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"It's timeless": Apple Music reveals best albums of all time

<p>Apple Music has compiled their list of the top 100 albums of all time, with the number one spot dividing music lovers. </p> <p>Said to be “a modern 21st-century ranking of the greatest records ever made,” the list was compiled by Apple Music’s team of experts “alongside a select group of artists, songwriters, producers, and industry professionals.”</p> <p>“The list is an editorial statement,” the streaming giant said in a press release, “fully independent of any streaming numbers on Apple Music - a love letter to the records that have shaped the world music lovers live and listen in.”</p> <p>Taking out the number one spot, which has divided music lovers, is Lauryn Hill’s 1998 magnum opus <em>The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.</em></p> <p>The album beat out other iconic works such as <em>Abbey Road</em> by The Beatles and <em>Thriller</em> by Michael Jackson for the top spot, as well as newer records such as <em>Back to Black</em> by Amy Winehouse and <em>Blonde</em> by Frank Ocean. </p> <p>Following the big reveal, Apple Music’s global creative director, Zane Lowe, described Hill’s album as one that “has not dated, not even a fraction”.</p> <p>“In fact, it feels more fresh and more relevant the more you listen to it … There are a lot of young artists hearing it, and it’s becoming part of their artistic DNA,” he said.</p> <p>“It’s inspiring and influencing them … It’s timeless.”</p> <p>While <em>The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill</em> is certainly popular after selling over 20 million copies and making it one of the best-selling albums of all time, not everyone was so sure it deserved top spot on the list.</p> <p>“Album is fire but no way this gets #1 of all albums,” one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter, while another account declared simply: “BLASPHEMY.”</p> <p>“The most overrated album in history. I’m not saying it’s not good but come on,” a user wrote.</p> <p>Many people also insisted Jackson’s “Thriller” deserved to be number one.</p> <p>“That album had no miss, but Michael Jackson thriller is no 1,” an X user said.</p> <p>“I feel like Michael got snubbed,” another agreed.</p> <p>Check out the top 20 of the coveted list below. You can see the top 100 list in its entirety <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/best-albums-of-all-time-revealed/news-story/620abfb3fc0279559eff1cbbbb552b80" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p> <p>20. Pet Sounds – The Beach Boys</p> <p>19. The Chronic – Dr. Dre</p> <p>18. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) – Taylor Swift</p> <p>17. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye</p> <p>16. Blue – Joni Mitchell</p> <p>15. 21 – Adele</p> <p>14. Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan</p> <p>13. The Blueprint – Jay-Z</p> <p>12. OK Computer – Radiohead</p> <p>11. Rumours – Fleetwood Mac</p> <p>10. Lemonade – Beyoncé</p> <p>9. Nevermind – Nirvana</p> <p>8. Back to Black – Amy Winehouse</p> <p>7. good kid, m.A.A.d city (Deluxe Version) – Kendrick Lamar</p> <p>6. Songs in the Key of Life – Stevie Wonder</p> <p>5. Blonde – Frank Ocean</p> <p>4. Purple Rain – Prince & The Revolution </p> <p>3. Abbey Road - The Beatles</p> <p>2. Thriller - Michael Jackson</p> <p>1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Lauryn Hill</p> <p><em>Image credits: Ruffhouse Records / Apple Records / Epic Records</em></p> <div class="media image" style="caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 24px; display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; width: 705.202209px; max-width: 100%;"> </div>

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Kiss’s debut album at 50: how the rock legends went from ‘clowns’ to becoming immortalised

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/charlotte-markowitsch-1507417">Charlotte Markowitsch</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p>It has been 50 years since Rock &amp; Roll <a href="https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/kiss">Hall of Famers</a> Kiss launched their thunderock-doused debut album into the pop culture stratosphere. The eponymous album, released on February 18 1974, became a platform-stacked foot in the music industry’s door.</p> <p>What followed established Kiss as one of the most memorable hard-rock bands of the 1970s and ’80s, with a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1386/ejac.37.1.19_1">globally recognised legacy</a>.</p> <p><iframe style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/0NjpmoajQlllfKH9FaNliD?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="352" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" loading="lazy"></iframe></p> <p> </p> <h2>The early days</h2> <p>In 1972, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons shelved their first ever rock outfit following a short stint in a band called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Lester">Wicked Lester</a>. The pair then <a href="https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/kiss-self-titled-debut-album/">hatched a plan</a> to form a far more aggressive and successful rock band. Drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley were recruited, and the new-generation Fab Four renamed themselves Kiss.</p> <p>By late <a href="https://www.kissonline.com/history">November of 1973</a>, the band had developed their bombastic live performance style, perfected their makeup and signed a deal with <a href="https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-first-record-contract/">Casablanca Records</a>. Yet they dealt with some rocky beginnings.</p> <p>Armed with reworked songs from Wicked Lester, Kiss entered New York’s Bell Sound Studios to record their debut. A mere three weeks later the album was complete – but the band quickly realised the studio recordings didn’t capture the essence of their high-energy live shows.</p> <p>As vocalist Paul Stanley <a href="https://loudwire.com/kiss-self-titled-album-anniversary/">told Loudwire</a>: "What was put down on tape was such a timid fraction of what we were in concert. I didn’t understand it because bands who were our contemporaries had much better-sounding albums."</p> <p>They took another blow while shooting the album cover with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/obituaries/31brodsky.html">Joel Brodsky</a> when, after a mishap with Criss’s makeup, the band were allegedly handed balloons by the photographer since he thought they were clowns.</p> <p>Then, soon before the album was released, Warner Brothers pulled its financial backing and <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-casablanca-records-story">distribution deal from Casablanca Records</a> after witnessing Kiss play a New Year’s eve show. Although it’s said the band’s makeup was the last straw for the label, the show in question also featured Simmons <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/features/kiss-early-years-history">setting his hair alight</a> shortly after throwing a fireball at a fan’s face.</p> <p>Despite the blunders, the release of the first album set Kiss on a path to becoming immortalised. As Stanley says in his book <a href="https://www.paulstanley.com/face-the-music/">Face The Music</a>: "For all the minuses I felt about the sound or the cover, we now had a finished album which was the prerequisite for all the other things we wanted to do. We were in the game now."</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D0lit2sT6lY?wmode=transparent&amp;start=28" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>The Kiss sound</h2> <p>I first heard Kiss as a teenager. I’d just thrift-scored a pair of ’80s-era roller-skates with the band’s logo scrawled on the heels in glitter glue. The salesperson, responsible for the glitter glue, enthusiastically recounted seeing Kiss play VFL Park (now <a href="https://footy.fandom.com/wiki/Waverley_Park">Waverley Park</a> stadium) in 1980 and made me promise I’d listen to them.</p> <p>Overwhelmed by the band’s expansive discography, and the possibility that their name stood for <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/news/kiss-squash-long-standing-rumour-that-their-band-name-is-a-satanic-acronym-were-smart-but-were-not-that-smart">Knights In Satan’s Service</a>, I thought it best to begin from the start.</p> <p>With their reputation of on-stage pyrotechnics and gore, I’d expected something more akin to Black Sabbath’s Paranoid than the jangly riffs of Let Me Know or Love Theme From Kiss. A 1978 review by <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/kiss-194584/">Gordon Fletcher</a> for the Rolling Stone also noted this rift. Despite calling the album exceptional, Fletcher described its sound as a cross between Deep Purple and the Doobie Brothers.</p> <p>Stanley and Simmons have <a href="https://www.guitarworld.com/features/kiss-paul-stanley-gene-simmons-classic-tracks">spoken freely</a> about borrowing heavily from a number of mid-century legends, so it’s no surprise that sonically the album was nothing new. The Rolling Stones’ influence can be heard in the songs Deuce and Strutter, while Led Zeppelin and Neil Young are present in Black Diamond.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PEa4MrrG1xw?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>The album initially hadn’t risen higher than #87 on <a href="https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-kiss-debut-album/">Billboard’s album charts</a>. A studio cover of <a href="https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kiss-nothin-to-lose/?trackback=twitter_mobile">Bobby Rydell’s Kissin’ Time</a> was released next as the lead single, but the track only bumped them up to #83. This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2262575">commercial unviability</a> loomed over Kiss until the release of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alive!_(Kiss_album)">Alive!</a> in 1975.</p> <h2>Success and beyond</h2> <p>As the band’s first live album, Alive! bridged the gap between the audacious intensity of Kiss’s performances and the timidness of their studio recordings. Their early tracks were repurposed to let listeners remotely experience the infamous Kiss live spectacle.</p> <p>As <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFMD7Usflbg&amp;ab_channel=KissVEVO">Rock and Roll All Nite</a> claimed #12 on the <a href="https://loudwire.com/kiss-alive-album-anniversary/">Billboard charts</a>, the platform-stacked foot burst through the door to mainstream success.</p> <p>Fifty years after Kiss first stepped into Bell Sound Studios, the band played their final sold-out show at Madison Square Garden on December 2 2023. The performance served as a crowning jewel on their End of the Road world tour, a four-year effort with more than 250 live shows.</p> <p>Promised to be their <a href="https://www.triplem.com.au/story/kiss-add-more-dates-to-their-end-of-the-road-australian-tour-172305">biggest and best shows ever</a>, the farewell became a colossal celebration of the band’s legacy. Theatrical pyrotechnics, fake blood and Stanley’s classic opening line – “you wanted the best, you got the best” – were featured at each performance.</p> <p>While both Kiss’s anthemic numbers and earlier catalogue were performed in these final shows, the music came second to the celebration of the Kiss live spectacle.</p> <p>From their carefully designed makeup, to bombastic theatrics and hoards of merchandise, it was Kiss’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1386/ejac.37.1.19_1">brand building</a> that <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-au/Brands+That+Rock%3A+What+Business+Leaders+Can+Learn+from+the+World+of+Rock+and+Roll-p-9780471455172">set them apart</a> and embedded them in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2009.09.006">heritage bracket</a> of popular culture.</p> <p>Despite the end of their live shows, Kiss endeavours to stay embedded in public memory. Referring to some of the band’s 2,500 licensed products, Simmons recently spoke on <a href="http://www.tommagazine.com.au/2022/08/19/kiss/">what’s next for Kiss</a>: "Kiss the entity will continue; what’s happening now is a metamorphosis. The caterpillar is dying, but the butterfly will be born."</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yl5PGoy5X6g?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>With a <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/kiss-biopic-early-years-netflix-2024-1235291572/">Netflix biopic</a> and holographic <a href="https://www.stereogum.com/2246254/kiss-hologram-era-begins-in-2027/news/">avatars on the way</a>, Stanley and Simmons – the band’s two remaining members – <a href="https://www.nme.com/news/music/gene-simmons-says-kiss-farewell-tour-is-end-of-the-road-for-the-band-not-the-brand-3541117">have declared Kiss immortal</a>.</p> <p>Stanley even suggests the Kiss look has become so iconic it’s now bigger than any band member. This means the torch could be passed on to new-generation Kiss members.</p> <p>Kiss has (quite literally) breathed fire into live rock performance. Now, they’re breathing fire into our expectations of what rock royalty retirement looks like. I have to ask, who – or what – will wear the makeup next? <!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222284/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/charlotte-markowitsch-1507417">C<em>harlotte Markowitsch</em></a><em>, PhD candidate in popular music studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/kisss-debut-album-at-50-how-the-rock-legends-went-from-clowns-to-becoming-immortalised-222284">original article</a>.</em></p>

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Readers respond: What was the first ever album you bought?

<p>Everyone has that early album that made them fall in love with music and changed who they are.</p> <p>For many, the first album you buy stays one of your favourite records throughout your life, because the hits you love never truly grow old.</p> <p>We asked our readers what the first album they bought was, and the response was overwhelming.</p> <p>Here's what they said.</p> <p><strong>Diane Brown</strong> - Carol King's Tapestry and Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story.</p> <p><strong>Kerrie Ross</strong> - Sound of Music 33rpm I was in Primary School.</p> <p><strong>Julie Ennor </strong>- The Beatles, Hard Days Night.</p> <p><strong>Wilma Bill Towells</strong> - Soundtrack to My Fair Lady, probably 70 years ago.</p> <p><strong>Suzanne Jones</strong> - ABBA! It was a birthday gift along with my first turn table. </p> <p><strong>Carol Anderson</strong> - Joe Cocker, the album. Loved him ever since 1972, and I have seen him live many times.</p> <p><strong>Josephine Cray</strong> - Get Yer Ya-Yas Out, by the Rolling Stones. Still their best!</p> <p><strong>Annie Barry</strong> - Best of 1969. l was 12 and my Mum got it for my Christmas present.</p> <p><strong>Mandy Goldsworthy</strong> - Let It Be by The Beatles for Christmas in 1971. </p> <p><strong>Ann Drobnic</strong> - Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits.</p> <p><strong>Kaye Hillary</strong> - The best of Janis Joplin</p> <p><strong>Sharon White</strong> - Soundtrack to Oliver followed closely by Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye.</p> <p><strong>Christine Mulhall</strong> - The Righteous Bros Greatest Hits.</p> <p><strong>Marilyn Atkinson</strong> - Atlantic's Bombora, still have it!</p> <p><strong>Phill Johnston</strong> - Teaser and the Firecat by Cat Stevens.</p> <p><strong>Deni Symington</strong> - Schools Out, by Alice Cooper.</p> <p><strong>Sue Crofts</strong> - The Rolling Stones - title of the first album they did. 1964.</p> <p><strong>Glen Crawford</strong> - I bought 2 with my first pay in February 1966. Most of The Animals and The Rolling Stones Big Hits High Tide and Green Grass.</p> <p><strong>Christine Stanway</strong> - Sergeant Pepper’s in February 1970 with my first pay check.</p> <p><strong>Jan Franklyn</strong> - Singing the Blues by Guy Mitchell. An old 78 record and still have it.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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The Dark Side of the Moon at 50: how Marx, trauma and compassion all influenced Pink Floyd’s masterpiece

<p><em>Dixi et salvavi animam meam.</em></p> <p>This Latin phrase – I have spoken and saved my soul – sits at the end of Karl Marx’s <a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/">Critique of the Gotha Programme</a>. </p> <p>Written in 1875, this text imagines a communist society that will come about “after the enslaving of the individual to the division of labour, and thereby also the antithesis between mental and physical labour has vanished”. </p> <p>Only then, Marx argues, “can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be completely transcended and society inscribe on its banners: from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs!”</p> <p>Roger Waters – bassist, lyricist and conceptual mastermind behind Pink Floyd’s 1973 album <em>The Dark Side of the Moon</em>, released 50 years ago today – knows Marx’s Critique. Indeed, he quotes it when discussing the record with music journalist John Harris. </p> <p>“Making <em>The Dark Side of the Moon</em>, we were all trying to do as much as we possibly could,” Waters <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/301401">told</a> Harris.</p> <p>"It was a very communal thing. What’s that old Marxist maxim? ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.’ That’s sort of the way the band worked at that point."</p> <p>Assertions about solidarity, cooperation and shared “unity of purpose” – as Waters says – situate <em>Dark Side</em> in the context of Pink Floyd’s <a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/pink-floyd-roger-waters-david-gilmour-feud/">notoriously fractious</a> recording career and helps us understand the album’s enduring appeal.</p> <h2>Shine on you crazy diamond</h2> <p>Pink Floyd formed in London in 1965. Led by the charismatic songwriter, guitarist and lead vocalist Syd Barrett, the group established itself as a leader in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_underground">London underground music scene</a>. They released their debut album <em>The Piper at the Gates of Dawn</em> in 1967.</p> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_Machine">Soft Machine</a> member Kevin Ayers <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/pink-floyds-the-piper-at-the-gates-of-dawn-9781441185174/">described</a> <em>The Piper at the Gates of Dawn</em> as “something magical, but it was in Syd Barrett”. </p> <p>Not long after the record’s release, Barrett suffered a catastrophic, LSD-induced breakdown. In response, the band recruited David Gilmour on guitar and recorded a second album, <em>A Saucerful of Secrets</em>, as a five-piece in 1968. Around this time, the increasingly unstable Barrett was unceremoniously ousted by the rest of the band. </p> <p>After Barrett left, says Ayers, “Pink Floyd became something else totally”. </p> <p>There are different versions of Pink Floyd. The recordings released after Barrett left the band in 1968 bear little resemblance to the first. </p> <p><em>Dark Side</em> sounds nothing like the whimsical Piper. But it is obvious the record is in large part preoccupied with the loss of Barrett.</p> <p>This preoccupation comes to the fore in the album’s penultimate track.</p> <p><em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1OOQP1-wOE&amp;ab_channel=HDPinkFloyd">Brain Damage</a></em>, written and sung by Waters, references Barrett’s adolescence (“Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs”), alludes to his illness (“And if the dam breaks open many years too soon”), and acknowledges his leaving the group (“And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes; I’ll see you on the dark side of the Moon”). </p> <p>Drummer Nick Mason confirms the group didn’t want to lose Barrett.</p> <p>In his <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/265734.Inside_Out">autobiography</a>, he writes, "He was our songwriter, singer, guitarist, and – although you might not have known from our less than sympathetic treatment of him – he was our friend."</p> <h2>If the dam breaks open many years too soon</h2> <p>What we hear on <em>The Dark Side of the Moon</em> is a band dealing with trauma. </p> <p>In this sense, Dark Side represents the start of a reckoning with the past – a process that culminated with the band’s next record, 1975’s elegiac <em><a href="https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/wish-you-were-here-pink-floyd-seminal-ode-to-the-tragic-life-of-syd-barrett/">Wish You Were Here</a></em>.</p> <p>Culmination is a useful term when it comes to <em>Dark Side</em> more generally. On this record, all the avant-garde techniques and tendencies the band had toyed with in the post-Barrett period – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musique_concr%C3%A8te">musique concrète</a>, sonic manipulation, extended improvisation, analogue tape manipulation – come together to spectacular effect. </p> <p><em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0kcet4aPpQ">Money</a> –</em> with its anti-capitalist lyrics penned by Waters (“Money, it’s a crime; share it fairly, but don’t take a slice of my pie”), odd time signature, and handmade tape-loops mimicking the sounds of cash tills, bags of coins being dropped from great height and bank notes being torn up – is one of the stranger hit singles in pop music history. </p> <p>Be that as it may, Money and the album from which it is taken, of which <a href="https://www.pinkfloyd.com/tdsotm50/">more than 50 million copies</a> have been sold, continue to resonate with listeners worldwide, five decades on from its initial release.</p> <h2>The enormous risk of being truly banal</h2> <p>“I made a conscious effort when I was writing the lyrics for <em>Dark Side of the Moon</em> to take the enormous risk of being truly banal about a lot of it,” Waters told John Harris, “in order that the ideas should be expressed as simply and plainly as possible.”</p> <p>On this point, <a href="https://www.loudersound.com/news/david-gilmour-says-its-pretty-unlikely-he-and-roger-waters-will-resolve-pink-floyd-feud">if nothing else</a>, David Gilmour agrees. He told Harris, "There was definitely a feeling that the words were going to be very clear and specific. That was a leap forward. Things would mean what they meant. That was a distinct step away from what we had done before."</p> <p>Mortality, insanity, conflict, affluence, poverty and, in another nod to Marx, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx%27s_theory_of_alienation">alienation</a> are some of the themes presented on the record. The need – and this brings us full circle – for compassion, if not outright solidarity, is another. </p> <p>This is an album about the importance of understanding, as Waters <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/301401">insists, "T</a>he potential that human beings have for recognising each other’s humanity and responding to it, with empathy rather than antipathy."</p> <p>Given the sorry state of the world in 2023, about which Roger Waters has many <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64580688">contentious</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/feb/07/pink-floyd-lyricist-calls-roger-waters-an-antisemite-and-putin-apologist">problematic</a> things to say, I wager Pink Floyd’s masterwork will continue to resonate with listeners for a while yet.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-dark-side-of-the-moon-at-50-how-marx-trauma-and-compassion-all-influenced-pink-floyds-masterpiece-198400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

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Bono finally apologises for automatic album download

<p dir="ltr">Bono has finally apologised for the automatic download of the 2014 U2 album <em>Songs of Innocence</em>. </p> <p dir="ltr">When the album was released in September 2014, it was automatically downloaded onto the iTunes accounts of more than 500 million users. </p> <p dir="ltr">Now, the band’s frontman has said he “takes full responsibility” for the outrage it caused. </p> <p dir="ltr">The automatic download was met with much fury and anger from iTunes users: not due to them not authorising the download, but that the songs were nearly impossible to delete from accounts. </p> <p dir="ltr">Writing for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/22/bono-memoir-birth-of-u2-itunes-album-live-aid-mullet?utm_term=Autofeed&amp;CMP=twt_gu&amp;utm_medium&amp;utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1666438787">The Guardian</a>, Bono explained he pitched the free album as Apple giving its users a gift, which was not well thought out with CEO Tim Cook.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But we're not a subscription organisation,” Cook responded to Bono, who said “not yet”, then told the CEO that it will be “everyone's choice if they want to listen to the album.”</p> <p dir="ltr">It is said that Apple paid U2 $100 million for the album that hit iTunes accounts on September 9th 2014, around the same time when Apple launched its iPhone 6.</p> <p dir="ltr">The announcement was shared by Apple in a press release, but it seemed many users did not get the message and were perplexed when the list of songs magically appeared in their iTunes account.</p> <p dir="ltr">The majority of users complained the album was added without their permission, while others simply did not like U2.</p> <p dir="ltr">Following the nearly instant angry tweets, comments and complaints, Apple launched a dedicated page that helped users remove <em>Songs of Innocence</em> - just six days after the album was released.</p> <p dir="ltr">Users had to go through and delete each song manually, or hide the album from their iTunes accounts. </p> <p dir="ltr">“I take full responsibility. Not Guy O, not Edge, not Adam, not Larry, not Tim Cook, not Eddy Cue,” Bono told The Guardian.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I'd thought if we could just put our music within reach of people, they might choose to reach out toward it. Not quite."</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Lost Freddie Mercury song released by Queen

<p dir="ltr">Queen has released a lost song that was originally recorded in 1988, which features the late frontman Freddie Mercury.</p> <p dir="ltr">The track, titled <em>Face It Alone</em>, was written and recorded for the band’s album called <em>The Miracle</em>, but didn’t make it onto the final track listing and was shelved. </p> <p dir="ltr">The song was later rediscovered when the band’s production and archive team returned to the sessions to work on the upcoming reissue of the album. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Face It Alone</em> is the first new song released featuring Freddie Mercury since 2014’s <em>Queen Forever</em> album. </p> <p dir="ltr">The 2014 album included three previously unheard tracks with the singer: <em>Let Me In Your Heart Again</em>, <em>Love Kills</em> and <em>There Must Be More to Life Than This</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Speaking of the rediscovered track, Queen guitarist Brian May said: “I’m happy that our team were able to find this track.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“After all these years, it’s great to hear all four of us, yes, (former bass player) Deacy is there too, working in the studio on a great song idea which never quite got completed... until now.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Drummer Roger Taylor added, “We’d kind of forgotten about this track but there it was, this little gem.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s wonderful, a real discovery. It’s a very passionate piece.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The song’s resurgence comes ahead of the reissue of the band’s 13th album <em>The Miracle</em>, which was first released in 1989.</p> <p dir="ltr">The album - which included tracks<em> I Want It All</em>, <em>Breakthru</em> and <em>The Invisible Man</em> - reached number one in the UK at the time of its initial release. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Exile on Main St turns 50: how The Rolling Stones’ critically divisive album became rock folklore

<p>In May of 1972 the Rolling Stones released their 10th British studio album and first double LP, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/exile-on-main-street-96177/">Exile on Main St.</a> Although initial critical response was lukewarm, it is now considered a contemporary music landmark, the best work from a band who rock critic Simon Frith once referred to as “the poets of lonely leisure.”</p> <p>Exile on Main St. was both the culmination of a five-year productive frenzy and bleary-eyed comedown from the darkest period in the Stones’ history. </p> <p>By 1969 the storm clouds of dread building around the group had become a full-blown typhoon. First, recently sacked member Brian Jones was found dead, drowned in his swimming pool.</p> <p>Then, as the decade ended in a rush of bleak portents, they played host to the chaos of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-01/how-the-rolling-stones-killed-the-hippie-dream-at-altamont/11747188">Altamont Speedway Free Concert</a>, a poorly organised, massive free concert, which ended with four dead including a murder captured live on film.</p> <p>Yet amidst all this the Stones produced <a href="https://greilmarcus.net/2020/03/22/the-end-of-the-1960s-let-it-bleed-12-27-69/">Let It Bleed</a> (1969) and <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/sticky-fingers-mw0000195498">Sticky Fingers</a>(1971), two devastating albums that wrapped up the era like a parcel bomb addressed to the 1970s. </p> <p>Songs like Gimme Shelter, the harrowing Sister Morphine, and Sway, which broods on Nietzche’s notion of circular time, exuded the kind of weary grandeur that would define Exile.</p> <h2>Rock folklore</h2> <p>The story behind Exile on Main St. has become <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXcqcdYABFw">rock folklore</a>. Fleeing from England’s punitive tax laws, the Stones lobbed in a Côte d'Azur mansion that was a Gestapo HQ during World War II. </p> <p>Mick Jagger was largely sidelined, spending much of the time in Paris with pregnant wife Bianca. The musicians were jammed into an ad-hoc basement studio, a cross between steam-bath and opium den, powered by electricity hijacked from the French railway system. The house was beset by hangers-on, including the obligatory posse of drug-dealers.</p> <p>Yet with control ceded to the nonchalant, disaster-prone Keith Richards – the kind of person a crisis would want around in a crisis – they somehow harnessed the power of pandemonium.</p> <p>The result was a singular amalgam of barbed soul, mutant gospel, tombstone blues and shambolic country, as thrilling in its blend of familiar sources as works by contemporaries <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/02/roxy-music-40-years">Roxy Music</a> and David Bowie were in the use of alien ones. </p> <p>Jagger shuffles his deck of personas from song to song like a demented croupier, the late, great drummer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/24/arts/music/charlie-watts-dead.html">Charlie Watts</a> supplies his customary subtle adornments, and a cast of miscreants – most crucially, pianist Nicky Hopkins and producer Jimmy Miller – function as supplementary band members.</p> <p>All 18 tracks contribute to the ragged perfection of the document as a whole. Tumbling Dice and Happy are textbook rock propelled by a strange union of virtuosity and indolence. And there is an undeniable beauty to the likes of Torn and Frayed and Let it Loose, albeit a beauty that is tentative, hard-earned.</p> <p>The package is completed by its distinctive sleeve art, juxtaposing a collage of circus performers photographed by Robert Frank circa 1950 with grainy stills from a Super-8 film of the band and a mural dedicated to Joan Crawford.</p> <p>Exile confused audiences at first: Writer <a href="https://www.amazon.com/EXILE-MAIN-STREET-Rolling-Stones/dp/0028650638">John Perry</a> describes its 1972 reception as mixing “puzzlement with qualified praise”. The response of critic Lester Bangs was typical. After an initial negative review, Bangs came to regard it as the group’s strongest work. Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/exile-on-main-st-mw0000191639">confirms</a> that the record over time has become a touchstone, calling it a masterful album that takes “the bleakness that underpinned Let It Bleed and Sticky Fingers to an extreme.”</p> <h2>Inspiration</h2> <p>The roll call of artists inspired by Exile is extensive, from Tom Waits and the White Stripes to Benicio del Toro and Martin Scorsese. But two album-length homages stand out. </p> <p>In 1986, underground punks Pussy Galore concocted a feral, abstract <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHAEkWcgBD8">facsimile</a> of the entire double-LP. In 1993, singer-songwriter Liz Phair used the original as a rough template for her acclaimed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW1nMJ4-2qM">Exile in Guyville</a>.</p> <p>Nonetheless, journalist Mark Masters notes that by the 1980s, the social and cultural circumstances that produced Exile were waning as acts such as Minutemen, Mekons, The Go-Go’s and Fela Kuti gave listeners access to fresh modes of rebellion.</p> <p>Circa 1972, the Rolling Stones deserved the title “greatest rock and roll band in the world.” That it is still claimed 50 years on shows how classic rock continues to overbear all that followed.</p> <h2>The grandfathers of rock</h2> <p>When in 2020 Rolling Stone <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/">magazine</a> made a half-hearted attempt to tweak the classic rock canon – elevating Marvin Gaye, Public Enemy and Lauryn Hill alongside or above Exile and the Beatles – the response was predictably unedifying. </p> <p>One reader complained that the magazine was catering to “young people with no musical history and older people who don’t know anything.” Others raged that rap is not music and the list was proof of rampant political correctness.</p> <p>Such archaic, ignorant language is typical of gatekeepers of the classic rock tradition. It is a language of exclusion, ensuring that exceptional new music by, say, <a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fiona-apple-fetch-the-bolt-cutters/">Fiona Apple</a> (which sounds something like rock) or <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/listening-booth/the-hypnotic-spell-of-groupers-shade">Liz Harris</a> (which sounds rather different) will always be rated below what came before.</p> <p>The Rolling Stones have an inevitable, if ambiguous, relationship to all of this. In terms of race, writer Jack Hamilton <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2016/10/race-rock-and-the-rolling-stones-how-the-rock-and-roll-became-white.html">argues</a> that they were always “fiercely committed to a future for rock and roll music in which black music and musicians continued to matter.”</p> <p>How they intersect with gender is perhaps more troubling, though also <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar_url?url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13619460801990104&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=GvplYvGUEpyO6rQP_qe3mAs&amp;scisig=AAGBfm2sqr4oKv5EoKYSmkitlR44etMXqA&amp;oi=scholarr">conflicted</a>. While eminent female musicians such as Joan Jett, Carrie Brownstein and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRPpCqXYoos">Rennie Sparks</a> continue to champion the Stones, their role as leading purveyors of an inherently masculine, increasingly archaic musical form cannot be avoided.</p> <p>Exile on Main St. is a significant album made by a bunch of haggard rebels whose heyday (and rebellion) is past but whose art lives on in complex ways. </p> <p>Along with Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On and Neil Young’s Tonight’s the Night, it fits snugly into an aesthetic of washed out, narcotic-smeared masterpieces from the early seventies.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/exile-on-main-st-turns-50-how-the-rolling-stones-critically-divisive-album-became-rock-folklore-181704" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

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How Grace Tame inspired Missy Higgins’ new album

<p dir="ltr">When creating a new album, musicians find inspiration in all sorts of places. </p> <p dir="ltr">For Missy Higgins, the inspiration for her mini-album <em>Total Control</em> came from the courageous stories of Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins (no relation!). </p> <p dir="ltr">In an interview with <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/doublej/music-reads/features/missy-higgins-total-control-interview-bluesfest-wildflower/13785762">Double J</a>’s Tim Shiel, the singer-songwriter said she was inspired by the women’s stories of survival, while also drawing inspiration from an ABC drama series. </p> <p dir="ltr">"During the first season [of ABC’s <em>Total Control</em> series], Grace Tame was standing up and telling her story [in real life]," Higgins explains.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Then I was watching Deb Mailman's character on the TV show walking into parliament and standing up in front of all these old white dudes and calling out the oppression of her and her people.”</p> <p dir="ltr">"I just thought 'Wow, there's so many crossovers here'.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The stories of these powerful women helped Missy Higgins to speak her own truth through her music, while also thinking of her daughter. </p> <p dir="ltr">She said, "I'm a mum of a three-year-old girl so it brought up all these feelings of like, 'Wow, women have come a long way and we're actually creating a future that I'm excited for my kid to inherit'.”</p> <p dir="ltr">"This is a world where women are now feeling like they can stand up and tell their truth and people actually will be held accountable. Not as much as in the past do they have to worry about not being believed or losing their job.”</p> <p dir="ltr">"It's people like Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins who've had enough guts to do that. That must have been so hard, it's their bravery that's really carving that path for everyone else."</p> <p dir="ltr">One example of how Missy drew inspiration from the series of the same name as her album comes in <em>Total Control</em>’s closing track <em>I Take It Back</em>. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I wanted to write this song about somebody who's come to a point where they've decided that they're not going to take s*** anymore, basically.”</p> <p dir="ltr">"'Everything that I've given to you, all the energy, all the power that I've given to you, I'm taking that back. I'm reclaiming my story. I'm reclaiming my power.'"</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Unlikely album makes history

<p><em>Image: ABC News</em></p> <p>An album made up entirely of tweets and squawks from Australian birds has made history by entering the Top Five ARIA album charts, surpassing both Mariah Carey and ABBA.</p> <p>Titled Songs of Disappearance, the album features birdsongs of 53 of the rarest species in Australia that are on the brink of extinction. It is the first album of its kind to chart in the ARIA Top Five albums, and has sold more than 3,000 copies.</p> <p>Anthony Albrecht, a PhD student at Charles Darwin University (CDU) and co-founder of The Bowerbird Collective, is part of a group of academics, musicians and conservationists behind the project.</p> <p>"It's absolutely incredible to have knocked Michael Buble, Mariah Carey and a whole bunch of other really famous artists out of the [top five]," he said.</p> <p>"In some ways, it's not surprising, because I believe Australians generally are so much more attuned now to the environmental crisis that we're all facing — and that the unique and incredible species that also call Australia home are facing."</p> <p>The title track, arranged by Simone Slattery, includes all 53 of the endangered species featured in the album. The tracks were recorded by David Stewart Nature Sound, a wildlife sound recordist, over his decades-long career.</p> <p>Mr Stewart's collection consists of thousands of bird calls that have been recorded over a period of 40 years, while travelling across remote parts of Australia.</p> <p>"Some of the recordings are so brief because he [Mr Stewart] waited hours out in the bush to hear a peep out of some of these species," Mr Albrecht said.</p> <p>Mr Albrecht said he was pleased Songs of Disappearance resonated with so many Australians."I think it's incredibly important to tell stories about nature in a way that is going to get people really emotionally involved," he said.</p> <p>Stephen Garnett, a co-creator of the album and professor of conservation at CDU, helped produce a landmark extinction report from BirdLife Australia that inspired the project.</p> <p>"They've been singing for millions of years … and now they're going, and there's a whole lot that we're not going to have with us if we don't do something about them."</p> <p>Proceeds from the album's sales will go towards BirdLife Australia's conservation efforts.</p>

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Rolling Stone ranks Australia’s 200 Best Albums of All Time

<p>If there's one thing music fans love to debate over, it's a "Greatest of All Time" list.</p> <p>The list causing the most recent debate comes from Rolling Stone, who have ranked the top 200 best albums to come from the Australian music scene.</p> <p>It came as no great shock that the list was conquered by Australian music greats AC/DC and their rock classic album <em>Back in Black</em>.</p> <p>First released in 1980, the record remains the second highest selling album in the world, with more than 50 million copies sold worldwide.</p> <p>Despite AC/DC taking out the top spot, the most impressive feat in the list comes from the two bands that managed to secure two spots each in the top 20 list.</p> <p>The first was Midnight Oil, for their 1982 album titled <em>10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1</em> – which came in at number 19 on the list – and their 1987 classic <em>Diesel and Dust</em>, which took out the number five spot.</p> <p>Then, equally as impressive, were Powderfinger, who secured the 18th spot with their 1998 album <em>Internationalist</em>, as well as the 16th spot with <em>Odyssey Number Five</em> (2000).</p> <p>Despite the list featuring a host of up-and-coming Aussie artists and their latest releases, the majority of the top 20 was reserved for the classics.</p> <p>Coming in second to AC/DC on the list was the massive INXS record <em>Kick</em>, which was first released in 1987.</p> <p>Also featured in the top 20 were John Farnham's <em>Whispering Jack</em> (1986), Cold Chisel's <em>East</em> (1980) and Crowded House's self-titled album from 1986.</p> <p>Kylie Minogue's 2001 album <em>Fever</em> was the highest ranking for a female artist, and was joined in the list by fellow female hitmakers such as Sia, Kasey Chambers and Sarah Blasko.</p> <p>Despite the top 20 being largely dominated by 20th century records, some relative newcomers pushed their way to the top.</p> <p>5 Seconds of Summer's 2014 self-titled album landing the number 17 spot, and Tame Impala's 2015 experimental record <em>Currents</em> came in at number 12.</p> <p>Although some newer artists were featured in the top spots on the list, the winners really go to show that there's nothing quite like some classic Aussie rock.</p> <p><strong>Check out the TOP 20:</strong></p> <p>20. Dr. G Yunupingu - <em>Gurrumul</em> (2008)</p> <p>19. Midnight Oil - <em>10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1</em> (1982)</p> <p>18. Powderfinger - <em>Internationalist</em> (1998)</p> <p>17. 5 Seconds of Summer - <em>5 Seconds of Summer</em> (2014)</p> <p>16. Powderfinger - <em>Odyssey Number Five</em> (2000)</p> <p>15. The Go-Betweens - <em>16 Lovers Lane</em> (1988)</p> <p>14. Regurgitator - <em>Unit</em> (1997)</p> <p>13. Nick Cave &amp; The Bad Seeds - <em>Murder Ballads</em> (1996)</p> <p>12. Tame Impala - <em>Currents</em> (2015)</p> <p>11. You Am I - <em>Hourly, Daily</em> (1996)</p> <p>10. Kylie Minogue - <em>Fever</em> (2001)</p> <p>9. Savage Garden - <em>Savage Garden</em> (1997)</p> <p>8. The Avalanches - <em>Since I Left You</em> (2000)</p> <p>7. Crowded House - <em>Crowded House</em> (1987)</p> <p>6. Silverchair - <em>Frogstomp</em> (1995)</p> <p>5. Midnight Oil - <em>Diesel and Dust</em> (1987)</p> <p>4. Cold Chisel - <em>East</em> (1980)</p> <p>3. John Farnham - <em>Whispering Jack</em> (1986)</p> <p>2. INXS - <em>Kick</em> (1987)</p> <p>1. AC/DC - <em>Back In Black</em> (1980)</p> <p>And you can peruse the full 200-strong list <a rel="noopener" href="https://au.rollingstone.com/rolling-stones-200-greatest-australian-albums-of-all-time/page/1/the-teskey-brothers-run-home-slow/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p> </p>

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“This is it”: ABBA will retire after their comeback

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After an almost 40 year hiatus, ABBA is set to release a new album, which will be their last. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Swedish pop band will bow out officially after their upcoming record </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Voyage</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is released, which features a range of new music including their first single in 39 years </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I Still Have Faith In You</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Benny Andersson told </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/oct/27/abba-reunion-interview-voyage-younger-selves"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Guardian</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I never said myself that ABBA was never going to happen again. But I can tell you now: this is it.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He added, “This is it. It’s got be, y’know.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dancing Queen</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> hitmakers have launched the new ABBA Voyage concert experience, which will open in May 2022 at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">ABBA will be performing digitally with their ‘ABBAtars’ with a live 10-piece band, which Bjorn endorsed as a form of live concert that could technically live forever. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said, “ABBAtars never tire. They can do 10 shows a day. No private jets. No riders. No worries about voices."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Agnetha had previously admitted that the future of ABBA was “uncertain” due to their “minor ailments” after performing for so many years. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She said, “I don't really dare to say ... We're a bit older now and have our minor ailments. We struggle on. But I don't dare say, because it's a bit uncertain.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“At the moment we feel happy that we got this together and let's hope everything goes well in London at the premiere over there.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images</span></em></p>

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Melissa Caddick’s husband releases album about her disappearance

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After making a </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/legal/it-s-time-for-the-truth-to-come-out-melissa-caddick-s-husband-speaks" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">series of bombshell claims</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the husband of missing fraudster Melissa Caddick has released an unusual album about the day police raided her home and her disappearance.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hairdresser and DJ Anthony Koletti released his new album online after his music was featured on Channel 7’s </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>Spotlight</em> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">investigation into Ms Caddick’s case.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms Caddick was accused of ripping off her family, friends, and investors, prompting corporate watchdog ASIC to raid her multimillion-dollar Dover Heights home in search of evidence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The following day, Ms Caddick disappeared.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Three months later, her decomposed foot was found on a beach hundreds of kilometres from her home, prompting the emergence of a string of theories about her fate.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some theories include that she cut off her foot and faked her disappearance, or that she may have taken her own life.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7844940/caddick1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/7f041784b7f2491a8e0c87ed4cb18353" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Melissa Caddick and Anthony Koletti. Image: 7NEWS</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The bizarre album, titled </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Raid</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, was inspired by the case and was released under the name Paws Off.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The tracks consist of looped phrases with Mr Kholetti impersonating police officers and speaking as himself to represent interactions he had with police on the day of the raid.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The opening track, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Introduction</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, includes a spoken snippet from Mr Kholetti </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/anthony-koletti-releases-album-about-melissa-caddicks-disappearance/news-story/47a46aae9b3eec0d9f743ed203216d55" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">saying</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">: “November 11, 2020, 5am. This is a true account of what happened on the day of the raid. Parental guidance is recommended.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The next track, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Good Morning</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, includes the sound of snoring and Mr Kholetti’s impersonation of a female police officer, saying, “No, no, we don’t have any proof or evidence, we’ll just get them”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Yeah that’s good enough for me,” Mr Kholetti replies in a deeper voice.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another voice says, “Freeze, don’t move.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In another track called </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ten Minutes Too Late</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Mr Kholetti entertains conspiracy theories about the disappearance.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If you walked out on your own accord, or if you were taken from the front door, I woke up 10 minutes too late,” he says in the song.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Turn Your Bodycam Off</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Mr Kholetti impersonates a female police officer, singing, “You should turn your bodycam off so we don’t get in trouble”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We can take whatever we want and we don’t owe you an explanation for anything,” he says, appearing to impersonate police officers involved in the raid conducted by ASIC.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You and ASIC hurt hundreds of people unnecessarily. It could have been prevented.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He also claims a female officer “interrogated our family for 14 hours” on a track titled </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bragging</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Truth is, you let a young girl from a large corporation brutally interrogate a lady for 14 hours and you did nothing.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The album comes after Mr Kholetti appeared on Channel 7’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spotlight</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> program over the weekend, claiming Ms Caddick was killed.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Police believe it is more likely Ms Caddick took her own life.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“She wasn’t the kind of person who would chop off her foot and go AWOL,” Mr Kholetti said on the program.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I know why she died. Someone got greedy and wanted her dead.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: news.com.au</span></em></p>

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"Most turbulent period of my life": Adele's huge announcement

<p>In a lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday, Adele delighted fans as she officially announced her highly-anticipated new album. </p> <p>The songstress revealed that her album, titled <em>30</em>, will be released on November 19th.</p> <p>Adele described the album as a diary of "the most turbulent period of my life", as she navigated her divorce with Simon Konecki after seven years together. </p> <p>In a text image, she writes about the process of making her album and then having its release delayed. </p> <p>She says, <span>"I was certainly nowhere near where I'd hoped to be when I first started it nearly 3 years ago. Quite the opposite actually. I rely on routine and consistency to feel safe, I always have. And yet there I was knowingly – willingly even, throwing myself into a maze of absolute mess and inner turmoil!"</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CU-Kv8NgvVj/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CU-Kv8NgvVj/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Adele (@adele)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span>"I've learned a lot of blistering home truths about myself along the way. I've shed many layers but also wrapped myself in new ones. Discovered genuinely useful and wholesome mentalities to lead with, and I feel like I've finally found my feeling again. I'd go as far as to say that I've never felt more peaceful in my life."</span></p> <p><span>"And so, I'm ready to finally put this album out."</span></p> <p><span>The 33-year-old singer goes on to explain how her new album was her "ride or die" and her "friend" that she needed during a difficult time in her personal life. </span></p> <p><span>She concludes the post saying "Home is where the heart is x".</span></p> <p><span>The post has racked up almost 5 million likes in under 12 hours, as fans of Adele from around the globe </span>rejoice in her return. </p> <p>The first single from the album, Easy On Me, will be released on October 15th: her first new single since 2016. </p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUpkLl3g0nx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUpkLl3g0nx/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Adele (@adele)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Adele's new album <em>30</em> comes as her fourth studio album, following <em>19</em> (2008), <em>21</em> (2011) and <em>25</em> (2015), which she has previously described as timestamps of her life at those ages. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram @adele</em></p>

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Christmas album in the works for Gary Barlow

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the weather warms and the year draws to a close, it’s almost that time for the Christmas music to be played again in preparation for the festive season. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While everyone has their favourite festive album and classic that they go back to each December, this year there’s a new album coming from a songwriting legend.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gary Barlow will be the latest musician dropping a yuletide album, as he follows in the footsteps of fellow Take That member Robbie Williams, who topped the UK charts with </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Christmas Present </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">two years ago. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A source told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column, “Gary has seen the likes of Michael Buble and Robbie Williams enjoy success at Christmas and wants a piece of the action.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“After such a rough couple of years for us all, he’s keen to pull it out the bag for his fans and end 2021 on a high.” </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gary, who released the single </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Incredible Christmas</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> last year, faces tough competition, as Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran are also set to release a duet in the upcoming festive season. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition to his Christmas album, Gary is also unveiling his own range of wine called Gary Barlow Organic in partnership with Benchmark Drinks. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The wines feature unique blends of Spanish flavours, and are set to be the perfect accompaniment to any Christmas season. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With his festive album on the way, a new range of wines and an upcoming tour with songstress Leona Lewis, it’s like Christmas has come early!</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credit: Getty Images</span></em></p>

Music

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Willie Nelson announces new family-centric album

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The country music legend is releasing a new studio album, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Willie Nelson Family</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, with contributions from said family.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nelson’s sister Bobbie, his daughters Amy and Paula, and his sons Lukas and Micah are all expected to make an appearance on the album.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Paul English, long-time drummer and a close friend to Nelson, will also feature after passing away early last year aged 87.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Excited to announce The <a href="https://twitter.com/WillieNelson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WillieNelson</a> Family record is coming out on November 19! The whole family came together for this and we can’t wait for you to hear it. Pre-order and listen to our new version of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FamilyBible?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FamilyBible</a> now: <a href="https://t.co/jYVKpuCImI">https://t.co/jYVKpuCImI</a> <a href="https://t.co/aSwyXdUwEU">pic.twitter.com/aSwyXdUwEU</a></p> — Lukas Nelson &amp; Promise Of The Real (@lukasnelson) <a href="https://twitter.com/lukasnelson/status/1441092641777541129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The album itself will contain Nelson’s own stylings of George Harrison’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">All Things Must Pass</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Kris Kristofferson’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why Me</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and A.P. Carter’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keep it on the Sunnyside</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The new album isn’t the first time Nelson’s family has shown off their musical talents, as son Lukas has been building a career just like his dad’s.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lukas was recently brought on to the film </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Star Is Born</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as an “authenticity consultant” by Bradley Cooper, who took inspiration for his character’s look and sound from Nelson.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lukas also came away from the movie with soundtrack credits and screen time, making an appearance alongside his band Promise of the Real as Cooper’s backing group.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">So proud of this band, working on the set of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AStarIsBorn?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AStarIsBorn</a> <a href="https://t.co/6GxI9o5Yya">pic.twitter.com/6GxI9o5Yya</a></p> — Lukas Nelson &amp; POTR (@POTR) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTR/status/863446561094750208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2017</a></blockquote> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Willie Nelson Family</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is Nelson’s second album released this year, following his second volume of Frank Sinatra’s covers, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">That’s Life</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which was released in February.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nelson has also had an eventful year outside of music, after celebrating his 88th birthday over a four-day online event in April, hosted by daughter Paula, her siblings, and Nelson’s sister Bobbie.</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Annie Nelson, wife of iconic Texas Musician Willie Nelson was out providing COVID19 vaccinations at Kelly Reeves Stadium Monday morning.Annie volunteered after she &amp; Willie got their second shot-was deputize by family hospital systems to work the vaccination line <a href="https://twitter.com/fox7austin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fox7austin</a> <a href="https://t.co/LMIm5ngHgF">pic.twitter.com/LMIm5ngHgF</a></p> — rudy koski (@KoskionFOX7) <a href="https://twitter.com/KoskionFOX7/status/1366444493919162371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Earlier in March, Nelson’s wife Annie was spotted administering COVID-19 vaccinations as a volunteer.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nelson’s latest album is due to be released on November 19.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em></p>

Music

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Elton John releases new The Lockdown Sessions album

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After Elton John was forced to pause his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in 2020, he went straight back to work. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 74-year-old music icon hit the studio and is now set to release his new collaborative album, titled </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Lockdown Sessions</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, on October 22nd. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The album features a range of new tracks featuring artists from several generations, including Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X, Stevie Nicks and Stevie Wonder.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The album was produced with all the guest artists working remotely from each other with safety precautions in place. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Elton came to know a range of popular artists through his Apple Music talk show </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rocket Hour,</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and wanted to push himself into unfamiliar territory.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I realised there was something weirdly familiar about working like this," he said in a statement announcing the album.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"At the start of my career, in the late 60s, I worked as a session musician. Working with different artists during lockdown reminded me of that. I'd come full circle: I was a session musician again. And it was still a blast."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Elton took to Twitter to announce his latest project with the album artwork along with the impressive 16-song tracklist. </span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">The last thing I expected to do during lockdown was make an album but here it is. Thank you to everyone who came together to make it happen. <br /><br />I can’t wait for you all to hear ‘The Lockdown Sessions’ when it’s released on 22 October, but for now, preorder it from today. <a href="https://t.co/u8Qfvuk1Fk">pic.twitter.com/u8Qfvuk1Fk</a></p> — Elton John (@eltonofficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/eltonofficial/status/1433110624255582213?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Lockdown Sessions</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is the newest addition to Elton John’s impressive discography that boasts 31 studio albums, 5 live albums, 9 soundtrack albums, 22 compilation albums and 3 tribute albums. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He has sold over 200 million albums worldwide with his biggest album, the 1973 hit </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Goodbye Yellow Brick Road</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, selling over 30 million copies around the globe. </span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credit: Getty Images</span></em></p>

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The now grown up baby from Nirvana's album cover is suing the band

<p>The baby who appeared on the famous Nirvana album cover in 1991 is now suing the band.</p> <p>Spencer Elden, who is now 30 years old, is suing surviving Nirvana band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, as well as Kurt Cobain's estate for allegedly <span>violating federal child pornography statutes and child sexual exploitation.</span></p> <p><span>The </span>lawsuit also names the photographer who snapped the image, Kirk Weddlem and the labels behind the release fo the album.</p> <p><span>Spencer was photographed naked as a child for the band's most </span>iconic album cover, and is now claiming <span>his legal guardians never signed a release “authorising the use of any images of Spencer or of his likeness, and certainly not of commercial child pornography depicting him.”</span></p> <p>Spencer claims he has <span>suffered “lifelong damages” and is also suing for distribution of private sexually explicit materials and negligence. </span></p> <p><span>The famous album cover was snapped by chance, as Spencer's father Rick was a good friend of the photographer.</span></p> <p><span>Nick spoke to NPR in 2008 and said, “[Weddle] calls us up and was like, ‘Hey Rick, wanna make 200 bucks and throw your kid in the drink.”</span></p> <p><span>The image, which shows a baby Spencer in the pool diving after a $1 note, quickly became an iconic image and Spencer has recreated the album cover several times to celebrate </span>anniversaries of the release. </p> <p>The lawsuit filed by Spencer states, <span>“The permanent harm he has proximately suffered includes but is not limited to extreme and permanent emotional distress with physical manifestations, interference with his normal development and educational progress, lifelong loss of income earning capacity, loss of past and future wages, past and future expenses for medical and psychological treatment, loss of enjoyment of life, and other losses to be described and proven at trial of this matter.”</span></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p>

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Diana Ross to release first album in 15 years

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Diana Ross is making a major comeback, announcing she will be releasing a new album.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The soul legend’s first album in 15 years is expected to be released in early September.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The album, titled </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thank You</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, will feature 13 songs Ross co-wrote with various writers and producers, including Jack Antonoff, Freddie Wexler, Tayla Parx, and Troy Miller.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CQNScEDlfwD/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CQNScEDlfwD/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Ms Ross ✨ (@dianaross)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sharing the news on Instagram, Ross wrote: “This collection of songs is my gift to you with appreciation and love. I am eternally grateful that I had the opportunity to record this glorious music at this time.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the same day, Ross released the titular track off her new album, and shared a snippet on Instagram, to the delight of her fans.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CQNlziAldOm/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CQNlziAldOm/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Ms Ross ✨ (@dianaross)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This song is EVERYTHING!! I can’t wait for the new album,” one fan commented.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s gorgeous. Your music is beautiful,” another said.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Diana Ross / Instagram</span></em></p>

Music

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Music collectors are seeking out rare albums that you can't stream

<p>As of the third quarter <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/244995/number-of-paying-spotify-subscribers/">of 2019, music streaming giant Spotify had 113 million paid subscribers worldwide</a> — but it’s still missing some famous albums that many listeners feel they can’t live without. And in today’s digital world, it can be expensive and difficult to get a physical copy of those missing albums.</p> <p>Music streaming dominates paid music consumption in the <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/10185/music-consumption-in-the-us/">United States</a> and <a href="https://musiccanada.com/resources/statistics/">Canada</a>.</p> <p>But services like Spotify and Apple Music can’t just upload whatever music they’d like. Legal disputes, sample clearance issues — when permission can’t be obtained for the use of part of a song in a new song — and rights-holders withholding music can all get in the way of music being available on your streaming platform of choice. And that can make the music even more difficult and more expensive to get your hands on physically.</p> <p>Legal disputes between <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/musicians-v-record-labels-famous-feuds/">artists and their record labels have been happening for decades</a>. Disputes can keep music from ever coming out at all, in which case consumers don’t know what they’re missing — but they can also take music that consumers already love out of circulation.</p> <p><strong>Rare $130 cassette</strong></p> <p>If you’re a fan of the hip-hop group De La Soul, you might have noticed that its 1989 album <em>3 Feet High and Rising</em> is missing from paid subscription streaming services. This is due to <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2019/03/de-la-soul-3-feet-high-and-rising-streaming-spotify-tidal.html">disputes between the group and its label, Tommy Boy Records.</a></p> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304142/original/file-20191127-112526-uxlosu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /> <span class="caption">If your ‘90s dubbed De La Soul tape has broken down, a new cassette today may cost $130.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mike B in Colorado/Flickr</span></span></p> <p>De La Soul said in an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/wearedelasoul/photos/a.631626713540839/2309714252398735/?type=3&amp;theater">August Facebook post</a> that it that was unable to reach a streaming agreement “and earn Tommy Boy’s respect for our music/legacy.” The dispute has led to Tommy Boy delaying the release of that album on streaming services.</p> <p>The album is not being widely reissued, so few copies are available in any physical format for fans who can’t stream one of their favourite albums on their favourite streaming service. There is a copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/3-Feet-High-Rising-Vinyl/dp/B00CJF9SZC/ref=tmm_vnl_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=">the vinyl LP of <em>3 Feet High and Rising</em> selling online for nearly $300</a>. A cassette is available for more than $130. Even the CD is selling for more than $100.</p> <p><strong>Taylor Swift delays release of album</strong></p> <p>Rights-holders, whether they are the artist or not, can also choose to withhold music from streaming services. Taylor Swift has famously done this, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/9/15767986/taylor-swift-apple-music-spotify-statements-timeline">first to fight for music’s value, then to fight for better streaming royalty rates</a> and then delaying the release of <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/taylor-swift-to-withhold-reputation-from-streaming-services-197389/#:%7E:targetText=Taylor%20Swift's%20new%20album,the%20specifics%20with%20various%20platforms.">her 2017 album <em>Reputation</em> on streaming services</a>. She made <em>Reputation</em> available only for digital download and on CD at first.</p> <p>But rights-holders withholding music can sometimes get more complicated. Blackground Records — owned by Aaliyah’s uncle Barry Hankerson — controls the masters of most of the late singer’s music and has <a href="https://www.complex.com/music/2016/12/aaliyahs-music-isnt-online-and-her-uncle-barry-hankerson-is-the-reason-why">not made it available on streaming services</a>. Aaliyah <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/aaliyah-1979-2001-192667/">died in a plane crash in 2001 at the age of 22</a>, not long after the release of her platinum-certified self-titled album.</p> <p>Michael Greaves, who manages royalties for a music company based in Toronto, said in a September interview that he thinks Hankerson is “trying to look for the best deal … building up the value,” as Taylor Swift did. But others, including Greaves, who is also a former DJ, have argued that there is an emotional component to Hankerson withholding the Blackground music.</p> <p>Rock band Tool also famously <a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/after-years-of-resisting-rock-band-tool-is-finally-entering-the-streaming-age">didn’t put all of its music up on streaming services until Aug. 2, 2019,</a> just before the Aug. 30 release of its newest album, <em>Fear Inoculum</em>.</p> <p>Whether these rights-holders are using profiteering tactics, the music is increasing in value because it’s not available on paid streaming services and there are limited physical copies. On Amazon.ca, the CD of <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/One-Million-Aaliyah/dp/B000002JWP">Aaliyah’s <em>One In A Million</em> is selling for as much as $189</a>. “I have those albums, I got them when they came out. I’m lucky that way,” says Greaves.</p> <p>Blackground also controls the rights to the master recordings of singer Jojo’s first two albums, which it has not released on streaming services.</p> <p>Jojo wound up <a href="https://www.wmagazine.com/story/jojo-re-release-albums-new-music-interview">suing Blackground, re-recording those albums and releasing them on streaming services herself</a>. Unfortunately, Aaliyah is not alive to do the same.</p> <p><strong>Download delays are ongoing</strong></p> <p>Despite advances in music technology and administration, sample clearances can still be an issue, keeping music from being released or forcing it to be removed from streaming services.</p> <p>It’s common for rappers and hip-hop artists to release “<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/rmx446/the-real-difference-between-a-mixtape-and-an-album">mixtapes</a>” — free releases which were once distributed on cassettes but are now commonly distributed on Soundcloud. Mixtapes often contain samples whose permissions haven’t been legally granted, which keep them from being available on streaming services such as Spotify, where rules around sample clearances are more stringent than on Soundcloud.</p> <p>The artist known as Chance the Rapper, for instance, went through the process of clearing all of the samples on his 2013 mixtape <em>Acid Rap</em>, which went live on streaming services last summer — <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8518032/chance-the-rapper-juice-acid-rap-streaming-services">but he couldn’t get the sample on his track <em>Juice</em> cleared</a>.</p> <p>According to the artist’s website, <a href="https://www.chanceraps.com/shop/acid-rap-vinyl-pre-order">the vinyl pre-order of the mixtape is sold out and the website says it is shipping this fall</a> — however, it’s unclear if it has already shipped. It’s also unclear if the sample on <em>Juice</em> will be cleared for the vinyl release — but if it’s not, there’s no doubt that the not-so-legal cassette with the original track listing will be worth much more.</p> <p>Music administration has come a long way, but it’s also become more complicated. As <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8297506/drake-nice-for-what-lauryn-hill-ex-factor-samples-kehlani-cardi-b">artists sample samples of samples</a>, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/watch-dj-khaled-explain-how-infant-son-executive-produced-new-lp-116467/">babies are given producer credits</a> and <a href="https://www.thefader.com/2019/10/07/lil-nas-x-cardi-b-sued-copyright-infringement-rodeo-2019">copyright infringement lawsuits over popular songs</a> seem to be frequently in the news, it’s unlikely that every album under the sun will be available to us at the press of a button any time soon.<!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/marina-eckersley-857932">Marina Eckersley</a>, Dalla Lana Fellow in Global Journalism, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-toronto-1281">University of Toronto</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/music-collectors-seek-out-rare-albums-not-available-on-streaming-126488">original article</a>.</em></p>

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Bill Murray goes classical and releases an album

<div class="article-body"> <p>It was on a trans-Atlantic flight from Berlin to New York in early 2013 when actor and comedian Bill Murray met German cellist Jan Vogler. Through this chance encounter the pair struck up a friendship, sharing enthuse for each other’s artistic worlds and interests, and soon after, decided to work together on a musical project.</p> <p>The result? An unexpected and enchanting collaboration of music and literature, marking Murray’s first classical music album.</p> <p>“After we knew each other [for] a little bit, I invited him one night to go to this Poetry Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, and then a couple of days later said:<span> </span><em>You know, we could do this. We could do a show with this</em>,” says Bill Murray.</p> <p>The debut album<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="http://umusi.cc/BMNewWorldsMR" target="_blank"><span><em>New Worlds</em></span></a>, features songs paired with literary readings, which are brought to life with classical music.</p> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8mBD3ylGE-U"></iframe></div> <p>Murray – as both singer and narrator – brings his charm and wit to songs by George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein, and recites the works of Walt Whitman, Ernest Hemingway, and Mark Twain.</p> <p>He is joined by musicians Jan Vogler (cello), Mira Wang (violin), and Vanessa Perez (piano) – each at the top of their fields to bring together an unexpected collective of creative forces.</p> <p>“We are from four different continents,” Murray told<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/arts/music/bill-murray-new-worlds-jan-vogler.html" target="_blank"><span><em>The New York Times</em></span></a>. “And when the continents come together, the music moves right across the peninsulas from one to the other. It’s just a short journey from one continent to the other.”</p> <p>The 67-year-old<em><span> </span>Groundhog Day</em><span> </span>star recognises no limits. With a penchant for<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="http://time.com/3378575/bill-murray-crashed-birthday-danced-to-turn-down-for-what/" target="_blank"><span>crashing parties</span></a><span> </span>or showing up in the most<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.billmurraystory.com/" target="_blank"><span>unexpected places</span></a>, Murray has however had an ever-present passion for literature, particularly poetry.</p> <p>He has also made past vocal appearances. A recent musical collaboration was with former<span> </span><em>The Late Show</em><span> </span>bandleader, Paul Shaffer for the upbeat song ‘Happy Street’, and performed festive tunes with George Clooney and Miley Cyrus on his 2015 Netflix special,<span> </span><em>A Very Murray Christmas</em>.</p> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bSuB4Su6wCM"></iframe></div> <p>Though the classical direction may be a bit of a surprise, the eccentric comedian and actor has forged an independent Hollywood career and seems to love exploring new and serendipitous opportunities.</p> <p>“I am bathing in this experience, really. I can’t get enough of it,” Bill Murray comments.</p> <p>One recording has Murray reading a painful passage from<span> </span><em>The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</em><span> </span>as the group plays ‘Moon River’. The classical crossover showcases American values in literature and music, and the bridges artists have built between America and Europe.</p> <p>Cellist Jan Vogler’s distinguished career adds credence to the concept, whose strong curatorial approach to his music making and contemporary style of performance has pushed the boundaries of classical music.</p> <p>Tracks from the album include, Van Morrison’s ‘When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God’ and Stephen Foster’s ‘Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair’ as well as numbers from West Side Story.</p> </div>

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