguise his sentimental streak, Sedaka emerged at the moment rock 'n' roll's initial big bang started to fizzle. As a songwriter and performer, Sedaka treated rock 'n' roll as another fad to be exploited, crafting cheerful, vivacious tunes targeted at teens who'd bop along to 'Stupid Cupid' and swoon to 'Where the Boys Are.'
When people talk about the quintessential music of early 2000s New York, it's often scuzzy new rock bands like The Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the burgeoning dance-punk scene led by LCD Soundsystem, or the city's ever-booming hip hop movement. But there's arguably one album that in its own quietly revolutionary way, may just be the most significant work of that city's fertile period: Basinski's The Disintegration Loops.
Originally released in June 2004, To the 5 Boroughs is the Beastie's tribute to their hometown, reflecting on the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. Debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. In addition to the Hot 100 hit "Ch-Check It Out," the LP contains the heartfelt "An Open Letter to NYC."
Fujiwara's hustling brushes set up a churning guitar hook on the title track that sounds infectiously like a kind of highlife bebop, before Reid's superb pizzicato cello solo takes off with Halvorson comping the tune in the background. Her own seamlessly skimming improvisation is then followed by a spontaneous counter-melodic dance between the two of them.
I still have to go to the studio after this and I have to make a Mardi Gras costume for my son after the studio. Longest day ever. Just after 2:30 a.m., Rihanna can be seen hard at work in the studio, with the session going on well past 5 a.m.
Inspired by her brother's tragic suicide, the album transforms pain into a powerful musical narrative, breaking the silence surrounding suicide and offering a refuge for remembrance and healing.
Upon going solo after White Zombie's breakup in the late '90s, the one-time noise-rock underdog became metal's demonoid phenom with 1998's Hellbilly Deluxe, a monster mosh of horror-themed industrial-metal that spawned the generational vampiric speedway anthem, "Dragula," along with several other Halloween playlist essentials.
Bad Bunny was the most-streamed artist on Spotify for four years. He headlined the Super Bowl, singing in Spanish, challenging long-held ideas about what it means to be mainstream. His career highlights how streaming platforms, diaspora audiences, and shifting cultural power now determine global relevance.
Yeat and EsDeeKid have dropped a new song together, 'Made It On Our Own.' The track arrives alongside a video, directed by Director X, that they filmed at Drake's Toronto mansion (although Drake himself does not appear).
Brooks Ginnan, in addition to being a model, is a 29-year-old non-binary musician and actor. They have a rare physical condition called ectodermal dysplasia (ED), a genetic condition that affects the development of hair, teeth, nails, and skin. This genetic disorder gives Ginnan a distinctive physical appearance that has attracted the attention of designers, photographers, filmmakers, and musicians.
I really like cremation songs. As the belt started, it just went 'the long and winding road,' and it made me laugh. It feels so inappropriate because of how abrupt it was. And then I just started thinking about inappropriate cremation songs.
In the late '60s and early '70s, writing songs to sell burgers may have been considered selling out, but it was a reliable entry point for composers trying to break into the music industry. Jingles pay well, demand airtight hooks and require songwriters to skillfully compress melody and emotion into 30 seconds or less.
Helicopters, you could say, is a reaction to the lack of action or misaction we have witnessed over the last three years (but in reality, throughout my whole life) in regard to the blatant slaughtering and exploitation of our brothers and sisters around the world. The manipulation, lies, and treachery that the powers that be rain down upon us with absolute impunity.
