Mark Volman, the musician who co-founded the Turtles and the offshoot band Flo & Eddie, became a member of Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention, and changed the course of sampling with his lawsuit against De La Soul, has died. Volman revealed in 2023 that he was diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disease Lewy body dementia in 2020, but he continued to tour after the diagnosis. According to Deadline, he died today in Nashville following a brief, unexpected illness. He was 78.
Every week the Stereogum staff chooses the five best new songs of the week. The eligibility period begins and ends Thursdays right before midnight. You can hear this week’s picks below and on Stereogum’s Favorite New Music Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly. (An expanded playlist of our new music picks is available to members on Spotify and Apple Music, updated throughout the week.)
Late last year we checked in on the ascendent Boston rapper Rich Amiri as he released his career-best album War Ready. He’s already ramping up to a new one, Grit & Grace, which includes last month’s lead single “Paranoid.” Today he’s back with another preview, “In & Out,” which is the kind of booming, ominous post-Future trap track Amiri excels at. Listen below.
Back in February we learned Green Day were making a touring-oriented road trip comedy with the behemoth music venues and ticketing monopoly Live Nation and that they were casting “punks, emo, hardcore & alt people” to work as extras during wintertime shoots in Oklahoma City. We now know a bit more about the film.
Icelandic outfit múm have been preparing us for their first album in seven years — History of Silence, out two weeks from today — with the glistening singles “Mild At Heart” and “Only Songbirds Have A Sweet Tooth.” Today, they’ve shared another titled “Kill The Light.”
British-Nigerian artist Ego Ella May is back with a breezy new song called “What We Do.” Over the past couple years, she’s released a three-part project — which she released as a full collection called fieldnotes: complete at the end of last year — that was a collection of findings about herself through lockdown. Now, May is ready for a new chapter. Turns out, “What We Do” is the first single from her forthcoming sophomore album, the follow-up to her 2020 debut Honey For Wounds, that’s slated for early next year. It was co-produced with South London multi-instrumentalist Wu-Lu.
Just yesterday, Tame Impala officially announced Deadbeat, the new album that he’s been teasing for months. Deadbeat is out next month, and it will presumably include the new Tame Impala singles “End Of Summer” and “Loser. According to a press release, it’s “deeply inspired by bush doof culture and the Western Australia rave scene.” We’ll soon get a chance to hear how the new material sounds live. Shortly after he releases Deadbeat, Kevin Parker will come to America to play some arena tours.
It’s been more than two years since Detroit cult-rap star released his critically adored album Ganger. Veeze recently collaborated with Lil Yachty on the singles “Sorry Not Sorry” and “Can’t Be Crete Boy,” and he’s been showing up on streams with people like Plaqueboymax and Kai Cenat. Now, he’s back with his first solo single in a minute. It’s called “L.O.A.T.,” and it’s about how the people paying too much attention to his money are the lamest of all time.
“Let me know if it gets too windy!” says shame’s Charlie Steen, sitting in a park under a blue London sky on a fine late afternoon in August. “Are you hearing me okay?” Some gusts have kicked up during our hour-plus Zoom conversation, and there’s not much other than Mother Nature that could interfere with the booming baritone of one of modern rock’s most captivating frontmen. Whether he’s speaking, singing or a combination of the two – a frequent approach in shame songs – Steen is nearly always able to cut through, usually in a wry and engaging way.
Artistic treasure David Byrne has been on this website a whole lot lately. Tomorrow, he’ll release Who Is The Sky? his first solo album in eight years. He also wrote and produced a grip of songs for Netflix’s upcoming animated musical The Twits, so he could have a K-Pop Demon Hunters moment on the way. Recently, Byrne sat down with Stereogum American utopia correspondent Rachel Brown for Stereogum’s first-ever video edition of our We’ve Got A File On You interview series. And hey, he’s getting married this weekend! Just yesterday, Byrne shared his instrumental wedding playlist, as well as the Hayley Williams duet “What Is The Reason For It?” Hopefully, you’re not Byrned out, since his album promo cycle continues.