Helping fans protect the environment during the UK’s National Tree Week, Grammy Award-nominated duo Disclosure has recently announced a new t-shirt collaboration with British tech company Treeapp, whose mobile app allows users to plant trees from their phones for free.
Co-branded with each group’s logo and screen-printed with the words “This T-Shirt planted a tree,” every shirt keeps its word, with sales facilitating the planting of a tree in the UK on the buyers’ behalf.
The limited edition shirt is an extension of Disclosure’s “Big Tree ENERGY” clothing line, released in support of their most recent album ENERGY. Like all pieces in the line, this new t-shirt will be delivered to purchasers in biodegradable packaging. It is currently available for pre-order here and will officially go on sale December 4th, 2020.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the ecosystems found in forests are critical to preserving the world’s biodiversity and absorbing accumulated carbon dioxide in the planet’s atmosphere. While the rate of deforestation has decreased between 2015 and 2020 from numbers in the 1990s, we are still losing an estimated 10 million hectares of trees each year, with each hectare amounting to about two and a half football fields worth of ground coverage.
Details of the official soundtrack for Zappa, the authorised documentary covering the life and career of Frank Zappa, have been shared.
The album is set to feature highlights from the composer’s vast back catalogue, live recordings, interview clips and a dozen unreleased tracks from the unclassifiable artist’s vaults.
The 3CD/5LP release of ‘Zappa Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ spans 68 tracks, ranging from the Mothers of Invention’s ‘Freak Out’ to the musician’s final orchestral work ‘The Yellow Shark’.
The film had been due to premiere at the since-cancelled SXSW Festival earlier this year. The official trailer was shared on October 29 – watch it below.
The deluxe version of the soundtrack also includes offerings from Zappa’s Bizarre Records, as well as pieces by Edgard Varese and Igor Stravinsky and 26 original Zappa score cues by John Frizzell.
From the Zappa Family Trust vaults, the soundtrack includes the Mothers performing the doo-wop track ‘Memories of El Monte’ and other unheard recordings from the 1968 Whisky A Go-Go concert, a live rehearsal of ‘Apostrophe,’ Zappa’s rendition of ‘Dancin’ Fool’ from a 1978 episode of Saturday Night Live, excerpts from a 1970 Fillmore West concert, and more.
Physical editions of the soundtrack are available to pre-order now, with the 5LP version – available on both 180-gram black vinyl as well as limited edition 180-gram smoke vinyl – due out May 7, 2021 and the 3CD version expected January 19, 2021. A 2-LP edition on 180-gram clear vinyl will also be available.
Since its inception, popular vehicular soccer game Rocket League has been known to feature a wide range of music from a medley of dance producers due to their partnership with Monstercat.
Now, the game and label are teasing a collaboration with one of EDM’s biggest artist’s, Kaskade. On Twitter, both Kaskade and Rocket League shared a teaser video announcing their joint effort. The video shows Kaskade pick up a record emblazoned with the logo from the game and the label “Season 1” before flipping it over to reveal “Season 2” and place it on a turntable.
Fans have begun to speculate everything from a new title song for the game to a virtual concert. While the latter hasn’t been ruled out, the former seems more likely as Monstercat replied to the tweet with a pre-save link for their debut release from the Chicago producer titled “Flip Reset.” Players will notice that the term “flip reset” refers to a move in the game, seemingly signaling that the aforementioned track was created with Rocket League in mind.
At the time of writing, it’s not yet clear what the extent of Kaskade’s Rocket League collaboration is. In the meantime, you can pre-save his Monstercat debut, “Flip Reset,” before its official release on December 1st here.
The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has accused the UK government of intentionally destroying the night life sector through the introduction of new coronavirus restrictions.
The sector argues it will be among the hardest hit through Boris Johnson’s revised three-tier system, which the PM outlined in a virtual statement to the Commons last week.
The new rules, which are due to come in to force from Wednesday (December 2), will see non-essential retail and personal care providers, such as hairdressers, reopen no matter which tier they are in. The same is true for gyms.
However, the restrictions facing hospitality – pubs, bars and restaurants – are more complicated. Even in Tier 1 areas, they must only provide table service, though the 10pm curfew has been extended to 11pm, with last orders at 10.
Those in Tier 2 have to close unless they are serving food, with alcoholic drinks only available with a “substantial meal”. Such businesses can only open as a takeaway service in Tier 3.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined new coronavirus restrictions in a virtual statement to the Commons last week. CREDIT: Leon Neal/Getty Images
“This announcement by the Government has led us to believe that they are intentionally aiming to collapse our sector,” said Night Time Industries Association CEO Michael Kill in a statement. “Every town and city across the UK stands to lose valued and much loved venues. This will be another stab in the heart of our town and city centres.
“We stand to lose the cultural institutions and amazing workforce of professionals that the UK are renowned for globally. Our clubs, bars, venues, security, freelancers, staff, managers, DJ’s and many more will lose their livelihoods and continue to suffer financial hardship without Government intervention.
“I make a direct appeal to the Prime Minister – ‘Mr Johnson, what are you doing to save the lives and livelihoods of the many businesses and workers within the night time economy, businesses that have been closed since March and are continuing to suffer? They have staff and freelancers that will lose their jobs irrespective of furlough because the businesses won’t survive.’
He concluded: “What do you say to that Prime Minister, I hope you are sleeping well at night because thousands within our sector are struggling to sleep, in fear of their future.”
Printworks in London lay empty and under threat of permanent closure (Photo by Peter Summers/Getty Images)
The NTIA also shared the results of a recent survey they conducted, where they spoke to over 400 businesses and found 75.6% of them said they will be closed for good by Christmas.
Over 73% of businesses revealed that they had made redundancies since the start of the pandemic, with 65% of them already making over 40% of their workforce redundant, with many more to follow after the announcement of restrictions, ahead of the Christmas period.
The survey, which NTIA conducted with Sprout CRM, also highlighted that 74.4% of businesses surveyed were commercial tenants with 77.6% with over 2 Quarters in rent arrears and were suffering extreme financial hardship.
42nd Street in Manchester, known to regulars as 42s, is under threat of closure. CREDIT: Press
Last week, nightclubs across the UK warned that they could lose two thirds of their staff or even face permanent “extinction” unless the government provided urgent support and clarity to help them weather the storm caused by the pandemic.
While iconic nightclubs such as Fabric in London were among those to celebrate receiving millions from the government’s £1.57billion Cultural Recovery Fund – which has helped save hundreds of venues forced to remain closed due to COVID for months ahead – many more were denied funding and were left feeling that the Arts Council considered them to be “culturally insignificant” due to their rejection.
Responding to the nightlife’s scenes concerns, a government spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport told NME that they were working hard with the sector to secure a safe future.
“We are making the biggest ever one-off investment in the cultural sector through our unprecedented £1.57billion Culture Recovery Fund which has benefitted nightclubs including Ministry of Sound, Motion in Bristol, and Night People in Manchester,” a spokesperson told NME.
“Pubs, clubs and grassroots venues are the heartbeat of our vibrant night time economy and we are continuing to work closely with the Night Time Industries Association and medical experts to develop advice and guidance so that nightclubs can reopen when it’s safe to do so.”
For more information on the #SaveNightLife and #LetUsDance campaign, visit here – or raise your concerns by writing to your MP by using the automated form here.
Meanwhile, The Music Venue Trust have launched a new campaign to save 30 UK grassroots venues still in danger of being lost forever in the wake of coronavirus restrictions. See the full list and how you can help here.
Back in August, events promoter ReUnite drew massive anger from the EDM and events community for throwing a full-on desert rave in the midst of the pandemic. Rumors of masquerading as a BLM protest and someone dying at the event also spread, only fueling the fire of people’s anger.
Last night, ReUnite once again thwarted COVID lockdown rules with another event, again run by a man named Rick Silver. This iteration’s event hasn’t received the same ire as the last one, either since most people don’t know about it yet, or people have just become tired of quarantine. (As we all understandably have.)
But as the events industry prepares to possibly reopen some time next year, provided there’s an effective vaccine, appropriate social distancing rules, rapid testing, etc., events like these that are more likely to spread the virus give government officials less reason to actually trust anyone to follow guidelines.
From the stories posted to Instagram (below), which is audacious in and of itself, it appears hundreds of people attended the event, all without masks or any sort of social distancing. As tired as we all are of quarantine, gatherings like this only serve to continue and push it further into the future.
The United States is currently experiencing a massive spike in COVID cases following Halloween weekend, and with Thanksgiving just behind us and Christmas and New Year’s on the way, right now is the worst time for this sort of event.
Since rising to the top of the international dance music circuit, Steve Aokihas collaborated with artists from all over the world. His next release finds him teaming up with one of Singapore’s biggest stars, JJ Lin.
Coming later this week is a single called “Not Tonight (Tomorrow Sounds Good Steve Aoki Remix).” While listed as a remix, the track is actually an original collaboration from the duo. On his YouTube channel, Lin released a series of short teasers to give fans a taste of what’s to come.
The teaser video begins with some of Lin’s world-famous vocals before dropping into a surprisingly dark and minimal bassline from the EDM mainstay. Alongside the audio, its visual companion teases Lin and a virtual Aoki in a variety of intense action sequences, including a choreographed brawl.
Steve Aoki has been busy as of late with both musical and crossover ventures. Earlier in the month of November, he hosted a Pokémon card unboxing livestream for charity. Not long before that, he revealed a collaboration with Topps in the form of his own line of baseball cards.
“Not Tonight (Tomorrow Sounds Good Steve Aoki Remix)” and its accompanying music video are set to release worldwide on Monday, November 30th.
XAVAGE & Jon Casey are two of the brightest stars in trap music and they just unleashed their massive collaboration ‘Make It Clap’ via Elysian. XAVAGE has been making major waves with releases on Quality Goods Records and Circus, and official remixes for 2¢ & JEANIE. Jon Casey has been on a similar ascent, dropping collaborations with legends like Craze and Dabow, plus releasing music with Sable Valley, DIVISION, Dome Of Doom and many more. The track expertly fuses the talented producers’ signature styles for an unforgettable trap banger.
‘Make It Clap’ blurs the lines between bounce inducing twerk and gritty hard-hitting trap. The vocals in the intro give it a playful dynamic while the underlying bass and gun clicks add a layer of filth. The drops pair chest-pound bass with wild sound design and driving percussion. It’s the type of track that will have you dancing one second and then marveling at the audio ingenuity the next. ‘Make It Clap’ is the modern twerk anthem you didn’t know you needed.
“I knew for a while now that Jon’s and I styles would really compliment each other. When Jon was on tour we linked up in LA and I showed him the track in its early stages. It had my signature bounce and groove which Jon then took and brought it to a whole new level.” – XAVAGE
“It came together pretty well in the early stages. I pulled up to Michael’s crib in Downtown LA, he showed me the track and I was like… this is a classic. Has that early twerk trap feel. I felt that I just wanted to bring a different energy towards the end so I incorporated some HARD instruments to make the rest of the song fierce.” – Jon Casey
Stream ‘Make It Clap’ on your preferred platform here, or find it below on Spotify.
Halsey has referenced her lack of Grammy nominations in a new post on social media, and discussing the possibility of “bribes” in the nominations process.
The singer didn’t receive a single nomination for her 2020 album ‘Manic’ in the 2021 list, which included the chart-topping single ‘Without Me’.
“I’ve been thinking and wanted to choose my words carefully because a lot of people have extended sympathy and apology to me since the Grammy nominations,” Halsey wrote on her Instagram Stories yesterday (November 28), as Billboard report.
“The Grammys are an elusive process,” she added. “It can often be about behind the scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with the right handshake and ‘bribes’ that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as ‘not bribes.’”
The Weeknd has been vocal in his criticism of the Grammys this week. CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/MTV VMAs 2020/Getty Images for MTV
Halsey went on to say that “committing to exclusive TV performances” could secure you Grammy nominations more than the music itself, writing: “It’s not always about the music or quality or culture.
The highest profile critic of the 2021 Grammy nominations has been The Weeknd, who received no nominations for his chart-topping album ‘After Hours’ and single ‘Blinding Lights’.
“Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not being invited?” he tweeted. “In my opinion zero nominations = you’re not invited!” Abel Tesfaye also branded the awards “corrupt,” adding: “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency.”
“The Weeknd deserves better, and ‘Manic’ did too,” Halsey wrote, adding: Perhaps it’s unbecoming of me to say so but I can’t care anymore.
“While I am THRILLED for my talented friends who were recognised this year, I am hoping for more transparency or reform. But I’m sure this post will blacklist me anyway.”
Elton John, Drake and 50 Cent also shared their support for The Weeknd following the controversy, while Justin Bieber voiced his disappointment that his album ‘Changes’ had been classified as pop. The singer received nominations for Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop/Duo Group Performance, and Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
When the producer appeared on the pop/punk sensation’s Instagram story last week, fans jumped right to “collab.” Sure, maybe they linked up to skateboard or simply hang out… but even though they don’t appear to be in the studio, it’s hard to wrap our heads around them getting together and not making music.
Just this year alone, Skrillex has been spotted in studio with with Mike Einziger of Incubus, Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys, Scott Storch, and Ross Robinson, who’s produced music for Korn, Slipknot, Suicide Silence, Limp Bizkit, Tech N9ne — and From First To Last.
Although we can’t be sure this potential collab is 100% happening, or any percentage happening for that matter, we’re going to do our best to help wish this into existence. Skrillex x Avril Lavigne is by far our favorite rumor of 2020.
Earlier in the month of November, Armin van Buuren teamed up with the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, Duncan Laurence, for their synth-pop single “Feel Something.” A decided change of pace from the Dutch trance heavyweight’s traditional sound, fans were excited to see him test the waters in a new frontier. In an effort to double down on the song’s message, the duo released a music video to help listeners better visualize their story.
The video starts with both artists stuck in clear glass boxes wearing plain white clothes. As the song and video progress, their encasings become filled with bright neon lights and their outfits liven up. With lyrics emphasizing the need to feel something and both artists having to find solace in their current situations, it’s easy to see the parallel in what most of the world faces right now due to COVID-19-induced isolation. The final result is a subtle yet visually appealing video seemingly meant to raise spirits during a time of uncertainty.
“Feel Something” was released on November 6th, 2020. You can download or stream the single here.
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