Friday Music News

04/04/2014

KEXP

Compiled by Britta Plyler and Janice Headley

After breaking the news of David Letterman's retirement on Twitter, former R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills brought his old bandmate Peter Buck on stage to accompany Joseph Arthur in a cover of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side." Letterman won't be going anywhere 'til 2015, but we're missing his recent run of excellent musical guests already. [Spin]

Goth grandpa Peter Murphy is back with a new album, Lion, out June 3 via Nettwerk. Watch a video for the single "Hang Up" below, which will also be available as an exclusive Record Store Day remix 7-inch on April 19th. The former Bauhaus frontman will be in Seattle on June 28th at The Showbox. [AV Club]

Janelle Monáe and M.I.A. may have been physically separated by the entire continental US, but that didn't stop them from performing live (sorta) together last night. Both artists were performing at release parties for the Audi A3, with Monáe in Los Angeles and M.I.A. in New York City. A hologram of M.I.A. beamed into LA for a special rap verse on The Electric Lady's hit "Q.U.E.E.N." and a hologram Monáe returned the favor on M.I.A.'s track "Bad Girls." Below you can watch a clip of the later performance. [Pitchfork]

To promote his recently released album Oxymoron, Schoolboy Q has been hitting all the late show hotspots and last night he landed on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Check out the LA rapper's performance of both "Studio" and "What They Want" below. Sidenote: What's with this Smokey Bear hat epidemic? I'm looking at you, Pharrell. [CoS]

Hooray for Earth have shared a dramatic and artsy trailer to tease the release of their upcoming album Racy, the first since their 2011 debut True Loves. In a press release frontman Noel Heroux said, " This is the most intentional thing I've ever put together. I wanted everything loud and direct so you don’t have to guess at what you’re getting into." Racy will drop on July 29. [Stereogum]

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