Thursday Music News

05/11/2017

Jasmine Albertson

Rejoice! Indie rock legends The National have announced a new album! Their first since 2013's excellent Trouble Will Find Me, the new album will be called Sleep Well Beast and will be released just in time for the post-summer bummers on Sept 8th via 4AD. Check out the first single "The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness" and pre-order your blue or white vinyl ASAP. [ Consequence of Sound ]

Does Jack White ever sleep? Between making music under his own name, producing and writing for others (including Beyonce), running a record label, and upholstering furniture, you would think there would be little time for anything else. But somehow White's day is longer than the rest of ours because he has yet another project on his hands, a three-part documentary series, recording project, and feature film titled American Epic about the pioneering days of recorded sound. He's partnered with T Bone Burnett and Robert Redford on the project and a new clip features a 1920s track by Memphis Jug Band covered by White and rapper Nas, who discusses the parallels between the content of music from that period and current hip hop. The documentary series premieres May 19. [ Pitchfork ]

In other news of Men Who Don't Sleep, Thom Yorke is also keeping himself quite busy doing is first feature film score. Suspira is a remake of a 1970s Italian horror film by Dario Argento and is starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, and Jessica Harper (the star ofthe 1977 original). The new version is directed by Luca Guadgnino who said of Yorke, "Thom's art transcends the contemporary. To have the privilege of his music and sound for Suspiria is a dream come true. The depth of his creation and artistic vision is so unique that our Suspiria will sound groundbreaking and will deeply resonate with viewers. Our goal is to make a movie that will be a disturbing and transforming experience: for this ambition, we could not find a better partner than Thom." There is no current release date for the film. [ Under the Radar ]

Thurston Moore, father and frontman of everyone's favorite band Sonic Youth, released his first solo album in three years at the end of April called Rock N Roll Consciousness and we now have a video for the sprawling 8-minute track "Aphrodite". The video is simple, with a nostalgic '90s feeling about it, appeasing all of us who have spent any amount of time debating the merits of Goo vs. Daydream Nation over a beer with friends. Speaking of nostalgia, let's revisit the last time Moore stopped by the KEXP studios and cross our fingers for a tour. [ Stereogum ]

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