Chicago’s Matt Jencik — a member of Implodes, Don Caballero, and Slint’s live band and a longtime employee of Reckless Records — has teamed up on a full album with Midwife, the gauzy slowcore project of Denver’s Madeline Johnston. It’s called Never Die, and I loved the shapelessly floating atmospherics of lead single “Delete Key.” Their new song out today, “Rickety Ride,” is similarly hypnotic. Jencik says it’s about “a random unplanned evening I had with someone many years ago.” He elaborates:
Charli XCX’s Brat, arguably the most impactful album artwork in recent memory, took home the Grammy earlier this year for Best Recording Package. That category recognizes the album cover design, and the “overall visual presentation” of the album, but it excludes boxed sets and limited editions, which got a category of their own in 1995. Now, the Grammys have added a new category for their 68th awards show, set to take place on Feb. 1, 2026: Best Album Cover.
Ananda Lewis has died. The former MTV VJ who went on to be a talk show host passed away at her Los Angeles home this morning of stage 4 breast cancer. She was 52.
Nitzer Ebb vocalist and founding member Douglas McCarthy has died. The English EBM and industrial band shared the news today via social media. No cause of death has been revealed, but he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver last year. He was 58.
Earlier today, Brian Wilson’s family delivered the news of the passing of the Beach Boys sonic mastermind, sending shock waves throughout the music world. Now his former bandmates Mike Love and Al Jardine have shared eulogies for him.
Ricky L. Hawk — who, under the stage name Silentó, had a #3 hit with the novelty dance track “Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)” a decade ago — has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering his cousin. Hawk, 27, pled guilty but mentally ill to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault, among other charges, for the 2021 shooting of Frederick Rooks III, Atlanta’s Fox 5 reports. A DeKalb County judge handed down the sentence today.
Imagine finding out that your father is not your biological father. It happens all the time. People grow up and learn about the dramatic twists and turns that their parents’ lives took. Sometimes, they learn that the men they believed to be their fathers aren’t actually their genetic relations. It must be a real shock to the system. And it must be an even bigger shock to learn that your actual real father is Billy Idol. That’s what a Long Island man named Brant Northridge learned a couple of years ago.
In January, singer Michael Tait left the Christian rock band Newsboys after 15 years. Then, just last week, allegations of grooming, sexual assault, and substance abuse emerged in a lengthy article on The Roys Report following a two-and-a-half-year investigation.
Billie Eilish is no stranger to a Paramore cover. In 2022 Hayley Williams joined the young pop star for “Misery Business” at Coachella, and the following year the rock band brought out Eilish for “All I Wanted” in LA. Tonight Eilish decided to emotionally devastate her audience in Paris with a rendition of Paramore’s 2009 tearjerker “The Only Exception.”
Bunnies can be creepy. Ever watch Donnie Darko? That’s what this new Pile music video reminds me of. It matches the brooding energy of the single, aptly titled “Uneasy,” which is the second preview of their forthcoming album Sunshine And Balance Beams.